Tour de France - spoilers allowed

[ny biker]

Over the weekend I set my DVR to record the prime time coverage on NBCSN rather than the live morning coverage, because I don't have enough room on my DVR for the longer live coverage in addition to the Formula 1 qualifying session and race that I wanted to record. Last night I started to watch the prime time coverage at about 9 pm, which was an hour after the schedule said it would start, and I found that I had been recording golf instead. So I stopped the recording and watched something else on my DVR instead. NBC owns more than enough channels; they really need to do a better job of dealing with conflicts between all the sports that they are contracted to cover.

Later I turned on NBCSN and saw that they had lost the TV feed due to bad weather. I suppose I didn't miss much. I generally have less interest in sprinter's stages, anyway.

(On the other hand, the German Grand Prix (which was shown live on CNBC due to the TdF conflict) was a really good race. Though I kinda freaked out when Felipe Massa's car flipped over and skidded upside-down across the track before flipping upright again. I would like a car that can allow me to walk away uninjured from a crash like Felipe did.)

[BikeDutchess]

Is it just me, or does the live morning coverage have much more fluff in it than previous years? In my memory, live morning coverage used to be just Paul and Phil, but now it's interspersed with the threesome from the studio. And they, in turn have these stupid filler pieces. I really don't want to see a piece on Kittel's hair gel when there's live racing going on!

[Veronica]

I thought the hair gel piece was funny and it fit in with yesterday's stage as it was a sprint stage. I think they record these pieces and only use them when they need filler. Yesterday because of the rain they kept losing the live feed and needed filler.

Veronica

[malkin]

Is it just me, or does the live morning coverage have much more fluff in it than previous years? In my memory, live morning coverage used to be just Paul and Phil, but now it's interspersed with the threesome from the studio. And they, in turn have these stupid filler pieces. I really don't want to see a piece on Kittel's hair gel when there's live racing going on!

Yah--I've been noticing that too.

(Love the Onion report. Thanks for that!)

[azfiddle]

The computer version doesn't have any commercials - although we don't get Bob Roll and any of that other stuff.

I thought Sunday's finish was kind of a heart-breaker ....

[ny biker]

They are definitely spending more time during the live coverage with Bob, Christian and the generic sports guy (Todd?). They didn't used to do that. But I think the current combination of Bob, Christian and (Todd?) is actually pretty good.

[Crankin]

We see Bob Roll on the I Pad app... just no commercials. I actually miss them. One year, 4 of us got up at a restaurant in Lenox, MA and did the "mojito dance," that was featured in a TdF ad.

[pll]

@azfiddle: Yes, I thought it was a sad end for the break, with Jack Bauer caught just meters before the finish line.

On a silly subject... Kristoff and his crooked helmets make those Giro helmets look bad:



That's from yesterday. But here is an older one.

[malkin]

They are definitely spending more time during the live coverage with Bob, Christian and the generic sports guy (Todd?). They didn't used to do that. But I think the current combination of Bob, Christian and (Todd?) is actually pretty good.

Better than what has been in the past, although Bob Roll and Todd? have a funny way of rocking around in their seats. And Bob sometimes seems to be scoping Todd? out in a way that is more often seen in a bar rather than behind a tv sports desk.

[BikeDutchess]

Tour-related side note, I found this wonderful Kickstarter project combining art and the TdF: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...4/book-de-tour
He need quite a few more pledges to reach his goal and I sure hope he does.

[ny biker]

Better than what has been in the past, although Bob Roll and Todd? have a funny way of rocking around in their seats. And Bob sometimes seems to be scoping Todd? out in a way that is more often seen in a bar rather than behind a tv sports desk.

Interesting, I had not noticed either of these things. Bob has always been a very animated talker -- I think they once tied his hands as a joke, possibly in old commercial for tour coverage.

The other guy is Todd Harris. He definitely understands the sport. He and Liam (who sat in that chair for the past couple of years) have both done a good job.

[Koronin]

Over the weekend I set my DVR to record the prime time coverage on NBCSN rather than the live morning coverage, because I don't have enough room on my DVR for the longer live coverage in addition to the Formula 1 qualifying session and race that I wanted to record. Last night I started to watch the prime time coverage at about 9 pm, which was an hour after the schedule said it would start, and I found that I had been recording golf instead. So I stopped the recording and watched something else on my DVR instead. NBC owns more than enough channels; they really need to do a better job of dealing with conflicts between all the sports that they are contracted to cover.

Later I turned on NBCSN and saw that they had lost the TV feed due to bad weather. I suppose I didn't miss much. I generally have less interest in sprinter's stages, anyway.

(On the other hand, the German Grand Prix (which was shown live on CNBC due to the TdF conflict) was a really good race. Though I kinda freaked out when Felipe Massa's car flipped over and skidded upside-down across the track before flipping upright again. I would like a car that can allow me to walk away uninjured from a crash like Felipe did.)

It wasn't just the Tour that NBCSports messed up, they also never did bother to show the GP2 race. They were golf instead. Very annoying as we enjoy watching the GP 2 races.