Time to pack the Suit-case of Courage
by R Mc on Jan 7, 2011 12:21 PM EST
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Printand toss it off a cliff, pour whiskey on it and dance on its grave, or throw it in a dumpster off an Auto-route exit somewhere near Nantes . . .
Whilst reading Pickering's mostly lucid commentary on the Team Leopard launch, I came up short at his use of the phrase "pedals turned in anger." I'm not sure why I dislike that phrase--perhaps because it relies on the hackneyed old "sports as combat" linkage. Anyway, every time I see it or hear it, I imagine Christophe Moreau flailing away at Carlos Sastre a few years ago, or Barredo going all roue-ish.
To be fair, cycling announcers have a rough gig: identifying riders is damned hard and the announcers rarely get replays or spotters, etc, etc.
So, I understand why announcers fall into repetitive phrases, BUT it still bothers me to the point where I turn the sound off so I'm not distracted.
What cliches would you pack the suitcase with?
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Armstrong is thundering down the finishing straight
like a grand prix motorcar.
Cycling is the reason for my life - D. Bennati
iirc, it was only used the once, no? not ad infinitum
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
That one still gives me shivers.
Say what you want, but Paul Sherwin was a wordsmith.
by sebastiandeluded on Jan 7, 2011 10:04 PM EST up reply actions
O wait, NOOOO!
I meant Phil. Definitely Phil.
by sebastiandeluded on Jan 7, 2011 10:05 PM EST up reply actions
There are some pretty funny possibilities
in the comments of this recent VeloNews article.
Cycling is the reason for my life - D. Bennati
exactly
there was some Tour stage a few years ago where Hincapie and someone did a long break … I think on Galibier?? And the announcer must have said a hundred times that he was doing “no work” — My calm wife was yelling at the TV screen !
moo
The stage that Hincapie won, I guess
That was Oscar Pereiro.
Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger...
by TheFigurehead on Jan 7, 2011 1:22 PM EST up reply actions
2005, stg 15 to pla d'adet
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
mmm humm...
…because the drafting like, totally, negates the incline.
riders "burying" themselves.
"Ants don’t worry, they operate like a fantastic team, they accept obstacles and deal with them in a positive manner, they don’t complain and remain positive. An ant doesn’t work on emotion, is proactive and always chooses the ant role."
I'd rather see pedals turned in anger occasionally ( I view it differently)
than a rider
“dancing on his pedals”.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
You got a problem with dancers?
"I decided to sue. I presented the dog’s registration document with his real name on it,"
"The case is still open. There were some negotiations to see if we could reach an agreement… but I said no, that I had nothing to lose. In addition, it also showed an enormous lack of respect to my dog, whose name they changed." - Oscar Pereiro
They're all a bunch of whack jobs for one. ;)
“Dancing on his pedals” just sounds too light and airy for the actual effort involved… and too reminiscent of “light in the loafers”. And if it’s looking that easy, then it brings up that other question… “What’s he on?”
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
hehe
In French, “en danseuse” is pretty standard phrase for standing while riding …. lovely phrase
moo
Sounds better in French, I'll give it that.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
Yup--the correct term, in translation, not a bad metaphor.
And NTTAWWT for light in the loafers, too.
I didn't think dancing was that easy.
Thanks for setting me straight. But then again, if someone makes it look easy…
"I decided to sue. I presented the dog’s registration document with his real name on it,"
"The case is still open. There were some negotiations to see if we could reach an agreement… but I said no, that I had nothing to lose. In addition, it also showed an enormous lack of respect to my dog, whose name they changed." - Oscar Pereiro
I didn't set you straight,
you were most likely born that way. You make an excellent point and now I am viewing it in a different light, but still, something bothers me about the phrase.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
by sminer on Jan 7, 2011 5:24 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
rightly so, I think.
Me mum was a dancer.
Her stories of life chez le broadway and off-broadway chorus line taught me the meaning of htfu from a really early age.
I think what it is
is that the two just feel (and are) so entirely different. Turning pedals around and the pain and exhaustion you can cause yourself on the bike, if you choose to, is just so entirely different from what you put your body through in the dance world. I’ve had some great days on the bike, climbing up hills out of the saddle leaving the competition behind, never once has it felt like dancing.
That’s cool about your mom, so how did you end up in Texas?
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
I was born in Fort Worth.
And my mother was out of the biz by the time I was around. It’s a long set of stories involving Bob Wills, Julliard, and Barbara Santee, among other oddities.
