Jasmine, you have your list. Comments?????

Jasmineminor

FACTS? What facts?

HEre are a few;

I do know that hiring you would make things worse. That is a fact that has been proven over and over again by those who make the mistake of hiring you.

I did some interviews with the staff of the 2003 Worlds (after you left BTW) and everyone said you were a major disruption.

Laura Zamprongan and her two assistant LEFT because their job was done.

The 2003 Worlds got so much bad press that who would want to sign on as a sponsor. And this was NOT the CCA's fault. The Provincial gov't (after signing on the throw XX$$ in the pot), turned around and blackmailed the feds. THe agreement was thet no $$ from the feds could be deleivered until teh province also delivered theirs at the same time. This bickering chased away many potential sponsors. PLUS the city of Hamilton's new mayor and city council did everything possible to smear the organization. Nice really nice.

But why would the CCA get any new sponsors from hosting a world Championships anyway.


The CCA does not run events. So not understanding this one.

Nnew events do you mean like the Tour de PEI that took place this year?
The Montreal Boston was a planned as new event..
Montreal Quebec has a UCI sanction, so attracts more riders
Since 2003 the BC superweek has gotten bigger and added new races



Team Symmetrics has arrived and impressed everyone.
There arenow 4 men's teams registered as UCI contintal teams.
There are 3 women's UCI trade teams registered.
Team RACE will be a UCI trade team in 2008

There is a Velodrome in London ontario
The Velodrome in Burnaby is running a full slate of programs


H&R block is new so is ARC and they have not lost their other sponsors


That is more a Harper Gov't move than anything else. They PC's are cutting everywhere. The Environment Canada (secifically the Cdn Wildlife federation) just had it's funding cut in half. In September 2006 the Harper gov't cut funds to 66 programs, including programs for women, children and social programs. Sport Canada has had their budget cut by the feds so they in turn have cut the budgets to all programs and enacted a no medals reduced funding program.. So the CCA is not the only sports body suffering.

The feds have cut spending to health care, post secondary education, social services, childcare and infrastructure.

Is all this the CCA's fault too?


Maybe specifically in men's Protour road racing (which is all you care about) but Canadian riders have had very good results this year:

Svein Tuft won the UCI America Tour, won the US Open and the tour of Cuba
Canada ranks 3rd in the UCI America Tour and this got us 3 riders at worlds.
Martin Gilbert won Pan Am Rd Champs and the US pro champs
Cath Pendrell won gold at Pan American Games MTB
Ann Samplonious won gold at Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro
Marie Helene Premont was 2nd overall in the World Cup
Alison Sydor won Trans Alps and Trans Germany


According to Steve Bauer (you remember him don't you?). I think he's knows a thing or 2. Steve has recently stepped back into the local scene and was doing a bit of racing in 2006 and now is helping to mamage team RACE.

He says:

"There's more depth domestically than when I was racing, there's more opportunity with teams, there's more possibility to get in a squad. It's much deeper and there's more opportunities now than back in the 90s, even during the Evian/Magicuts and Canadian Tire days. The North American circuit is very strong and there are more of Canadian teams with budgets and good opportunities. That being said, more needs to be done."

So how about those FACTS!

Fausto Coppied

You comment about Zampronga and her two employees is ABSOLUTELY FALSE. THEY QUIT AND NOT BECAUSE THEIR JOB WAS DONE, that's ridiculous, they quit in disgust over Dana Cunningham and Neil Lumsden. They were supposed to be a vital component of the event itself. They were to handle all the event management DURING THE EVENT. Simple proof they were to be in charge of all overall radio communications.

With this statement you have proven you are a complete liar.

Why would the CCA get sponsors from the Worlds you ask?

Are you daft?

Are you totally lost?

After the Worlds in 1974 and Olympics in 1976 the sport gained a lot of ground in Caanda and especially in Quebec. Sponsors stepped in.

What a stupid question.

The Worlds could have been a perfect showcase for the sport.

Instead the CCA left the marekting sport vacant for six months leading up to the event and for fifteen months after it, even Bill Kinash admitted it was a mistake.

As for Steve Bauer, he has his own agenda. He always has. It isn't always what is best for the sport in general, it is what is best for Steve Bauer.

For instance, Bauer bought up all the hotel rooms in Hamilton in 2003 thinking he woud make a killing with his tourism business. Instead, becuase all the hotels had pre-sold their rooms they didn't care what happenned to the event and did not promote it all. Many people stayed outside of Hamilton.

Just becuase Bauer says somethign doesn't mean it si true.

