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Quoted message said:
B. Lafferty said:Steve said:So, whats your point Brian?
(BL asserted):
Quoted message said:I set out the point of the post quite clearly, to wit,
"WARNING--Make of this information what you will. It is offered for the
purpose of informing the rbr readership of how their sport works and
stimulating rational, relevant discussion."
BS-English translation: Just another slam on Armstrong. And anything
he's connected with, however remotely.
YOU can choose to read into the links anything that you like. The Weisel
control of the sport issue has been discussed before and is, for some, a
concern. I assume that you are familiar with TW's soujourn through the US
Ski Federation.
Quoted message said:
Comparing the white socks era, when I came in (1980) to today, I'll
take today, thanks.
My impression of the leadership in that era was that there was no
shortage of "politics"; and that at a much less cash-rich,
international-laughingstock level of doing biz.
And I came into the sport in 1977. There was politics then and there's
politics now. It's the nature of human relationships. The sport has grown
somewhat with around 39,000 road licensees compared to perhaps 5000 back
when. When you consider the growth of the nation's population over the past
30 years and the growth of other participant sports, that growth is not all
that significant. On the grassroots level not much has really changed, IMO.
Locals still carry the ball and the burden with little help from the
Springs. While we do have domestic "pro" teams, they are little more than
the glorified amateur teams or yore with a few exceptions. We do have more
riders in the international pro peloton than ever before, but comparing the
eras isn't really a fair comparison given that new ground on the European
road was being broken by the likes of Neel, Boyer, Hampsten and Lemond.
We'll have to see how long it lasts.
Quoted message said:
Remember the "Block that Sidi logo on your shoes, they're not on your
team's sponsor list" mentality? Unless you can show me something
specific and bad that any of these BigCo guys have done (besides
defending/sponsoring etc. etc. Lance Armstrong, of course), the dorkdom
of those distant days-- how many teams did the Stets ride for in
80-84?-- still looks much worse than interlocking interests happening
far away from the parking lot crits that most Fed riders have any
personal dealings with. Of course, my teams have always been careful
about our paperwork, so we never had to wear our skinsuits inside out
at States Crit or RR or TT, so maybe I'm just [censored] here <g>.
I suggest that you Google Les Ernest's posts on that issue from a few years
ago. You might learn something.
Quoted message said:
You gotta love it when winning the TdF seven times in a row, coming
from a country that had (Greg Lemond's accomplishments aside) "no"
cycling history, tradition, classic races, trade teams, etc., takes a
back seat to a "personal" dislike. Bravo. --D-y
Now you are showing your abject ignorance. We have quite a cycling history
and tradition in this country, particularly on the international level in
track racing. If you go to the library, you might even find some books to
read that will inform you.
Quoted message said:
