Contador at Interbike- bad handler

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

(Sent 9/27 to Cyclingnews.com)

Giro brought Alberto Contador to Interbike on Wednesday, to sign autographs.

Sort of.

I'd brought along a couple photos taken during his 2007 TdF ride, including
one my son took, hoping to have them autographed.

His handler (manager?) would have none of it. The *only* thing he'd sign
would be one of two small "posters" (about 11x18 or so) they made available.
Not only that, but they wouldn't even allow him to write anything but his
name. Couldn't even have him write "To Kevin" on it. Someone said the
handler said something about not wanting autographs to end up on eBay or
some such.

Incredibly lame, in my opinion. What, exactly, are they protecting?
Contador's certainly in no danger of over-exposure; he's hardly a household
word in this part of the world (USA).

I don't blame Contador himself; he seemed totally at the mercy of his
handler, and doesn't appear to have much of a grasp of English. He just did
exactly as he was told to do.

So instead I had Phil Liggett sign it instead (Contador 2007, Kevin 2017!).
Phil couldn't understand why they wouldn't allow Contador to personalize an
autograph either.

I guess Contador's handler must be looking at all the damage done to Lance
Armstrong's reputation and worth from personalizing autographs and signing
people's photos.

S'baffling, not least because I'm sure a personalized autograph, in
general, would have less trade value on eBay. How many Contador fans are
named "Kevin," anyways?

It might have been more about keeping the line moving, if there was a
line. The problem isn't so much your photos, as the people who want to
have their bodies signed, or a jersey, or five jerseys...but you would
think that could be handled without these other bizarre rules.

I wonder if it was more in the line that if Contador had limited
English, it would be a massive pain in the ass to personalize each item
("could you spell 'Kevin' for Mr. Contador, please? He has not heard
that name before,"😉 and you were just the recipient of a dimwitted
excuse.

But that's just me, trying to figure out the rationale behind a
dim-sounding rule.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

Ryan Cousineau said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

(Sent 9/27 to Cyclingnews.com)

Quoted message said:

Giro brought Alberto Contador to Interbike on Wednesday, to sign autographs.

Quoted message said:

Sort of.

Quoted message said:

I'd brought along a couple photos taken during his 2007 TdF ride, including
one my son took, hoping to have them autographed.

Quoted message said:

His handler (manager?) would have none of it. The *only* thing he'd sign
would be one of two small "posters" (about 11x18 or so) they made available.
Not only that, but they wouldn't even allow him to write anything but his
name. Couldn't even have him write "To Kevin" on it. Someone said the
handler said something about not wanting autographs to end up on eBay or
some such.

Quoted message said:

Incredibly lame, in my opinion. What, exactly, are they protecting?
Contador's certainly in no danger of over-exposure; he's hardly a household
word in this part of the world (USA).

Quoted message said:

I don't blame Contador himself; he seemed totally at the mercy of his
handler, and doesn't appear to have much of a grasp of English. He just did
exactly as he was told to do.

Quoted message said:

So instead I had Phil Liggett sign it instead (Contador 2007, Kevin 2017!).
Phil couldn't understand why they wouldn't allow Contador to personalize an
autograph either.

Quoted message said:

I guess Contador's handler must be looking at all the damage done to Lance
Armstrong's reputation and worth from personalizing autographs and signing
people's photos.

S'baffling, not least because I'm sure a personalized autograph, in
general, would have less trade value on eBay. How many Contador fans are
named "Kevin," anyways?

It might have been more about keeping the line moving, if there was a
line. The problem isn't so much your photos, as the people who want to
have their bodies signed, or a jersey, or five jerseys...but you would
think that could be handled without these other bizarre rules.

I wonder if it was more in the line that if Contador had limited
English, it would be a massive pain in the ass to personalize each item
("could you spell 'Kevin' for Mr. Contador, please? He has not heard
that name before,"😉 and you were just the recipient of a dimwitted
excuse.

