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DVD review of 2003 Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series
"It's an honor to be from New England, and to be able to participate
in a series that has an international flair to it in terms of the level of organization, the sponsors that get behind sport. All the promoters do a really great job putting together quality events. The prize money has risen year after year....and it truly is a professional series. We're not just a bunch of hacks out here on the weekend." So opens the 2003 Verge New England Cyclo-cross Series (NECCS) DVD as summarized by longtime professional bicycle racer Mark McCormack, The Verge New England Cyclo-cross Series (NECCS) recently released a DVD encompassing their six race 2003 season. The DVD documents the unstated claim that the NECCS is the best, most mature cyclo-cross series outside of Europe. Offering races with generous prize money, national (and the occasional international) competition, and professionally- engineered courses; it is hard to deny this claim after watching this video. The production value of the DVD is quite high for what must be a bare-bones video outfit (listed on DVD as fbj productions), and easily surpasses the majority of imported Eurosport cyclo-cross coverage. While Eurosport has multiple cameras to capture the raw footage of a majority of the action, the 2003 Verge NECCS DVD focuses on the flavor of the racing. This is done with excellent camera work and is coupled with intelligent narration. The cameras were well rationed and strategically placed throughout the course so that from a pure action standpoint the viewer is not left wanting. The starts and finishes are always shown, and it is easy to follow the flow of the race. Narration is handled competently by Richard Fries and John Verheul, who were both race- day announcers at many of the 2003 NECCS races. There is a cameo by Adam Hodges Myerson from Cycle Smart, who is the NECCS series coordinator and also a top New England rider. Fries puts his many years of race experience to good use and explains the action to the viewer. John Verheul, now in his 5th year of cross announcing, anchors the broadcast with color commentary. The biggest complaint I have of the coverage is that the narration of the race coverage is done in the studio, after the season was completed, which detracts from the excitement of the coverage. Taping audio from during the actual events and the mixing in the occasional back-to-the studio interview might have captured the excitement of the racing more. Analysis of the cyclo-cross courses, by Myerson is quite good starting with the first race in New Gloucester in Maine, a Tom Stevens design. Tom is quite probably the best course designer in the US, and is certainly the most experienced, having designed courses since 1983 (Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, Mass), four US championship courses (advising on another three), and was the man behind the former Super Cup courses in the Midwest and on the East Coast. Last year (2003) will probably be looked back on as a watershed year for cross in America with a large number of UCI races and the emergence of many strong regional series. As documented by this DVD, the 2003 NECCS stands above with top courses, race promotion, announcing, venue set-up, and for several of the races a full compliment of top US riders (usually only seen at nationals). This DVD does an excellent job of capturing much of the action of the best riders in the country competing and is a must for the video library of any bicycle racing fan. Further, this DVD could be used as a blueprint for bringing top notch cyclo-cross promotion to your neck of the woods. Our nine race VERGE Mid-Atlantic Cyclo-cross series has emulated, if not outright copied, much of what you see on the DVD. http://www.cycle-smart.com/store/home.html Andrew Albright Monkey Hill Cycle Sports Coordinator VERGE Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross Series |
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#2
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What the **** are you talking about?
Magilla Lame Acer wrote: "It's an honor to be from New England, and to be able to participate in a series that has an international flair to it in terms of the level of organization, the sponsors that get behind sport. All the promoters do a really great job putting together quality events. The prize money has risen year after year....and it truly is a professional series. We're not just a bunch of hacks out here on the weekend." So opens the 2003 Verge New England Cyclo-cross Series (NECCS) DVD as summarized by longtime professional bicycle racer Mark McCormack, The Verge New England Cyclo-cross Series (NECCS) recently released a DVD encompassing their six race 2003 season. The DVD documents the unstated claim that the NECCS is the best, most mature cyclo-cross series outside of Europe. Offering races with generous prize money, national (and the occasional international) competition, and professionally- engineered courses; it is hard to deny this claim after watching this video. The production value of the DVD is quite high for what must be a bare-bones video outfit (listed on DVD as fbj productions), and easily surpasses the majority of imported Eurosport cyclo-cross coverage. While Eurosport has multiple cameras to capture the raw footage of a majority of the action, the 2003 Verge NECCS DVD focuses on the flavor of the racing. This is done with excellent camera work and is coupled with intelligent narration. The cameras were well rationed and strategically placed throughout the course so that from a pure action standpoint the viewer is not left wanting. The starts and finishes are always shown, and it is easy to follow the flow of the race. Narration is handled competently by Richard Fries and John Verheul, who were both race- day announcers at many of the 2003 NECCS races. There is a cameo by Adam Hodges Myerson from Cycle Smart, who is the NECCS series coordinator and also a