Sounds really interesting
I love showbiz stories. I take it your dad was not in the business though?
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
My dad . . .
was a jazz-pianist with a left-hand, that, unfortunately, you could set a clock to. Rumor goes that the jazz club he ran for a while north of Fort Worth was the only place close to his home-town that Ornette Coleman could get a gig in. Have no idea if that’s true or not.
He was also a 5 year letterman in track for TCU. Never came close to graduating.
I take it Coleman having a hard time getting a gig was racist stuff?
I always regret not learning an instrument, do you play anything? (welcome to my R Mc interview)
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
just don't forget to ask the standard PdC question (shave or wax)...
by JustJoshinYa on Jan 7, 2011 11:19 PM EST up reply actions
Are you looking to get him killed?
He’s an English professor out in a “don’t ask dont tell” part of Texas.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
oh, jeez...that is risky...
Wait, is there a non “don’t ask don’t tell” part of Texas? (I kid – kinda)
by JustJoshinYa on Jan 7, 2011 11:46 PM EST up reply actions
Montrose in Houston, Elmwood in Dallas, Ridglea in Fort Worth
Strangely, Austin is not really known for being as gay-tolerant as those places. (It’s certainly more tolerant than some place like Tulia, but . . .)
Shave, Although, since my wife is a massage therapist, I have been ‘invited’ to try waxing. Mostly, I think, for the terror the word induces.
As for Coleman—part race, part the guy played some out-there stuff. (Fort Worth is a peculiar musical town: Delbert McClinton and T-Bone Burnett’s also an FW native. (And George Carlin was a DJ there in the early 60s).
I played guitar for a while: Joe Pass, Chet Atkins, Michael Hedges, Richard Thompson, and Adrian Belew are among my faves, but that’s a LONG list.
And JFS: seen Brother Where Art Thou? Bob Wills and co. were Pappy Lee O’Daniels’ campaign-band (then known as the Lightcrust Doughboys. They also had “Sunshine Girls” who sang back-up. One of them was Myra Osbourn Duke (who won a vocal competition in Dallas the same year that Van Cliburn won the companion piano competition. When she got too old to be a “Sunshine Girl,” my mother got the gig. Years later Myra—who was also a featured soloist on Your Hit Parade in the 50s— babysat me, and her daughter Olivia gave me my first decent guitar. In some ways Fort Worth is a really big small town.
Enuf . . .
You've got stories galore I bet
M. Hedges was a freak on the strings… love him, did you ever get to see him? David Rawlings is way up on my list of faves.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
That is some fantastic history
I did see the movie, but I assumed it was pretty much whole cloth / storytelling / magical realism with the historicity mostly used for flavor. Are you telling me that a chunk of it was real history? Mind blowing. Yes, I’m googling it now, it all makes sense. Mind blowing. Mind blowing.
So you’re the child of a Bob Wills Sunshine Girl. I’m going to listen to San Antonio Rose in her honor.
what was whole cloth was the moving it to Mississippi or wherever
Beyond spotting the Homeric parallels, a good Texas History buff can play “spot that gubernatorial campaign.”
And my real dad (as opposed to step-dad) only admitted that Bob Wills MIGHT have played music about 6 years ago. In his world music begins with Charlie Parker and maybe extends to McCoy Tyner.
At the Musician’s Union parties when I was a kid, my dad’s idea of a joke was to make my mom sing “Johnny One-note” over and over.
"Big Balls in Cowtown"
might have been apropos at the Leopard presentation.For various reasons. [Sorry, couldn’t resist. I have a good friend in “Asleep At The Wheel”}
"She is very popular and not easily frightened." about Peta Todd
by frans verbiage on Jan 8, 2011 10:12 PM EST up reply actions
Barbara Lamb played with Asleep at the wheel for a year or so
After Ranch Romance, before working fairly steadily with Laura Love (two Seattle faves).
The only pedal dancing should be "Dancing With the Stars On Pedals."
"As you can imagine, there are better places to have your birthday party than in some village called Mushny Mush Mishme." --Jens! Voigt
Found one no one wants to hear
“It’s coming down to the wire… it’s going to be desperately close…
but now a word from our sponsors”
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
followed soon after by...
“Born from jets” (remember that one…)
or
“Transitions lenses…”
or
(cheesy musac) then Bert in white… then “Siddi…”
No, what's worse is when they come back to the action
and there is none, the damn thing is over.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
The Sidi commercial is scary
Sminer: I blame KARMA for everything.
