Sean Kelly

funckchicken

Sean may have been a legend as a cyclist, but I think he is really dull as a co-commentator.

i think you need to take your tablets and have a lie down mate a, 'cos you are talkin' total nonsense now.

from kelly you are getting insights into the world of the peleton, tactics and experiences from one of the world's top cyclists ever who has been there, done that and won the jerseys at the highest level for over a decade. no other cycling channel even comes close to offering that and remember he is first and foremost a cyclist, not a commentator and he's naturally a quiet person, and so i think he does bloody well all things considered.

for me personally, every time kelly speaks i'm hanging on every word and i'm thrilled at some of the stories he's able to come out with.

it strikes me that the whole purpose of this thread was initially something positive - wishing someone a happy birthday. funny how all the haters just can't resist knocking someone down and focusing on the negatives all the time.

shoppo33

Sean's voice sends me to sleep, in a nice chilled way. It's the kind of sleep you have after a big roast meal and lovley glass of red.

Great rider, amazing inside knowledge but he has no sense of humour and can be very dull.

ForumNewbie

shoppo33 wrote:

Great rider, amazing inside knowledge but he has no sense of humour and can be very dull.

That probably sums it up better than the way I put it.

I much prefer the commentary team on ITV4, and because of that I prefer watching cycling events they cover than those only on British Eurosport. They may or may not have as much technical knowledge, but in my view are more lively and interesting.

stagehopper

Kelly is absolutely superb alongside Harmon. Brilliant knowledge, and a great ability to follow a race tactically and chronologically. He rarely misses riders dropping off, breaks occuring etc

And to defend both, they frequently mention the drugs issues circulating around certain teams and riders. If you've been following all the stages live you'd have heard them discuss them. I actually think they hit the balance pretty perfectly. What you don't want in a commentary team is constant repetition of issues you've discussed or referenced throughout a day or on a day-to-day basis.

plowmar

Following on from Forumnewbie, and slightly off subject, but does any one else get p***ed off with the leed in intros from ITV and now BBC on sports progs. taking up up to half the programme.

For this reason I much prefer Eurosport, even though timings can be awry-live events!!!, who tend to get straight in there and talk about background etc. during the race.

Back on track, I agree with loads of above comments, but as I am getting on yopung Mr. Kelly's accent does require unravelling, I can though see Smith being a better commentator with almost equivalent knowledge.

Moomaloid

ForumNewbie wrote:

shoppo33 wrote:

Great rider, amazing inside knowledge but he has no sense of humour and can be very dull.

That probably sums it up better than the way I put it.

I much prefer the commentary team on ITV4, and because of that I prefer watching cycling events they cover than those only on British Eurosport. They may or may not have as much technical knowledge, but in my view are more lively and interesting.

OMG!! Kelly has one of the finest sense of humours out there. Dry, but bloody funny!!

ITV4 is coverage for newbies & numpties. Phil and Paul have now regurgitated the same lines for 20 years. Nothing they give you is informative at all. The insights Sean gives as one of the best pro's in history is priceless... i'm with funckchicken on this one. Can't get enough of Kelly...

DaveyL

Agreed, I think Kelly hides his sense of humour most of the time, but he can be quite dry and cutting when he wants to be. He's especially good when his pick for the stage is still in with a shout while Harmon's has gone down in flames - like the way he gently comments on the fact that said rider is still in the action...

Phil and Paul are hardly a comedy double act, are they? I mean, not intentionally.

disquieting_museeuws

Personally I love listening to Sean's accent & never have problems following.

I particularly like the way he stresses the 'h' in vehicle, which as pronunciation is majorly difficult to support.

Slow1972

I'm a fan of Sean, he always knows and can explain the tactics of the race as it unfolds, something Harmon doesn't always manage to do.

His manner works very well as he manages to correct Harmon's incorrect analysis of how or why a break or attack is happening without coming across like a smart ar*e, just quietly explains why it has happened that way and what will probably happen next.

Kelly also seems to be the best at naming any rider the camera picks out in the Peleton

I like the way he uses "classement" as a previous poster says, no doubt picked up from his own days in the prop peleton. Anyway I'd rather he use the words that are used by the teams rather than trying to keep the grammatical pedants happy. Its cycling racing he's covering, he's not reading the BBC news, so who cares!

csp

I live in Hungary, but luckily I can watch Eurosport in English. The Hungarian commentator and his "expert" colleague never have a clue what's going on in the race, and as they have nothing to say about it, they talk about things like the castles being shown. Harmon and Kelly are so professional, they seem to know the strenghts and weaknesses of all the riders, and they manage to be entertaining for the whole duration of the coverage, with not having to talk about anything else, but cycling.

mididoctors2

stagehopper wrote:

Kelly is absolutely superb alongside Harmon. Brilliant knowledge, and a great ability to follow a race tactically and chronologically. He rarely misses riders dropping off, breaks occuring etc