Gord Fraser at his retiremwnt pary last year in Ottaw (were you there? I was) said the very opposite, he wished things were as they had been with Magicuts and Evian.

Jasmineminor

Not what I was told..... Besides you were fired and no one was talking to you.. So nice story to make up to divert from you being fired.....


Quebec does not count. Quebec has always had a huge cycling fan base. Olympics or no Olympics. We are talking CCA and Canada.. so like who stepped in as sponsors? Don't say crappy tire. That was in 89? 13 years after Montreal.


I agree it could have been but all the media was interested in was pointing out the bad news. The fights between the various levels of Gov't, the complaints of the hamilton residents, the bad, instead of promoting the good that could be.
Why would any large company want to support an event that is being slammed like that?

This is my problem with the general media. The "if it bleeds it leads" mentality is such crap. But it pays my mortgage so I have to go along.

Better to leave it vacant than to hire a 'vacant' body just to fill the space.. or better yet let EA write that crap that was published on VeloNews.......

But Bill K was so ineffective anyway. Probably better he was not there.

So the hotels didn't care. Saying outside of hamilton or staying cheap is a cycling thing. In europe they all travel by "caravan" (camper trailer) and live on teh side of the road to follow their event. Skiers on teh other hand stay in expensive hotels and eat in teh best restaurants.

What does that tell you about all the "opportunities" for cycling, when cyclists themselves do not support the biggest event in Canada... down the toilet before the event ever had a chance.

Steve at least did a lot to support the event. He worked a lot of hours helping out, promoting the race in Europe and at his events.

Could it be also be that SARS kept many people out of Canada? Again the media hyped that one way way WAY over the top. Friends of mine from Europe changed their plans to come BECAUSE of SARS.

Tourism in Canada has never returned to it pre -Sars levels. And that is a FACT

So now you are slamming Steve Bauer?

Anybody else you care to take a swing at. Anyone who does not follow the Arzouian party line I guess is fair game.

Yes I was there actually. I saw you slithering around trying to relive your glory years through your "friends" ... sad really. Cycling has passed you by....

I think you will find that Gordo has changed his tune somewhat 1 year into retirement. Besides Gord spoke to you, one of the few who did not try to run the other way or were palying 'nicey' to you just so you would go away. . so you dare not slam him.. yet.

Yojimbo_

Geeze.

I'm quite disgusted by the lot of you. Why don't you drop the juvenile rants at each other, and instead focus on having an intelligent fact based discussion?

You are worse than the politicians in Question Period.

You should all be ashamed to show your faces in public - that is, if you are really adults and not a bunch of 12 year olds who haven't grown up yet.

Jasmineminor

so join the discourse!

What do you find important about the developement of cycling in Canada?

Fausto Coppied

The organizer of the event, John Large, personally invited me to the party.
Who invited you?

I didn't see your name (nobody did since you hide behind an alias by choice) in the Pedal Magazine write up. Mine, Ed Arzouian, was there.

Glad you finally agree with me that Bill Kinash was useless, "Bill K was so ineffective anyway. Probably better he was not there."

As for the VeloNews, pieces what do you find so wrong with them? Pierre Hutsebaut approved them, Norm Miller Director of Communication approved them, Charles Pelkey of Velonews approved thenm and ran them. What has VeloNews printed of yours?

Anybody that to re-read them can do so and judge for themselves. The pieces stand up really well on their own even foru years later. Thye wewre the only go dmedia the evetn was getting.
http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/4095.0.html
http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/3836.0.html

Go to VeloNews and type in my name you can find them all, six or seven lengthy blogs.

I particlualrly like the media one
http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/3989.0.html

Getting ready for the World: Good press; bad press; no press

By Ed Arzouian
Competition Coordinator, Hamilton 2003
This report filed May 26, 2003




Blessed are the cyclists, for they shall never get positive commercial press.

"The Race Bible" -

Book of Ed,

Chapter 12, Verse 3

We interrupt our regularly scheduled technical talk to bring your this important news at Hamilton 2003: We just got another 1.25 million Canadian dollars. Since our CDN dollar is now over the 73-cent U.S. mark, this starts to be real money.

Click image to enlarge

Is this the most recent cycling picture to be printed in a Toronto newspaper? Sometimes it seems like it


VeloNews readers are indeed a privileged group because the news of this influx of cash to our organization is a well-kept secret, especially in Toronto, about 60km away. That this would be the case is very strange, though no longer surprising - at least not to me. The money we received came from the Trillium Foundation, which is a $100 million charitable arts and culture trust endowed by funds from the casino and gambling licensed in the province of Ontario.

