Only Lance Network does it again

Perhaps it's a bit mushy, but Lance uber alles has IMHO done the Tour a
disservice. Sure, it has raised awareness of cycling in the USA, and
cancer survival, but it/he has really taken the romance and pure heart
out of the tour. Kinda like the Frito Lay sweepstakes when it says
enter as often as you want, so someone does, and wins like 1/3 of the
prizes.

Advances in bike technology aside, Lance has reduced the Tour to a
focus-only-on-this-okay-maybe-one-other race, wring every last bit out
of every last bit of technology to robotically win. Similar to Rocky
whatever when Rocky fought the Russian, and he won on his heart,
overcoming the technology of the Russian.

I'm just tired of the overcommercialization of Lance (and Sheryl) and
the robotic nature the tour has come to. Sure, some interesting
moments like the CycloCross of 2 years ago when Beloki crashed, or his
dehydration episode, but all in all, the romance and heart has been
gone for some time now, and we have to deal with Lance and Sheryl all
over the place. Almost as bad as Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

And I compare this to someone like Indurain, who, IMHO, was much more
of a true hero athletically speaking.... He did it with heart and
soul.

slice2 said:

<SARCASM> thanks for the split screen showing the worried girlfriend looking
on </SARCASM>

"sorry Sheryl, you'll have to wait 3-4 minutes to see how Lance does"

isn't anyone else sick of her being plastered all over the tour coverage?

dumbass,

if cycling has to have a celebrity sychophant she's better than robin
williams.

slice2 said:

<SARCASM> thanks for the split screen showing the worried girlfriend looking
on </SARCASM>

"sorry Sheryl, you'll have to wait 3-4 minutes to see how Lance does"

isn't anyone else sick of her being plastered all over the tour coverage?

I'm watching it on Evasion, so this was the first sheryl sighting, but
it's cheezy anyways. I was like, give me a break.

Quoted message said:

Perhaps it's a bit mushy, but Lance uber alles has IMHO done the Tour a
disservice. Sure, it has raised awareness of cycling in the USA, and
cancer survival, but it/he has really taken the romance and pure heart
out of the tour. Kinda like the Frito Lay sweepstakes when it says
enter as often as you want, so someone does, and wins like 1/3 of the
prizes.

Advances in bike technology aside, Lance has reduced the Tour to a
focus-only-on-this-okay-maybe-one-other race, wring every last bit out
of every last bit of technology to robotically win. Similar to Rocky
whatever when Rocky fought the Russian, and he won on his heart,
overcoming the technology of the Russian.

I'm just tired of the overcommercialization of Lance (and Sheryl) and
the robotic nature the tour has come to. Sure, some interesting
moments like the CycloCross of 2 years ago when Beloki crashed, or his
dehydration episode, but all in all, the romance and heart has been
gone for some time now, and we have to deal with Lance and Sheryl all
over the place. Almost as bad as Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

And I compare this to someone like Indurain, who, IMHO, was much more
of a true hero athletically speaking.... He did it with heart and
soul.

Sigh... I know that the lance devotees will say, OH, you shouldn't SAY
things like that about LANCE... but I agree. THe tour is now about as
suspenseful as reruns of Batman. I wish it was more like the giro...
how I miss Cipollini already!

"slice2" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

<SARCASM> thanks for the split screen showing the worried girlfriend
looking on </SARCASM>

"sorry Sheryl, you'll have to wait 3-4 minutes to see how Lance does"

isn't anyone else sick of her being plastered all over the tour coverage?

UGH!!!! Sheryl Crow again! I am a female racer and detest how she is
detracting from the sport - enough celebrity already. If I want to see
Sheryl Crow, I'll go to an old issue of Rolling Stone. Let's face it, she
never willlook good in yellow. "all I want to do is have some fun?"

And when was the last time you rode at 55Kph for a TT? And took a minute out
of your rivals? No team there just legs and lungs.

