Poorly Harmon

Corporate Ascents

Poor old Harmon - well done to him for battling on through his cold, without a back up man. He gets some stick but has done pretty well, commentating on cycling is not the easist of sports. Fair play to the chap.

Be good to get Kelly back though.

ScaldedCat

Hope he takes some Lemsip and gets better soon, I enjoy his commentary.

DaveyL

He did really well to hold the fort and save us all from a dose of Kirby

Looking forward to the great double act being re-united though.

dexradio

I like Harmon, think he does a good job, also follow him on Twitter @spokesmen And Sean is a legend. Being from Ireland myself, I would say that of course :-) Looking forward to the pair of them being reunited today I believe.

Dex.

pottssteve

dexradio wrote:

I like Harmon, think he does a good job, also follow him on Twitter @spokesmen And Sean is a legend. Being from Ireland myself, I would say that of course :-) Looking forward to the pair of them being reunited today I believe.

Dex.

Certaintly!

DaveyL

I am majorly looking forward to the big man's return!

Gazzaputt

Thought h he did so well yesterday when pictures were lost. Chapeau sir!

pedro118118

He's OK.
Like you say, highlights are one thing, but filling 3 hours is not an easy task!

hevipedal

Especially filling in for 3 hours when the host broadcaster isn't giving you any pictures!

greasedscotsman

hevipedal wrote:

Especially filling in for 3 hours when the host broadcaster isn't giving you any pictures!

Duffers would have been in his element!

deejay

Corporate Ascents wrote:

Poor old Harmon - well done to him for battling on through his cold, without a back up man. He gets some stick but has done pretty well, commentating on cycling is not the easist of sports. Fair play to the chap.

He didn't stop though, with his constant words (I can't say commentary, now can I) and just droned on & on without a handkerchief in place.
I had my fingers crossed and hoped that he would get Laryngitis and maybe ES might have to find another "Pool" stand in (like Harmon was) who just couldn't be worse than these 2 (Carlton-Kirby) experienced Motor Bike riders. They do love discussing the merits of these machines while on air and Harmon was introduced to cycle racing from the back of a motor bike while holding a camera. (more or less his own words)
Kirby is booked for the California race. (I think)
The ultimate dream is that Sean Kelly could be there on his own and then we would have words and pictures together in Sync and as a rider came on screen he can name them. (I find a german commentry is more like that)
Without mouthing on about their histories as other riders come on screen which Harmon isn't knowlegeable about. (so many)
I could then loose my Mute button.

PS. the complaints I see about SK would be minimised because he would no longer have to answer the same the bone head questions over and over again and his critics would learn how knowledgeable he is. (sort of "more user friendly")

calvjones

deejay wrote:

Corporate Ascents wrote:

Poor old Harmon - well done to him for battling on through his cold, without a back up man. He gets some stick but has done pretty well, commentating on cycling is not the easist of sports. Fair play to the chap.

He didn't stop though, with his constant words (I can't say commentary, now can I) and just droned on & on without a handkerchief in place.
I had my fingers crossed and hoped that he would get Laryngitis and maybe ES might have to find another "Pool" stand in (like Harmon was) who just couldn't be worse than these 2 (Carlton-Kirby) experienced Motor Bike riders. They do love discussing the merits of these machines while on air and Harmon was introduced to cycle racing from the back of a motor bike while holding a camera. (more or less his own words)
Kirby is booked for the California race. (I think)
The ultimate dream is that Sean Kelly could be there on his own and then we would have words and pictures together in Sync and as a rider came on screen he can name them. (I find a german commentry is more like that)
Without mouthing on about their histories as other riders come on screen which Harmon isn't knowlegeable about. (so many)
I could then loose my Mute button.

PS. the complaints I see about SK would be minimised because he would no longer have to answer the same the bone head questions over and over again and his critics would learn how knowledgeable he is. (sort of "more user friendly")

Bit harsh on Harmon from someone with only a fleeting and uncertain relationship with punctuation.

RichN95.

deejay wrote:

The ultimate dream is that Sean Kelly could be there on his own and then we would have words and pictures together in Sync and as a rider came on screen he can name them.

There have been a couple of occasions when Harmon has had to nip off to the toilet in an ad break and not got back in time, leaving Kelly on his own for a couple of minutes, and he's been absolutely terrible. Completely lost on his own, struggling majorly.

Gazzaputt

deejay wrote:

Corporate Ascents wrote:

Poor old Harmon - well done to him for battling on through his cold, without a back up man. He gets some stick but has done pretty well, commentating on cycling is not the easist of sports. Fair play to the chap.

