# Who doesn't like Jens?



## MisterMike (Aug 12, 2004)

I find him a welcome addition to the NBC Sports coverage. I think he still needs to loosen up but that will come with time I guess. Then we'll be treated to some real colorful Jensie-isms. 
On the other hand, that Steve guy on the motorcycle has to go. I can't get Les Nessman out of my mind whenever that guy comes on.

So yae or nae for Jens?


----------



## twinkles (Apr 23, 2007)

Every time I see & here Jens, all I can think of is Dana Carvey. Steve Schlagger reminds me of a really boring, monotous adult from Peanuts.


----------



## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Love the Jensie, couldn't pay me enough to watch NBC however


----------



## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Love him! Good insight, he always has something interesting to add. He's really nice, I met him at a local Trek Store event and got an autograph... He did a Q and A... He was great. Talked a lot about his family, life, and of course, cycling and racing. He was down to earth, approachable and genuinely interested and seemed pretty darn honest... I love having him as an addition.


----------



## tvad (Aug 31, 2003)

Love Jens. Love having the TDF on NBC Sports Network. Love not hearing Christian Vande Velde stutter his way through another broadcast.


----------



## azpeterb (Jun 1, 2006)

Chuck Norris doesn't like Jens. He has Jens envy.


----------



## mikerp (Jul 24, 2011)

More Jens less of of the Steve's.
I want to hear from an actual rider not a stat guy.


----------



## El Scorcho (Dec 14, 2005)

I was hoping Jens would show up on Eurosport, maybe seeing him as a full time color man to see how he could do. Give him 3 hours to ramble and you would get some interesting stuff. 
The 90 seconds NBC gives him is just not enough. Also, sitting through Schlanger for any amount of time is just punishment.


----------



## MisterMike (Aug 12, 2004)

Shlanger is bad but the Steve that I really can't stand is the one that reports from in the race on the motorcycle. Seems like it's always something epic fail.


----------



## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

El Scorcho said:


> I was hoping Jens would show up on Eurosport, maybe seeing him as a full time color man to see how he could do. Give him 3 hours to ramble and you would get some interesting stuff.
> The 90 seconds NBC gives him is just not enough. Also, sitting through Schlanger for any amount of time is just punishment.


Yeah. It was even more clear today in a road race instead of a time trial, more Jens would be good.


----------



## Skewer (Sep 13, 2011)

Jens gotta go. His accent is too strong, and I can't understand a word he's saying.


----------



## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

Agreed, Jens is Ok for occasional commentary but he is not exactly a TV personality or commentator. I am not sure he added that much insight. I like Vandevelde a lot better. Bobke is good too. So is Sherwen. In 5 years when the novelty of "Shut Up Legs" will wear out on casual cycling fan, nobody will like his commentary and nobody will remember who he was.

Plus he gets every call wrong. He said he truly believes Sagan will win opening ITT stage yesterday. Really?! During ToC he made some embarrassingly bad calls as well. Like there was a single rider in a break, 30 seconds up the road and quickly shrinking, with 10K to go, on the final stage when all the sprinter teams are motivated to get the win, and he keeps insisting that he truly believes the breakaway will succeed.

Maybe he is doing it for better TV. Or for being contrarian. Or for insisting that every breakaway, no matter how hopeless, must succeed, because he is Mr. Breakaway. But after a while this zealotry is not commentary and it's a bit ridiculous. Most of us who never got close to pro peloton know this is ridiculous.

If Liggett was making these type of predictions, people would ridicule him endlessly for being senile. Or even VdV, but Jensie can't be wrong because... Shut Up Legs, that's why!


----------



## 9W9W (Apr 5, 2012)

you know who I enjoyed having up there? That witty geezer Chris Horner.


----------



## Tschai (Jun 19, 2003)

They all suck. I like the BeIn Sports guys and its overall coverage much better. And please don't yap to me about how I should be grateful for having coverage and the like. I know all that and I know that I don't have to watch it. The fact still remains that the coverage sucks.


----------



## duriel (Oct 10, 2013)

Not so fond of his commentary & presentation. He kinda goes along with the others, I don't think he really communicates that well what is going on on the team or riders. Maybe he isn't a typical rider, but he comes across as very simple. Doesn't really add value of the "insight" of the race from the riders perspective. 
I think Christian has really improved though!


----------



## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

I gotta defend Steve Schlanger. He's a solid anchor guy who's temporarily stuck in purgatory as third (or is that fourth or fifth?) banana. Of course, if I were sticking a microphone in a non-English speaker's face and asking questions, I'd do my best to keep the questions simple and to the point. I mean, how well _do_ they understand English? 

