That guy whips me!
He needs to do a little more homework. Argh!
Can I get a witness?
-KP
I like Al Trautwig. so he’s not perfect , he’s a good host I think. Yah we know more about the race than he does - we couldn’t do his job,
Here here.
He seemed to be everywhere last year! First le Tour, then the olympic triathlon, then the NBC Kona coverage! He seems to just be a talking head with no particular ties to endurance sports, so why is he in such demand?
That being said, it is very difficult for coverage to appease people such as us AND the general masses, and I think he tries.
-Colin
Bah!
-KP
Great pipes, dramatic tones. A- grade.
It’s that dork Paul Sherwin who annoys me. And Charmichael is just a joke. Get him and his cheap pimping off my broadcast. He clearly can’t answer a question. Everything starts off with, “Well… .”
Dude,
Sherwin is all knowing! He consistently catches and corrects ol’ man Liggetts mistakes (don’t get me wrong, Liggett is the master) and his predictions are almost dead on.
Carmicheal is a geek, no doubt about it. But it’s that mad scientist disposition that makes him so good at what he does.
Trautwig and his 2 pack o’ day pipes can sod off as far as I’m concerned.
-KP
You are clearly insane. Seek medical help immediately.
Sherwin catches NOTHING that my kid sister wouldn’t catch. And he uses the same tired phrases. Last year, he must’ve said “ticking over the pedals” 400,000 times.
And Charmichael isn’t a mad scientist. Dude, he’s a marketing scientist. He knows almost nothing. All scam.
Amen brother!
It may be uncool to admit this, but Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen are my favorite sports announcing tandem. They have a genuine passion for the sport, a quick and dry wit, and they know a helluva lot more about the TDF and cycling than I do. Plus, I’m a sucker for those accents! “Yon Keer Sa Poo”.
Ben
Your kid sis must know an aweful lot about cycling. Impressive!
I’ll back you on Carmicheal’s marketing genius. He’s got that going for him too. However, he’s coached the 6time Tour champ so he’s gotta know a little.
The Sherwin Liggett duo is bar none. OLN has dumbed the race down to new lows with Trautwig in the mix.
-KP
nuff said.
Charmichael isn’t a mad scientist. Dude, he’s a marketing scientist. He knows almost nothing.
You mean nothing other than what he learned while riding for over 15-years as a profesional cyclist including as a member of Team 7-11 allowing him to be among the first Americans to race (and finish) the Tour De France? So, well yeah, other than that I guess he does not know much!
I’m with you. I don’t see what everybody gets on his case for.
And Charmichael isn’t a mad scientist. Dude, he’s a marketing scientist. He knows almost nothing. All scam.
So I guess Armstrong is an idiot for letting him train him. Dave Zebriske also uses CTS for personal coaching. CTS was showing off a yellow jersey signed by DZ 4 days after the proloque, one he had given to his personal coach who flew back.
Me thinks you may have some personal issues here. What’s the reason for the resentment?
Carmichael doesn’t coach Lance Armstrong. It’s just marketing stuff.
It’s been known for quite some time already…
So does this mean you want John Tesh or Barry Tomkins back?
Laurent fignon on eurosport was very good…in 2001, he was the only saying about Lance faking in the mountains that Lance was faking indeed…no one else caught it, Fignon was just saying ‘yeah sure, he is making faces, but his legs don’t lie, he is going to kill the race in 10’ ’
.
Back to the topic. If you live in New York, you can see Trautwig even more as he works for MSG, a local sports channel.
The best thing he does is the Kona coverage. His voice is capturing…even echoes in my head at some swim starts.
Leave him in the studio to read, until perfect, his scripts for the Hawaii Ironman showgram. Get him off the tour coverage.
He tries to eak out any minute agent of drama and leaps in with two feet. I don’t think he understands that not everything, every moment, is as dramatic as a highly produced dramatic presentation of a highly dramatic event (Hawaii Ironman).
What’s fascinating to me is that he ends up spending a lot of time on air around this sport and seems to have not a fuckin’ clue about it. He just regurges with wide-eyed wonderment and absolute belief whatever he just heard.
Annoying as all hell.
I’ve always kind of figured that Trautwig is a good broadcaster, but he’s been instructed to dumb down his commentary for the masses. The banter between Trautwig and Bob Roll is too scripted, and it’s fairly obvious that they’re just going through the motions. Trautwig was on hand for Lemond’s 1989 win over Fignon, so he’s been around the sport for a long time.
I agree that OLN’s coverage isn’t as good as it used to be. Once the average joe U.S. sports fan started tuning in, I guess they figured they had to turn the broadcast into Remedial Cycling 101 so people wouldn’t be lost. I remember watching the TdF, the Giro and the Vuelta and having to figure out what was happening on my own. It took me all three grand tours in 2002 to even begin to remotely understand the sport. Paul, Phil and Bob certainly didn’t go out of their way to explain anything to new cycling fans. You watched the race and picked up on what you could.
Sherwen seems to know cycling well, but when it comes to the more technical aspects of modern cycling – time trialing, for example – he appears to be limited. Time trialing has changed so much since his days in the peloton, and he hasn’t kept up with the technology. But all in all, Phil and Paul make a good team. Bob used to do a much better job, but then OLN really made an effort to turn Bob into Bobke, and the act is starting to get ridiculous.
One thing about the broadcast from a few stages ago (maybe the TTT): Did y’all notice when Phil cut away to Lance in the wind tunnel to talk about Lance’s new TTX bike, all the footage was of Lance on the Madone track bike when he was toying with the hour record. So there is Phil talking about the TTX time trial bike and how technologically advanced it’s supposed to be, and the new bike is never even shown. Pretty funny.
Cumbersome and basic though the TdF coverage has become, at least it’s on, and at least we can watch it. I try not to let it bother me, but I must confess, I’d rather watch the live broadcast with Paul and Phil than watch the “expanded” prime time show with Trautwig and Roll. Which is a shame – I think Trautwig is a good broadcaster that knows a lot about cycling. Unfortunately, I don’t think OLN is allowing him to use his talents. Bob – does he have any talents?
RP
That old movie “Cool Runnings” about the Jamaican bobsledding team was TBS the other day a guess who was the announcer for dramatized olympics…good ole Al Trautwig! Sportscaster for hire!