Quoted message said:he really wanted his TEAM to win a stage,
he could give a nut about Landis, or
Danielson, Hamilton, Jemison, Livingston,
etc - they are all dispensible flunkies to him,
it's not like he considers them real friends -
did he give Chann Mcrae any help? wasn't that
his best friend ever?
Make idle (or idol for the LA fans) speculation about the
ramifications of a single gesture is mormal fodder for rbr; what I
fail to understand is trying to turn our far removed observations into
a whole life skein of people we don't really know.
Here are some 'facts': I don't know what motivates my co-workers that
I have known in a variety of circumstances for almost two years. I
don't have a clue what motivates my brother-in-law or his wife and
I've known him for 20. I sometimes am completely befuddled by my wife
and I've known her about as long as anyone, seeing as now I've lived
with her longer than anyone else. (For instance, 20 years and counting
- my mother figured maybe she could take me for a couple of years,
tops.)
With the exception of my wife and my mother, any of the above could be
white racists (and my mother OTOH dislikes very strongly a whole lot
of white folks), except those that would have to be either black or
Chinese racists. Any, with the above noted exceptions, could be
molesting small children or puppies or small children with puppies or,
most likely, puppies with small children.
Some could be serial murderers, especially as the murder rate in DC
could mask several. Some of you in California might even know the guy
taking pot shots at the freeway and think he or she is a nice person.
We have a new guy that some people think is a pain in the ass, some
seem to like him and I think is trying to be the next Chief Exec of
the JCC - which is no skin off my nose, seeing as how they aren't
likely to make a Unitarian Universalist the CEO of a Jewish Community
Center.
Anyway, I am amazed that there are so many people that can take small
gestures from and to people they do not even know and turn them into
entire story lines complete with villains, victims and good guys. I
wouldn't do that with the people I spend time with almost every day.
Back story: the worst fight I thought I would have to step into as an
official was when two guys crossed the line, the winner taunting the
loser. They came off their bikes like it was going to be a war, and it
turned out to be some game they had been working into over the race. I
looked stupid stepping in between them about the time they started
laughing.
Another back story: In basic training back in the, well, a while ago,
we thought the drill instructors were raving maniacs. The 'joke' was
that if one of them told four of us to carry a Cadillac to the top of
a hill, we would before we realized it was physically impossible. The
day after we finished final qualifications - think it was the range
fire where us that could shoot pretty good used an extra illegal
thousand rounds or so to run up a better than 100 per cent rating for
all concerned - the drill sergeants sat down with us with beer and
turned out to be completely normal people, even likeable in almost
every case. And we 'knew' them 16 hours a day for a couple of months -
in fact, from a distance of about 4 inches, their face in ours.
I'll just watch the racing. If and when someone starts taking people
down, I'll worry about his character. Until then, its enough that I
know that I don't know [censored] about them.
Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...