Commercialized or not, he is the man when it comes to riding fast.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Perhaps it's a bit mushy, but Lance uber alles has IMHO done the Tour a
disservice. Sure, it has raised awareness of cycling in the USA, and
cancer survival, but it/he has really taken the romance and pure heart
out of the tour. Kinda like the Frito Lay sweepstakes when it says
enter as often as you want, so someone does, and wins like 1/3 of the
prizes.

Advances in bike technology aside, Lance has reduced the Tour to a
focus-only-on-this-okay-maybe-one-other race, wring every last bit out
of every last bit of technology to robotically win. Similar to Rocky
whatever when Rocky fought the Russian, and he won on his heart,
overcoming the technology of the Russian.

I'm just tired of the overcommercialization of Lance (and Sheryl) and
the robotic nature the tour has come to. Sure, some interesting
moments like the CycloCross of 2 years ago when Beloki crashed, or his
dehydration episode, but all in all, the romance and heart has been
gone for some time now, and we have to deal with Lance and Sheryl all
over the place. Almost as bad as Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

And I compare this to someone like Indurain, who, IMHO, was much more
of a true hero athletically speaking.... He did it with heart and
soul.

Quoted message said:

Perhaps it's a bit mushy, but Lance uber alles has IMHO done the Tour a
disservice. Sure, it has raised awareness of cycling in the USA, and
cancer survival, but it/he has really taken the romance and pure heart
out of the tour. Kinda like the Frito Lay sweepstakes when it says
enter as often as you want, so someone does, and wins like 1/3 of the
prizes.

Advances in bike technology aside, Lance has reduced the Tour to a
focus-only-on-this-okay-maybe-one-other race, wring every last bit out
of every last bit of technology to robotically win. Similar to Rocky
whatever when Rocky fought the Russian, and he won on his heart,
overcoming the technology of the Russian.

I'm just tired of the overcommercialization of Lance (and Sheryl) and
the robotic nature the tour has come to. Sure, some interesting
moments like the CycloCross of 2 years ago when Beloki crashed, or his
dehydration episode, but all in all, the romance and heart has been
gone for some time now, and we have to deal with Lance and Sheryl all
over the place. Almost as bad as Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

And I compare this to someone like Indurain, who, IMHO, was much more
of a true hero athletically speaking.... He did it with heart and
soul.

Well, this is, presumeably, the last TdF in which you'll have to
suffer Armstrong's particpation. Probably, organizers of the TdF won't
be too sad at the prospect of Armstrong's retirement.

Armstrong's career has managed with a single-minded goal: to
maximize exposure for his American sponsor. Armstrong could have raced
throughout the season, and earned many palmares. However, most of
Armstrong's income comes from commercial endorsements, and athletes
tend to bvery protective of their image.

Ask an American to name a bicycle race, and many (perhaps most)
will be able to name the Tour de France. Few would be able to name
another race.

Armstrong's decision to focus solely on winning the TdF is
relentlessly logical. Only by participating in the TdF, can an American
cyclist hope to achieve steady media coverage. Moreover, Armstrong must
win, since a loss in the race would be catastrophic to his image. So,
why would he fool around with trying to win the 1 day Classics, or the
1 week Tours? No matter how strong he was, he would lose more races
than he won. Not great for his image in the US. In America, nobody
would care, and there is always the risk that he would be off-peak form
during the weeks of the TdF.

For me, a 7th TdF is superfluous, but that was the contract that he
signed with Discovery. He may have intended to win other Palmares, but
for whatever reason, he has opted to Double Down in France.

Quoted message said:

On 5 Jul 2005 16:40:35 -0700, [email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

And I compare this to someone like Indurain, who, IMHO, was much more
of a true hero athletically speaking.... He did it with heart and
soul.

That dude was a robot. Talented, for sure.

Quoted message said:

Sigh... I know that the lance devotees will say, OH, you shouldn't SAY
things like that about LANCE... but I agree. THe tour is now about as
suspenseful as reruns of Batman.

Lack of suspense isn't Lance's fault. It's the fault of the other sucky
riders/teams. When you say it's boring, you aren't talking about
Lance.

He's doing what he's supposed to be doing: trying to win the race.
Where is everyone else?

gwhite said:

He's doing what he's supposed to be doing: trying to win the race.
Where is everyone else?

