Duffield - Something must be done

chriskempton

I upgraded my Sky package last week specifically to get Eurosport (no sniggering) to watch cycling. I excitedly tuned in to Dauphine on Saturday, but I soon regretted everything. Duffield was a waste of space. Isn't he supposed to excite and involve you in the race? I quickly gave up giving a sh*t because he clearly didn't. Is the tour coverage any better e.g. not that plank?

dukeofsycamore

Just found out that he's got a myspace page!!!

http://www.myspace.com/davidduffield

One for his fans I guess!!!

Peakraider

Sean Kelly is appalling, I think.

DavidBelcher

Peakraider wrote:

Sean Kelly is appalling, I think.

His performances as part of a Eurosport commentary team (whether partnering Mike Smith or Davids Harmon/Duffield) have, before now, been compared in the cycling press to the "Ted & Ralph" sketches from The Fast Show.

David

ricadus

dukeofsycamore wrote:

Just found out that he's got a myspace page!!!

http://www.myspace.com/davidduffield

One for his fans I guess!!!

Never mind Duffers myspace page - is that him singing? - look at Didi's:

http://tinyurl.com/42pazp

"I am of the name Didi. You may have saw me. I run the Tour de France und it is a good time. Sometimes I run out of the breath. But mostly it is fun. I pitchfork the riders as they ride past me. Sometimes I get kicked, but it is ok. The suit that I wear is that of homemade. I will make them for a price. Fraus pay less money. Horns are costing extra. I have a trident of the sex, many of the frau they want to touch, but i say no. my allegiance is to le tour."

feersumendjinn

As with a lot of ummm "minority" sports we're not blessed with comentator tallent, I don't mind Kelly at least he knows what he's talking about when he gets a chance to say anything, but Duffers(a name that says it all really) & Harpon sorry Harmon seem more interested in the sound of thier own voices than the races Still you live with what you got & there is always the mute button

fast as fupp

yes kelly CERTAINLY knows what hes talking about he CERTAINLY does

allaction

Did you here Graham say he was looking forward to the Tour and he'd bought a magazine from Smiths to swot up!! Hello!! Aren't you supposed to know all that?

I had to mute the last stage, all Duffers kept saying was "Isn't this brilliant" whilst not having a clue what was going on. I'm sure he's a lovely bloke who would be great craic on a Sunday morning ride with anecdotes of yesteryear, but as for covering major cycling races he must be stopped!

phil s

allaction wrote:

Did you here Graham say he was looking forward to the Tour and he'd bought a magazine from Smiths to swot up!! Hello!! Aren't you supposed to know all that?

Yes because he's really going to know all the facts like the length of every stage and the category of every small climb off the top of his head, isn't he? Chopper.

campagchris

I think Sean Kelly is brilliant,his knowledge is 2nd to none and him and David Harmon make a great team in my opinion.Last years Giro where Sean said some riders wanted a bleeping drilling (said in the father jack mode) still makes me laugh yet

jimmythecuckoo

emadden wrote:

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/06/18/duffields_tour_de_farce_is_a_n.html

Kelner is only bitter because he didnt win Fighting Talk last time he was on!

drenkrom

If you want to know how bad English-language coverage of cycling is, you have to watch it n other languages. The Italian coverage of the Giro is fantastic. Cassani is very interesting, calls many of the shots before they happen and the principal commentator is very knowledgeable. The French ES coverage is second to none. Jean-Francois Bernard really knows his cycling (no wondering who that rider on the front is there!) and Jacky Durand has a fabulous understanding of racing tactics, despite the breakaways he used to get into as a rider. When there's mountains, they bring in Virenque, who isn't best of friends with Durand so "debates" naturally ensue. Great stuff! The Spanish coverage is usually rather dull, but nothing compared to English ES. Harmon and Kelly are the best there, but comparison does not bode well for them. Things could be much better.

And don't get me started on Versus. Eustice and Roll make me recoil in horror as they try to portray Philly as "a grueling battle between man, machine and elements, where only the strongest, most couragious will have a chance to emerge on top.... a champion!" Add the obligatory "Landis, who won the 2006 Tour, despite what some say..." or "Pereiro, who some say won the Tour..." comment to that and I'm hitting the mute button.

Peakraider

I'm sure Kelly is knowledgeable. It's just hard to tell, because he can't speak.



Which, for a commentator, is a bit of a bummer.

allaction

Yes because he's really going to know all the facts like the length of every stage and the category of every small climb off the top of his head, isn't he? Chopper.[/quote]

I don't for one second imagine Phil Liggott or Paul Sherwin sat in their box with there guide to who rides for which team etc. I agree you could get some info on climbs etc. I have my doubts that's what he meant judging by the ammount he seemed to know the other day!

pottssteve

WANTED URGENTLY

Experienced television commentator for upcoming, high profile cycling tour. Opportunity for travel throughout France. Competitive salary and benefits (including ginger nuts).

Must have the following attributes:
1. Be able to recognise cyclists whilst they are riding their bikes.
2. Be able to pronounce cyclist's names correctly, even funny foreign sounding ones.
3. Be aware of which cyclists have been banned for doping, are not competing in this race, have retired, or are no longer riding due to the fact that they are deceased.
4. Be able to remember the names of more than 3 sponsor's teams at any one time, just in case a break away contains riders from 4 teams.
5. Be able to speak clearly in English (that rules out Kelly).
6. Be able to stay off the vin de table whilst working.
7. Try not to get too excited during the sprints, refraining from yelling, "Oh yes, oh yes!", at the climax.
8. Must avoid sentences like, "He's going to do it, isn't he? We'll have to wait and see. Is that...? No, it isn't. Why is he doing that, do you think? He hasn't got a hope today, has he? There's still 3 kilometers to go, that's 4 pounds in English money..."

