Laguna

he also looked glum to me. It looked like he and his partner were at odds.

'nother

I think he was probably feeling emotional at the end of quite an interesting era, perhaps wondering if he's going to have a job next year

prabbit

My favorite bit was when Trautwig asked Bob, Paul, and Phil what their favorite tour was. Without a pause, Phil said '1989.' Then Al, said, 1999? Phil was just quiet. Then Al essentially said, what was your favorite Tour victory of Armstrong's?

On topic:
I imagine that after many, many days in the booth and traveling around France, it wears on you. The guy was probably just tired and ready for a beer.

Laguna

Yeah, I caught that exchange.

va_cyclist

1989? Was Liggett actually suggesting on-air that there even was a Tour in the years B.L. (before Lance)? That could be a firing offense on the Outdoor Lance Network.

cascade168

I agree with 'nother. I think the guy was truly emotional at the end of one of the most incredible runs in the history of sports. If you asked people "Who is Phil Liggett?" back in 1998 I doubt you'd find anyone outside of biking circles who would know. Now we have OLN and very good coverage of the TdF and Lance has brought cycling into the fore in the US. There have been some profound changes since Lance started his run and Phil is not the only one affected. As well as being a cyclist, I am also a golfer and I have to say that it was not easy watching Jack Nicklaus play his final round at St. Andrews last week. Two of the greatest icons in sports, both retired from competition in just a few days. I am both happy for the two of them and sad that their competitive days are over.

Life goes on and I am sure we will see Phil and Paul back next year to commentate on what promises to be an intriguing TdF. No slam dunks next year.

puddin' legs

"Who is Phil Liggett?" back in 1998 I doubt you'd find anyone outside of biking circles who would know."

... in North America. The cycling world is bigger thankfully.

oopfoo

I remember Phil's WONDERFUL commentary back in the 80's Tours of Britain. Since I've been riding, Phil Liggett has provided the internal commentary for each ride I do, whether it's a race or just an evening on the trainer. He adds excitement, knowledge, and a certain European flair to every commentary, and needs no color-commentary addition to make his calls interesting. If there's a rift among the OLN announcers, only a damn-fool would consider Liggett replaceable; he IS the English-speaking cycling voice. He SHOULD remind us that there was cycling before Lance, and that there will be cycling afterwards, too. Doing otherwise merely diminishes Lance Armstrongs accomplishments, as they are seen without the pantheon of giants who preceeded him.

KrisPistofferson

I think he's just British.

'nother

Easy there, tiger . . . insufficient s in my original post?

kokodeselavy

Back to the OP...I think it happens every year toward the end. Last year Phil and Paul had a short-fuse exchange in the last few days of the Tour where they were both indignantly disagreeing with each other. Think about it...three weeks or more going from stage to stage in stressful circumstances, and it doesn't look like the booth they call from is very roomy...I'd be surprised if they didn't get a little testy with each other.

bbarend

Did anyone else hear Paul call the time trial a "yo-yo ding-dong race"? I kept rewinding it and laughing. I guess I was bored.

cascade168

Yes, you are correct. My whole point was that Lance put cycling into the consciousness of the public here and Phil has been an integral part of portraying what cycling is all about. That he is a little sad that this ride is over is not too hard to understand.

rich007

Not so sure, you're right on this one... For all those OLN branded shirts, OLN logos all over the wall behind them in their booth and constant references to OLN programming (Survivor, BBQ Showdown, etc.), it looked damn clear to me who his employer is...

OTOH, even if his contract is not extended after this Tour, he won't have any trouble to continue his career as a cycling commentator... World Cycling Productions uses him for covering lot of races too... Plus, I'm sure he's fairly popular in England...

Laggard

You'd be snippy too if you have to mention the name Lance Armstrong every 15 seconds for three weeks. Imagine trying to work his name into every bit of commentary. "And what a beautiful castle that is. If you were standing on top of it you surely would be able to see Lance Armstrong."

samp02

Maybe he was just bored the last 7 years as Lance really just kicked everyones butt

pgoat

I thought Ligget was p'd off by Al Trautwig.

As great as Armstrong's accomplishment has been, you'd think it would be hard, if not impossible to overstate it but imho, Trautwig did - regardless of what happened he kept bringing it back to Lance Lance Lance.....

PL - "And so an exciting breakaway from the leeeeky gass rider!
LOOK AT THE FACE on LEVI LEIPHEIMER!!!!!
These boys are setting an infernal tempo just now, Paul.......
ULRICH HAS CRACKED!! HE'S GONE!!!!"

AT - "so what does all this mean for the heart rate of the babe ruth of cycling, Bobke?"

I thought the low point was after a little taped segment on Lance's special last stage bike and t-shirts commemorating all his wins, yadda yadda yadda, AT asked Ligget and Paul if THEY had had such accolades........there was noticeable tension in the booth at that moment.

hey Al, at Least they were involved in cycling before Lance won a tour!! Show some respect.

I thought it was tasteless to ask two proud gentlemen such a question. Lance is clearly special but that doesn't detract from anyone else's accomplishments. But then Al used to do the same thing with former baseball players like Bobby Murcer, Jim Kaat and Ken Singleton while broadcasting Yankees' games. AT has a nice smooth TV voice but I'll take a hardcore knowledgable sportsman with firsthand professional experience over a voice anyday.

fwiw I also thought all four were getting tired of all the cheesy crapola like yellow jersey for picking winners, etc.

pgoat

LOL - exactly what I meant! (you said it a little better, and quicker too!!)

Duck22

Hey, Phil should be pleased he edged out Bob Roll as the fan favorite in the Velonews poll.

And Paul should be pleased that he finally pulled into third place. Last time I looked about a week ago, he was trailing in fourth, right behind Kirsten's Hooters.

SpongeDad

Wouldn't that be in fifth then? God she's terrible. They should hire Basso's sister. She'd actually know something about cycling.

toomanybikes

Phil and Paul offer their commentary to OLN on a contract basis, as they do to many other broadcasters world-wide. OLN are smart enough to have figured out that they need credibility in the broadcast and that is Phil and Paul -

As to World Cycling Productions - that is Phil and Paul. so yes - WCP does use them, no surprise.

ZappCatt

So if Paul and Phil are calling the race for several stations at once, I guess their talking about Lance often is not "OLN Mandated" as some of the posters here have harped about? They actually might respect the man who has won the tour 7 times in a row, and want to follow his progress.

Has anyone seen a "behind the scenes" featurette on them to see how many Lead-ins they do for the different stations? Do you know how many shirts they have to swap out? Seems like it might look like the hat swaps in victory lane.

chimpo

It was interesting that Phil picked the 1989 Tour since that had to be the most exciting yellow jersey win by an American since Greg LeMond won it in the last time trial after a similar (not comparable) comeback (poor Laurent Fignon.. possibly the beginning of the hatred of the American cyclists by the French). Maybe it was a dig at the "Lance-centric" coverage by OLN of a remarkable cycling race with a long prestigious history way before Lance's tremendous accomplishment. Who knows?


*edit* - nice use of adjectives in my post I must say

badsac

No way! He was wearing SBS shirts. You lot are blind.

Aus_MTB

I know he was in sbs shirts when i saw him. Hmm perhaps we are on to something here... And so the mystery unravels



Wow imagine the size of the wardrobe he must have to always have a shirt for whichever network he is talking to at thatm moment