Especially for a flat Tour stage. if something does happen it is even money they won't have it live anyway. If they do it will be replayed over and over.

If there are riders from teams with a GC contender or a top sprinter there is a bit of strategy that can be discussed. But if it is 5 guys from teams lacking contenders there is little to say.

Have you heard the wonderful youth in LA attempt to speak English? Now that is offensive!:rolleyes:

The world will be at a loss when the Scully's, Liggets, and Sherwins are no longer with us my friend. All class, from a different and great generation, the likes this rude and crude world will never see again, so leave "the old coots" alone please...

No comparison.

Baseball is a slow game, where everyone ends where they start, and there are basically only 18 names to remember. Fairly easy sport to call. Ligget must know 200 riders, all with different strategies, all with a chance to win something, any of which could come out of the woodwork, all with different stories and records and all from every corner of the globe. I would love to hear Scully, whom I admire, call a sprint finish! He's be in the fetal position crying for his mama!:lol:

Wonder if Jen's will get into broadcasting when he retires. He would make an excellent color guy. "Shut up Phil"!

Give it a decade and the roids will die down.

wut

Funny!!!

The only reason Peter Sagan gets such press from the American media is because his name is English sounding and easy to remember.

However, it did sound like Liggett was cheerleading for Sagan, and that's a no no in my opinion.

In real live time, it was hard to tell who the winner was.

And what wonderful youth are you referring to? Do you mean like the wonderful youth of Queens or the Bronx? If those wonderful youth that you refer to were in broadcasting I would expect them to speak English correctly.


I don't have any objections, on general principle, to the old coot. He is endearing in the same manner that one's eccentric and slightly odd uncle is endearing. You put up with it and hope that he does not completely embarrass himself. I don't know if Vinnie could call a sprint finish or not. I know however, that if he did, would not continually mispronounce the names of the competitors and/or the names of the different locations. Personally, I find Phil's twisted take on names, as well as his other oddities, to be quite grating on the ear (and this is coming from a person who learned English as a second language and speaks with an accent). The "mute" button is my friend.

Oh the irony.
Most, if not all, non-Spanish speaking "Americans" pronounce Los Angeles incorrectly as well.

My point is that he is not in America, nor brodcasting for a specifically American audience. He is in France, commentating on the same live feed as everyone else, provided by the host network. His happens to be the commentary that NBC in the USA, the ITV in the UK, and a number of the other networks in the English-speaking world, choose to pick up.

In all my years in California, I don't think I've ever even heard a Mexican say "Los An-hel-ays," at least not when speaking English. I think Phil should just call it Hell-A, if he even need mention it at all, and be done with the place.

Roll's Tour DAY France is part of his shtick.

I think the analogy to Madden and Summeral works to a degree.

As Madden and Summeral aged, they got worse too.

I've always liked Phil. Phil and Paul have been the only real television coverage of the TDF in the U.S. But it's time for Phil to call it a career.

Maybe everyone should calm down and just watch the damned race! If you don't like listening to Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, then mute the sound! It's easy enough to follow the race in the 1st place anyway...

Phil & Paul are in the same league as the classic Sports commentators; Vin Scully, Pat Summerall, Toby Charles (remember him from Soccer Made in Germany?), Peter Aliss, Jim McKay, Bob Costas... P & P brought Cycling into American homes in the 80's and stayed with us, explaining all the nuances of the pro peloton to the beer guzzling, chip & pretzel ingesting La-Z-Boy crowd.

That, or people are free to post their opinions.

This is one of the most predictable threads of the year. Every year.

If you don't like Phil's commentary, turn the sound off.

Better yet, turn the sound off and comment on the race yourself for 5 hours a day.

I don't care one way or the other about Phil... that said, I'd love to have Magnus Backstedt do the commentary.

You keep missing the point, but as it is your wont, yo want to get the last word in.

I really couldn't' care less what country Ligget is broadcasting from. To me, his accent is annoying, his refusal to learn how to properly pronounce the names of locations like Los Angeles is grating, his malapropisms are eye-rolling and his constant droning and blathering are headache-inducing. He may be broadcasting in England, but I am willing to bet crumpets to quid that the USA audience for the TdF is greater than the English audience.

What happened to good English chaps like Bob Hope who learned to speak English without a trace of an "English accent?" I bet he would not have been nearly as successful as he was with American audiences if he spoke like Ligget.

Look, Ligget is an amusing old guy, but after about ten minutes of listening to him, I press the mute button and watch the rest of the day's Tour in blissful silence. Interesting, Sherwin, who also has a thick accent, is not nearly as annoying as Ligget is. Go figure!

Now go ahead and write a reply...so you can have the last word. :rolleyes:

BTW, I personally have nothing against English accents, I find them to be (for the most part) amusing and entertaining; and if a cute Yorkshire girl jumped into my bed, I would not kick her out because of her accent.

Thank you.

Well said (or written).

You'd lose, emphatically. According to NBC their TdF audience is around 400,000. The ITv audience in the UK averages 1.4 million.

Dear Pot,
...
Regards, Kettle.

:roflmao2::lol::roflmao2:!!!

You read my mind!:)

Show me those stats.

Must be an easy read. :rolleyes:

Well, non-Mexicans also tend pronounce the "Los" as "Loss"--as in Las Angeles (Las Veges), when it's Los (Low-ss). So it is ironic (and humorous) that someone, who most likely mispronounces Los Angeles, would harp on someone else's mispronunciation.

:lol:
Hate that ish, when someone tries to get the last word by saying they'll let the other person have it. haha

I only wished Phil was better at converting kmh to mph. ("They're now hitting speeds of over 59kmh, or 42 mph.") :twitchy: