HIPCHIP

So who else thinks Versus dropped the ball when, with 1.6 miles left of Stage 3 of the TOC, the biggest bike race in the USA and one of the biggest bike races in the world, they stop so they can go to a hockey pregame show? I went to the Amgen TOC site to watch the finish, like VS said to do, and either the million hits slowed down their computer or it just wouldn't come up, so missed the end of stage 3.

Yes, and the hockey pre-game chatter and commercials was just wonderful........NOT!

GrayJay

I really despise versus. I just started getting universal sports coverage this month, watching thier coverage of the Giro really makes me realize how aweful versus is. If they are not going to do a decent job, I wish they would just drop thier cycling coverage so they can concentrate on the BS of pro rodeo coverage they seem to be more familiar with, let universal take over coverage of all the big races.

DonDenver

I launched the site with about 10 minutes to go after I heard Phil mention the change due to Hockey...I actually did not notice the crawl accross the screen I was so focused on the break and small gap to the pier by last years podium boys. Sorry you missed it...it was Ok on laptop...but like finding sites during the Olympics that NBC was not patrolling as quickly, you had to act early before the rush.

OrionKhan

Yeah, I tried to find a site but everything was bogged down. Missed it. Lame. Very lame.

Gerrylightning

Versus bombed then the TOC site bombed, then I shot Versus a nasty gram, I doubt it will help but it felt good to vent.

HIPCHIP

Vs. is the only provider I get that even shows bicycle racing, and I've sent them an e-mail in the past that I appreciated it, but I sent them one this time equating this to the Heidi-Bowl incident. I congratulated them for showing the bike races, but said it was pretty stupid to switch to the opening chatter of the beginning of one of the hockey playoff games when the end of bike race, which I understand was a photo-finish, was just a few minutes away.

If it's got two wheels, we are not important in the world of sports it seems!

OrionKhan

I understand that they have contractual obligations. And I understand the NHL conference finals would take precedence. But the race was a couple of minutes from the end. And the start of the game was a good 5-10 minutes away. They could have even done a split screen for the end of the race. Jeez, Versus are the ones hyping it up. They don't stand behind they're own hype.

What's going to happen tomorrow, the race coverage gets cut off to show pro bull riding that was recorded last weekend?

insidious meme

via Lance Armstrong's twitter:

"Who's the dumbass @versustv that cut off @AmgenTourofCali coverage w/ a mile to go for pregame hockey?? #pathetic"

HIPCHIP

I had Vs. still on while trying to find the on-line finish. The actual hockey game started at 11 minutes after (so 4:11 PM local time). They wouldn't have missed anything if they'd just let it run over a couple of minutes!!

Maybe Lance will send Vs a little e-mail telling them how silly they are, or they monitor his twitter page!!

Porkchopwi

Sent to Vs. and AToC:
Versus Management:

Wow. Bush league.

I’m really reluctant to bite the only hand that feeds me over-the-air cycling coverage (we don’t get Universal Sports yet, sigh) but once again your coverage of the Tour of California has turned into a train wreck.

For some reason I seem to recall sending an almost identical e-mail last year.

Today’s decision to cut coverage short is inexcusable -- contractual obligations to the NHL or not. There wasn’t much time left in the race and all that would have been lost was pre-game coverage (and there‘s no recap show tonight… but I can watch WEC Wreckage instead. Whoopie). But I’m sure the NHL contract pays more than your contract with the AToC. I’m sure you guys will sleep well regardless.

In terms of Tuesday’s coverage (and subsequent “recap” show at 10 p.m. CST) why is it the French can show me images in the rain and fog in some of the highest mountains in the world and you guys can’t show me a race in my own country because it's raining?

The ultimate irony of all this is you are a network that LOVES to hype the American teams, events and riders and on a day where you actually get an American team and American rider winning an American race…. YOU DON’T EVEN SHOW IT LIVE! Nice work.

So, time for the kiddies to take their hands off the controls and leave it to the pros (Europeans) to get the coverage right. Or at least take a page from their book.

Here’s to wishing you better luck the rest of this week.

Dubbayoo

They were probably contractually obligated and sadly, I bet the hockey game gets better ratings than ToC.

socalrider

It shows where TV execs think Cycling is in the USA by pulling the plug with a few minutes to go..

