Phil ‘N Paul Bingo

Quote:My wife knows ‘Little

My wife knows ‘Little Tommy Voeckler’ and that he ‘turns himself inside out’. Makes him sound like a bloody sea slug btw. And the ‘Jens Voigt’ is a popular man in the peloton, and that he has ‘shut up legs’ written on his cross bar……because Leggwin say it twelve times a stage.

Many years ago as a kid watching the half hour highlights on Channel 4…
Even my mother knew that Mario Cippolini was called ‘The Lion King’ because Phil said it every bloody time.
My mother is only just aware that the Tour exists but after a week of it being on in the background she knew every nickname!

I’m convinced that Phil and Paul have a list of all the riders along with an adjective:
“big” (Magnus Backstedt)
“little” (Thomas Voeckler, Bryan Coquard)
“popular” (Jens Voight)
etc
Their age (so they can repeat ad nauseam that such-and-such is “only 22 years of age” or conversely “nearly 40 years of age”)
Their nationality (so that every time they see a flag of that nation they can say “the [country] flag there flying for [rider]”)

It’s just filler – they’re contributing nothing useful in terms of information, they just feel the need to talk cos they’re there and they’ll fill any empty space with the same old clichéd rubbish.

Although I think alongside that list, Paul must have a list of every significant building on the race route supplied to him by the French Tourist Board
“And look here Phil, this is the Chateau de Saint Marie which was built in 1384 and has magnificent stained glass windows”
[ticks box, collects 50 euros from French Tourist Board]

Shame cos the ITV4 pundit team of Gary Imlach, Chris Boardman and Ned Boulting are genuinely brilliant, the rest of the ITV4 coverage is ruined by Phil & Paul.

I’ve got Classica San Sebastian on EuroSport at the moment with Brian Smith and Magnus Backstedt and there’s some really interesting insights in there – transfer windows, tactics, the nature of the course… Genuine knowledge and interest.

cavasta wrote: Jeez, mate,

cavasta wrote:

Jeez, mate, lighten up. What’s wrong with you? Like you, I used a tedious, over-worn expression (‘a very select group’) to contribute to this light-hearted thread about Liggett and Sherwen cliches (note: light-hearted). The pair of them are always banging on about GC riders and stage leaders being ‘a very select group’. This cliche is also used with depressing regularity to describe the so-called ‘heads of state’.

You’ll have to forgive me then as it reads like you are explaining to me what they mean.

My wife knows ‘Little Tommy Voeckler’ and that he ‘turns himself inside out’. Makes him sound like a bloody sea slug btw. And the ‘Jens Voigt’ is a popular man in the peloton, and that he has ‘shut up legs’ written on his cross bar……because Leggwin say it twelve times a stage.

farrell wrote:The oddest

farrell wrote:

The oddest thing I read was someone slagging him off for calling himself Sean as opposed to John!

His real name IS John Kelly. He was given Sean as a nickname to differentiate him from his dad who is/was also John Kelly.

korblimey wrote:Like it or

korblimey wrote:

Like it or not, Phil and Paul are still THE voice(s) of cycling. For all their faults. Carlton is flying by the seat of his pants and relying on his ‘world of pain’ whimsy to disguise the fact he doesn’t really know what’s going on. Sean Kelly’s droning drives any sane man to switch back to ITV4. As do Rob Hatch’s ridiculous over-pronouciations. Or that French presenter clown on Eurosport with the red trousers boring us senseless with those Greg Lemond chats. Did Greg say anything remotely perceptive or insightful over the whole TDF? No, I didn’t hear it either. Boardman, Imlach and Boulting wipe the floor with Eurosport. Case closed.

Woah, woah, woah, it might be Friday afternoon but there’s no need to start getting lairy.

Now you just take back your negativity towards Stefano Bernabino and his lovely collection of trousers!

You know, I ‘d absolutely
You know, I ‘d absolutely love to hear Michael Smiley doing a spot of commentating/punditry.

If any TV types are browsing the site, get on the phone and make it happen.

Phil mentioned that a
Phil mentioned that a particular rider (can’t remember which one) was:

‘the oldest 22 year old in the race’……

Sherwen: “front ‘end’ (back
Sherwen: “front ‘end’ (back ‘end’) of the main field”

I counted 1,312 in the time I watched. What’s wrong with simply “front of the main field/peloton”?

Liggett: “maillot jorne” . You’d have thought he would have spent enough time in France to know how to pronounce jaune. [See also Tommy Voyckler and countless others]

Best commentary/summarising I’ve heard recently is from Matt Stephens.

Time for a changing of the guard, methinks.

Colin Peyresourde

Colin Peyresourde wrote:

cavasta wrote:

Colin Peyresourde wrote:

The one is hate is when Phil starts talking about GC contenders as ‘heads of State’.

‘Heads of state’ aka ‘a very select group’.

Oh really? How can I of missed the obvious bloody comparison?!?….he only makes it 5 times a stage.

Wait, did I forget to thank you for pointing that out to me…..well, thanks.

It’s a tedious, over worn expression he loves to pull out and I hate. He could talk about the ‘elite’, ‘the cream of the crop’, ‘the riding excellence’…..anything but that hackeyed phrase he pulls out. It’s tiresome. And I think you’ve missed the point of the post.

Jeez, mate, lighten up. What’s wrong with you? Like you, I used a tedious, over-worn expression (‘a very select group’) to contribute to this light-hearted thread about Liggett and Sherwen cliches (note: light-hearted). The pair of them are always banging on about GC riders and stage leaders being ‘a very select group’. This cliche is also used with depressing regularity to describe the so-called ‘heads of state’.