Nev
captain
Reged: 05/03/04
Posts: 373
Loc: Never where I want to be
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Didn't he used to work on ABC wide world of sports, or somewhere else? But then what happened to him and how/why'd he resurface on OLN of all places?
I think he's good. But what happened to him? He must've pulled something even bigger (better?) than a Marv Albert to have dropped off the sports coverage map only to resurface on cable. Anybody know anything?
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TheMightySkunk
journeyman
Reged: 12/26/03
Posts: 82
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He was with NBC, and the only thing Trautwig "pulled" is that he sucks as a host. A dipshit executive at NBC, at some juncture years ago, mistook a deep, smooth set of pipes for actual talent. After that mistake was realized at NBC, it took a few years for Trautwig to percolate downward off the planet. He has steadily worked his way DOWN the broadcast food chain from Olympic-level broadcasts to cycling on OLN. The "big four" haven't been willing to touch him for years.
As much as we all love cycling, OLN's Tour broadcasts are an economic joke, ratings-wise. Your average Tour de France broadcast captures about 1/10th the eyeballs of the average pro bowling event in Scranton. Kirsten Gum was a news feature girl at a 2nd-rate station in Charlotte before OLN plucked her for Le Tour. Whether it was a step up or sideways remains to be seen, but she did a creditable job as host without pissing off too many people, way more than I can say for Trautwig.
After Le Tour, Trautwig's last stop before retirement will probably be the Wife-Carrying World Championships on SPIKE. As we speak, he's probably rehearsing for his next gig: "You want fries with that?".
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"I haven't failed. I've just managed to find 100,000 ways that don't work"
--Albert Einstein
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Nev
captain
Reged: 05/03/04
Posts: 373
Loc: Never where I want to be
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Quote:
TheMightySkunk wrote:
He was with NBC, and the only thing Trautwig "pulled" is that he sucks as a host. A dipshit executive at NBC, at some juncture years ago, mistook a deep, smooth set of pipes for actual talent. After that mistake was realized at NBC, it took a few years for Trautwig to percolate downward off the planet. He has steadily worked his way DOWN the broadcast food chain from Olympic-level broadcasts to cycling on OLN. The "big four" haven't been willing to touch him for years.
As much as we all love cycling, OLN's Tour broadcasts are an economic joke, ratings-wise. Your average Tour de France broadcast captures about 1/10th the eyeballs of the average pro bowling event in Scranton. Kirsten Gum was a news feature girl at a 2nd-rate station in Charlotte before OLN plucked her for Le Tour. Whether it was a step up or sideways remains to be seen, but she did a creditable job as host without pissing off too many people, way more than I can say for Trautwig.
After Le Tour, Trautwig's last stop before retirement will probably be the Wife-Carrying World Championships on SPIKE. As we speak, he's probably rehearsing for his next gig: "You want fries with that?".
Hilarious!
I think you're on also. Should've tempered my "good" comment a bit more. The wife and I were discussing him further while catching up on our TIVO race coverage last night and he's steadily moving downward in our minds since we first noticed him. Must've been some residual rememberance that put him a bit higher. There was some race coverage he was doing with Roll that he was floundering through. HIs interviews with Ligget and Sherwin (sp?) are unpleasant.
As for Gum, her's was a step up in my opinion. Otherwise, we would never see her. I noticed her on some OLN sailing coverage before last year's tour. Her on-air attire has been dramtically altered since then to make her less "distracting." Although there was a reminder of it when the cycling coverage first started this year. 
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Nev
captain
Reged: 05/03/04
Posts: 373
Loc: Never where I want to be
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Quote:
TheMightySkunk wrote:
He was with NBC, and the only thing Trautwig "pulled" is that he sucks as a host.
Here's some more serious ripping on Al:
http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/6467.0.html
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Lon
sage
Reged: 12/20/03
Posts: 595
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
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I think Al is there not for us the cyclists but to broaden the appeal of the broadcast to non-cyclists. It seems the idea is to draw in people to stay at the beginning of each stage. Once the race runs it is Phil, Steve and Bob for the most part.
If you remember the first time the Olympics did a feature called "Up Close and Personal" that profiled the athletes you'll remember another example of this approach. I heard any number of people that said they enjoyed those features more than the events. Kirsten is there for that reason as well as for the male of the species driven by testosterone.
Having grown up in NYC and Pittsburgh I learned early on to tune out Mel Allen, Red Barber and Bob Prince. I just don't pay any attention if I don't want to.
If having Al and Kirsten helps broaden the appeal and in turn make the audience larger I'll "suffer." It is in this way that hopefully it will stay on every year to come. Plus the more people watching leads to hopefully fewer people who want to run us down!
Just my 2 cents. Take care.
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Lon
sage
Reged: 12/20/03
Posts: 595
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
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Make Steve Paul. It isn't my fault. It is A.A.A.D. That is Age Activated Attention Disorder.
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Nev
captain
Reged: 05/03/04
Posts: 373
Loc: Never where I want to be
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Quote:
Lon wrote:
Make Steve Paul. It isn't my fault. It is A.A.A.D. That is Age Activated Attention Disorder.
Don't sweat it. I suspect you're still young enough to not be paying attention to things. Save the focus for true old age -- or better yet, don't let the mind ever reach a settling down point.
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Re: What's the story on Al Trautwig doing the OLN
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Wider Demographics
Make that Paul