Carlton Kirby

pete54

For all those who can't stand Kirby's 'commentary' (must be everyone on Bikeradar?), there is a thread in the Eurosport 'comments and suggestions' forum requesting that he be removed from the roster. He was hinting today that he would be commentating on Paris-Roubaix (just after he said that Froome was 'over-raced' this year), so I'd be grateful if as many people as possible could comment/vote before it is too late:

https://yahoo.uservoice.com/forums/1698 ... ant-drivel

If anyone knows a contact email address for the people that employ him at Eurosport could they post it here, please?

blazing_saddles

Mmmmm, unfortunately, the suggested replacement is just as clueless, just quieter.

pete54

Bit harsh, Quigley is a lot more knowledgeable. As you say, he doesn't shout unnecessarily either. Can you imagine Paris-Roubaix with Kirby commentating? Kelly will probably kill him by the end.

Crankbrother

For god's sake ... grow up ... the man's just doing his job ... some of it good, some of it bad ...

This is the trouble with the internet giving 'everyone' a voice ... They use it to whine when something inconsequential doesn't suit them ...

Pross

Is it my imagination or has there been more talk about commentators than cycling on here recently?

blazing_saddles

Pross wrote:

Is it my imagination or has there been more talk about commentators than cycling on here recently?

If you had endured Catalunya, you'd know why.

Crankbrother wrote:

For god's sake ... grow up ... the man's just doing his job ... some of it good, some of it bad ...

This is the trouble with the internet giving 'everyone' a voice ... They use it to whine when something inconsequential doesn't suit them ...

Yes, he's doing his job: very badly
He is paid to do his job.
The subscribers to Eurosport underwrite his wages.

You sound like Ms Cound when somebody says unkind things about her man.

Crankbrother

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Pross wrote:

Is it my imagination or has there been more talk about commentators than cycling on here recently?

If you had endured Catalunya, you'd know why.

Crankbrother wrote:

For god's sake ... grow up ... the man's just doing his job ... some of it good, some of it bad ...

This is the trouble with the internet giving 'everyone' a voice ... They use it to whine when something inconsequential doesn't suit them ...

Yes, he's doing his job: very badly
He is paid to do his job.
The subscribers to Eurosport underwrite his wages.

You sound like Ms Cound when somebody says unkind things about her man.

Fine, send your letters in to Barry Took ... I'll just continue to tune out the rubbish and hope the pro on offer has something sensible to say ...

(In defence of Carlton I genuinely lol'd at his Hot Chocolate joke today ...)

pete54

Crankbrother wrote:

Fine, send your letters to Barry Took...

Eh? Is this the guy in charge at Eurosport? If, so can you send me his email address, please?

dish_dash

pete54 wrote:

Crankbrother wrote:

Fine, send your letters to Barry Took...

Eh? Is this the guy in charge at Eurosport? If, so can you send me his email address, please?

lol

joelsim

dish_dash wrote:

pete54 wrote:

Crankbrother wrote:

Fine, send your letters to Barry Took...

Eh? Is this the guy in charge at Eurosport? If, so can you send me his email address, please?

lol

Or Anne Robinson.

On another note I like Kirby, he is entertaining.

ddraver

I don't think I ve cared enough about anything on TV to bother with this...

6wheels

He's probably too much of a joker,not serious enough, but has a 'springy' voice which is good to listen to. I like him.

Duffers was the best .

JustinLeeAtkinson

I like Carlton too, not as much as Harmon, granted, but I've given up on him coming back. At least King Kelly is still there despite Harmon's departure.

argyllflyer

Anyone but dreary Declan Quigley please! He's fine when it's all action but flounders when it's a longer stage.

shipley

JustinLeeAtkinson wrote:

I like Carlton too, not as much as Harmon, granted, but I've given up on him coming back. At least King Kelly is still there despite Harmon's departure.

My thoughts exactly. I don't like Quigley I'm afraid ..... And I'm Irish !

I am enjoying Matt Stephens' commentary, he has good insight into the latest equipment and explains it in a balanced way.

pete54

6wheels wrote:

Duffers was the best

Very satirical. I actually thought you were serious for a moment.

Shipley wrote:

I am enjoying Matt Stephens' commentary

Yes, he is excellent.

I reluctantly accept that some of you like the sound of Kirby's voice (although it is like nails down a blackboard to me), but do you seriously believe that he knows anything about cycling?

mroli

Yeah he does. You can't work commentating on it for as long as he has next to informative ex-pros without some of it getting in through osmosis at the least.

Don't get the hate. He frustrates me, but trying to get him canned? There are people a lot worse than him.

http://www.ten-tenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85131

if you want to enjoy the motor racing fraternities views on him. I think he's ok. He's grown on me.

pete54

I don't think much does get through to him, I really wish it did. I don't have anything against him personally, but he doesn't seem to get the basics of the sport. Maybe it's because he doesn't ride a bike himself? As a small example, he started talking to Magnus Backstedt about tyre widths the other day ("weren't you the 27 mm guy?") and clearly was totally clueless. I think you need to be a specialist to be a cycling commentator, yet he covers several sports on Eurosport. I heard him doing weightlifting once. I can't understand why Eurosport need to use him when they gave at least four other knowledgeable commentators, even without Harmon.

