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