Professional Cycling For the Fans - Phil Liggett

Is anyone noticing some of the comments that Phil Liggett is making during the TdF ??

Then the other commentators seem to correct him.

He's always done that. He gets a bit too excited and makes mistakes.

I thought it was because he's getting older, at least older than the rest of the fellows.

I am pretty sure yesterday I heard him say there was a gradient of 86% instead of 8.6% like the graphic said. No one corrected him. Anyone else hear that?

Yeah, Phil is quirky and gets it wrong sometimes. But he's one of the voices of this sport. I enjoy listening to him and Paul every year, and would miss that element if they went away. Hell, today he couldn't recall Wiggins name when he lead out and he's in yellow! But all the same, it didn't detract one iota from my enjoyment of the race today.

Be nice to Phil and Paul. Even Formula 1 road racing comes past the commentator booth more than once per day...not Le Tour.

Today's hiccup was announcing the 10 K when there was only 5 K left.

My fave was early in the race when a rider needed to change his bike and soon after the tv feed showed a replay of the bike breaking down and Phil yells out "now his second machine has broken down."

Still, I love to listen to him. As a long-time New York sports fan, its no different than listening to Ralph Kiner or Phil Rizzuto.

Phil made a mistake.
OMGNOWAY

I have no problem with any of the commentators, love the "ask bobke" segments. I think hearing Phil and them get so excited that they make small errors really adds to the excitement of the race. Sometimes I just have to double check things because they are incorrectly stated. All in good fun, still love the tour. Bummed to see Cavendish relegated to nothing since Wiggins is in for the win, Big Picture.. I know. Just wish he had more chances to sprint for the win at the end.

All they have is a video feed from a broadcaster that they do not control. They dont know when the camera changes are going to happen, they dont see the feed from all cameras at once, they also hear the race radio babbling in their ears and probably the NBC director as well. All the while they have to fill 3+ hours of silence. Come on, cut some slack.

Anyone who's done any type of long public speaking (let alone announcing) knows that your mouth is saying one thing, your brain is about a sentence ahead, you are also calculating and analyzing, and then add the din of distractions from outside and the inner distractions like "i have to pee, i'm hungry, I'm uncomfortable" etc.

Good job Paul and Phil

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Every time excited, another Liggism.

These have been cataloged by Donaldson.
Quite a few regard le Mond (I'm a fan, he was local to where I live).

Paul, Phil, Bob: The good, the groovy, the goofy.

Irreplaceable!

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This is what we needed. Another thread complaining about Phil.