They are racing every other week trying to make a living.

D

gwhite said:

I don't care what she has to say either. But somewhere out there
bike-racing-ignorant doofusses might get drawn in and interested in
cycling just due to star-power.

who cares ?

the tour was more exciting when we had to wait all week for two hours
of weekend coverage and read about it in Winning two months later.

amit said:

gwhite said:

I don't care what she has to say either. But somewhere out there
bike-racing-ignorant doofusses might get drawn in and interested in
cycling just due to star-power.

who cares ?

the tour was more exciting when we had to wait all week for two hours
of weekend coverage and read about it in Winning two months later.

You can always just turn off the TV and wait for the weekends or just
read about it in Winning two months later, eh? Why don't you do that
instead of whineing?

Robert

On 07/05/2005 05:30 PM, in article
[email hidden], "slice2" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

<SARCASM> thanks for the split screen showing the worried girlfriend looking
on </SARCASM>

Thank France 2/3 for that one. She was plastered on a split-screen on the
Danish coverage from tv.sputnik.dk as well.

Quoted message said:

"sorry Sheryl, you'll have to wait 3-4 minutes to see how Lance does"

isn't anyone else sick of her being plastered all over the tour coverage?

--
Steven L. Sheffield
stevens at veloworks dot com
bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est
ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea eye tee why you ti ay aitch
aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four ward] slash double-you
double-yew double-ewe dot veloworks dot com [foreword] slash

Miguel may have been looking like a robot, but he did not have NASA
designing his equipment, measuring his food to the calorie, hooking
himself up to every device in the world to figure out how to squeeze .5
more watts out and planning each stage with supercomputers. Sure,
things change over the years (STI, aero bars, 10 speed cogsets,
clipless pedals and so on) but the fact is, Lance has taken the
humanity out of it in a large sense. Miguel was called a robot because
of his emotionless concentration and consistently strong performance
stage after stage. Remember too, how tactically Armstrong rides the
tour, working only when he needs, and letting others work so he can
save himself. And sure, that's a strategy to win. But that just makes
it not as much fun. And sure, I don't have to race like they do so
easy for me to say, 'cause I can just barely break an hour on a 40k TT,
but Indurain was much more of a racer than just someone who comes to
win the tour each year by heavy calculation. Miguel was a robot.
Lance should have been sponsored by Texas Instruments for all of the
calculators.

Yes, given, he has raised awareness and all that, but for those of us
who have been watching (okay, following, since it was way before cable,
satellite, internet and so on) for 20+ years now, he HAS turned this
into a "win more for commercial reasons rather than the sport" venture.

And yes, I'm also one of those who don't think any professionals should
be allowed in the Olympics for the same reason.

gwhite said:

He's doing what he's supposed to be doing: trying to win the race.
Where is everyone else?

Winning the other races that matter.

news said:

"slice2" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

<SARCASM> thanks for the split screen showing the worried girlfriend
looking on </SARCASM>

"sorry Sheryl, you'll have to wait 3-4 minutes to see how Lance does"

isn't anyone else sick of her being plastered all over the tour coverage?

UGH!!!! Sheryl Crow again! I am a female racer and detest how she is
detracting from the sport - enough celebrity already. If I want to see
Sheryl Crow, I'll go to an old issue of Rolling Stone. Let's face it, she
never willlook good in yellow. "all I want to do is have some fun?"

I wouldn't say SHE is detracting from the sport- athletes date and
marry celebrities and supermodels etc. It's the media coverage and it
doesn't seem like Lance and SHeryl are doing a lot to stop it. I mean,
apearing on oprah and SINGING? It's all their own doing. It's
barfmaking for sure.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

<SARCASM> thanks for the split screen showing the worried girlfriend looking
on </SARCASM>

"sorry Sheryl, you'll have to wait 3-4 minutes to see how Lance does"

isn't anyone else sick of her being plastered all over the tour coverage?

I'm surprised she is being so cooperative.
-----------------
Alex

I'd rather see Sheryl Crow than Kirsten Gum ANY day.

Kirsten is hotter though with dark hair than her blondie daze of 2003.