Professional Cycling For the Fans - 'Cutters'?

Watching the Tour is great and very motivating. OLN does a great job. However, the so called 'Cutters' have nothing in common with the Cutters of the movie Breaking Away and, so far, they are obnoxious, loud, annoying, and add nothing to the viewing of the Tour. Just my two pesos worth. Now, back to the Tour!

More crap that has nothing to do with the race.

I used to think that we'd come a long ways from the days of CBS' sunflower shots and touching rider bios.

Now I'm not so sure.

Heck I'd take the bio's and sunflowers.
The entire segment is an embarrasement.
Did you see the CIPO crap? sure they may be fans however it
sure makes us look like stupid americans
"Hey Axel how many autographs did you sign today?" what cr@p.

If I was the producer/writer of Breaking Away I'd sue the pants off of OLN
and these tifosi wannabes.

Marty

The epitome of stupid, ignorant, ill mannered Americans - nice job of disrespecting Migel Induran, Mario Cippolini, and European tour visitors during Stage 1. Fan's perspective? Oh please. Which demographic is this segment designed to appeal to or attract?

I feel bad for Hans Rey... What a lousy gig.

Big Mig is a cycling god to me. Who was that dude talking to him? :)
i'd be like, "can i take your pulse?":) instead he asks a question and
then doesn't have the facilities to hear the answer... oh well..

I thought I was the only one totally embarassed by these guys. Kirsten Gum was talking to spectators today and made some classless remark about how Jan does in the rain ( referring to his crash in the TT last yr I guess). She said something like " We all know how Jan does in the rain". Gum and the Cutters are quite embarassing to say the least

The Cutters segment is absolutely brutal to watch. Only hope is the lame punks get too ripped to air.

After catching this horrid excuse for content on the Prologue day I now instictively reach for the FF button when I hear any mention of Kirsten. I gave her a chance figuring she couldn't possbily be as bad as last year... I was wrong... she's worse.

When I first heard about it, 'the tour in the eyes of the spectators' I kind of got excited. However, when I watched it, the 2 hour show probably has only 15 minutes of non stage footage. That sucks. I was expecting all this stuff from roaming around the stage starts/finishes, to going around the team busses and all that. Needless to say, 'roadside tour' isn't on my tour must watch list. When they interviewed big mig I was thinking 'alright, they are asking him about lance's chances, let's see what big mig says.' Instead he cut him off and acted like an ass. I was actually sitting with my mouth dropped open at how crass that was. As I understand it big mig is real big on the publicity and is low key. I felt bad for him because he didn't know what they were saying and probably felt dumb. The only part I did like was when they gave him the livestrong wristband, although they screwed that up by saying 'my! what big hands you have!'. At least gum is with them and not commentating! That's the only overall good thing!

As much as I’m pleased that OLN is covering the Tour I have to agree that they are really bad at it. With the Cutters they seem to be trying to capture the craziness that surrounds the tour, but I think they are just making themselves and our country look like a bunch of bumbling fools.

I would suggest that rather than trying to draw people to the sport by making it out to be a European version of Spring Break they should dedicate time to educating American viewers on the history and intricacies of the sport. Otherwise when Lance is done and there are no Yellow wristbands to wear anymore American “cycling fans” will just disappear.

Please OLN, stop playing to the lowest common denominator.

Speaking of teaching people about the history, what happened to that bob posey guy? Wasn't that his name? He was supposed to do bits about the history. I have only seen him so far on the pre tour show, nothing so far during the coverage I've been watching.

God. I just saw my first footage of the "Cutters" imitating Ligget and Sherwin. What morons. I'm on OLN's website right now leaving Feedback...

The 'Cutters' should get the axe!

Everyone who hates them should go to OLN's site and use the "feedback" form. Since it appears to be filmed "live", we might be able to get them off...

They remind me of folks I have know whose only memories of travels are of the bars in which they spent the whole trip.

Bob Posey: He is a former very successful race car driver, who has written and commentated on races, and other things. He's intelligent and insightful, and I will be looking for his input.

Bob Posey: He is a former very successful race car driver, who has written and commentated on races, and other things. He's intelligent and insightful, and I will be looking for his input.
His name is Sam Posey, not Bob Posey.

sounds like there is real 'want' for the technical prep stuff-- and explaining
the history is a terrific idea.. And yeah, the "Americans Gone Wild" act is
really not entertaining. There is sooo much there, i have no idea what
they are doing with the 'roadside tour.' *Heck*, show the trucks setting
up the barriers.. at least it would be something.

i just saw another 'Cutter's' segment--looking for the podium girls. geez, Messin' with Merckx, pulling their shirts out to make tits. these guys gotta go!