OrionKhan

Probably true on both accounts. But I still think they could have done a split screen for a few minutes.

I wonder what the execs at Amgen think about the TV coverage so far?

EventServices

The media buy goes to 4pm. The race went long. It's a gamble to try to time a 113-mile road race to end prior to 4pm when you have no control over the pace of the race.

It's the roll of the dice. Sometimes you win, sometimes you Heidi.

OrionKhan

Looks like Versus is taking some, and rightfully so, on their own discussion boards. I'm normally not one to promote piling on, but if we don't do it then nobody will speak up for the cycling fans out there.

https://www.versus.com/community/forums/

valygrl

Yeah, that fully sucked. ANyone have a link where I can watch the last 2km?

OTOH, compared to the Universal Sports coverage of the Giro, the Versus announcers are way better. Seriously, it took those bozos like 45 minutes to mention that they didn't know if Basso was in the crash with the rest of Liquigas. Sheesh.

gus6464

The stupid thing about all of this is that I was watching both the net feed and the TV feed and the stage literally ended 2 minutes after they cut it off. They were showing those dumb intro videos when Zabriskie passed the finish line. The NHL coverage had not even begun. This was an absolute fail on behalf of Vs. From this point on I am just going to log on to the netcast to watch the rest of the tour.

EventServices

There is a re-air on Versus every night for the Amgen Tour of California. Today's stage airs again tonight at 12:30am EST/9:30pm PST

Set your TiVO

backinthesaddle

I e-mailed Versus right away after the debacle. Couldn't log onto the ATOC website so I missed the end. Yes, it was a Heidi moment, Yes, sportscasters learned years ago (Heidi game) that they need flexibility in their broadcasts. And to cut away to a pre-game!! Can't believe it.



So why do you think that the rebroadcast will have the missing minutes???

Hunt-man

That was so sweet, watching on DVR, exciting ending, almost there...... Amazing point to cut off for hocky pre game bs. So I went to amgenTOC.com and there was nothing to watch, since I missed it a few hours ago. At lest there was a still photo of them crossing the line.

Not to mention the excellent coverage of stage 2 yesterday. Amazing to see them ride across the line. That was epic! A 2 hour spectacle of amazement.

OrionKhan

I think people are just used to hearing Paul and Phil on Versus. The Universal guys are fine. I'll take the Universal coverage of the Giro any day over this crap from Versus. Paul and Phil lost a lot of luster with me last year. I know they're company guys and all, but they've lost a lot of their objectivity in their announcing. Especially any race that involves Lance.

IMO, Universal's cycling coverage is a lot better than Versus. Sure they're basically taking the world feed and announcing over it. But you don't get all of the BS sponsor segments, promotions, and interviews. (I am sick and tired of that frickin' road ID commercial with Levi and Bob Roll chatting about it, from cripes sake) Universal has a few re-airs throughout the day. Plus, a lot of races during the season. Races like the Giro and Vuelta, the world championships, Tour of Basque, Tirreno-Adriatico, etc. And they'll rerun races later on in the year. Its not even close, in my opinion. Sometimes less is more.

DonDenver

Agree. US is gaining ground...and hopefully the vid feed quality will follow suit. Competition and issues like we're witnessing will all sort out ultimately making our cycling viewing and choices where to do so better for the lot of us.

HIPCHIP

And with all the video equipment out on the tour, you can't tell me one person doesn't have a standard DVD video camera for back-up, especially when they had a pretty good idea that it was going to rain? I mean wouldn't you learn that in "Film Making 101"? Heck, every news agency in the world goes to videotape even when it's doing a live feed too!

OrionKhan

There are some pretty entertaining rants over on Versus' message boards...

https://www.versus.com/community/foru...4-a4593b3fe24e

HIPCHIP

How's this for hypocrisy? Versus advertised the abbreviated recap of TOC stage 3 on the Versus channel tonight from 9:30 PM to 10:30 PM. So I turn on Vs. at 9:30 PM and guess what's on? The end of the hockey game and the recap, of course there were some commercials thrown in, one even for hockey. Finally, they start the recap of stage 3 of the TOC, almost 8 minutes late. I guess they couldn't interrupt hockey because interrupting a sport in the middle of the game would be STUPID!!!