Phil 'The Voice of Cycling' Liggett has been in the news, and not for his commentary skills, but rather is opinions. He made comment yesterday that he didn't believe BMX or Mountain Biking belonged in the Olympics.
Firstly I share with Phil his annoyance that some amazing track events have been abolished such as the madison, individual pursuits and the points races.
It is an absolutely atrocity that these events have been dropped. They are exciting events, especially for spectators and it is a huge shame that the eligible competitors no longer have a chance to win gold in these events. Some of my best memories of the Olympics are from the track cycling. My Mother loved the track races, and growing up, apart from the swimming, it was really the only parts of the Olympics that we watched.
But... I don't really agree with Phil that BMX and Mountain Biking shouldn't be Olympic events. Why not? Why shouldn't the best in their fields be able to aim for Olympic gold? Surely there are more less deserving sports included in the Olympics such as badminton, table tennis, kyaking. And then there are sports that have been included previously and discontinuted such as tug of war (yes true), croquet and golf (which apparently is making a comeback in 2016).
It all comes down to personal preference and I'm sure there are many out there who couldn't give a flying hoot what cycling events have been dropped, but for me it is sad.
So Phil, I feel your pain, for the most part.
And just on Phil, for the record I think he is great and have been surprised to find out that many don't love Phil and his commentating, actually shocked....
So tell me, what is the problem with Phil? Is it just that he is too opinionated or have I missed something? I really couldn't imagine cycling without him.
I actually think Phil isn't opinionated enough! Several times in the tour this year I thought there was an opportuni to add a bit of interesting info or colour ... But it just wasn't forthcoming. Almost like he feels he can't share some of the inside knowledge he has.
ReplyDeleteIn the end though, I think people underestimate the difficulty of commentating an event that goes for 6 hours and doesn't feature a lot of obvious 'action'
As for Mtb/bmx - they totally belong at the Olympics but I cannot understand why they had to drop track events to accommodate their inclusion