But that's just me, trying to figure out the rationale behind a
dim-sounding rule.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden]://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

Kevin has been a very popular French name in the last 10 years, given
at least 151,707 according to public records, see:
http://www.aufeminin.com/w/prenom/p10179/kevin.html I don't know
about Spain.

-ilan

On Sep 27, 2:07 am, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

(Sent 9/27 to Cyclingnews.com)

Giro brought Alberto Contador to Interbike on Wednesday, to sign autographs.

Sort of.

I'd brought along a couple photos taken during his 2007 TdF ride, including
one my son took, hoping to have them autographed.

His handler (manager?) would have none of it. The *only* thing he'd sign
would be one of two small "posters" (about 11x18 or so) they made available.
Not only that, but they wouldn't even allow him to write anything but his
name. Couldn't even have him write "To Kevin" on it. Someone said the
handler said something about not wanting autographs to end up on eBay or
some such.

Incredibly lame, in my opinion. What, exactly, are they protecting?
Contador's certainly in no danger of over-exposure; he's hardly a household
word in this part of the world (USA).

I don't blame Contador himself; he seemed totally at the mercy of his
handler, and doesn't appear to have much of a grasp of English. He just did
exactly as he was told to do.

So instead I had Phil Liggett sign it instead (Contador 2007, Kevin 2017!).
Phil couldn't understand why they wouldn't allow Contador to personalize an
autograph either.

I guess Contador's handler must be looking at all the damage done to Lance
Armstrong's reputation and worth from personalizing autographs and signing
people's photos.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycleswww.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

Geee a guy from Discovery that has a goon, is a goon, what a
surprize...

On Sep 27, 3:07 am, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

(Sent 9/27 to Cyclingnews.com)

Giro brought Alberto Contador to Interbike on Wednesday, to sign autographs.

Sort of.

I'd brought along a couple photos taken during his 2007 TdF ride, including
one my son took, hoping to have them autographed.

His handler (manager?) would have none of it. The *only* thing he'd sign
would be one of two small "posters" (about 11x18 or so) they made available.
Not only that, but they wouldn't even allow him to write anything but his
name. Couldn't even have him write "To Kevin" on it. Someone said the
handler said something about not wanting autographs to end up on eBay or
some such.

Incredibly lame, in my opinion. What, exactly, are they protecting?
Contador's certainly in no danger of over-exposure; he's hardly a household
word in this part of the world (USA).

I don't blame Contador himself; he seemed totally at the mercy of his
handler, and doesn't appear to have much of a grasp of English. He just did
exactly as he was told to do.

So instead I had Phil Liggett sign it instead (Contador 2007, Kevin 2017!).
Phil couldn't understand why they wouldn't allow Contador to personalize an
autograph either.

I guess Contador's handler must be looking at all the damage done to Lance
Armstrong's reputation and worth from personalizing autographs and signing
people's photos.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycleswww.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

They ought to be goddamned glad there are people there wanting their
autographs after the fiascos of the last two years.

Smokey

On Sep 27, 4:07 am, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

His handler (manager?) would have none of it. The *only* thing he'd sign
would be one of two small "posters" (about 11x18 or so) they made available.
Not only that, but they wouldn't even allow him to write anything but his
name. Couldn't even have him write "To Kevin" on it. Someone said the
handler said something about not wanting autographs to end up on eBay or
some such.

This excuse is complete BS.

A number of baseball stars (and ex-stars) in the USA *truly* face the
problem of having memorabilia dealers send kids around to get
autographs that are later resold. Consequently, they *only sign
personalized messages* such as "To Kevin...," because such autographs
have less resale value.

Quoted message said:

Geee a guy from Discovery that has a goon, is a goon, what a
surprize...