Also available, commentator's sidekick position. Must have professional cycling experience, preferably gained between the First and Second World Wars, and an ability to constantly correct the main announcer's mistakes.

Candidates wishing to apply for these posts should email a copy of their cv as soon as possible to Eurosport, where it will receive our full attention as long as there is no women's tennis on.

flattythehurdler

campagchris wrote:

I think Sean Kelly is brilliant,his knowledge is 2nd to none and him and David Harmon make a great team in my opinion.Last years Giro where Sean said some riders wanted a bleeping drilling (said in the father jack mode) still makes me laugh yet

I agree. i think Sean Kelly is one of the best commentators of any sport anywhere. His insight is fascinating. He has an uncanny ability to call a race (he just couches it with an "it's possible" or some such, and even my wife says she could listen to him all evening, and she's an alpha female shopper.

LangerDan

Not to mention the fact that Kelly had no hesitation taking the p!ss out of Harmon or Duffers. On one occasion (Paris Nice last year?), Harmon, IIRC, was getting particularly agitated about the unfairness of the points ranking in the ProTour and was trying to get Kelly to support his on-air crusade

".. andy you get the same points for a one-day race like Paris Roubaix as for a week long stage race like this Paris Nice. Thats not very fair. What would you think if you were still racing , Sean?"

"It wouldn't worry me too much"

"Why?"

"I'd have won them both......"

jimmythecuckoo

dukeofsycamore wrote:

Just found out that he's got a myspace page!!!

http://www.myspace.com/davidduffield

One for his fans I guess!!!

I am on his friend list I like

pottssteve

Sean Kelly certainly knows his stuff. Trouble is, cycling's on late at night here and at the end of the day it's really hard to concentrate on what he's saying.

I warmed to David Duffield as the Giro went on, although I might as well have been listening to a recipe for apple pie, for all I learned about the race.
:?
Does anyone know who's got the TdF? Is it Harmon? Sidekick?

campagchris

David Harmon said he would see us for the tour with Sean Kelly.Duffers is usually in the studio with Stephen Roche,or John Herety.

andyrr

I used to be a defender of Duffers and his foibles but the Dauphine was really, really rubbish. His Id'ing of riders in breaks etc is useless - "Why is that tall lanky bloke from Rabobank attacking .." etc he now is out of touch with the pro-scene by too much to really be a helpful commentator and Jones was not really strong enough to take over the main commentating duties and leave Duffers as the side-kick which is how it should have been.
Give me the Harmon/Kelly combo anyday. Kelly's weakness is that he is not a commentator, he is someone that raced and has great knowledge, he requires someone to help him impart that to the listeners which Harmon is capable of doing although he sometimes comes across as a little bit of a know-all when he was never a pro-racer.
If you watch/listen to Belgian RTBF that have great classics coverage then their commentators, who I have no idea of their names, seem superb in identifying riders and despite my total lack of abilit to understand the language I somehow find myself picking useful bits of info up from them. A foreigner listening to Duffers would be totally bemused.

phil s

Andyrr, you seem to misunderstand the point of a summariser or pundit. Jones and Kelly are not there to commentate, as such why expect them to "take over"?

campagchris

In defence of David Harmon,he might not have been a pro bike rider but what he has done is do his homework on the riders,he also has a genuine passion for the riders and is never afraid of admiting to making a mistake.Both he and Sean make a great team and Sean has a very dry sense of humour.They both have a great knack of spotting the riders something which duffers never had.
If you had to listen to the sound only you would get a feel for the racing withSean+David,but if you listened to duffers you would think you had tuned into the wine+food programme.Duffers might be a lovely bloke but its time to go,even Stephen Roche pulls his hair out during the studio comments after the stage

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/rides/So ... 81132.html

jimmythecuckoo

I am happy to say again that I think Harmon is the best of the 'bunch' (ha ha). He is knowledgeable and passionate without being a loon.

conradski

Give us Sean Kelly and Graham Jones any day. They've been there and competed at the highest level and are sensible, amusing and entertaining. Also they don't blether like my Grandad at Hogmanay!

pottssteve

At least he's got a sense of humour! From his Myspace page:

"Errm...hello...erm..are we on?..... yes hello and welcome to this the first stage of my new profile....I'm here with my good friend and colleague erm Sean Erm kelly...who aswell you will know as erm....keen cyclists has won the green jersey in the Tour De France no less than 17 times during his career...say hello Sean....'errr hello'. Together with Sean, I have errrm....commentated for Eurosport for many illustrious years.....The Errr...Tour De ..err France, Giro D' eer Italia and eeerrm La ..errr Vuelta. I've been lucky enough to see some of the worlds best riders, live, die and eeerrrm win and errrm.........lose. Some have seen the rough end of the rag mans trumpet...whilst others have died a thousand deaths whilst riding on the rivet. We've had to turn our grannies to the wall on several eerrrrm...occassions whilst watching the likes of Ullrich cornering down the mountain side like a 50 pence piece...and hello...are we still on..hello? Yes? eeerrmmm... I,ve had to bury my granny on several occassions....sack, cloth and ashes...to errrm get a day off work to come out here to ermmm....commentate. Come in Mike Smith in Paris...I need to see a man about a dog... "

Is this what psychologists call "self aware"?

a_n_t

pottssteve wrote:

At least he's got a sense of humour! From his Myspace page:

do you really think its his "own" page?

don key

Duff Daddy is the name if missed information is the game.