Believing

Last night I actually watched the first hour of the Tour de France coverage on SBS. After listening to 13 episodes of the Sag Wagon podcasts (which are best described as coverage of SBS's coverage of the Tour de France) it was almost strange to find out that the SBS coverage really exists in its own right, and not just as described by the Sag Wagon team.

It was a bit like when I went to New York for the first time - I'd heard so much about it and watched so many films and shows set in New York that various places in the city seemed familiar. But at the same time, on the whole it was different from how I'd imagined and therefore strange to me.

That's how I felt watching the Tour last night. Of course it didn't help that SBS decided not to include Taste le Tour or Keenan's breakaway commentary last night. Apparently that had even seasoned viewers feeling confused and homesick. It was like they'd ripped the Statue of Liberty down.

Before last night I intellectually knew that SBS was covering the Tour de France, but I didn't completely believe it. Just like New York was a backdrop for films, not a real place. Now I've seen it, I'm sure it's there. Whether I believe in France is a completely different matter...