As for Jens, he gets better each day. He's a smart guy. He knows his stuff. And I dig his accent. Bobke, though, is truly the Maillot Jaune of the broadcast's chattering contingent.


----------



## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

55x11 said:


> Agreed, Jens is Ok for occasional commentary but he is not exactly a TV personality or commentator. I am not sure he added that much insight. I like Vandevelde a lot better. Bobke is good too. So is Sherwen. In 5 years when the novelty of "Shut Up Legs" will wear out on casual cycling fan, nobody will like his commentary and nobody will remember who he was.
> 
> Plus he gets every call wrong. He said he truly believes Sagan will win opening ITT stage yesterday. Really?! During ToC he made some embarrassingly bad calls as well. Like there was a single rider in a break, 30 seconds up the road and quickly shrinking, with 10K to go, on the final stage when all the sprinter teams are motivated to get the win, and he keeps insisting that he truly believes the breakaway will succeed.
> 
> ...


You overlook how Phil, Paul, Schlanger, and the rest of the NBC crew tend to get everything including the riders names wrong... they tend to miss identify where climbs and sprint points are


----------



## looigi (Nov 24, 2010)

Pretty cool panel of color commentators, IMO, following what's been done in other sports reporting for ages. The fact that they're all pretty quirky works when there's a number of them to dilute and play off each other. Agree Steve's questions can be a somewhat inscrutable for oxygen starved foreign speaking brains. And I've said it since Christian VV first made an appearance commentating, he needs some elocution coaching.


----------



## 9W9W (Apr 5, 2012)

The more Jens I listen to the more I have to agree that he's good as a soundbyte guy or in small doses. I love Jens as much as the next guy but he's not particularly good in that role. They should have HIM interview riders out in the field.


----------



## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Mapei said:


> I gotta defend Steve Schlanger. He's a solid anchor guy who's temporarily stuck in purgatory as third (or is that fourth or fifth?) banana. Of course, if I were sticking a microphone in a non-English speaker's face and asking questions, I'd do my best to keep the questions simple and to the point. I mean, how well _do_ they understand English?
> 
> As for Jens, he gets better each day. He's a smart guy. He knows his stuff. And I dig his accent. Bobke, though, is truly the Maillot Jaune of the broadcast's chattering contingent.


I couldn't agree more with this. I don't find him hard to understand at all? ,aye because I'm in international work... I think his English is excellent. And I agree, now after day 3 I think he's getting better.


----------



## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

Skewer said:


> Jens gotta go. His accent is too strong, and I can't understand a word he's saying.


He's German, and that's is native language. What do you expect? Perfect American English?

The more he speaks some sort of English, the better he'll get.


----------



## Tschai (Jun 19, 2003)

tednugent said:


> He's German, and that's is native language. What do you expect? Perfect American English?
> 
> The more he speaks some sort of English, the better he'll get.


I expect an appropriately placed commentator for the job. Not someone who will get better. Sure fine, we all like Jens as a rider and general dude and the like, but as a commentator, he sucks big time. Same with Christian. He just sucks. He essentially stutters just about every time he speaks. We need to separate the fact that we may like these guys for other reasons from the fact that they are really bad sport commentators. Trust me when I say that NBC could easily have found prior riders with the same or better insight that didn't blow anus.


----------



## Oxtox (Aug 16, 2006)

I'd like to say I like Jens' commentary, but I really don't...his delivery is flat and monotonous. there's really no real emotion or passion in what he's saying...

on Stage 1 he was talking about 'precious seconds' this and 'precious seconds' that...after the second 'precious,' the word lost its impact and he sounded like a used car salesman.

he might get better with more experience, but not counting on it.


----------



## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

I like it that the expert commentators are a bit rough. It adds authenticity. Sure, Bobke is now slick as heck, but he's been behind the desk for quite a few years now. As an alternative, how about if Bill Seward replaces all the color commentators?

Finally, I gotta say it's too bad that GoGo seems to be a casualty in the network's quest for bigger name brands.


----------



## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Tschai said:


> I expect an appropriately placed commentator for the job. Not someone who will get better. Sure fine, we all like Jens as a rider and general dude and the like, but as a commentator, he sucks big time. Same with Christian. He just sucks. He essentially stutters just about every time he speaks. We need to separate the fact that we may like these guys for other reasons from the fact that they are really bad sport commentators. Trust me when I say that NBC could easily have found prior riders with the same or better insight that didn't blow anus.


There are commentators in sports that Americans actually care about that aren't much better. I agree that professional commentators would be a good thing, but professional ex-racer commentators messes up that a lot. They don't have communication training. They are getting that on the fly. I don't think coverage sucks, I think it's a little rough around the edges for sure... The announcers don't know what the video folk are going to put on screen? But hey, we are dealing with like ESPN 8 the "Ocho!"