top New England rider. Fries puts his many years of race experience to good use and explains the action to the viewer. John Verheul, now in his 5th year of cross announcing, anchors the broadcast with color commentary. The biggest complaint I have of the coverage is that the narration of the race coverage is done in the studio, after the season was completed, which detracts from the excitement of the coverage. Taping audio from during the actual events and the mixing in the occasional back-to-the studio interview might have captured the excitement of the racing more. Analysis of the cyclo-cross courses, by Myerson is quite good starting with the first race in New Gloucester in Maine, a Tom Stevens design. Tom is quite probably the best course designer in the US, and is certainly the most experienced, having designed courses since 1983 (Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, Mass), four US championship courses (advising on another three), and was the man behind the former Super Cup courses in the Midwest and on the East Coast. Last year (2003) will probably be looked back on as a watershed year for cross in America with a large number of UCI races and the emergence of many strong regional series. As documented by this DVD, the 2003 NECCS stands above with top courses, race promotion, announcing, venue set-up, and for several of the races a full compliment of top US riders (usually only seen at nationals). This DVD does an excellent job of capturing much of the action of the best riders in the country competing and is a must for the video library of any bicycle racing fan. Further, this DVD could be used as a blueprint for bringing top notch cyclo-cross promotion to your neck of the woods. Our nine race VERGE Mid-Atlantic Cyclo-cross series has emulated, if not outright copied, much of what you see on the DVD. http://www.cycle-smart.com/store/home.html Andrew Albright Monkey Hill Cycle Sports Coordinator VERGE Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross Series |
#3
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What the **** are you talking about?
Magilla Lame Acer wrote: "It's an honor to be from New England, and to be able to participate in a series that has an international flair to it in terms of the level of organization, the sponsors that get behind sport. All the promoters do a really great job putting together quality events. The prize money has risen year after year....and it truly is a professional series. We're not just a bunch of hacks out here on the weekend." So opens the 2003 Verge New England Cyclo-cross Series (NECCS) DVD as summarized by longtime professional bicycle racer Mark McCormack, The Verge New England Cyclo-cross Series (NECCS) recently released a DVD encompassing their six race 2003 season. The DVD documents the unstated claim that the NECCS is the best, most mature cyclo-cross series outside of Europe. Offering races with generous prize money, national (and the occasional international) competition, and professionally- engineered courses; it is hard to deny this claim after watching this video. The production value of the DVD is quite high for what must be a bare-bones video outfit (listed on DVD as fbj productions), and easily surpasses the majority of imported Eurosport cyclo-cross coverage. While Eurosport has multiple cameras to capture the raw footage of a majority of the action, the 2003 Verge NECCS DVD focuses on the flavor of the racing. This is done with excellent camera work and is coupled with intelligent narration. The cameras were well rationed and strategically placed throughout the course so that from a pure action standpoint the viewer is not left wanting. The starts and finishes are always shown, and it is easy to follow the flow of the race. Narration is handled competently by Richard Fries and John Verheul, who were both race- day announcers at many of the 2003 NECCS races. There is a cameo by Adam Hodges Myerson from Cycle Smart, who is the NECCS series coordinator and also a top New England rider. Fries puts his many years of race experience to good use and explains the action to the viewer. John Verheul, now in his 5th year of cross announcing, anchors the broadcast with color commentary. The biggest complaint I have of the coverage is that the narration of the race coverage is done in the studio, after the season was completed, which detracts from the excitement of the coverage. Taping audio from during the actual events and the mixing in the occasional back-to-the studio interview might have captured the excitement of the racing more. Analysis of the cyclo-cross courses, by Myerson is quite good starting with the first race in New Gloucester in Maine, a Tom Stevens design. Tom is quite probably the best course designer in the US, and is certainly the most experienced, having designed courses since 1983 (Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, Mass), four US championship courses (advising on another three), and was the man behind the former Super Cup courses in the Midwest and on the East Coast. Last year (2003) will probably be looked back on as a watershed year for cross in America with a large number of UCI races and the emergence of many strong regional series. As documented by this DVD, the 2003 NECCS stands above with top courses, race promotion, announcing, venue set-up, and for several of the races a full compliment of top US riders (usually only seen at nationals). This DVD does an excellent job of capturing much of the action of the best riders in the country competing and is a must for the video library of any bicycle racing fan. Further, this DVD could be used as a blueprint for bringing top notch cyclo-cross promotion to your neck of the woods. Our nine race VERGE Mid-Atlantic Cyclo-cross series has emulated, if not outright copied, much of what you see on the DVD. http://www.cycle-smart.com/store/home.html Andrew Albright Monkey Hill Cycle Sports Coordinator VERGE Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross Series |
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