Of course, when I say "we" I don't mean that I get my grubby hands on that ... at least directly. I really mean the Hamilton 2003 Festival organization.

Powwows, pomp and ceremony
You see, in addition to the sport side of the weeklong events taking place in Hamilton for the World Road Championships, there is also an entertainment and culture aspect to keep visitors and tourists busy, amused and out of trouble in the evening on Hamilton's streets. Among some of the things the festival organizers are doing is a big opening ceremony at Copps Coliseum with a headlining artist (still a secret), a 250km corporate Spinning challenge for the United Way, a First Nations Powwow (Europeans still marvel at that), concerts, gastronomic street festivals and the like.

Hey, it's not only about the bike, right?

So we get another million and quarter. It turns out this is the biggest donation ever handed out by the Trillium Foundation. Remember this foundation is a province-wide organization. (For our geographically challenged readers, a province is like a "state," only a lot bigger.)

So, you might think that might interest the media in Toronto with its four daily newspapers that are read province-wide. Especially you would think that since The Globe and Mail went out of its way earlier in the year to highlight what it considered to be the financial problems of Hamilton 2003, that they would report this good news in the journalistic spirit of, say, balance and fairness.

Well, you would be wrong.

The Globe and Mail, along with every other Toronto daily newspaper, basically ignored the news (somebody was able to find three lines forming almost one paragraph in a brief, but they must have been reading very carefully because I didn't see it. Maybe it only made one edition?). And we had such a nice press conference, too. It was a classy affair at the Hamilton Sheraton, our official race hotel, with the mayor, bagpipes, Highland dancing, caricature and landscape artists working, and even the sultry performance of a torch song for a finale by a Hamilton woman seemingly far too young to be singing such things.

As I mentioned earlier, this omission is not too surprising, since the Toronto media have never covered cycling properly for the last 60 years. Sure, there's the occasional Tour de France story, but that's it. To read the news there, you'd think that the Tour was the only cycling event in the world.

Locally, the cycling community didn't help itself back in the ‘90s when Laura Robinson ("Who is she," you ask? Exactly my point) almost single-handedly succeeded in having a Toronto municipal bylaw passed requiring equal prize money for men's and women's cycling events, regardless of the number of participants, distances ridden or the caliber of riders. Ms. Robinson's incredible foresight essentially resulted in killing all downtown Toronto cycling races, since no sponsor would ever foot the bill for such folly. (Oh... that's gonna generate some letters - Editor)

As is often the case, I digress. Hamilton doesn't have any such silly bylaws - at least not yet.

How about some national attention?
In most countries hosting a world sports championship is a thing of national pride. Certainly entire states or provinces would rally around the host city. So would most countries on a national scale.

Canada has two papers, The Globe and Mail and National Post vying for the title of Canada's national daily newspaper, a Great White North USA Today, if you will.

Now, you would think at least one of these newspapers would pick up on this international, world-class event, which, even if it attracts the very minimum of expected spectators, would be by far the biggest single-day sporting event in the country this year. If the 2003 World Road Championships were to attract the on-site audience we are hoping for - 300,000 to 500,000, which are realistic numbers, since they get about the same in Philadelphia - it would be the biggest single-day sporting event in the history of Canada. You would think one national daily newspaper would grasp the import of this event, taking place in its own backyard, so to speak.

Again, you would be wrong.

Toronto is 60km away, and its hotels will be filled with the overflow of our spectators, but they ignore the event - except for the bad news, of course.





Back in the day when Ernest Hemingway wrote for The Toronto Star (the famous novelist was also a newspaperman) he covered cycling for them on occasion. He even wrote a story called "The Pursuitist," which uses the track as a beautiful metaphor for a man's struggles in life (remember that the pursuit once did not end until one rider caught the other ... if you have a job, you know the feeling that Mr. Hemingway was trying to convey in that piece).

A little beer with the hot dog and bull...
This lack of media attention in Toronto is even more frustrating and ironic because the sportswriters who gorge themselves on freebies in the press skyboxes at all the big-league games every night and lament about how big-league sports have been hijacked by players' obscene salaries, unobtainably expensive ticket prices and greedy owners are the very same sportswriters who completely ignore non-big league sports, like cycling. You can count on one hand the sportswriters across Canada who might take the trouble to cover our sport. They do it out of personal interest and usually have to fight to get the copy past their editors.

Of course, things are no better in the U.S. and may well be even worse.

Look at Sports Illustrated. Lance Armstrong is their Sportsman of the Year. How many North American cycling events does Sports Illustrated cover? How many other Euro' events? Do they think Lance competes alone in only one event per year? Tyler Hamilton wins two big races in a week! Has that been mentioned by the commercial press?