----------



## ucfquattroguy (Nov 10, 2012)

I think Jensie just needs some more 'seat time' as a TV guy. I recently attended a meet and greet here in Orlando and he's quite the guy to listen to given the correct 'format'. Lots of Q&A where he could go long-form with his answers and tell stories. Very cool guy to listen to. I have a suspicion that he'd be GREAT as a full-on commentator once he gets comfy behind the camera/mic/whatever. The guy has some great insight that just needs to be untapped.


----------



## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

MisterMike said:


> I find him a welcome addition to the NBC Sports coverage. I think he still needs to loosen up but that will come with time I guess. Then we'll be treated to some real colorful Jensie-isms.
> On the other hand, that Steve guy on the motorcycle has to go. I can't get Les Nessman out of my mind whenever that guy comes on.
> 
> So yae or nae for Jens?


And again, today Jens was full of making wrong calls. The Crash with 25k to go - Jens insists it was in second group, while VdV convincingly keeps saying "No, Jens, I am pretty sure it was the first group, it was a small group". VdV is correct.
Just 5 min before that Jens decided to complain how come nobody is attacking from the first group. VdV points out they are riding into the headwind, not cross-winds. 

Sorry, but Jens needs to make a single correct call before I start liking him as a commentator. (I do like him as a rider, just not commentator, at least not yet - VdV, Bobke, Sherwen and Liggett, yes even Liggett, are more knowledgeable and professional.).


----------



## JaeP (Mar 12, 2002)

*Kristen Gum for the WIN!*

Let's all agree that it's a sausage factory when it comes to TV cycling commentary. Let's bring back some variety . . . .


----------



## mpre53 (Oct 25, 2011)

Remember how we all thought that CVV sucked last year? He's gotten better. Jens will improve, too.


----------



## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

Phil and Paul talk ALL THE TIME. I tend to overlook an occasional mistake, so what if Liggett said Quintana was a Spain national champion, we all noticed, and those who didn't notice don't care. By the way, it's Liggett who makes most mistakes, Paul and Bobke are just fine.
But he talks for 6 hours every day, and if you had to talk for 6 hours every day, non-stop, you would make a mistake or two. And yes, I watch Eurosport, and Sean Kelly is very knowledgable but he is also boring as hell and I feel like I am going to fall asleep to his commentary it's so peaceful and calming. By the way, Bobke used to be like that, low and monotone during long commentaries, he raised the pitch of his voice dramatically over the years and use tone range a lot more and he uses football analogies all of a sudden, which means that someone is working with them, professionally.

Jens, in comparison, has about an hour to think what to say and then say it well. So his stakes are a lot higher. When they call on him, he better say something meaningful. 

Just this morning, and I didn't watch entire show, just bits at breakfast - they cut to him and he goes on about how breakaway will succeed, especially now that Tommy Voeckler is trying to bridge after the sprint and he for sure will have the strength of two men once he gets the smell of the stage win. Are you serious, Jens? The break was totally doomed at that point, and so was Voeckler's lame attempt at grabbing some TV time with his tongue and facial expressions. I left for work before I saw how it played out, but it did play out the way I expected.

What I don't want is someone telling me lies they know are lies just so I keep being glued to TV for a few more minutes. I don't want someone confusing the audience just so they can remind everyone how they coined the phrase "Shut Up Legs", or "If you don't try you don't win" which were both used today, apparently the second one is stolen from Chris Boardman.

Today I even got a glimpse of humor when Phil Liggett, yes, the senile guy who once in a while mis-speaks, was poking fun at Jensie, asking him if he thought that Voeckler had any chance at winning the stage when he was brought to within 5 seconds of the peloton. With like 20K to go. It was hilarious. 

Yes, I am sorry but even if it is cool to hate on Phil and Paul, they are still the best commentary team, if you are one of the haters, name who is better. They are SOO much, definitely better than someone Jens, he sucks and hypes and he is always wrong. Imagine Jens talking for 5 min non-stop. Now imagine him talking for 1 hour non-stop. Now 5 hours. You get the picture.

VdV is actually extremely impressive. He started a bit mediocre but improved a great deal, a huge deal. After just a year, he is way better than Bobke now. He is young, handsome and charismatic, he knows his stuff very well, knows most riders personally, and can take a joke (like in this morning segment about rain gear when he was accused of being "high maintenance"). He has a lot of future. Probably will be taking Phil's spot soon.