Bo Duke

Crankbrother wrote:

For god's sake ... grow up ... the man's just doing his job ... some of it good, some of it bad ...

This is the trouble with the internet giving 'everyone' a voice ... They use it to whine when something inconsequential doesn't suit them ...

Agree 100%, well said.

littledove44

I quite like Kirby. At least he can string a sentence together and he seems to bring good comments out of Backstedt. With very little data being sent to them, and some pretty bad camerawork they have made a good fist of the event in Spain.

Yes, it could be better, but I think the coverage needs tweaking, not rethinking.

MrTapir

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Mmmmm, unfortunately, the suggested replacement is just as clueless, just quieter.

the eternal dilemma: Declan "now they're on the Poggio...oh no they're not....now they are....er" Quigley, or Carlton "Champs Elysees translates as 'school fields'" Kirby.

Although I thought Quigley and Kelly was a good pairing during last year's Giro. Kelly seemed a lot more at ease and chatty with him rather than Kirby.

I think the biggest thing for me is that I want to know who the riders are. Harmon was good at that and so I learnt a lot. Rob Hatch is apparently also good but he doesnt do very much that I've seen.

Mikey23

@pete54... No but I would certainly add my name to one asking that you be removed from BR for pointless and ill informed diatribe

Please note irony not offence...

RichN95.

For me Kirby has the key ingredient I need from a commentator. His voice tends to wake me up from my nap when something happens.

milton50

Personally I think Harmon and Brian Smith are the best team. I like Kelly just out of respect more than anything.

To be fair to Kirby his passion and excitement does sometimes make a race more interesting, but he oftens gets pretty major things totally wrong.

argyllflyer

Milton50 wrote:

Personally I think Harmon and Brian Smith are the best team. I like Kelly just out of respect more than anything.

To be fair to Kirby his passion and excitement does sometimes make a race more interesting, but he oftens gets pretty major things totally wrong.

It's a shame that Harmon is now history.

argyllflyer

MrTapir wrote:

Rob Hatch is apparently also good but he doesnt do very much that I've seen.

He'll do a lot more as the season goes on but both him and Carlton have other commitments beyond Eurosport - Hatch doing international feed for all the Flanders classics as well as the two Swiss races, Kirby all the big Italian races.

Could be wrong but I've a feeling Rob Hatch will do the Giro this year for Eurosport.

Anonymous

i like the stuff the two GCN guys do, is it dan Loyd and Matt Stephens? Dan's stage guides at the giro a few years ago were great.

andyp

I've just discovered, after following a tweet that Orla Chennaoui had re-tweeted, that the esteemed Mr Kirby has blocked me on Twitter.

I find this fascinating, why would you block someone?

Rodrego Hernandez

andyp wrote:

I've just discovered, after following a tweet that Orla Chennaoui had re-tweeted, that the esteemed Mr Kirby has blocked me on Twitter.

I find this fascinating, why would you block someone?

Kirby has a very, very thin skin and won't tolerate any criticism of his peculiar brand of 'commentary.' I remember his rant against Floyd Landis during the Tour of California and his staunch unwavering support of Armstrong. This sort of ill-informed bias continues now with Froome and Sky and ruins race commentary. Surely the role of a commentator is to enlighten and inform the views as to what is happening in the race. Blatant support of riders and teams along with stories about how pally he is with riders and figures in the sport has no place in a race commentary. The mistakes that the media made with USPS and Armstrong are being repeated once more and he is the worst culprit. He should limit his observations to what is happening in the race and inform the viewers with any relevant news. He shouldn't be willing on certain teams and riders in a race situation, he should be trying on the expert co-commontator such as Sean Kelly to let the viewers know what might happen. He has successfully made Eurosport cycling unwatchable.

bobmcstuff

Yep I always watch the ITV coverage if possible - even if that means missing the stage live and watching the highlights package (like the vuelta). Would like to cancel eurosport but it's the only way to watch the classics (legitimately at least).

deejay

argyllflyer wrote:

Milton50 wrote:

Personally I think Harmon and Brian Smith are the best team. I like Kelly just out of respect more than anything.

To be fair to Kirby his passion and excitement does sometimes make a race more interesting, but he oftens gets pretty major things totally wrong.

It's a shame that Harmon is now history.

No it isn't.
Kelly put a lot of work into Harmon to turn him into something almost capable, but he left before he got the motor bikes from his system. Harmon almost made it to fully understand road cycle racing.
Your point about Sean Kelly can be traced to his getting nowhere with this Joker Kirby.
I spend too much time with Kirby on MUTE but am encouraged that there are others doing a proper job. (as mentioned within this thread)