More Reasons to Love Phil Liggett (As if I Needed Them)

By Jessica | Permalink | No Comments | January 22nd, 2007 | Trackback

I have a confession to make: I think I’m in love with Phil Liggett.

When I watched my first Tour de France broadcast ten years ago, I knew jack squat about cycling (back then I still thought cyclists shaved their legs for aerodynamic purposes). I learned to keep my mouth shut while the boyfriend (now the husband) was watching the pitifully short television coverage of the race, and figured I would never understand it… But it was a short broadcast, so I didn’t mind. Then a very strange thing happened - I realized I could kind of follow what was going on, and even willingly engaged in Tour de France conversations with the boyfriend and his cycling cronies. What’s more, I didn’t sound like an utter moron. How did I do it? I’ll tell you - I listened to Phil Liggett.

Liggett has been announcing cycling events for English-speaking networks the world over longer than I’ve been alive, I think. His expertise is unquestionable, and his knowledge of the races and the riders is staggering. He’s got a history with the sport, and his love for cycling is palpable.

Anyway, back to 1996. It turns out, Liggett wasn’t just announcing the race in a way that was entertaining for people familiar with cycling (like the boyfriend), he was also educating novices (like me) at the same time. I didn’t even know it was happening, except that at one point during a commercial break I said to the boyfriend, “So, this isn’t really an individual sport at all, is it? It’s all about the team.” I swear, he almost had tears in his eyes. And he had Liggett to thank.

When we were in Paris for the ceremonial final stage of the Tour in 1999, we saw Liggett standing in the middle of the Champs-Elysées near us waiting for his next TV spot. The boyfriend yelled to him, and he gleefully came trotting over to say hello - he had no idea who we were, he was just friendly and chatty. And he gave me a kiss on the cheek, which made me glow for the rest of the day.

Liggett is still one of my favorite things about cycling broadcasts, even if he does get names wrong now and again, and I take his opinions on the sport very seriously. Which is why when I read his take on Operación Puerto and the ProTour, I paid attention:

We seem to be fighting the enemy within, rather than the real root of the problem,” he said. “The World Anti-Doping Agency and the UCI have handled Operación Puerto investigations extremely badly. They have ridiculed a number of riders and not come up with a single shred of evidence. Now they have even pointed the finger at Alejandro Valverde because of a story in a paper, based… on purely circumstantial links to the Spanish medic, Fuentes. What other sport suspends its riders without a single case being proved beyond reasonable doubt?

I encourage you to read the rest of the excerpts from his interview with The Australian. He’s not pulling any punches. Perhaps when Phil speaks, people will listen.

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