In article <
[email protected]>,
[email protected] (OnThaBeach) wrote:
> Be sure to watch the tail end of the OLN post race show on Sunday.
>
> For the A.M. live edition, Al let loose that he's bored. No mountains. No
> time
> trial. Just Lance, Jan and Tyler hiding out in the pack.
>
> Bob, Phil and Paul took Al to the clearners after that comment. Maybe ESPN
> will
> book Al on "Pardon the Interuption."
That was frigging retarded. Al is bored after a brilliant rising-sprint
finish won by Hushovd's superb show of power, after a couple of daring
breakaways, and after some pretty good action.
The worst part was his boredom didn't seem to be based on the actual
racing action, but on the fact that the GC riders hadn't established
their leadership yet.
It was a dumb comment, informed by the idea that the GC is the only
contest that matters, and that nothing can affect the GC chase in the
early, flat days (tell that to Mayo. Tell that to Leipheimer or
Hamilton).
I sort of understand the perspective: the Tour organizers set up a
program that was as likely as possible to not cause any notable GC
differentiation before Bastille Day (and will I be staying home and
watching that one live? Oh yeah. Flex days rule). It seems almost cruel,
though it has given USA Today lots of chances to write man-bites-dog
stories about how it's not a big deal that Lance lost the yellow jersey
by nine minutes. Maybe USPS did that on purpose so that American
journalists would have to write some articles explaining how the GC
strategies work.
On the other hand, I think that Trautwig, to his credit, is there to
play a combo of devil's (the other one) advocate, and to ask the "naïve"
questions that your typical once-a-year Lance fan might be asking.
Actually, they're the same questions all my co-workers keep asking me
(except the Colombians; they just keep going around muttering stuff
about Nozal). It's a dirty job, but OLN gets lots of viewers for its
coverage, and I suspect most of them know about as much about cycling as
this newsgroup does about bull-riding (why are cowboys such lousy
lovers? They think 8 seconds is a good ride). OLN can't just let the
commentators nerd out about how Ullrich is the Zoetemelk of his era,
because most of the audience has never heard of Joop, has barely heard
of Jan, and doesn't know what the point of comparison would be.
And another moment of praise: has anyone heard Phil describe the pack as
"literally exploding" this year? Whatever OLN used to treat that
particular verbal tic, it worked.
--
Ryan Cousineau,
[email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club
