Carlton Kirby

daniel_b

Agreed on Jose and Dani - Suspect Lizzie D would make a great commentator when she eventually decides to retire as well.

Pross

At least Kirby hasn't caught the "diamonds in his / her legs" that seems to be all the rage with the other commentators at the moment. I started getting fed up with it on Sunday and Dani used it today as well.

yorkshireraw

Pross said:

At least Kirby hasn't caught the "diamonds in his / her legs" that seems to be all the rage with the other commentators at the moment. I started getting fed up with it on Sunday and Dani used it today as well.

I think it's a common phrase used among the Belgian commentators - Blyth obv spent a lot of his career doing those races / in that environment so has picked it up.

daniel_b

LFW - yin and yang, CK but Blythe to counteract as much as he can.

Pross said:

At least Kirby hasn't caught the "diamonds in his / her legs" that seems to be all the rage with the other commentators at the moment. I started getting fed up with it on Sunday and Dani used it today as well.

He wouldn't have room for all of his other punnery if he slipped that one in as well.

blazing_saddles

Already the fool has had a major faux pas over Pidcock saving himself for LBL.
The average cycling fan being aware that TP ain’t riding on Sunday.

daniel_b

Blythe doing a semi decent job of making ck a bit more bearable - at least he is taking up some more of the mic time than the co-commentators usually do.

ck with a 'random pole making a lovely job of his lounge' line

rick_chasey

blazing_saddles said:

Already the fool has had a major faux pas over Pidcock saving himself for LBL.
The average cycling fan being aware that TP ain’t riding on Sunday.

Has that been confirmed? And if so, why?

daniel_b

rick_chasey said:

blazing_saddles said:

Already the fool has had a major faux pas over Pidcock saving himself for LBL.
The average cycling fan being aware that TP ain’t riding on Sunday.

Has that been confirmed? And if so, why?

Blythe said as much, I 'think' he said as Pidders was concentrating on MTB for a bit - not sure if him and pidders are buddies or not?
And he's not listed on here: https://procyclingstats.com/race/liege-bastogne-liege/2021/startlist

De Plus in his place.

I know it's all very personal, but I really like Blythe's style of humour.

andytee87

Bit of a chuckle when Kirby asked if Lammertink knew what he'd let himself in for with 7 km left in Fleche Wallonne

Blythes response, "Well they've been up the Mur twice already today..."

Mad_Malx

andytee87 said:

Bit of a chuckle when Kirby asked if Lammertink knew what he'd let himself in for with 7 km left in Fleche Wallonne

Blythes response, "Well they've been up the Mur twice already today..."

Blythe has managed to limit the ck damage better than anyone.

For me the best pairing has been are Stephens and Blythe, and Stephens and Lloyd are good too. I'm praying that ES/GCN agree and use these for the GTs, otherwise I'm back with Boulting and Milar.

shirley_basso

I rate Millar - I'm used to his droney voice now.

I can't believe how much of a fu*kwit Kirby is

daniel_b

andytee87 said:

Bit of a chuckle when Kirby asked if Lammertink knew what he'd let himself in for with 7 km left in Fleche Wallonne

Blythes response, "Well they've been up the Mur twice already today..."

Yes I clocked that, and I also think from ck's slightly frosty reply he wasn't that impressed by it

Yep Millar is very listenable, but like a lot of people on here I pretty much just use ES / GCN now, it's so convenient with the multiple options, and no adverts option is the deal clincher for me.

Any combo of Stephens, Lloyd and Blythe is a real winner for me - they seem to have a great chemistry AND be able to call the race well.

I still get the feeling that ES consider them not central to their commentating team though.
Not heard much of Hatch this year as far as I recall.

yorkshireraw

daniel_b said:

andytee87 said:

Bit of a chuckle when Kirby asked if Lammertink knew what he'd let himself in for with 7 km left in Fleche Wallonne

Blythes response, "Well they've been up the Mur twice already today..."

Yes I clocked that, and I also think from ck's slightly frosty reply he wasn't that impressed by it

Yep Millar is very listenable, but like a lot of people on here I pretty much just use ES / GCN now, it's so convenient with the multiple options, and no adverts option is the deal clincher for me.

Any combo of Stephens, Lloyd and Blythe is a real winner for me - they seem to have a great chemistry AND be able to call the race well.

I still get the feeling that ES consider them not central to their commentating team though.
Not heard much of Hatch this year as far as I recall.

And Declan Quigly seems to have totally gone, which must be annoying when he tunes in and hears Kirby's dribble or Jose Bean's snore-fest

I like Miller / Boulting but get why some people don't (although Miller made an absolute ar5e of himself with his Freeman comments during Paris Nice prog)
The problem I have is the picture quality I can get on ITV4 is awful, compared to Eurosport or GCN HD.
Have tried having Eurosport pictures on TV and ITV commentary from the app but there's usually a noticeable time delay.

RichN95.

yorkshireraw said:

The problem I have is the picture quality I can get on ITV4 is awful, compared to Eurosport or GCN HD.

Are you aware that there's an ITV4 HD?

yorkshireraw

RichN95. said:

yorkshireraw said:

The problem I have is the picture quality I can get on ITV4 is awful, compared to Eurosport or GCN HD.

Are you aware that there's an ITV4 HD?

Not on my box. Hence the 'I can get'... ;-) Assume it's only on Sky?

daniel_b

yorkshireraw said:

RichN95. said:

yorkshireraw said:

The problem I have is the picture quality I can get on ITV4 is awful, compared to Eurosport or GCN HD.

Are you aware that there's an ITV4 HD?

Good point about Declan Quigley, he has not been around much has he - Marty Mcdonald was commentating with Dani Rowe on the women's Amstel Gold.