Jens: I've heard it's a bitch
Water Girl: I heard it ran over your dogma
I definitely can live without phrase:
"The Tour De France is cycling’s Super bowl or World Series of the Baseball"
Ha! People who don’t know what TDF is for cycling have no rights to own TV!
I used to be a big fan of the Racer Formerly Known as Bert! But then again, I used to believe in Santa ,Tooth Fairy and innocence of Floyd!
.
I can't imagine using that word
My gay friends would laugh at me for that one.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
Shut up, I love that one.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
+1 it's not a cliche, it's an occurance
"Thanks again, Floyd Landis, Yellow Jersey Wearer: Nuisance Category"
That's another classic term in translation,
not a spontaneous awkward metaphor. It stays. Besides, we all know how it feels.
Don't we know... ugh.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
just what you want to hear fifty times a day over 3 weeks.
No wonder Wiggins felt a bit pressurized last year.
You think you need help... I love Phil Liggett
Over the years he’s covered cycling, he’s created many of these cliches and repeated phrases we’ve grown tired of. Sadly, he’s becoming almost a parody of himself and showing signs of dementia, but it’s worth dealing with for all the one liners he’s given us over the years.
“And Ulrich looks behind him, goodness knows why, because the whole of the Tour de France is in front of him.”
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
I know, that's one of his great (unrepeatable) one liners.
It would be interesting to know what of his comments have become those annoying cliches or repeated phrases in cycling commentary like the “suitcase of courage”, I’m assuming that’s his.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
I do hate the general sports cliches
and that one is getting there. But I love many of the cycling specific ones.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
Pedals turned in anger is also Sherwen. Like you I loathe it.
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
Maybe the original Paul Sherwin is hidden in the suitcase...
"As you can imagine, there are better places to have your birthday party than in some village called Mushny Mush Mishme." --Jens! Voigt
Ah, that was a beautiful moment of commentary.
I can’t stand present day Liggett, but at his peak, he had moments of pure poetry.
And poor Ullrich was too often the one cut down by his best witticisms.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
"We are now on our (insert sponsor name here) commercial free"
"I just want to say fuck you, and I mean that in the most professional way" -Brandon Llyod
Quitter's People United member # 42
Ha!
Looks like ‘turning pedals in anger’ is going to be thrown on the flickering log fire of redundant clichés.
Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger...
That's too coincidental.
Possible lurker?
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
Whoops, I still have two:
“In the gutter”
and
“On the rivet”.
They are especially good when used together.
I love 'on the rivet'
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
The rivet at the front of an old bike seat.
Think brooks saddle. When you move forward on the seat, shift weight, gain power (because you better be putting most of it in your legs, or you have the saddle poking you in a delicate place). Another classic that is not to be thrown out.
I’d similarly vote for “in the gutter.”
But I was glad when the elastic or rubber band stopped snapping. I know what the intent was, but there were far too many competing images, many of them exactly wrong for the situation.
"They are stretching the elastic band... there it goes, the elastic has snapped"
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
huh
In the gutter, I find that one more descriptive than cliché, because when you say that you’re going to put the race into the gutter, everyone knows what that means. Echelon-o-rama. I guess for me, it’s a distinction between cycling terms and cliché’d description.
not really a clichè, but...
Next time you watch a race being commentated on by Paul Sherwen, take note of how often he says ‘front end of the main field’. A conservative guess would put it at every single sentence.
http://www.irishpeloton.com/
by irishpeloton on Jan 7, 2011 7:54 PM EST via mobile reply actions
The one that drives me nuts
is when a rider abandons a breakaway attempt and Sherwen says he decided “the better part of valour” was to back off and conserve his energy.
It would be funny if Sherwen was subtly calling the rider a coward by quoting Falstaff, but I get the impression he’s taking the quote at face value, which makes it just annoying.
and that person might be so foccused that they are possessed
Sminer: I blame KARMA for everything.
Jens: I've heard it's a bitch
Water Girl: I heard it ran over your dogma
Lequatre amongst the pigeons?
http://www.irishpeloton.com/
by irishpeloton on Jan 8, 2011 5:22 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I like that.
*lights blue touchpaper & retires to a safe distance * ;-)
"What happened in British Cycling, a lot of people doubted me. I've come back, got this victory, and done it my way." - Adam Blythe after his first pro win at Circuit Franco Belge
The thread should really expand to worst sports cliches
all of sports allowed.
"I just want to say fuck you, and I mean that in the most professional way" -Brandon Llyod
Quitter's People United member # 42
And it always annoys me
when a CBS announcer mentions how Denver is in thin air EVERY TIME a kicker makes a long field goal. It really is shocking and breaking news that I could not go without.