He didn't stop though, with his constant words (I can't say commentary, now can I) and just droned on & on without a handkerchief in place.
I had my fingers crossed and hoped that he would get Laryngitis and maybe ES might have to find another "Pool" stand in (like Harmon was) who just couldn't be worse than these 2 (Carlton-Kirby) experienced Motor Bike riders. They do love discussing the merits of these machines while on air and Harmon was introduced to cycle racing from the back of a motor bike while holding a camera. (more or less his own words)
Kirby is booked for the California race. (I think)
The ultimate dream is that Sean Kelly could be there on his own and then we would have words and pictures together in Sync and as a rider came on screen he can name them. (I find a german commentry is more like that)
Without mouthing on about their histories as other riders come on screen which Harmon isn't knowlegeable about. (so many)
I could then loose my Mute button.

PS. the complaints I see about SK would be minimised because he would no longer have to answer the same the bone head questions over and over again and his critics would learn how knowledgeable he is. (sort of "more user friendly")

Don't you have a mute button on your remote? If so I suggest use it.

deejay

calvjones wrote:

Bit harsh on Harmon from someone with only a fleeting and uncertain relationship with punctuation.

Make my point though and it must be interesting enough though, for you to pick holes in it.
It's only a Fecking forum FCS.
Some people must be smiling though as there would be more criticism.
Cannot be harsh on Harmon (the motor bike enthusiast) as without SK he is lost (he tells you that) and all his knowledge comes from him and following SK around the village.
Everybody knows Kelly and probably say to him "you have the lap dog in tow again"

Off Topic.
Bye the way I'm not making excuses but this laptop is playing around and if I take my eyes of the screen the type is put in some other place that I have to go back to find.
The laptop main drive had to be completely cleaned up recently as someone got through with a virus to shut it down.
The last 2 sentences have had to be edited 4 times because it jumps sometimes on the letter s or n it seems and I have no spellcheck on here.
My techno has put belt and braces security here now and along side mozilla/google and I'm advised to not touch internet explorer.
I don't think anybody is using this IP any more to bounce their scams elsewhere.

So if you are still here then I don't need your critique on top of my problems here. :roll: but stay free as it's only a forum.

deejay

Gazzaputt wrote:

Don't you have a mute button on your remote? If so I suggest use it.

All the time with Harmon. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

edit
Sorry but I've just seen ES who have the early Giro stages on and Harmon is very good in his pool job of, voice over.
That's where I first heard him and Smithy and Kirby.

Rodrego Hernandez

I can't wait to hear Harmon waffling on and on about his new man crush. Poor RIchie Porte, if he knew he was going to become Harmons latest object of desire he would probably have eased off a little in Romandy.

DaveyL

deejay wrote:

Gazzaputt wrote:

Don't you have a mute button on your remote? If so I suggest use it.

All the time with Harmon. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Harmion does appear to be able to identify riders pretty accurately from just an overhead shot, and knows a lot about the sport. You might not think he is "old school" enough for your liking (or maybe he's just too "new world"...) but why let the truth get in the way of your opinions, it never has in the past.

And he's probably ridden more miles than you've had hot dinners as well:

http://www.teamwiggletandem.com/

calvjones

deejay wrote:

calvjones wrote:

Bit harsh on Harmon from someone with only a fleeting and uncertain relationship with punctuation.

Make my point though and it must be interesting enough though, for you to pick holes in it.
It's only a Fecking forum FCS.
Some people must be smiling though as there would be more criticism.
Cannot be harsh on Harmon (the motor bike enthusiast) as without SK he is lost (he tells you that) and all his knowledge comes from him and following SK around the village.
Everybody knows Kelly and probably say to him "you have the lap dog in tow again"

If you've ever heard a commentary team consisting of 100% ex athletes, you'll know why the 'lap dog' is a necessary evil.

deejay

DaveyL wrote:

but why let the truth get in the way of your opinions, it never has in the past.

Identify any Lies, please do.

DaveyL wrote:

And he's probably ridden more miles than you've had hot dinners as well:

Yes of course he has on his Motor bike.
I've only had say 350 x 40 years of hot dinners and that mileage I did on a push bike in 15 months and certainly not on a BMX or a kiddies mountain bike but with a light weight bike on the Track,TT's, Bunch, club runs and Touring.

DaveyL

Harmon's the one at the back. Funny looking motorcycle.