Everyone who hates them should go to OLN's site and use the "feedback" form. Since it appears to be filmed "live", we might be able to get them off...
And while visiting OLN and asking them to send the Cutters back to Bloomington, don't forget to enter the sweepstakes...todays word is "Attack".

I've already sent OLNTV 2 feedbacks, 1 of which is the link to this thread. Please people, continue to send OLNTV your comments regarding these morons, and hopefully they'll be pulled off soon.

i did the same when i started the thread. hopefully they'll get the message.

I don't have access to the Roadside Tour (I catch the stages live at a friend's house). Can someone please tell me what these jackasses did to mess with Eddy?

http://ww2.olntv.com/feedback.asp

What everyone else said! I just saw them today, and I'm now embarrassed to be an American, a cyclist, and a human being. They must go. The MUST go. I'm heading to olntv.com to voice my feelings now. Ugh.

Okay, I'll say it...as an American, I am not embarassed by the cutters. They do not represent Americans! Agreed, they are a sorry bunch of jackasses propagated by OLN, but come on...They do not represent us.

Okay, I'll say it...as an American, I am not embarassed by the cutters. They do not represent Americans! Agreed, they are a sorry bunch of jackasses propagated by OLN, but come on...They do not represent us.
true but do you think all of the Euro riders/fans etc. know that?

It's the perception, unfortunately. When the Europeans see a gang of punks get in their face, asking about the podium girls and making gestures of boobs, being loud and obnoxious (Remember- older Europeans are a rather reserved lot... heck, I am not old, an American and can't stand their antics)... seeing them berating a racing legend like Mercxx to a point that he ignored them. What do you think their 'generalized' perception of American people to be? Regardless if these *******s represents us or not.

I am very offended to have this level of juvenile behaviors demonstrated, endorsed and promoted on TV.

Okay, I'll say it...as an American, I am not embarassed by the cutters. They do not represent Americans! Agreed, they are a sorry bunch of jackasses propagated by OLN, but come on...They do not represent us.

As a non-American I can tell you therein lies the danger. I've lived here for 11 years and feel educated enough to state that no, the "Cutters", from what I've read (don't get OLN), are not representative. But they are the ones on TV and unfortunately they perpetuate the popular image of the "ugly american". It's the same if you go to the south of spain (Costa Del Sol) - full of ignorant British yobs getting drunk and violent in the sun. I used to avoid them like the plague. They too are not reflective, but they present an image. Most Americans I talk to here think that all British soccer matches are violent brawls. Not true, but that's what gets shown on ESPN and other "news" outlets.

We were so excited to watch "Roadside Tour"! What a waste! I guess we aren't the only ones who hate the cutters. The show has all kinds of potential to show background, some area history, tech stuff, well all kinds of interesting things. Instead we watched a bunch of punks harassing cycling legends, acting stupid and generally embarrasing Americans. OLN's live coverage is great! Except we want more Bob Roll. He's great also. We're going to the OLN website now to express our displeasure.

Okay, I'll say it...as an American, I am not embarassed by the cutters. They do not represent Americans! Agreed, they are a sorry bunch of jackasses propagated by OLN, but come on...They do not represent us.

Perception is REALITY!!!! :(

His name is Sam Posey, not Bob Posey.

Ha! Whoops....thanks for the nudge. Was following the other post's lead, and have Bob on the brain.

Again, can someone explain to me how and why these guys messed with Eddy?

Those fools were lucky enough to have a chance to meet the great Eddy, and what did they do...they asked him if he was there for the "podium girls"...and other crude comments. Eddy was obviously annoyed. Again, they are absolute idiots.

I watched the show for a few minutes and couldn't stand it.
I wondered if they just hired some morons off of the street.

I think they must have been the "coffee boys" back at the OLN office. Or, the OLN executives spoiled rotten sons.

So... comcast owns OLN. I'm sending comcast some feedback. There are more than 1 way to get DSL and cable. Right? :-)

So... comcast owns OLN. I'm sending comcast some feedback. There are more than 1 way to get DSL and cable. Right? :-)


good idea... can you post for us the comcast feedback/comment email?

About these cutter guys, yes they are disrespectful and stupid, but they are not brand new cycling fans. I was watching my 2001 TdF DVD set and on Stage 12(I believe it's 12 - it's where Felix Cardenas won), you can see them (inflatable Shamu and all) cheering on Lance and running up alongside him on the final climb. Shortly thereafter Lance attacked Jan and finished the stage 3rd with Laiseka.

Ugh - I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who'd like to *****-slap these dolts! Does OLN know the demographics of their audience - why are they playing to MTV viewers? Next thing we know Ashton (I-Can't-Act) Kutcher will show up and "Punk" some rider by stealing the chain off their bike...

