Anybody catch today's article in the Times where Richard Sandomir complains that the OLN coverage
isn't "basic" enough and "mistakenly" caters to the cycling enthusiast? He blasts Phil and Paul (he
called Paul "Jeff") for failing to explain how people "join" a sprint. How very annoying!
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/08/sp...8sandomir.html
It was enough to make me fire off a letter to the editor. I have no idea if it'll be published (I
suspect not):
To the editor:
Richard Sandomir ("Two Calls as Different as Cycling and Tennis," July 8, 2003) might consider
learning a bit more about cycling before complaining about the commentating. I've never once had
anybody jump to my aid when Monday Night Football commentators fail to explain how many points a
touchdown is, or why that guy in the end zone just put his knee down. And why not? Because it wastes
the time of football fans, all of whom likely know the basic rules of the game before deciding to
tune in. So I don't watch Monday Night Football, but up until OLN took over the Tour, I didn't have
a sports show for me, the cycling enthusiast.
Cyclists have, for years, tolerated terrible Tour coverage by ABC and ESPN, whose 30 minute daily
Tour broadcasts consisted of 11 minutes of panoramic displays of the French countryside and the
history of the stage start and end towns, nine minutes of human-interest background discussion on
one of the foreign cyclists and his family so the average American viewer could connect with the
outcome, and then, perhaps, two minutes of actual racing. The only way to get access to the smart
commentary coming out of Europe was if some nice cyclist in England would point his webcam at his
TV. I'm not the only cyclist who has literally watched hours of Tour de France coverage squinting at
five second still-frame captures with no audio on the web. But now, a network has finally realized
that what cyclists want is competent, insightful discussion by the world's most familiar English
speaking cycling commentator, Phil Liggett, who is assisted wonderfully by his longtime co-host
Paul, not Jeff, Sherwen. Besides, Bob Roll, the color commentator, has been spending time explaining
the basics to his not-so-cycling-savvy co-commentator anyway (whose only role seems to be to ask Bob
set-up softball tactical questions.) Today, Bob explained echelons and pelotons. I hope Mr. Sandomir
was watching.
My suggestion to Mr. Sandomir: Either watch and enjoy, learning as you go, or learn first, then
watch and enjoy, but don't suggest that cycling fans sit through basic explanations of the rules
when they'd rather Phil and Paul spend the time telling us more details from their vast collective
knowledge of cycling.
New York Times article bashing OLN coverage. 
New York Times article bashing OLN coverage. 
Linear Mode
