rubbish Olympic cycling commentating

wildmoustache

Just how bad is it FFS?

Also, plain inaccurate. During the Women's road race, one of the goons (not the Australian) mentioned that Nicole Cooke had won the Ras de Cymru this year. Really? In fact, no. She came 10th.

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/si ... mru_08.asp

After the ITT ... endless commentary about Emma Pooley only having taken up road cycling or road racing 3 years ago... except that she was a competitive triathlete for quite some time prior to that.

In the men's RR ... completely forgetting about Cancellara having launched an attack ... he ends up taking bronze

Not being able to name any of the riders until they are named on-screen.

To whoever is employing this goon - make this his last professional commentary please.

NWLondoner

I agree it was appalling.

Much prefer EurosportHD commentary team but they were only showing the closing stages.

Blonde

The boring, slow paced commentary (and lack of spectators/atmosphere) for all the road cycling events made what's usually an exciting sport to watch seem really, really dull. Hope track events commentary is better - as well as the atmosphere.

lloyd_bower

You're probably best listening to the beeb 5 live radio commentary, I managed to listen the end of the road races last weekend but now it's blocked overseas.

NWLondoner

They did it again.

Claimed R Romero did the fastest GB time ever when the graphics clearly showed that W Houvenaghel was first

thamacdaddy

NWLondoner wrote:

They did it again.

Claimed R Romero did the fastest GB time ever when the graphics clearly showed that W Houvenaghel was first

to be fair he corrected himself straight away.....

I find the eurosport duffers commentary far far worse than anything else....if I can sit through that the rest is no problemo.

micron

But however bad the commentary, it can't detract from such an amazing first session by team GB.

Great ride by Houvenagel, though

afx237vi

thamacdaddy wrote:

NWLondoner wrote:

They did it again.

Claimed R Romero did the fastest GB time ever when the graphics clearly showed that W Houvenaghel was first

to be fair he corrected himself straight away.....

I find the eurosport duffers commentary far far worse than anything else....if I can sit through that the rest is no problemo.

I doubt anyone will disagree with that, but Duffers does very little commentary these days (thank the lord).

Hugh Porter, David Duffield, Barry Davies, David Coleman, Murray Walker, John Motson... virtually every single sports commentator goes on for too long. In the end they just become embarrassing, but by that point they've usually acquired "national treasure" status and broadcasters become reluctant to give them the boot.

I've just been watching the track and field and it looks as if Brendan Foster has now joined that list too. He's slurring so much he sounds drunk.

moray_gub

afx237vi wrote:

thamacdaddy wrote:

NWLondoner wrote:

They did it again.

Claimed R Romero did the fastest GB time ever when the graphics clearly showed that W Houvenaghel was first

to be fair he corrected himself straight away.....

I find the eurosport duffers commentary far far worse than anything else....if I can sit through that the rest is no problemo.

I doubt anyone will disagree with that, but Duffers does very little commentary these days (thank the lord).

Hugh Porter, David Duffield, Barry Davies, David Coleman, Murray Walker, John Motson... virtually every single sports commentator goes on for too long. In the end they just become embarrassing, but by that point they've usually acquired "national treasure" status and broadcasters become reluctant to give them the boot.

I've just been watching the track and field and it looks as if Brendan Foster has now joined that list too. He's slurring so much he sounds drunk.

Funny i was watching the mens 1500 heats and i though Foster was on the sauce he was gibbering a load of shi*te. As far as gibbering old commentators goes youre right the honourable exception to that would be the doyen of commentators (imo) Harry Carpenter he was majestic all through his career, and retired at the right time .

cheers
MG

yorkshireraw

Foster probably has been on it. Did he manage to get another free shout in for one of his 'Great Run' events? He usually gets in a couple per race.

Ovett has been great on Breakfast time though - not pulling any punches, just being totally realistic when the Beeb try to big up everyone from potential finalist (at best) level to being in the medal hunt.