I agree with what some others have said above - get Bob Roll out there. He can be a character, but in a good way. And he'd bring a lot of actual KNOWLEDGE to the show as well. It could be a really interesting, fun show. Instead it's a freakshow that's simply annoying and embarrassing to Americans everywhere.

Here's my feedback comment as posted to OLN:
Dear Sirs / Ma'am
My comment is about the "Roadside Tour" program.

I don't know what the hell you people are trying to pull with this year's coverage of the TdF but your "Roadside Tour" program SUCKS. It is the most inane thing I've ever had the displeasure of witnessing. If I was Phil Liggit or Paul Sherwin I would be ROYALLY pissed off at the "impressions" that your "Cutter" stooges were attempting. I held my peace whenever you brought in that Bobblehead doll with the nice rack last year (Kirsten Gum) because though she had a noticeable lack of knowledge she was relatively enthusiastic. Flash forward to this year and we have a segment with the Cutters in which she is asked "Paris, France or Paris Hilton" Needless to say I sure as hell didn't need to know her thoughts on the Paris Hilton sex video AS IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE RACE. I'm not one of those yahoos who supports the current level of censorship paranoia but when I want to watch the TdF I don't need BS like that mixed in. I have no problem with Hans Rey or even the dumbed down Lance-centric Al Trautwig (Why him?) Bob Roll prime-time show even though they're merely overdubbing the Sherwin Liggett commentary which is light years ahead of anything uber-verbose Al Trautwig could produce simply because he doesn't have the cycling background of Phil, Paul, or Bob.
Sincerly,
Mr. (name witheld for the forum)
St. Petersburg, FL

There's a category of "other comments". what the heck...

http://www.comcast.net/memberservices/contactus/contact_us.jsp


good idea... can you post for us the comcast feedback/comment email?

Here's what I posted:

Dear OLN Execs:

You set the bar high this year for your Tour de France coverage - including the brilliant "Cyclism" marketing campaign featuring Jason Lee and the talented on-air team you've assembled.

Yesterday, however, I had the extreme displeasure of viewing the "Roadside Tour" program featuring the "Cutters." I guess they're supposed to offer an "irreverent look at the tour?" I guess they're trying to be funny? Well, all they're accomplishing is being really embarrassing, obnoxious and unnecessary. The rest of your Tour coverage has been top notch. When those dolts come on, however, I change the channel as quickly as I can. Please, to avoid tarnishing all of your coverage, get rid of these idiots. They're an example of all that is "ugly" about Americans and should be viewed by OLN as an embarrassment!

Why not put someone like Bob Roll out there? He can actually be funny while being respectful and offer interesting insight into what's really going on behind the cameras. Not "looking for podium girls" or talking about sex or the other absurd topics of interest the ridiculous "Cutters" come up with. Please, make it end!

Thank you.

ya know, it seems like if they get too many criticisms, they may want
to forgo subjecting everyone to such awfulness and revert back to something
people don't complain about and obviously enjoy like Fishing and Rodeo.

just tryin' to keep a good thing good--TT

I'm waiting for the smackdown match of cutters vs simoni thugs
vs Soccer Thugs.

Marty

lotek - sounds like a Pay-Per-View event to me. I'd pay to watch it. :D

TwoTyred - I understand your fear about not wanting to rock the boat too much, but trust me, OLN is happy to get feedback. First, it tells them a lot of people are watching and second, it tells them what's working and what needs work. Obviously, the "Cutters" need work - other work - like pulling cable for the satellite truck. Finally, I'm sure plenty of people also complain about annoyances with OLN's coverage of rodeo/fishing - we just don't hear it. Taking and logging complaints is the nature of TV. It's what the producers and executives do with those complaints that makes all the difference...

Pretty much agree with all your comments about the Cutters segments. But hey, this is live an being produced as we speak. Why not let OLN know how you feel (be nice) and maybe they'll make some changes. Personally, I think I'll send them this link as an FYI.
Steve

I think I found the proper place for The Cutters.....

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid126/p89f34f0ed4fb644c444fe5e58d074537/f7f71439.jpg

Gee and I thought George Bush was the reason the world hated America.... :rolleyes:
The segment on the 4th with those idiots walking around asking the French and Belgians how they 'celebrated the 4th' was just the pinnacle of American ignorance, I was really, really embarassed. The 'Paris, France or Paris Hilton' bit was rediculous as well, if I wanted 'The Real World' I'd watch MTV.

Sadly, I actually find GWB more entertaining than the Cutters. For those who don't know I make no secret of my opinion of GWB.
http://img10.exs.cx/img10/837/pic189.jpg

I want to rip the arms and legs off the cutters, and beat Al Troutwig to death with them. Perhaps that's just me, though?