"I just want to say fuck you, and I mean that in the most professional way" -Brandon Llyod
Quitter's People United member # 42
I remember hearing that on all Rockies baseball games covered on tv for awhile.
“We could see a lot of home runs here tonight in the thin air of Denver’s Coors Field stadium "
or anytime a player popped up “It could take a long time for that ball to come back down in this thin air”.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
Still now, even though power numbers are significantly lower becuase of the humidor(still above average of course but not as dramatic)
especially when Ubaldo was rolling for so long, every time “AND he is doing this in the thin air of Colorado”
/facepalm
Also every time a homerun barely clears the fence it is credited to the altitude.
"I just want to say fuck you, and I mean that in the most professional way" -Brandon Llyod
Quitter's People United member # 42
3 point shots go further
often times they go over the basket and into the 10th row.
"I just want to say fuck you, and I mean that in the most professional way" -Brandon Llyod
Quitter's People United member # 42
I hate hearing about Hollywood celebrities hitting "rock bottom" but what I hate more is...
…all these Sherwin metaphors that are better suited to the 1950s. Oh, so he is taking his hat off to Rider X? Sorry, Paul, no one wears hats like they did circa 1950 so you sound stuffy and stilted; you annoy me more than even ultimate Texan fanboy Phil Liggett. Do not even get me started on these riders being called “big” when they are skinny outside the peloton…
"As you can imagine, there are better places to have your birthday party than in some village called Mushny Mush Mishme." --Jens! Voigt
Digging deep...
“He’ll have to dig deep to…stay ahead of the pack/catch the breakaway/maintain his lead in the GC/keep from getting dropped etc.”
Not a bad phrase, but it’s just been used too much. And in bike racing, lots of people are digging deep a whole lot of the time, so the metaphor loses some impact.
What else can I say? I'm really happy. --Vincenzo Nibali
I actually like that one
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
Aw. That's just his title.
It definitely got played into the ground. Even I was flinching after a while--Tyler Farrar, on that Transitions ad.
This is what I was referring to with my Armstrong one above...
…the same Goddamn tag line used ad nauseum. It wouldn’t be objectionable here and there. But the constant, unnecessary repetition makes you start to despise it.
Any reference to a heavy weight boxing match.
Although I’d love to see the cyclist that could “Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”
"I decided to sue. I presented the dog’s registration document with his real name on it,"
"The case is still open. There were some negotiations to see if we could reach an agreement… but I said no, that I had nothing to lose. In addition, it also showed an enormous lack of respect to my dog, whose name they changed." - Oscar Pereiro
That's "Float like a bumblebee, sting like a butterfly"
Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger...
by TheFigurehead on Jan 9, 2011 5:49 AM EST up reply actions
Slightly off topic,
but I don’t have a “quiver” of wheels, and the wheels I have aren’t “wrapped” or “shod” in rubber.
Similar one from Harmon one time
“Phillipe Gilbert is literally ripping the legs off the rest of the peloton”
http://www.irishpeloton.com/
by irishpeloton on Jan 10, 2011 11:50 AM EST up reply actions
the cliches don't much bother me.
what bothers me is the inability of most british announcers to pronounce spanish names. i.e., it’s “alejandro”, not “alessandro”. or, since i’ve been going thru the early 1990 tdfs, it’s “miguel”, not “mig-el” (there’s a “u” in that word people).
it’s the main reason i can’t stand the american commentators on universal. the over (mis)pronunciation of names.
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
"Yes, serpently" - Sean Kelly.
The boy sure could ride a bike, but everytime he starts talking on Eurosport, my brain goes walkies.
Bunch of slack-jawed faggots around here. This stuff will make you a god damned sexual Tyrannosaurus, just like me - Jens! Voigt, Predator (1987)
ah, sean kelly
the man who used to nod in response to radio interviewers’ questions
by thebongolian on Jan 10, 2011 4:49 PM EST up reply actions
much better than roche
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
"heads of state"
as in “rider x has been dropped by the group of the heads of state”. it’s just crap paul, stop using it
Paul Sherwen...mangles even cliches with glee...it's the drool on his chin when he says 'heads of state' I hate.
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
Maybe he is really a commentary robot with limited programming...
"As you can imagine, there are better places to have your birthday party than in some village called Mushny Mush Mishme." --Jens! Voigt
Commentators saying the race will go to whoever wants it the most annoys me
It’s insulting to whoever loses.
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