Not on my box. Hence the 'I can get'... ;-) Assume it's only on Sky?

I have it on freeview - just channel 103, but perhaps it depends on your aerial & region?

Can you not watch live on your phone through itvplayer, and cast to your tv though?
That's what I tend to do with ES player/GCN+ and it works a treat.

What did millar have to say about freeman?

yorkshireraw

daniel_b said:

yorkshireraw said:

RichN95. said:

yorkshireraw said:

The problem I have is the picture quality I can get on ITV4 is awful, compared to Eurosport or GCN HD.

Are you aware that there's an ITV4 HD?

Good point about Declan Quigley, he has not been around much has he - Marty Mcdonald was commentating with Dani Rowe on the women's Amstel Gold.

Not on my box. Hence the 'I can get'... ;-) Assume it's only on Sky?

I have it on freeview - just channel 103, but perhaps it depends on your aerial & region?

Can you not watch live on your phone through itvplayer, and cast to your tv though?
That's what I tend to do with ES player/GCN+ and it works a treat.

What did millar have to say about freeman?

will have another look then, thanks. We're East / South East so should be broadcast here I'd have thought.

Miller basically said Freeman was a lovely man who'd made some errors etc, but wasn't really to be blamed. Ignoring that he'd admitted 18 charges to the Tribunal and was basically incompetent / a liability as a Doctor.

kingstongraham

103 is itv HD, not itv4 HD.

Only on satellite, cable and on the Web site.

pblakeney

daniel_b said:

rick_chasey said:

blazing_saddles said:

Already the fool has had a major faux pas over Pidcock saving himself for LBL.
The average cycling fan being aware that TP ain’t riding on Sunday.

Has that been confirmed? And if so, why?

Blythe said as much, I 'think' he said as Pidders was concentrating on MTB for a bit - not sure if him and pidders are buddies or not?
And he's not listed on here: https://procyclingstats.com/race/liege-bastogne-liege/2021/startlist

De Plus in his place.

I know it's all very personal, but I really like Blythe's style of humour.

Is that like a Plus 1 on a wedding invite? 🤣

Yes, I am aware that he is a team rider.

daniel_b

kingstongraham said:

103 is itv HD, not itv4 HD.

Only on satellite, cable and on the Web site.

Crap, so it is. Sorry @yorkshireraw accidental disinformation on my part, I'll get my coat

daniel_b

rick_chasey said:

blazing_saddles said:

Already the fool has had a major faux pas over Pidcock saving himself for LBL.
The average cycling fan being aware that TP ain’t riding on Sunday.

Has that been confirmed? And if so, why?

Looks like he is now!

yorkshireraw

daniel_b said:

kingstongraham said:

103 is itv HD, not itv4 HD.

Only on satellite, cable and on the Web site.

censored , so it is. Sorry @yorkshireraw accidental disinformation on my part, I'll get my coat

No worries. No idea why ITV4 standard is so much worse than other channels non-HD quality though.
Am moving next week though so hopefully might get a better signal a mile up the road lol.

daniel_b

yorkshireraw said:

daniel_b said:

kingstongraham said:

103 is itv HD, not itv4 HD.

Only on satellite, cable and on the Web site.

censored , so it is. Sorry @yorkshireraw accidental disinformation on my part, I'll get my coat

No worries. No idea why ITV4 standard is so much worse than other channels non-HD quality though.
Am moving next week though so hopefully might get a better signal a mile up the road lol.

I know what you mean now you come to say it, it's visibly pixelated on a large screen isn't it, very frustrating, and another reason I suspect I avoid it and go ES even when they are showing an entire tdf stage for example.

Just had a look online, and I'm not seeing anyway to watch itv4hd on there either which is pretty crap imho.

Fingers crossed for a better signal next week, or time to keep an eye out for a gcn+ or es player 50% offer!

daniel_b

daniel_b said:

rick_chasey said:

blazing_saddles said:

Already the fool has had a major faux pas over Pidcock saving himself for LBL.
The average cycling fan being aware that TP ain’t riding on Sunday.

Has that been confirmed? And if so, why?

Looks like he is now!

And he's gone!

No replacement, Kwiato leading apparently.

bobones

Hatch's habit of repeating his previous sentence for emphasis is getting very annoying, .e.g., "Bernal is on the attack. Bernal is on the attack", "What's happened there? What's happened there?", etc., etc. Does it all the time. Bring back Carlton I say!

bobmcstuff

At least he is repeating something that makes sense

blazing_saddles

bobones said:

Hatch's habit of repeating his previous sentence for emphasis is getting very annoying, .e.g., "Bernal is on the attack. Bernal is on the attack", "What's happened there? What's happened there?", etc., etc. Does it all the time. Bring back Carlton I say!

That's easily sorted.
Don't bother watching the Giro, go watch Hungary.
That's where you can find Mr Puns and Giggles, this week.

Pross

I hadn't heard of Hannah Walker before today but can now add ger to the ever burgeoning list of GCN / ES commentary options that is better than Kirby. I'm hoping that the GCN element is gradually taking over and CK will get eased back to annoying fans of motorsport.

blazing_saddles

bobmcstuff said:

At least he is repeating something that makes sense

I much prefer someone who repeats the odd sentence to someone who repeats pretty much the same commentary, ever single race.

Lanterne_Rogue

I'm another one who enjoyed Hannah Walker's contribution today. Also, there's a cheeriness about Eurosport's coverage in general that makes for good company generally - the analysis afterwards is hardly pulling up any trees, but it always helps if the people in the studio give the impression that they're not all immediately about to text their agent to complain about who got the alpha seat on the sofa.