The doping stuff makes it hard to be a fan
I'm sure few of you give a hoot but I wanted to say I'm so ****ed I'm
considering not watching the tdf this year. A little background I feel is appropriate. I'm just a fan, and just a fan of the tdf and now the Tour of California because it's in the Bay Area where I live. I have watched the tdf for the last seven years or so pretty religiously, even downloading the torrents of every stage last year. Yes, I only started watching when Lance was winning so I guess I'm a fair weathered fan. But an emotional one. The heavy tv coverage on cable was amazing - I just could not stop watching and my dad and enjoy talking about the stages etc. My dad has always been a bigger fan. He re-married a French woman and I think he enjoys the sport-bonding with her during July. Last year I watched and really enjoyed it, too, but I don't think it's because an American won. I really don't care as long as it's interesting. I wanted to see who was going to take over the mantle. My real sports heroes have always been international stars like F1 racers Senna, Mansell, Hakkinen. F1 sucks now and I've been a bigger MotoGP nut because of Valentino Rossi and but by no small degree the integrity of the sport. But I am so ****ed about the doping thing last year, when he asked yesterday I told my father I can't bear to watch and would not waste my time and get emotionally involved. Mostly because I do not know who to believe. From what little I read, my impression is Lance believes the testing system is flawed. Yet he did not come out to support Floyd, as far as I can tell. I read in the paper earlier this year that Floyd had that thing to raise money in the Bay area during the Tour of California and Lance was not there to support him. I drew my own conclusions, and no one in the papers every seemed to put that together. I feel, if he thought Floyd was clean, I think Lance should have been the #1 witness. I think the whole country would have stood up for Floyd if Lance had gotten on the public bandwagon. So WTF? You are either passionate about your sport and believe or you don't. Something stinks here. It's these mixed signals which has me confused to the point where I feel like if I watch I'm just going to have my experience and emotions crushed by crap that happens off the track. I guess this is kinda how some baseball fans feel, after the strike and their own doping scandals. |
The doping stuff makes it hard to be a fan
just bob wrote:
I'm sure few of you give a hoot but I wanted to say I'm so ****ed I'm considering not watching the tdf this year. I've watched Le Tour and other bike races since 1980. Boycott all professional sports, especially Le Tour! Le Petite Dejeuner au Tour de Farce: http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6131132 Greg -- http://ticketmastersucks.org |
The doping stuff makes it hard to be a fan
just bob schreef:
But I am so ****ed about the doping thing last year It has always been there. It is just that pro cycling is so crap at containing the massively increased media attention. I say, ditch the IOC and its WADA charter. No cycling at the Olympics is better than this drama. All I want to see is great duels and honest suffering by simple men on simple machines, in beautiful landscapes. Dope doesn't change a thing. -- E. Dronkert |
The doping stuff makes it hard to be a fan
On Jul 6, 11:24 am, Ewoud Dronkert
wrote: All I want to see is great duels and honest suffering by simple men on simple machines, in beautiful landscapes. Dope doesn't change a thing. Exactly, although Just Bob would need to change "honest" to "real." |
The doping stuff makes it hard to be a fan
On Jul 6, 8:24 pm, Ewoud Dronkert
wrote: just bob schreef: But I am so ****ed about the doping thing last year It has always been there. It is just that pro cycling is so crap at containing the massively increased media attention. I say, ditch the IOC and its WADA charter. No cycling at the Olympics is better than this drama. All I want to see is great duels and honest suffering by simple men on simple machines, in beautiful landscapes. Dope doesn't change a thing. -- E. Dronkert In my opinion, there is less doping than 10 years ago. In particular, take the 1997 Tour de France. One of my biggest impressions from that race were the leadout by Ullrich and Riis for Zabel on the stage preceding the first big mountain stage. I can't imagine GC contenders doing that these days. The other one was the Festina guys toying with Ullrich on the descents. No one is sure about Ullrich, but all the Festina riders have admitted they were on EPO that year, and, unlike current dopers who appear to be doing it on their own, the doping was organised and they had a real drug culture, that is, taking drugs as a reward and not just to enhance performance. -ilan |
The doping stuff makes it hard to be a fan
On Fri, 6 Jul 2007 10:54:09 -0700, "just bob" kilbyfan@aoldotcom
wrote: From what little I read, my impression is Lance believes the testing system is flawed. Yet he did not come out to support Floyd, as far as I can tell. I read in the paper earlier this year that Floyd had that thing to raise money in the Bay area during the Tour of California and Lance was not there to support him. I drew my own conclusions, and no one in the papers every seemed to put that together. I feel, if he thought Floyd was clean, I think Lance should have been the #1 witness. I think the whole country would have stood up for Floyd if Lance had gotten on the public bandwagon. So WTF? You are either passionate about your sport and believe or you don't. Something stinks here. Lance turns on anyone who leaves his team without "permission", Kevin Livingston and Floyd being two examples. Lance would not support Floyd personally because he hates his guts, and vice versa. Lance would support Floyd as far as the testing because Omerta says all riders stick together, deny that they dope, blame the system, and don't rat anybody out. What stinks is the circumstantial probability is that Lance doped as much as any other rider of his era. Which makes the playing field of his achievements level, but does not say much as to his honesty or integrity, or for that matter, that of the sport. What doesn't matter for spectators is that so long as the playing filed is level, then any bike race, from one day classics to stage races to grand tours, are exciting as hell to follow. But it is painful to watch someone like a born again cleanie, David Millar, with his perfect form, not being an odds on bet to win a TT or Prologue anymore. |
The doping stuff makes it hard to be a fan
On Jul 6, 8:51 pm, Doug Taylor wrote:
But it is painful to watch someone like a born again cleanie, David Millar, with his perfect form, not being an odds on bet to win a TT or Prologue anymore. I'm not at all convinced that David Millar is currently clean, before the police found his drugs, a lot of people were convinced he wasn't doping. And if you consider punished riders as being too repentant to dope, consider Alex Zulle, who finished 2nd in the 1999 Tour. If he wasn't doping after his Festina suspension, then that means that Armstrong beat a clean rider, which reduces suspicion on him given your even playing field argument (not that Zulle wasn't riding that much better when he was on EPO). -ilan |
The doping stuff makes it hard to be a fan
just bob wrote:
I'm sure few of you give a hoot but I wanted to say I'm so ****ed I'm considering not watching the tdf this year. Dumbass, Early attacks rarely work. Unless you're just trying to get some media coverage. |
The doping stuff makes it hard to be a fan
Ewoud Dronkert wrote:
All I want to see is great duels and honest suffering by simple men on simple machines, in beautiful landscapes. Dope doesn't change a thing. Simple, direct and right on the money. Bill |
The doping stuff makes it hard to be a fan
On Fri, 6 Jul 2007 10:54:09 -0700, "just bob" kilbyfan@aoldotcom
wrote: I'm sure few of you give a hoot but I wanted to say I'm so ****ed I'm considering not watching the tdf this year. So don't. It's these mixed signals which has me confused to the point where I feel like if I watch I'm just going to have my experience and emotions crushed by crap that happens off the track. Crushed? It's a bike race. Get some perspective. Or, did I just get trolled. -- JT **************************** Remove "remove" to reply Visit http://www.jt10000.com **************************** |
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