Posted on 07/08/2005 6:02:21 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Rocker Sheryl Crow has ruined the Tour de France.
Well, she's ruined it for me, anyway. I'm sure her fans are much more interested in cycling now that she's lending her astute commentary to the race coverage.
But I'm not impressed, or enlightened. Just annoyed.
Because her famous boyfriend, Lance Armstrong, is wearing the yellow jersey, I'm supposed to care about what she thinks of his position in the peloton?
No, thanks.
Listen. We know you support him. We all support him. My guess is, when he was married, his wife even supported him. But she wasn't sharing her insights with Bob Roll and Al Trautwig. And she probably knew more than some spotlight-hogging rock star.
What makes Crow's ubiquitousness more disappointing is that the Tour de France was always one of those sporting events that didn't seem to need the touch of celebrity; huge as it was in the cycling world, it managed to keep a low profile everywhere else. In my teen years, I scoured the networks for signs of the tour, but those days, it wasn't huge. There were no cable networks to track the live progress of Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon or Pedro Delgado. Instead, I'd set a VCR for six hours on a Sunday, and cross my fingers for about 20 minutes of highlights.
Now I have the luxury to watch every stage live if I want, and listen to the sharp commentary from Phil Liggett - who's been narrating the tour for as long as I remember - and Paul Sherwin. It's a great thing for Tour junkies.
Until now, when the second-day commentary featured Sheryl Crow, in her breathy, soft Southern twang, fretting: "Oh my gosh, I was sooo worried that I made Lance's foot slip out of his pedal, 'cause I gave him the thumbs-up just then, and I asked him later, 'was it my fault?' "
Ugh.
There she is, on a split- screen while Lance is pedaling furiously. There she is, on the sidelines when the racers start the stage. There she is, riding in a support car with five- time tour winner Hinault. There she is, canoodling with Lance.
There she is, EVERYWHERE.
The tour doesn't need Sheryl Crow to make it relevant, but yet there she is, in front of the cameras, sharing her thoughts and relating to the masses. I wouldn't be surprised if she starts playing a number or two during the pre-race coverage.
On second thought, maybe I shouldn't give the geniuses who decided to put her on the air in the first place any more ideas.
....."What kind of man leaves a wife who stuck with him through cancer?" ...
I don't mind looking at Cheryl from time to time, but the interviews are a waste.
I don't think she's particularly great. Her remake of "The First Cut is the Deepest" is a huge stinking pile of steamy excrement. If that is an example of her talent, she must have paid her dues on her back to get to where she is today.
Sheryl Crow = the Linda McCartney/Yoko Ono of the cycling world, but like Paul and John, Lance's talent has not fallen prey to the cheesy woman in his life.
I wonder if Sheryl will hang around once Lance retires from high profile racing and is no longer in the media spotlight.
If you’re the best cyclist in the history of history and your wife can’t deal with it, yes.
Exactly.
I suppose if you took your vow of marriage 'till death do us part in a bike store instead on in a church, then I could go along with that.
I thought I'd heard that too. I guess we're the only ones though.
Side note: If Lance winning the TdF sticks it to the French then I am more than happy to say, Go, Lance!"
If you really want to tick off a frog, ask him if he's been watching the Tour de Lance.
....she was the "other" woman in the Armstrong marriage...so I've been told....
In her defense (not that I like her) while she is a so-so musician, she is a good businesswoman, and made the early push to cross from rock into country as the Blitzy Chicks were moving from country to rock; thus broadening her fan base.
Woops, meant Blixie Chicks.
This author gets it. The Tour is great - the Crow is unnecessary.
Darrel Green, an erudite pastor in in our denomination played for 20 years on the Washington Redskins, including four years during which he carried the title "The world's fastest man." Darrel reports that no professional athletes he's met have good relationships with their father.
It must take an awful lot of hurtin' to drive a man that hard.
What seems to some like just a bunch of riders riding in a line, is the best team dynamic for dealing with wind resistance, and the efficient use of human resources.
Requiring intense concentration and awareness, I can assure you it's much harder than it looks.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.