OLN: No intervals on the climb.

Colin Campbell said:

I hadn't noticed it in the Pyrenees, but today, all OLN showed on the
crawl at the bottom of the screen was something like: "Lead - 3 riders",
"Chase 1", "Chase 2 0:30", etc.

No names, and no enlightenment from Phil and Paul. What's the problem?
How is a viewer supposed to know who is flying and who is dying?
Especially when all we see is the Schleck vs. Cunego battle, followed by
the Landis vs. Kloeden battle?

If the announcers don't know, they can't tell us. I thought it was
unusually chaotic for a mountain top finish - there were riders all over
the road, and very hard to tell who was where. How are they supposed to
tell?

Quoted message said:

I wonder why we don't get the "Moto 1", "Moto 2" information? And I
don't think I've seen "Tete de la Course" or "Arriere de la Course" on
the screen, either.

I think this is because the french moto feed doesn't (for some
unfathomable reason) give that info - I think OLN just feeds through the
video they get from the french motos. The graphics in english are
obviously added by OLN. I could be wrong; the Giro feed had these
indicators in Italian, but apparently not the Tour. Maybe the client
broadcasters are supposed to add it in.

Mark

Colin Campbell said:

I hadn't noticed it in the Pyrenees, but today, all OLN showed on the
crawl at the bottom of the screen was something like: "Lead - 3 riders",
"Chase 1", "Chase 2 0:30", etc.

No names, and no enlightenment from Phil and Paul. What's the problem?
How is a viewer supposed to know who is flying and who is dying?
Especially when all we see is the Schleck vs. Cunego battle, followed by
the Landis vs. Kloeden battle?

I wonder why we don't get the "Moto 1", "Moto 2" information? And I
don't think I've seen "Tete de la Course" or "Arriere de la Course" on
the screen, either.

(By the way, did you notice the double plug for OLN's name change?)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Phil and Paul are watching the race
on TV and commentating on what they see. Just like the rest of us.

It's not as if they're riding along on one of those motorcycles and
receiving perfect real-time information.

--
"If there are people inside our country who are talking with al Qaeda, we
want to know about it, because we will not sit back and wait to be hit
again."
~President George W. Bush

"Colin Campbell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I hadn't noticed it in the Pyrenees, but today, all OLN showed on the crawl
at the bottom of the screen was something like: "Lead - 3 riders", "Chase
1", "Chase 2 0:30", etc.

No names, and no enlightenment from Phil and Paul. What's the problem?
How is a viewer supposed to know who is flying and who is dying?
Especially when all we see is the Schleck vs. Cunego battle, followed by
the Landis vs. Kloeden battle?

I wonder why we don't get the "Moto 1", "Moto 2" information? And I don't
think I've seen "Tete de la Course" or "Arriere de la Course" on the
screen, either.

(By the way, did you notice the double plug for OLN's name change?)

I was frustrated as well, but I eventually realized that there were just too
many riders strung out along the climb to make for a neat list. What was it,
somthing like 17-18 guys in the break at the foot of the climb? And then the
peloton?

Maybe they should use the transponders like the NASCAR races and have the
little labels next to each rider. It would be nice to have more "real time"
information--maybe FOX needs to do the Tour.

OTOH, I thought there were some great overhead shots and long shots that
showed some perspectives that I haven't seen before.

Rick

RJG said:

"Colin Campbell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I hadn't noticed it in the Pyrenees, but today, all OLN showed on the crawl
at the bottom of the screen was something like: "Lead - 3 riders", "Chase
1", "Chase 2 0:30", etc.

No names, and no enlightenment from Phil and Paul. What's the problem?
How is a viewer supposed to know who is flying and who is dying?
Especially when all we see is the Schleck vs. Cunego battle, followed by
the Landis vs. Kloeden battle?

I wonder why we don't get the "Moto 1", "Moto 2" information? And I don't
think I've seen "Tete de la Course" or "Arriere de la Course" on the
screen, either.

(By the way, did you notice the double plug for OLN's name change?)

I was frustrated as well, but I eventually realized that there were just too
many riders strung out along the climb to make for a neat list. What was it,
somthing like 17-18 guys in the break at the foot of the climb? And then the
peloton?

Maybe they should use the transponders like the NASCAR races and have the
little labels next to each rider. It would be nice to have more "real time"
information--maybe FOX needs to do the Tour.

OTOH, I thought there were some great overhead shots and long shots that
showed some perspectives that I haven't seen before.

Rick

The bikes all (or at least a lot of them) seem to have the transponders
on the left "chainstay". I see little evidence that they are used by
the broadcaster, though.

I think we've been pretty lucky this year - very little of the picture
breakup that seems to be normal for the races. I guess that's due to
the relatively good weather so far.

I agree with you that the camera work is pretty good. Over the years of
watching the grand tours, though, I think Italy has it over France by a
small margin (and over Spain by quite a bit) for the beauty of the scenery.

"Colin Campbell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:V-

Quoted message said:

The bikes all (or at least a lot of them) seem to have the transponders on
the left "chainstay". I see little evidence that they are used by the
broadcaster, though.

The transponders that you see on the riders bikes are only used at the
finish line. The time gaps come from GPS on the motorcycles.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Frank Drackman said:

"Colin Campbell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:V-

Quoted message said:

The bikes all (or at least a lot of them) seem to have the transponders on
the left "chainstay". I see little evidence that they are used by the
broadcaster, though.

The transponders that you see on the riders bikes are only used at the
finish line. The time gaps come from GPS on the motorcycles.

I have to correct two things here, Frank:

The transponders may also be used at the Mountains and Sprint points.
And the time gaps come from some of the riders being faster than others.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

David Goldberg said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Phil and Paul are watching the race
on TV and commentating on what they see. Just like the rest of us.

It's not as if they're riding along on one of those motorcycles and
receiving perfect real-time information.

They listen to race radio, at least Sherwen does. I think the problem
with the intervals was the way the race developed. I suspect the
organizers had trouble keeping time splits until the finish line.

--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the
trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view,
the most insidious of traitors."
George H.W. Bush, April 16, 1999,