----- Original Message ----- From: Ed Arzouian
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: Sunday, July 03, 2005 2:23 PM
Subject: Track Nationals, really / Take Back Canadian Cycling
[font=Bookman Old Style][font=Times New Roman] [/font]Track Nationals, really? / Take Back Canadian Cycling [font=Century Gothic][font='Bookman Old Style'] [/font][font='Bookman Old Style'] [/font]Would it surprise you to learn the Canadian Track National Championships are taking place this weekend in Calgary? It would be news to anybody reading only the mainstream newspapers, those papers have not mentioned it all.[/font]
[font=Century Gothic][font='Bookman Old Style'] [/font][/font][font=Century Gothic][font='Bookman Old Style']Whose fault is this? The newspapers? Maybe. The Canadian Cycling Association (CCA), probably. They do have Kurt Innes sending out a press releases. Who knows what their new Marketing Director is doing. She has probably never seen a cycling track anyway. That is the sad state of things. Who knows if anybody other than Pedal Magazine or Canadian Cyclist is getting it? Is anybody following it up? If only Pedal and CC are getting it that’s a failure. [/font][/font]
[font=Century Gothic][font='Bookman Old Style'] [/font][font='Bookman Old Style']Are the organizers of the event, other that the CCA, following this up?[/font][/font]
[font=Century Gothic][font='Bookman Old Style'] [/font][font='Bookman Old Style']How about the various sponsors of the event, are they following it up and issuing their own press releases? Tim Horton’s probably doesn’t care. They spend a reported mere $100,000 for all four national championships and all four national teams (road track, MTB and BMX). I say “reported” because the CCA will not admit what they get from TH. As usual there is little transparency and even less accountability from them. This is a disgrace. Tim Horton's should be paying at least $100,000 for each discipline or four times more than they are paying now.[/font][/font]
[font=Century Gothic][font='Bookman Old Style'] [/font][font='Bookman Old Style']What about the other sponsors, there are not many but are they following it? They should be because the CCA is not doing the job.[/font][/font]
[font=Century Gothic][font='Bookman Old Style'] [/font]What about the provincial associations, are they expecting the CCA to take care of it all?[/font]
[font=Century Gothic][font='Bookman Old Style'] [/font][font='Bookman Old Style']And how about the teams and the individual riders, are they sending out their own press releases and calling their hometown newspapers, radio and TV stations? I doubt it.[/font][/font]
[font=Century Gothic][font='Bookman Old Style'] [/font][font='Bookman Old Style']Riders and teams, you should be doing this stuff. Do not count on anybody else, they are unreliable. They do not care. they have government salaries, it is all the same to them if there is media coverage or not, they still get paid. It’s your ass on the bike sweating, make sure people know it.[/font][/font]
[font=Century Gothic][font='Bookman Old Style'] [/font][font='Bookman Old Style']The last time our supposed national newspaper The Globe and Mail had a full report on the national cycling championships was in 1988. I know, I wrote it. If anybody has seen a written report in The G&M on the nationals since then, let me know. In 2003 I had chat with Jim Christie of The Globe and Mail AFTER the Nationals in Hamilton. I was chastised for doing so by Neil Lumsden the Chief Operating Officer of Hamilton 2003 at the time. Mr. Lumsden wanted to keep the nationals and the Worlds a secret. He almost succeeded.[/font][/font]
[font=Century Gothic][font='Bookman Old Style'] [/font][font='Bookman Old Style']Take back your sport. Nobody else will do it for you.[/font][/font]
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