Cumulonimbus

I think they have been using a commentator rather than a cycling commentator. There a lot of people in the road race and for someone who doesnt follow cycling that much it must be difficult to identify people straight off - many people on this site are probably more experienced with cycling than the commentator responsible. Cycling is hardly ever on the BBC so maybe this explains it.

Having said all that i found it quite difficult as i am used to watching people ride in their trade team colours

yorkshireraw

I think Hugh Porter has seen the odd bike race in his time.....

Hugh Porter (born: January 1940) was one of Britain's greatest professional cyclists, winning four world titles in the individual pursuit discipline, as well as a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 1966. Building on his track cycling and road racing experience, he became a commentator on cycle events, notably for the BBC.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Porter

OllyBianchi

For everyone else who hasn't heard of Hugh Porter, don't worry - Chris Boardman got a question wrong about him on Question of Sport...

sing_for_absolution

As previously written, Porter's going the same way as Duffers. Both good commentators in their prime, but they're getting older now and so are prone to mistakes.

One example was the end of the women's road race. We all clearly saw that Cooke had won it convincingly. When the broadcasters then mistakenly put up a graphic showing Cooke as the winner with images of the bronze medallist celebrating, Porter went completely over the top and started to panic that Cooke might not have won it.

wildmoustache

I didn't realise the guy I was calling "goon" is actually called "Hugh Porter". So, Hugh, if you're reading this (and I wouldn't be surprised to learn you were reading forums while supposed to be working ), please re-sign with immediate effect.

I'd rather have Ritchie Benaud commentating on cycling.

Tom Butcher

I must be watching different coverage - I think Hugh Porter is OK. Granted his identification of some riders in the road race wasn't spot on but how often does he get to commentate on road racing - haven't got a problem with his track commentary.

wildmoustache

Tom Butcher wrote:

I must be watching different coverage - I think Hugh Porter is OK. Granted his identification of some riders in the road race wasn't spot on but how often does he get to commentate on road racing - haven't got a problem with his track commentary.

yes, but as stated earlier in the thread ... he was also making a number of inaccurate statements during the road events and ignoring key developments in the race.

haven't heard him in the track yet.

not up to the job IMO.

While we're at I cannot stand Gabi "HOW GOOD IS MARK PHELPS??" Logan. What a f***ing clown she is.

Sorry ... not feeling charitable.

NJK

wildmoustache wrote:

Tom Butcher wrote:

I must be watching different coverage - I think Hugh Porter is OK. Granted his identification of some riders in the road race wasn't spot on but how often does he get to commentate on road racing - haven't got a problem with his track commentary.

yes, but as stated earlier in the thread ... he was also making a number of inaccurate statements during the road events and ignoring key developments in the race.

haven't heard him in the track yet.

not up to the job IMO.

While we're at I cannot stand Gabi "HOW GOOD IS MARK PHELPS??" Logan. What a f***ing clown she is.

Sorry ... not feeling charitable.

I've become unbelievebly cynical about elite sport in general, so the performances of Phelps, two chinese swimmers, Usain Bolt, Chinese weightlifters, anyone else? They haven't helped.

wildmoustache

NJK wrote:

wildmoustache wrote:

Tom Butcher wrote:

I must be watching different coverage - I think Hugh Porter is OK. Granted his identification of some riders in the road race wasn't spot on but how often does he get to commentate on road racing - haven't got a problem with his track commentary.

yes, but as stated earlier in the thread ... he was also making a number of inaccurate statements during the road events and ignoring key developments in the race.

haven't heard him in the track yet.

not up to the job IMO.

While we're at I cannot stand Gabi "HOW GOOD IS MARK PHELPS??" Logan. What a f***ing clown she is.

Sorry ... not feeling charitable.

I've become unbelievebly cynical about elite sport in general, so the performances of Phelps, two chinese swimmers, Usain Bolt, Chinese weightlifters, anyone else? They haven't helped.

yes ... some of those chinese women were no larger than a grannie and they were lifting the equivalent of an obese man clean above their heads!!!