And to defend both, they frequently mention the drugs issues circulating around certain teams and riders. If you've been following all the stages live you'd have heard them discuss them. I actually think they hit the balance pretty perfectly. What you don't want in a commentary team is constant repetition of issues you've discussed or referenced throughout a day or on a day-to-day basis.

harmon is underatted.. to stay on message for hours at a stretch and not get the terminal brain damage that efflicts cycle commentaors is an arduious drill. the question of the day is a good gimmick that helps count off brainless kilometeres of some flat transition stage..

he is also very good at recognising riders from a distance..which is what you need..

kelly has actually improved a bit recently..he went thru a patch of stating the obvious but this giro he has gone a bit deeper... simple minded man in many ways... the harmon/kelly duo work well.

ligget is getting duffers syndrome and sherwan is a status quo man. Boardman's post match analysis on ITV along with bob roll on the podcast was top shelf

jon208

I'm sure some form of drinking game could be constructed to go along with the ITV4 Tour coverage. Wonder how far through a stage you'd make it if you had to drink every time a rider was said to be:

"Riding the time trial of his life"

"Turning himself inside out"

"On the rivet"

"Riding himself back into this bike race"

"Having a rummage in the suitcase of courage, hoping to get another wear out of the grubby underpants of success" - This one I feel should count for double......

etc, etc.......

andyrr

IMHO you can view the Harmon/Kelly pairing as a double-act.
Harmon the commentator - knowledgeable but not expert.
Kelly the expert.
The 2 go very well together, Kelly DOES have a sense of humour but that's not why he is there, he is there to provide more in-depth knowledge than someone who loves the sport but doesn't have real experience at the highest level (ie Harmon).
Re his sense of humour - I recall a TdF stage where he and Duffers had had a slog to get to the hotel the night before with the French commentators, inc Laurent Fignon, not giving them a lift. On this, the following day, the police were towing away vehicles near the finish - Kelly went to check that their own car was ok, which it was, but Fignon's car was one of ones removed and I could picture the smile on Kelly's face as he said this.
He does seem to be lapsing into 'majorly' and 'certainly' overuse but his insights are normally spot-on.

stfc1

Most people, when asked a question, need to take a moment to formulate an answer. Better to fill this gap with "Yes, well certainly" than "Umm" or to leave dead air so that Harmon feels he has to start talking again without getting the information he wanted. It's just a device, and if you let it get in the way of listening to the wisdom of a man with Kelly's palmares than you are missing out.

Homer J

Sean Kelly is a cycling legend, but he aint no Murray Walker

Moomaloid

We need some 'Certainly...' T-Shirts made up i think...

prawny

Homer J wrote:

Sean Kelly is a cycling legend, but he aint no Murray Walker

Murray had the voice but the amount of mistakes and the things he was missing towards the end were horrendous, nearly as bad as james allen! Best commentating double act is Jack and Jamie on the superbikes followed by harmon and kelly/or brian smith and toby and Julian from moto gp.

Fair play to eurosport I just realised they're all on there.

Does anyone know what Carlton Kirby's specialist subject is? I know him from the DTM on motors TV but he does an ok job on the cycling too.

andyrr

prawny wrote:

Murray had the voice but the amount of mistakes and the things he was missing towards the end were horrendous, nearly as bad as james allen! Best commentating double act is Jack and Jamie on the superbikes followed by harmon and kelly/or brian smith and toby and Julian from moto gp.

Fair play to eurosport I just realised they're all on there.
quote]

Agree re Jamie Whitham and Jack Burnicle : same idea, a commentator partnered by someone that competed at the highest level, Whitham likes to impart more humour than Kelly but the expert knowledge is there too.
Harmon has been good when he has had the guest expert too like Allan Peiper (Giro Lombary IIRC) - he allows and assists the expert in imparting the detailed knowledge as and when required.

afx237vi

Homer J wrote:

Does anyone know what Carlton Kirby's specialist subject is? I know him from the DTM on motors TV but he does an ok job on the cycling too.

Does he have one? It certainly ain't cycling!

No kidding, I had Eurosport on once and he was doing water-polo. Pretty sure he's done handball in the past as well.

stagehopper

stfc1 wrote:

Most people, when asked a question, need to take a moment to formulate an answer. Better to fill this gap with "Yes, well certainly" than "Umm" or to leave dead air so that Harmon feels he has to start talking again without getting the information he wanted. It's just a device, and if you let it get in the way of listening to the wisdom of a man with Kelly's palmares than you are missing out.

And don't forget that Kelly's job is not just to watch the TV pics coming through of the race, but also to monitor race radio which is in Italian/French etc. So as Harmon takes the lead Kelly is filling in the "information picture" and when asked questions, os being expected to comment, is trying to catch a vital piece of information so a verbal stalling device like "certainly" is incredibly handy.

