Radix

Is there a more dynamic duo in all of sports broadcasting?

botto 

if by dynamic, you mean dumbfoundingly inarticulate and incoherent, then the answer is no.

Copperhed51

So either you're saying there is a more dumbfoundingly inarticulate and incoherent broadcasting duo out there or you forgot what question you were answering.

botto 

corrected.

FlashBazbo

Ooh. You were in a spot of bother there for a minute.

The "Dynamic Duo" certainly has cornered the market on repetitive cycling cliche's.

gsteinb

I've been to Maine. They actually have TV and radio there.

pmt

The guys on cycling.tv are far, far better. They've been in the pro peloton recently (Magnus Backstedt) and run amateur teams. I've learned more about cycling from listening to the commentary on cycling.tv than anything on Versus.

border reiver

Sherwin's OK, apart from that codfish smile of his

Walter

Liggett has a smooth and easy to listen to voice and that is a definite plus. However, he is getting older and misses much of what's actually going on in the race. Kind of like listening to Vin Scully with baseball.

Like most Americans I didn't have the opportunity to hear him (Liggett) 20 years ago when, assumedly, he was in his prime.

Other guys are more informative and I concur with the Cycling.tv guys being good. I enjoyed listening to the Eurosport audio feeds but I miss at least half of what Kelly says, though I'm sure it's good.

Walter

Liggett has a smooth and easy to listen to voice and that is a definite plus. However, he is getting older and misses much of what's actually going on in the race. Kind of like listening to Vin Scully with baseball.

Like most Americans I didn't have the opportunity to hear him (Liggett) 20 years ago when, assumedly, he was in his prime.

Other guys are more informative and I concur with the Cycling.tv guys being good. I enjoyed listening to the Eurosport audio feeds but I miss at least half of what Kelly says, though I'm sure it's good.

botto 

he does?

Walter

For some reason I enjoy listening to him.

botto 

i bet you're a fan of bobcat goldthwait as well.

bmw5nkj

Even though Liggett and Sherwin can get repetitive at times, they still make bike races more exciting and better to watch, especially compared to Bob Roll commentating. He keeps saying "most definitely"...

Walter

That's harsh botto. Just an odd idiosyncrasy on my part but I don't find Liggett's voice objectionable.

jmsmke

I learned to appreciate Liggett and Sherwin more after watching that Philadelphia International Cycling Championship on Comcast back a few weeks ago. The announcers were some guys who clearly had little experience with cycling and kept trying to use ridiculous baseball and football analogies that made no sense. They were insulting to anyone who is at all knowledgeable about the sport.

I also agree that Liggett and Sherwin can be inarticulate and incoherent at times but after hearing some of the alternatives they don't seem so bad.

kleinboogie

I used to think this to but if you listen to the internet feed and tv broadcast at the same time you'll get the whole story. When Paul is talking on the internet broadcast you can hear Phil in the background also talking. He's doing the tv commercial breaks and returns.

So he's both talking on tv and the internet and easily switches back and forth. When Phil comes back to the main broadcast (which goes out to both tv and internet), Paul will say something like, "You know Phil, Armstrong is looking like a man possessed" to anchor Phil back to the conversation. It's amazing to hear. I have a whole new respect for ambivoicestrous Phil. Paul, after the Tour De Suisse, dropped a notch for me. He needs Phil to play off of, correct and give him a break.

Together though, they're unmatched...imo.

mmmdonuts

I can figure out what's going on by watching. They often call out the wrong rider or make mistakes when they analyze crashes or other action.

That said, on their worst days Phil and Paul are better than most US based talking heads can be on their best days.

mazdaspeed

tc83

i knew botto would have the first comment in this thread. he's been grinding this axe for a while.

FL_MarkD

I am going to 'dig deep into my suitcase of courage' and say that I like listening to the guys. At least it means the races are on TV, it could be a lot worse. Remember that the Versus coverage is pointed at the US market so they are going to use the 'L' word a bit much as that is what many US casual fans want to know/hear.

Mark

MKahrl

They needed to find a cliché niche to fit in with every other sports broadcaster with their own sport's repetitive clichés.

calamarichris

Stale, repetitive, but occasionally hilariously malgrammared.

I don't understand at all why everyone loves Bob Roll so much. It's not cute or clever when he persistently refers to the Tour DAY France.

grwoolf

I think they do a decent job.

I'd say it's a tough sport to commentate on and keep fresh at times. There can be long spans of time when not much is changing situationally and the announcers must fill time with side stories, small talk, Lance this, Lance that, etc.

Even with golf or baseball (pretty slow moving), there is constant slow churn of new information which keeps the announcers from having to manufacture content.

crhilton

My only complaint is that they don't control the video feed. In other televised sports they say "let's see that again" and use markers and such and get all excited.

On Versus, in a really bad wreck, you might see them run a second slow mo. I'm pretty sure the guy editing the video beforehand decides to throw it in. The commenters should be watching the whole race and helping with the video editing and making their comments accordingly. They should be choosing cameras, not saying "maybe we'll see so and so again."

Obviously it's harder to tape a bike race than a football match (either meaning, doesn't matter), but it can be done better than what we get on versus.