What grates about Gabi is not just her gullibility ... it's the way she assumes her viewers are as stupid as she is ... YOHOOO Gabs ... we know a) that the world records are being broken thanks to the new swimming togs and b) that swimming is much easier to win multiple medals in than most other disclipines ... yet to completely fail to mention this,

Eurostar

I could forgive Porter the odd inaccuracy, but he's hopeless at trying to get joe public engaged in cycling. He had almost nothing to say in the men's sprint. Why not at least tell people how fast the riders are going, and make some attempt to compare their power output with the sprinters in athletics? There's plenty to be said about the bikes too - their cost and weight and so on, and the wind tunnel training and the special clothing. Given that the BBC have known for years that most of our gold medals were going to be in cycling you'd think the penny would have dropped that the the vast majority of the TV audience need some help to get into it. God helps us when Porter tries to explain what's happening in the Madison.

wildmoustache

Eurostar wrote:

I could forgive Porter the odd inaccuracy, but he's hopeless at trying to get joe public engaged in cycling. He had almost nothing to say in the men's sprint. Why not at least tell people how fast the riders are going, and make some attempt to compare their power output with the sprinters in athletics? There's plenty to be said about the bikes too - their cost and weight and so on, and the wind tunnel training and the special clothing. Given that the BBC have known for years that most of our gold medals were going to be in cycling you'd think the penny would have dropped that the the vast majority of the TV audience need some help to get into it. God helps us when Porter tries to explain what's happening in the Madison.

well put eurostar.

andyp

Eurostar wrote:

God helps us when Porter tries to explain what's happening in the Madison.

Even the most gifted commentator in the world would struggle to explain what's going on in the madison. It's hard enough to follow one when you are watching it in the flesh, and almost impossible watching it on tv.

BeaconRuth

Eurostar wrote:

I could forgive Porter the odd inaccuracy, but he's hopeless at trying to get joe public engaged in cycling. He had almost nothing to say in the men's sprint. Why not at least tell people how fast the riders are going, and make some attempt to compare their power output with the sprinters in athletics? There's plenty to be said about the bikes too - their cost and weight and so on, and the wind tunnel training and the special clothing. Given that the BBC have known for years that most of our gold medals were going to be in cycling you'd think the penny would have dropped that the the vast majority of the TV audience need some help to get into it. God helps us when Porter tries to explain what's happening in the Madison.

I agree that maybe he could tell us more things that would make the cycling more accessible to the non-cycling public, but I think you couldn't be more wrong about the madison. Did you watch the BBC coverage of the Madison at the Worlds in March? Porter's commentary on that was absolutely fantastic - far and away the best piece of commentary I have ever heard on such an incredibly difficult event to watch. He made it abundantly clear throughout exactly what was going on with the points and the laps and he virtually predicted Wiggin's/Cavendish's final attack that launched them into the gold medal postion. We knew at every point in the race who was up, who was down and what the Brits had to do to win. Did you see it?

I think Hugh Porter is doing just fine.

Ruth

ermintrude

I usually try not to write a reply when comments annoy me but this time I am ! If any of you doubt Hugh Porters ability as a commentator then I suggest you attend one of the Revolution meetings at the Manchester Velodrome, He does about 4hrs non stop commentary and is superb. What is it with all this bleating about cycling commentary anyway, or is it just another example of the packaging being more important than the content. By the way I think David Harmon, Sean Kelly and Hugh Porter are all fantastic commentators in their own different ways. Rant over

Eurostar

Yes, Porter's all very well for an audience of enthusiasts. But today he presented a gold medal win at the Olympics on the BBC, a little bit of history, a clip that will be repeated scores of times and seen by everyone in the country. He has a responsibility to look at the big picture and grasp this opportunity to sell cycling to the public. If we want more public money for track cycling, and even, God forbid, a decently funded road racing programme and a future British contender for the Tour de France, the public have got to be educated about the sport. But to the average viewer today's gold medal win looked more boring than any other British win I can recall. Even the curling was invested with more drama. It's such a waste - a great story to those in the know, but to everyone else, more tedious then the shooting or the dressage.

