merlinextraligh

Preface I love Phil Ligget. He's been great, and I'm sure he's forgotten more about profesional cycling than I'll ever know.

However, I think he's finally lost it. For several years his calls have been slipping, and he gets more and more wrong.

Yesterday on L'Alpe de huez, he just did not get what was going on, even after Paul repeatedly tried to explain it to him.

Ligget kept saying Frnak Schleck didn't have it, and his attaacks which should be sticking weren't.

Ligget totally missed that Frank Schleck and Andy Schleck were trying to disrupt Evans, not trying to chase down their teammate Sastre.

It was embarassing for Phil, when he kept making inane comments even with Paul trying to explain it to him.

I'm afraid Ligget's best days are behind him.

veloGeezer

Honestly, I didn't see it like that. Phil and Paul disagree on lots of stuff, and they get it wrong alot, too. I mean over the years its always like that.

They have to comentate on what they see on the race video, and they miss riders names all the time, or get confused as to what group they are seeing. I didn't really see any degradation in Phil's work this year at all.



so I have to respectfully disagree with you there

dutret

4.5min 3.5k... they better work together or they'll get caught.

Keith99

Neither do I, but I never thought any of them were very good.

veloGeezer

Now, I'm sorry, but no, I won't stand for any of that

SunSwingsLow

Phil and Paul are quite possibly the best tandem in ALL of sports broadcasting. How this boards members continues to nit pick them is beyond me.

They make 4-6 hours of broadcasting fun and informative...and let me tell you thant aint easy. I really cant figure this board out. We want biking and bike racing to be accepted in mass but adopt a snooty know it all attitude as soon as we hear a minor slip up by 2 of its front line promoters of the sport. It just makes no sense.

If you dont like the call of Paul and Phil just turn the volume down on your TV and see how well you follow the race. With all your acute skills im sure you will know exactly who is who and what is going on at all times every where on the road.

CyLowe97

Check out the Podium Cafe analysis of the Versus coverage.

There is an interesting comparison to Phil and Paul to John Madden. And if you have watched John Madden call a football game over the last 30 years or so, you'll get the spirit of the comparison.

You don't watch a lot of sports, do you?

SunSwingsLow

I watch a TON of sports. I spent 2 years as a sports broadcaster with CBS.

CyLowe97

So you think the current iteration of Paul and Phil spouting the same platitudes over and over, while butchering names and/or not getting names right is quite possibly the best tandem in all of sports broadcasting?

I would say they have a decent chemistry as a tandem, but it's gotten to the point where they don't bring a lot of new information to the booth. The epitome of current sports broadcasting? I can't get behind that opinion.

stonecrd

Ah their great fun, Phil trying to figure out how the farmers got the sheep to stand in the outline of France was priceless. Where can you get commenting like that?

SunSwingsLow

Start with telling me a sport that is harder to call than a bike race. Its 4-6 HOURS. It has riders who are all of very similar height, weight all attempting to look as uniform as possible. Now add in that you cant see the race with your own eyes, only with what the TV feed shows you. Add in one of the most multinational sports on the planet for names. Now take all that and ask ANY broadcaster on the planet to fill those 4-6 hours without making a single mistake. Now ask them to make it entertaining. Finally ask them to make it informative. Your list is gonna be REAL REAL REAL short on people who can fill that bill.

erader

john madden comes to mind here. both of these guys are still the best at what they do .

ed rader

Az B

All it takes is a little perspective.

Az

veloGeezer

by any chance are you under the age of 30?

I'm not putting you down, I'm just curious. Well, actually, I'm not putting you down YET. I'll at least be honest about that, but I think the perception of Phil and Paul may be a demographic thing.

SpongeDad

Gotta agree - I like Phil - but he's not as sharp as he was a few years ago. And I'm not talking about the missed names, who could get that right even half the time?

CyLowe97

No. I'm not under 30.

Look, I have always loved listening to Phil's calls of races. He's the voice I hear in my head when I'm suffering up a climb (Oh, CyLowe has cracked!). But even as I recognize him as the voice of professional cycling (to most US viewers), I can also recognize that the quality of his calls has diminished. Phil gets a pass, though, as he has earned it. See the Podium Cafe post I linked above.

I hope you are not going to put me down because I don't agree with the opinion above that Paul/Phil are the best tandem in all of sport. Perhaps I was a bit snide when I insinuated SunSwingsLow doesn't watch much sports. That was not called for on my part. He's got his opinion, to which he is rightly entitled.

Suzie Green

I like both Phil and Paul, and I like bike racing even more. I'm willing to put up with the odd butchering of names, the occasional mistakes of who is chasing or who is off the back, and the worn out cliches and repetitious banter. All I know is, no one would want to listen to me talk for 5 hours. There'd be calls to the network saying "Get that clueless broad off the air!"

It's bike racing as we know it, and I'll take it, warts and all.

Little Darwin

As I was watching yesterday's stage I did find myself wondering what the British public gets to listen to as far as commentary.

I would almost like to trade off, with some other English speaking nations to hear a real comparison. I like the commentary of the live coverage a lot more than I like the "Enhanced" coverage in the evening, although I have to admit it is a lot to ask to fill the air waves for 5 hours with entertaining and informative information.

I find it incredible that they can make "The 4 man break-away has a 4 minute lead on the peleton, just like they have for the last hour" into something worth watching by comenting on what sort of tour rider "X" has had, and how rider "Z" is getting water for the team, and where ridwe "W" is riding in the peleton, and flashing back to previous races, and commenting on what the riders may be considering... and on the scenery.

veloGeezer

no, no, I was kidding with that. I was actually starting to wonder if it was young people who were getting tired of Phil. you know, not "in your face" enough or something.

kc0bbq

I seem to be picking up on a Howard Cosell Monday Night Football vibe.

CyLowe97

I realize I'm being an antagonist to the Phil/Paul admiration here, but 4-6 hours of commentary?

C'mon now. Have you been WATCHING Versus broadcasts?

It would be interesting to see how much time is actually spent watching the race with regard to:

• The pre-race with Roll and Hummer
• They pick up the race many miles into a stage
• The canned fluff pieces
• The 138 Saab commercials
• The 429 Tapout promos
• The Garmin/Chipotle stylized interviews leading into the Saab/Tapout commercials
• The Saab Fly-To-The Finish Sweepstakes mentions
• The mentions of "Big George Hincapie"
• Etc.

Yes, calling a race is challenging given the circumstances, but they don't have anywhere near 4 hours of time to fill with actually calling/commenting on a live race.

veloGeezer

we make them listen to Craig Hummer all day.

hey, who wears the pants in this North Atlantic alliance anyway?

veloGeezer

now hold on a second....

I thought I was watching a Tap Out marathon with bike race commercials thrown in!

Suzie Green

OK, I'll give you back 2 hours. Still, no one would want to listen to me for 15 minutes so I'm ahead of the game.

yaya131

They do make mistakes sometimes, but I think generally they do a really great job. It's so hard to figure out what's going on during field sprints. I did think he was wrong yesterday when he said that Frank Schleck was having a bad day. His comments are always so great, though...the suitcase of courage, the Harry Potter cloak.