While I'm ranting on the media, especially that of Toronto, let me mention their latest and costliest fiasco. That would be Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Canadian Mike Myers (Austin Powers) was on the "Tonight Show" last week and he pointed out that about the only way to catch SARS in Toronto was to break into a hospital, illegally enter the ICU wing and then kiss a patient. Mike might have overstated the case, but he was close.

You can't catch that from here
The media created the SARS scare in Toronto by not bothering to point out that all but one person of the 20 or so that died were elderly, most of over 70 years old, and already sick in a hospital. The reporting in Toronto was unbalanced, sensationalistic and irresponsible. Then it was picked by everybody else, including channels like Fox in the U.S., already out to bash Canada because they didn't understand the Canadian position on Iraq, and the World Health Organization acted on that.

WHO lifted its travel ban a few weeks ago. Then they removed Toronto from the affected area list. SARS here is over. There has been another reported case, since then, but - again - it involved a patient who has been in hospital all spring.

Mickey Dolenz (of Monkees fame) is now in Toronto, acting in Elton John's production of "Aida" (haven't seen that one yet). When he was interviewed on Canada AM, he stated it well: Asked about SARS, he said he knew nothing about it. What he did know about was something he like to call "SMORS," Severe Media Over-reaction Syndrome.



Hey, hey, he's insightful!


So don't believe everything you read in the papers.

Go to Toronto. While you are there, ask the newspapers why they don't cover cycling.

Come to Hamilton. We didn't have a single case of SARS. If you are really paranoid you can fly directly into Hamilton via West Jet; it's cheaper than Air Canada.

If you so desire, shuffle off to Buffalo. It's an hour away and you can gamble (legally) at Niagara Falls on the way, refilling the Trillium coffers in the process.

Okay... enough of a rant. We will resume our regularly scheduled technical stuff next week.

Jasmineminor

you really are pathetic.

Do you need the contact so badly that you dredge up all this shit from the past 'ad nausem 'to try and "impress" someone.. anyone?

Cycling has passsed you by. You will never work in the sport again. you have burned your bridges and pissed off to many poiple.

Personally invited? I think not. John advertised that there were so many tickets available.. I am sure you jumped on it in your desperation to relive your past "achievements'. Sorry boyo.. Don't buy it. As I observed there were not too many that were happy to see you there.

Pedal write up? Pedal? you slam BS any chance you get then use a Pedal write up to brag about you being there.. talk about two faced. Kick a dog then ask it to protect you. JC you are a sick puppy.

Velonews got your rants for free. FREE!! They did not have to send anyone to Hamilton or pay for these.. No. correct? What did you expect . Of course they published (online). Did any get into print? Did any get into the official program? Thought not.

Yes SARS was a major factor on the tourism into Ontario

Only in 2007 are numbers returning to the Toronto entertainment sector

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/226430

SARS has delivered a crippling blow to Toronto's economy....
http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR...dianReview.html

Toronto businesses were hit hard by SARS....
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/s...omicimpact.html

As Toronto continues to rally against the economic and social impacts of the SARS outbreak with promotional campaigns, the hospitality and tourism industries brace for a long road to recovery.
http://jobboomcc.canoe.ca/News/2003...225209-sun.html

Fausto Coppied

Excuse me, but you brought up the blogs in VeloNews, not me, "or better yet let EA write that crap that was published on VeloNews......." that was what you wrote yesterday, not me! Again you display your stupidity.

I think the VeloNews pieces were fine and suggested people go read them for themselves rather than accept your lies and misinformation..

As for John Large he invited personally and set up all the accomodations through Peter Metuzals. We stayed in the same hotel in Ottawa as Dan and Tim Lefebvre, Steve Rover, Steve Bauer and others.

I have known John Large since we were 13 or 14 years old, that about 34 years.

Jasmineminor

You know what I get such a laugh out of winding you up and then watching you spin off in all directions. Throw in some "mistakes" and you go balistic.

Like I give a crap. I don't care about 'credibility'. Why do you? You have none and you never ever will again.

You are such a pathetic little man. Cycling in Canada and the US want nothing to do with you. NOTHING. But that does not quell your desperation for recognition does it?

Ahh.. take a valium or whatever your drug of choice is these days.

Fausto Coppied

So you are simply here to obstruct.

You are probably the same stalker using a different following me from web forum to web forum with nothing to say apart from harassing me.

That's fine.

At least now we are clear. You have nothing to offer.