Bobke needs to go back to being a weird Bobke with weird phrases and jokes about Schluge or Tour DAY France, he is best at his natural habitat. The managers over-polished him now, and he loses his appeal. Let Bobke be Bobke, use his own weird sense of humor etc.


----------



## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

JaeP said:


> Let's all agree that it's a sausage factory when it comes to TV cycling commentary. Let's bring back some variety . . . .


Compared to Jensie. I would really rather watch Kristen Gum. She got a lot of flak, but she was a lot of fun on the camera. I am sure there was some drinking before the show involved, but she was always fun. 

Was there a single woman covering TdF after she was fired? I don't think so. Bring Kristen Gum BACK! We love her. (I am serious, we LOVE her).


----------



## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

mpre53 said:


> Remember how we all thought that CVV sucked last year? He's gotten better. Jens will improve, too.


Yes, I and I think I was very critical of CVV and now he is amazingly good. But even while criticizing him we all knew he had potential.

Somehow I don't think the same of Jens. With CVV it was a matter of dictation style and a few lessons for better delivery. His content was always gold. With Jensie, I jus tdon't see it. It has nothing to do with his german accent. What he has to contribute is never that impressive or meaningful, even if spoken in brittish accent. Perhaps he is too nervous?


----------



## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

Tschai said:


> They all suck. I like the BeIn Sports guys and its overall coverage much better. And please don't yap to me about how I should be grateful for having coverage and the like. I know all that and I know that I don't have to watch it. The fact still remains that the coverage sucks.


Seriously? You think BeIn sports guys are golden standard of commentary?
It's like saying Budweiser is the king of CRAFT beers.


----------



## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

Mapei said:


> I gotta defend Steve Schlanger. He's a solid anchor guy who's temporarily stuck in purgatory as third (or is that fourth or fifth?) banana.


for the record, I counted all bananas. Steve Schlanger is currently a 7th banana, but if he works super-hard and if he is super-lucky, in just a few years he can be promoted to being a 6th banana. Which is better than GoGo's banana or Kristen Gum's banana, in TdF coverage banana's rankings.


----------



## Tschai (Jun 19, 2003)

55x11 said:


> Seriously? You think BeIn sports guys are golden standard of commentary?
> It's like saying Budweiser is the king of CRAFT beers.


I never said golden standard. I said better than NBC. 

All this talk about CVV improving is simply poppycock. He stutters just about every time he talks. Horrible delivery. Whatever "insights" he may have are overtaken by his crap diction. Moreover, his "insights" blow anu$. He takes the same old boring standard positions everyone else does. For example, his take on Cavendish's "sitting up" in Stage 2 was pathetic. At first he didn't even want to say anything on the issue. None of the commentators want to piss off any of the riders. It's sh!te. 

Paul and Phil are simply way too histrionic. Enough with the dramatics. As an aside, I heard Phil say that Martin was only "six-tenths-one-hundredths" of a second away from the Yellow Jersey. Gotta love this crap.


----------



## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

Tschai -- turn down the sound. Cue up Kraftwerk or Verdi. Let the red breathe a bit before you sip it. In other words, there's no reason to take the commentary so seriously.


----------



## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

Bobke and The Jensie are the only reason to watch the studio broadcasts IMHO.


----------



## Tschai (Jun 19, 2003)

Mapei said:


> Tschai -- turn down the sound. Cue up Kraftwerk or Verdi. Let the red breathe a bit before you sip it. In other words, there's no reason to take the commentary so seriously.


Thanks for the "advice", but I am not taking it seriously. I have an opinion. Simple enough.


----------



## redcon1 (Jul 22, 2008)

I'd rather hear from Jens, a guy who rode the tour so many times (and recently!) than all the other talking heads. Insight into what the riders are thinking makes it so much more interesting. Phil and Paul are legendary, but misspeak so often it's funny. Christian has gotten better, and I agree that Bobke is getting too polished-- I liked him better rough around the edges and spouting 'bobkeisms.'


----------



## Horze (Mar 12, 2013)

Shenzi is already quite loose. Why would you want him to loosen up yet more?


----------



## Horze (Mar 12, 2013)

JaeP said:


> Let's all agree that it's a sausage factory when it comes to TV cycling commentary. Let's bring back some variety . . . .


You know if it's too good to be true, all they're doing is passing time.


----------



## Oxtox (Aug 16, 2006)

I said earlier that I want to like Jens...still do.

he's not nearly as tight as in the early stages, but I don't find his 'insider's view' to be interesting at all.

one of the other talking heads asked Jens what he thought two riders from different teams were jawing about...his penetrating insight was to say "I don't know..."

maybe Hanna's horse should be given a shot at announcing...


----------