sing_for_absolution

Eurostar wrote:

Yes, Porter's all very well for an audience of enthusiasts. But today he presented a gold medal win at the Olympics on the BBC, a little bit of history, a clip that will be repeated scores of times and seen by everyone in the country. He has a responsibility to look at the big picture and grasp this opportunity to sell cycling to the public. If we want more public money for track cycling, and even, God forbid, a decently funded road racing programme and a future British contender for the Tour de France, the public have got to be educated about the sport. But to the average viewer today's gold medal win looked more boring than any other British win I can recall. Even the curling was invested with more drama. It's such a waste - a great story to those in the know, but to everyone else, more tedious then the shooting or the dressage.

Totally agree.

Sad thing is even Liggett's starting to lose it too. Remember that first stage Cavendish won and he was convinced it was Ciolek, which resulted in him having to re-record it for the ITV4 highlights?

andrewgturnbull

ermintrude wrote:

I usually try not to write a reply when comments annoy me but this time I am ! If any of you doubt Hugh Porters ability as a commentator then I suggest you attend one of the Revolution meetings at the Manchester Velodrome, He does about 4hrs non stop commentary and is superb. What is it with all this bleating about cycling commentary anyway, or is it just another example of the packaging being more important than the content. By the way I think David Harmon, Sean Kelly and Hugh Porter are all fantastic commentators in their own different ways. Rant over

+1

I'm getting pretty fed up of the general negativity around here - was it always this bad?

BeaconRuth

Try the Track section. Lots of positive things there. Just nobody else to discuss them. :oops:

Ruth

NWLondoner

wildmoustache wrote:

NJK wrote:

wildmoustache wrote:

Tom Butcher wrote:

I must be watching different coverage - I think Hugh Porter is OK. Granted his identification of some riders in the road race wasn't spot on but how often does he get to commentate on road racing - haven't got a problem with his track commentary.

yes, but as stated earlier in the thread ... he was also making a number of inaccurate statements during the road events and ignoring key developments in the race.

haven't heard him in the track yet.

not up to the job IMO.

While we're at I cannot stand Gabi "HOW GOOD IS MARK PHELPS??" Logan. What a f***ing clown she is.

Sorry ... not feeling charitable.

I've become unbelievebly cynical about elite sport in general, so the performances of Phelps, two chinese swimmers, Usain Bolt, Chinese weightlifters, anyone else? They haven't helped.

yes ... some of those chinese women were no larger than a grannie and they were lifting the equivalent of an obese man clean above their heads!!!

What grates about Gabi is not just her gullibility ... it's the way she assumes her viewers are as stupid as she is ... YOHOOO Gabs ... we know a) that the world records are being broken thanks to the new swimming togs and b) that swimming is much easier to win multiple medals in than most other disclipines ... yet to completely fail to mention this,

Is it me or do Gabby and Michael Johnson have NO on screen chemistry whatsoever?? Whenever he is on the Olympics Today show at 7pm he seems to look uncomfortable with her. Plus the expression on his face seems to say "what the f*uck do you know about anything"

He his much better with good old Sue Barker

Tim Farr

I have no problem with Hugh Porter or David Harmon. However I do prefer David Harmon on the road events because he knows the pro peleton so much better than legend Hugh Porter. I watched the men's road race on BBC, and Porter did struggle to identify riders. I am sure that Harmon would have had fewer problems. Posters have complained about errors. Wasn't commentating once described as describing what's happening, whilst answering two phone calls, working a stopwatch and answering the door at the same time? or something like that!! It could be worse - David D.......

drenkrom

Liggett did not identify one attacking rider in the road race. Not a single, bloody one of them all! His co-commentator could be heard telling him who was in there and puffing in exasperation when Phil went with his (wrong) personal idea. "Oh, that's Pfannberger. It doesn't look like Pfannberger, though." erm... it did to the 6 of us shouting at you in my living room, Phil.


Mind you, it still beats the Canadian road race commentary. Way beyond clueless, that was.