I've been saying it for years. First, the catchphrases that they use have just become grating. Second, they constantly misidentify riders, which they've been doing for years(Nicholas Roche always being called by his father's name, for example) but now its just constant. Third, stuff happens on screen during the race, an attack, or a rider dropping, and they don't even notice cause they're too busy yammering out one of their trite old catchphrases.And then there's
Every single day it's the same exact commentary, over and over and over again. Even during the same stage, the same things over and over. they bring absolutely nothing new to the race, no info, nothing different from one day to the next except their pre-scripted identifications of which chateau or wine-making town they're passing by at the moment.
Love them or hate them, but I so wish we had Carlton Kirby and Dan Lloyd or Maggie Backstedt doing the commentary. Granted, they ramble on during races about any number of things other than cycling, but as the article says, there's a lot of downtime to fill during cycle races. And they do let you know when stuff is happening in the race, or what to look out for. And they're interesting, like hanging out in your living room talking bike racing with your buds.
My favorite Carlton Kirby line was last year, I forget the race. The camera pans by a bunch of riders stopped along the side of the road for P&P's "natural break", and Kirby says, "Well, we can't tell you what's going on here.....................ok, we can say.......... it's what men do when out on a Friday night and they've had too many skinfuls". Had to hear it with his accent, but it was just hilarious.
I will say, I hate VDV as a race commentator, but he's been tolerable in the studio. Just wish someone would 'Ask Bobke' whatever happened to his Livestrong bracelet.
