Professional Cycling For the Fans - great phil liggett-ism's

when robbie mcewen won the sprint, did anyone hear the call? phil said 'and robbie mcewen takes the sprint and the stage....and leaves the debris behind' (as the camera catches the 2 tangled up riders trying to right themselves)

what a great call.

And he pronounced it "DEH bree" instead of "duh BREE". Gotta love the accent :)

Phil Ligget = the John Madden of Cycling :D

Are we listing them here? There was one yesterday when the sprinters were taking off and the lead riders of the peloton were watching and Phil said something along the line of being at the front row of the afternoon matinee when referring to the rest of the riders.

when heras had a problem and his team came back to get him, phil said the "heras train is about to dock" when they reached the end of the peloton....i liked that one

I've always enjoyed Ligget's description of riders who are having a bad time of it as being "in difficulty." In fact, my team this year for the Trek Across Maine was named "Team In Difficulty" in his honor.

Here's a whole page of them:

http://members.tripod.com/~Todd_Carrier/phil.htm

Here's a whole page of them:

http://members.tripod.com/~Todd_Carrier/phil.htm

Excellent web site :lol:

"Suitcase of courage" is my favorite Liggettism. I think it got to be so defining that he's stopped using it so much now.

Good find, Laggard.

Phil and Paul are the best commentators in sports. I probably would not be able to watch cycling if it weren't for them - I can't stand Al Trautwig. Bob Roll is cool though.

When a rider was trying to bridge a gap Paul says "he's finding himself in a spot of bother". Spot of bother, been saying that to myself for two days

I like when paul says 'that rider is going through all kinds of purgatory' or 'he is really hurting himself here today'. Just makes it sound like the rider is battling for the fate of the world.

At the fisnish line of one of the mountain stages of the Tour d'Italia this year--
i don't know the specifics--the riders all just crawling up the hill, looked like
pure hell for everyone and finally the first rider crosses the finish and within
a second the next guy and a few others muscle across and for this Phil says:
"And here come the stragglers!!" i will always remember that. i thought, sh*t,
give 'em something... geeze! I know 'second sucks...' but damn..
Reminds me also of the Ironman where i saw the winner get a wreath thingy
the size of a Derby horse's and the next guy gets this tiny red string of
cranberry sized beads. I guess compassion isn't part of it--eh?

"Suitcase of courage" is my favorite Liggettism. I think it got to be so defining that he's stopped using it so much now.

I thought "Suitcase of Courage" was a great Paul Sherwin-ism :D

- Buddy Lee

My favorite is from the 99 tour when Armstong first tour up the mountain past Fernando Escartin. Phil said, "Armstrong is ripping the legs off this climber." I loved that.

I've always enjoyed Ligget's description of riders who are having a bad time of it as being "in difficulty." In fact, my team this year for the Trek Across Maine was named "Team In Difficulty" in his honor.

Whenever I'm climbing and feel like I'm ready to die I always hear Phil in the back of mind saying, "oh Paul, those legs have gone, Those legs have gone paul." - I love it. :)

"There he goes like a homeick angel!"

My favorite is when someone attacks on a mountain..." He's blown the Peloton to pieces!"

Todd who? It's RICHIE CUNNINGHAM! :)

"He's dancing on his pedals in a most immodest way!"

Best quote on that site by far.

my favourite quote is a bobke ism.
"they are dying like dogs in the gutter today"

or

"they are dying like animals on this climb"

Great stuff, not sure what it means but great stuff.

marty

On a crash: "Right in the middle of the peleton... and they have PILED it!"

2 great Ligget-isms: "He's got the elastic at full stretch!" and, of course, "Armstrong is coming down the straight like a Grand Prix motorcar!"

I quite liked when he said in reference to Ullrich powering up an alp: "look at those pistons he calls legs go!"

After a crash Phil says "the tackle of metal". I am stealing that one for sure.

Bobke: USPS= "8 Rides of the Apocalypse"

Bobke: USPS= "8 Riders of the Apocalypse" (Mayb Lance is the Devil :D )

This is great...