Rodrego Hernandez

Harmon rides a tandem. I would have thought he would have told us all about it on the dave harmon ego experience, otherwise known as the Eurosport Cycling coverage.

Oh yeah, he has, instead of commentating on the race. What a tw@

DaveyL

Well, there is a lot of filling has to go on during a long stage. Maybe he ought to just talk about cheese and wine to keep everyone happy.

Rodrego Hernandez

He is paid to commentate, not plug other companies and products. He should relay the facts of the races and what is happening rather than plug stuff he gets given. He shouldn't be editorialising, all we want is to know what is happening. His stance on dopers is laughable too. Terrible man.

afx237vi

I watch pretty much all the cycling that ever gets shown on ES and I can't remember him ever talking about the tandem stuff. I only knew about it from Twitter - and I don't think it was even his Twitter.

As for the doping stuff - he gets slated if he talks about it, he gets slated if he doesn't talk about it. No win situation.

calvjones

Learn Dutch & watch Sporza if you don't like him. Or send ES a mp3 of you doing 3hrs commentary on a flat Vuelta stage so they'll hear how good you are, give you the job, then we can pop along here to diss you. Can't wait!

ms_tree

They have to talk about other things firstly to fill in the time on long stages and because not everyone who watches rides or is particularly interested in gears etc. It has to be a balanced commentary. What's wrong with talking about wine and cheese and scenery and stuff? He has to ask Sean basic questions 'cos sometimes people watch who don't know anything or haven't seen racing before. Some of those daft e-mails he gets - I think people just want to get their name on the telly. They could look the answers up but no, they have to ask! I like Harmon - just think it could be worse - 'Get's it wrong Liggitt and Sgt Maj Sherwin'. Horror!
PS afx - he has mentioned the tandem a few times mostly how difficult it is.

Rodrego Hernandez

calvjones wrote:

Learn Dutch & watch Sporza if you don't like him. Or send ES a mp3 of you doing 3hrs commentary on a flat Vuelta stage so they'll hear how good you are, give you the job, then we can pop along here to diss you. Can't wait!

I'm a paying customer so am free to criticise. Where in my post do I say I am better than he is? What is this obsession that internet moles have that you aren't able to criticise anyone unless you can do a better job. Dabe B was a mediocre bike rider but he hires and fires some of the best riders and staff.

Back to Harmon, there is plenty happening in the world of cycling for him to be able to fill when necessary without promoting the brand he does PR for or the company he rides a tandem for.

moray_gub

Rodrego Hernandez wrote:

calvjones wrote:

Learn Dutch & watch Sporza if you don't like him. Or send ES a mp3 of you doing 3hrs commentary on a flat Vuelta stage so they'll hear how good you are, give you the job, then we can pop along here to diss you. Can't wait!

I'm a paying customer so am free to criticise. Where in my post do I say I am better than he is? What is this obsession that internet moles have that you aren't able to criticise anyone unless you can do a better job. Dabe B was a mediocre bike rider but he hires and fires some of the best riders and staff.

Back to Harmon, there is plenty happening in the world of cycling for him to be able to fill when necessary without promoting the brand he does PR for or the company he rides a tandem for.

Cant say i have heard him do either , i like Harmon his rider identification is excellent in the main he can read a race he knows a lot about the sport and its history and during long boring flat stages or dull TT days he fills in well. Dont know what it is your looking for but if there is a better and more knowledgeable English speaking cycling commentator going about then maybe you should name him.

Abdoujaparov

All the eurosport commentators are pretty amateurish and that used to wind me up, but now it has a strange charm to it. Harmon's clearly a nice guy and his bumbling enthusiasm and random digressions are quite likeable, I reckon.

It still can be a little annoying when he/they don't give you important pieces of information, but he's definitely getting better.

deejay

DaveyL wrote:

Harmon's the one at the back. Funny looking motorcycle.

Well he talks a lot about the motor bike (espescially to Kirby on air) and he started at eurosport because of his knowledge of motor bikes and that he had taken pictures of a cycle race from the back of one. His ace card in Paris is that he speaks French.
Never mind the cheese and wine as that guy is 79 years of age next week and if you never heard him commentate before he was 65 then you don't know what a good commentary is. !
I've never heard about a tandem but it makes sense for Harmon to be a stoker.
He will have his eyes closed in case the steersman squeezes through a tight gap.
Quote (or words to the effect of) from Harmons Stage 3 Giro commentary last monday.
I can vouch that those angular kerbs are good because I would have come off my motor bike if the kerb had been upright.