ForumNewbie

Well it's obvious from the comments that Sean has some dedicated cycling fans out there. I'm sure he is very knowledgeable and on the ball as regards what's happening in the race. I just wish he would insert some more energy into his analysis that would make it a bit more interesting for the casual viewer wanting to learn more and be entertained - because until you get near the end of each stage, watching the pelaton cruising through the countryside can get a bit boring after a while.

More people are getting into cycling these days, so if they tune into Eurosport or any other channel to watch a bit of cycling, they need the commentators to be informative, but also have a bit of banter as well.

ms_tree

jon208 wrote:

I'm sure some form of drinking game could be constructed to go along with the ITV4 Tour coverage. Wonder how far through a stage you'd make it if you had to drink every time a rider was said to be:

"Riding the time trial of his life"

"Turning himself inside out"

"On the rivet"

"Riding himself back into this bike race"

"Having a rummage in the suitcase of courage, hoping to get another wear out of the grubby underpants of success" - This one I feel should count for double......


Don't forget Bike race, machine aaaaagh!
etc, etc.......

ms_tree

ForumNewbie wrote:

Well it's obvious from the comments that Sean has some dedicated cycling fans out there. I'm sure he is very knowledgeable and on the ball as regards what's happening in the race. I just wish he would insert some more energy into his analysis that would make it a bit more interesting for the casual viewer wanting to learn more and be entertained - because until you get near the end of each stage, watching the peloton cruising through the countryside can get a bit boring after a while.

More people are getting into cycling these days, so if they tune into Eurosport or any other channel to watch a bit of cycling, they need the commentators to be informative, but also have a bit of banter as well.

Sean's really improved since he first started. After all he was a professional cyclist and NOT a professional commentator. I like the way he shuts up Dave H with one or two succinct comments!
May he go on for years!!

RichN95.

I watch quite a lot of sport on TV. And in my opinion the only co-commentators as good as Sean are Martin Brundle and Michael Holding. Compare him for example to the awful Mark Lawrenson.

A surprise as he was famous as a rider for nodding answers in radio interviews.

He fits very well with Harmon, while Phil and Paul (sad to say, as I grew up with them) have declined into the sort of commentry you'd expect on a Playstation game - a consequence of serving too many masters.

Also I think Kelly has an excellent sense of humour (drier than the Sahara, but very witty)

don key

afx237vi wrote:

Homer J wrote:

Does anyone know what Carlton Kirby's specialist subject is? I know him from the DTM on motors TV but he does an ok job on the cycling too.

Does he have one? It certainly ain't cycling!

No kidding, I had Eurosport on once and he was doing water-polo. Pretty sure he's done handball in the past as well.

Is this the so called hand ball that stole the name in shame, from another sport, the original ball/wall game invented by Sean Kelly's antshesters a thousands years and more ago?

disgruntledgoat

Ms Tree wrote:

ForumNewbie wrote:

Well it's obvious from the comments that Sean has some dedicated cycling fans out there. I'm sure he is very knowledgeable and on the ball as regards what's happening in the race. I just wish he would insert some more energy into his analysis that would make it a bit more interesting for the casual viewer wanting to learn more and be entertained - because until you get near the end of each stage, watching the peloton cruising through the countryside can get a bit boring after a while.

More people are getting into cycling these days, so if they tune into Eurosport or any other channel to watch a bit of cycling, they need the commentators to be informative, but also have a bit of banter as well.

Sean's really improved since he first started. After all he was a professional cyclist and NOT a professional commentator. I like the way he shuts up Dave H with one or two succinct comments!
May he go on for years!!

Indeed, I recall his succinct "oi don't tink sho" which was enough to slap Duffers back into his shell.

prawny

don key wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

Homer J wrote:

Does anyone know what Carlton Kirby's specialist subject is? I know him from the DTM on motors TV but he does an ok job on the cycling too.

Does he have one? It certainly ain't cycling!

No kidding, I had Eurosport on once and he was doing water-polo. Pretty sure he's done handball in the past as well.

I've just caught up with the Moto GP from le mans and he was doing that too! It was chronic, didn't even understand the rules :shock:

skavanagh.bikeradar

Happy Birthday, bleatedly, Sean Kelly. A boyhood hero of mine, a living legend and a very sharp tactical and race analysing brain in the commentary box. He keeps Harmon on track and calm and provides much insight into what is going on in a race. He reads it so well, no wonder he won so much. Hope he's at it for years. He's definately improved.

afx237vi

don key wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

No kidding, I had Eurosport on once and he was doing water-polo. Pretty sure he's done handball in the past as well.

Is this the so called hand ball that stole the name in shame, from another sport, the original ball/wall game invented by Sean Kelly's antshesters a thousands years and more ago?

In a word... certaintly.

csp

This was my favourite thread during the Giro. Today Pellizotti was forst on the toard category climb and he got four pints.