"And there goes Mayo, and Armstrong follows. So too does Ullrich but not as spritely."

I can't tell you how many times these two commentate on my rides.

I can't believe no one has commented on Sherwen's catch phrase: "Complete and utter [insert descriptive noun here]"

e.g.
-chaos
-domination
-failure
-suffering

:D

Stage 12 2004 TDF

"Armstrong is in the middle of a Danish Sandwich!"

Pauls old standby is... "Unbelievable, Phil.... this man is _____________"

And another from stage 12:
"Their legs have gone to the moon, today!"

"he's calling down to his engine room, but I'm afraid there's no steam left"

A Sherwinism: "Armstrong puts on a very strong acceleration and puts the Spanish climbers in a spot of bother."

We "dug into the suitcase of courage" today - I think that's my alltime favorite...

"he's calling down to his engine room, but I'm afraid there's no steam left"
Who hasn't been there? Ya know, that's a pretty good analogy. "Scotty! Warp 10!" "I'm sorry kepten, that's all we've got!"

Today's stage: "Their legs have gone to the Moon" (meant in a "spot of bother" way) :D

A slight twist on one of Paul's favorites: "Bridge to engine room, more power please."

From the fan site link posted further up the thread:

"He's done his job at the front and now he must concentrate on getting his enormous carcass up the rest of the way" :D

and

"Here comes the balding pate of Levi Leipheimer" :D

On Stage 16, did you hear Paul Sherwen get upset while they were watching Lance and the crowds were closing in? He said "Get out of the way... PLEASE!" I don't think he was saying "And I'll bet Lance is thinking...". He just got caught up and got a little panicky :D I bet he was standing up and yelling at the monitor... Heheh. Gotta love those 2 :)

Paul Sherwen said something today about Lance being "determinated". Has he resorted to making up words to match the Ligget-isms? :D

From the fan site link posted further up the thread:

"He's done his job at the front and now he must concentrate on getting his enormous carcass up the rest of the way" :D

and

"Here comes the balding pate of Levi Leipheimer" :D

That first quote had me crying with laughter, who was he talking about :lol: :roflmao:

No clue, but it's a good one :)

when robbie mcewen won the sprint, did anyone hear the call? phil said 'and robbie mcewen takes the sprint and the stage....and leaves the debris behind' (as the camera catches the 2 tangled up riders trying to right themselves)

what a great call.

My favorite is when he and Paul refer to Jan as a "beast of a man". Makes me giggle!

today Phil said that the guys in the break were "running like scalded cats!"

Two of my favorites: back in the tour 99 or 2000 on mount von toux I think, Armstrong passed a guy really quickly one the climb- Paul Sherwin: "and here comes Armstrong, hello how are you thank you very much GOODBUY."

Earlier in this years race when Laurent Brochard made a break and attacked at the end of the stage:
Liggett: "And is that Laurent Brochard on the edge of our picture.....Now that is such a typical Brochard move!!"

Its also kind of funny to hear Phil Liggett talk about the best places to swim with the sharks.

"and here comes Armstrong, hello how are you thank you very much GOODBUY." I remember that one. PERFECT! :D

Paul Sherwin on close-up of Armstrong: Look at that face, it tells you nothing.

Phil Ligget: It tells me he's going to win the Tour de France, that's what it tells me.

g'day,

The Olympic mens RR, 'big maggie' backstedt has escaped off the front & is obviously doing it hard, Phil goes, "Big Maggie, pulling that enormous carcass up the climb once again"...lol...i thought maggie must have had a dead cow tied to the back of his bike!,

cheers,

Hitchy

I thought Phil's best effort was a couple of years ago. I was watching some packaged highlights of a race we had down here, where Phil and Paul Sherwin were commentating. All through the telecast, there was a voice in the background that was coming through a PA system on the course. After a while, I realised that Liggett was doing the PA work, AND the television commentary.

So, he was doing to commentary jobs at once!! :D

The TV commentary was obviously done after the race.

This is great...

My favorite sports commentator...ever, thanks for the reminder