oln

TO: Roger Williams
President & CEO
Outdoor Life Network

FROM: Amy White
Editor
Slowtwitch.com, TriBiz Reader
(and avid cycling fan)

DATE: Tuesday, May 28

Sometimes in this life, it feels good to say thank you for a job well done, even if that thank-you is to a major corporation that may not ever hear you. That's what I'm going to attempt here.

Mr. Williams, I know that you feel the love from the cycling community thanks to the exceptional live coverage your network provides of all of the European grand tours—the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana—but I want to share with you the impact you've made on just one person's life.

For one thing, it's a miracle I still have my job.

You see, I live on the West Coast of the United States, which means that when the live broadcasts start coming from the Giro and, later, from Le Tour, they start at 6 a.m., or 6:30 a.m. And they will finish, inevitably, after 8 a.m., the time I'm supposed to be planted at my desk ready to perform. I have a 50-50 on-time record right now—thank heavens I'm a salaried employee and can make up the time on the back end of the day. (Yes, I have heard of a VCR, and I assure you mine is whirring every day, but surely you must know how hard it is to walk out on a bicycle race just when things are getting interesting... and it's LIVE on TV. And yet, walk out I must!)

Mostly, I am writing to thank you for bringing Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen and Bob Roll into my living room on a regular basis. I have learned more about cycling at the feet of the consultancy firm of Phil, Paul & Bob (PP&B) than I could have ever imagined. Over the years, Phil has taught me all about breakaways, and sprints, and tactics, and classic finishes, and epic climbs. He's also taught me who's who, and who used to be who but isn't anymore, who is a who in the history books, and who might become a who someday soon.

PP&B honor the history of their sport, they honor the effort and the suffering of their sport, and they show us the drama and the joy inherent in even one day's simple solo breakaway. (Back when Le Tour was shown in half-hour increments on ESPN, we'd get maybe 20 minutes of Phil... but even in those compressed bits he still managed to show us the daily drama that is a three-week bike race. Like when the great Belgian domestique Ludo Dierckxsens soloed away for a stage win, wearing the biggest, most joyous smile I've ever seen on a man's face as he crossed the finish line. You could just hear Phil's genuine happiness for the hard-working Ludo as he narrated the victory.)

After all, they show us, in this year's Giro, for example, Mario Cipollini isn't just sprinting for a stage win, he's sprinting for a spot in the history books ahead of Alfredo Binda, he's sprinting to show he's not too old to contend, and he's sprinting to prove that his new team is just as strong, thank you very much, and deserves a place in Le Tour.

The other day, those generous Italian cameramen even thoughtfully showed us a random shot of Mario pedaling along in the main field, resplendent in his ciclamino jersey with the sleeves pushed up—the sleeveless look. Oh, my! Molto bene! I enjoyed that, too, for reasons that have nothing to do with bike racing and everything to do with style and the glory of a good tan.

Two years ago, nursing a petulant knee that curtailed my spring training, I consoled myself by watching every hour of the live Giro coverage from the couch. You remember the race: Stefano Garzelli snatching victory from a supremely dejected Francesco Casagrande on the last time trial, the day before the race turned to Milan. More amazing, to this sentimentalist, was Marco Pantani's super-domestique day on the Col d'Izoard when he hauled himself up the mountain and kept Garzelli close to the other contenders, Casagrande and Gilberto Simoni, among others. Pantani had been in the shadows for most of the race but came out on this day in full flight, soaring up the mountainside seemingly unsure of whether he should set out to win the stage or help Garzelli, who was in contention for the overall. In the end, he worked for Garzelli and helped set up the next day's dramatic time trial.

Then there are the Phil-isms that have entered our daily language: "Oh, the cheek of the man!" is a family favorite; it was said about Pantani as he charged up the mountainside to the surprise of many contenders during Le Tour in 2000. I've already got a favorite from this year's Giro, as Phil was discussing the outrageous full-body tiger skinsuit worn by the Lion King in the opening prologue time trial. As the camera cut back to Cipo's progress on the stage, Phil said, dryly, "Now, back with our man in the Masai..."

And here I am, at the spot where I should be winding up, and I haven't even mentioned the rest of the highlights: the outstanding live coverage of Paris-Roubaix, Le Tour, the Vuelta, the hours of mountain biking, skiing, adventure racing and, of course, triathlon. As for Le Tour, it goes without saying that the fact that we can watch the world's greatest bicycle race unfold on our television sets, live every day, accompanied by intelligent, generous and humor-filled commentary, is just fantastic. And to see the one-day Classics live... it's just bliss for a cycling fan like me.

I know our numbers are puny in comparison to the big, bad world of major sports like football, basketball and baseball, but I assure you that I, at least, am grateful, and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone.

So thanks. May your sponsors and advertisers continue to support cycling and multisport, and may Phil, Paul and Bob make many more visits into my living room to tell their wonderful stories.

With kindest regards,

Amy

TO LANTERNE ROUGE HOME