No Discovery folk present, near as I could tell. If this had been a
"Discovery" operation, I'd have little trouble. As you can imagine, I have
some connections there. But the reality is that there no longer is a there
there. After the Tour of Missouri, Discovery is something that exists merely
on paper until the end of the year.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

"Qui si parla Campagnolo-www.vecchios.com" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sep 27, 2:07 am, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

(Sent 9/27 to Cyclingnews.com)

Giro brought Alberto Contador to Interbike on Wednesday, to sign
autographs.

Sort of.

I'd brought along a couple photos taken during his 2007 TdF ride,
including
one my son took, hoping to have them autographed.

His handler (manager?) would have none of it. The *only* thing he'd sign
would be one of two small "posters" (about 11x18 or so) they made
available.
Not only that, but they wouldn't even allow him to write anything but his
name. Couldn't even have him write "To Kevin" on it. Someone said the
handler said something about not wanting autographs to end up on eBay or
some such.

Incredibly lame, in my opinion. What, exactly, are they protecting?
Contador's certainly in no danger of over-exposure; he's hardly a
household
word in this part of the world (USA).

I don't blame Contador himself; he seemed totally at the mercy of his
handler, and doesn't appear to have much of a grasp of English. He just
did
exactly as he was told to do.

So instead I had Phil Liggett sign it instead (Contador 2007, Kevin
2017!).
Phil couldn't understand why they wouldn't allow Contador to personalize
an
autograph either.

I guess Contador's handler must be looking at all the damage done to
Lance
Armstrong's reputation and worth from personalizing autographs and
signing
people's photos.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycleswww.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

Geee a guy from Discovery that has a goon, is a goon, what a
surprize...

Quoted message said:

On Sep 27, 3:07 am, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

(Sent 9/27 to Cyclingnews.com)

Quoted message said:

Giro brought Alberto Contador to Interbike on Wednesday, to sign autographs.

Quoted message said:

Sort of.

Quoted message said:

I'd brought along a couple photos taken during his 2007 TdF ride, including
one my son took, hoping to have them autographed.

Quoted message said:

His handler (manager?) would have none of it. The *only* thing he'd sign
would be one of two small "posters" (about 11x18 or so) they made available.
Not only that, but they wouldn't even allow him to write anything but his
name. Couldn't even have him write "To Kevin" on it. Someone said the
handler said something about not wanting autographs to end up on eBay or
some such.

Quoted message said:

Incredibly lame, in my opinion. What, exactly, are they protecting?
Contador's certainly in no danger of over-exposure; he's hardly a household
word in this part of the world (USA).

Quoted message said:

I don't blame Contador himself; he seemed totally at the mercy of his
handler, and doesn't appear to have much of a grasp of English. He just did
exactly as he was told to do.

Quoted message said:

So instead I had Phil Liggett sign it instead (Contador 2007, Kevin 2017!).
Phil couldn't understand why they wouldn't allow Contador to personalize an
autograph either.

Quoted message said:

I guess Contador's handler must be looking at all the damage done to Lance
Armstrong's reputation and worth from personalizing autographs and signing
people's photos.

Quoted message said:

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycleswww.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

They ought to be goddamned glad there are people there wanting their
autographs after the fiascos of the last two years.

Smokey- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

2 years? Just about 10 years now.
--
Marty

On Sep 27, 3:07 am, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

(Sent 9/27 to Cyclingnews.com)

Giro brought Alberto Contador to Interbike on Wednesday, to sign autographs.

Sort of.

I'd brought along a couple photos taken during his 2007 TdF ride, including
one my son took, hoping to have them autographed.

His handler (manager?) would have none of it.

Was the handler's name Aubut? Are they married? It could be a case
of mind-control.

-rj

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Incredibly lame, in my opinion. What, exactly, are they protecting?
Contador's certainly in no danger of over-exposure; he's hardly a household
word in this part of the world (USA).

If the concern is over-exposure, it's a global marketplace in sports stuff. Whether he's popular in the US or not isn't relevant.

But Giro obviously paid for him to come. They want to maximize return on this investment. If he signs a Giro poster, you might hang it up, and see the Giro logo on a regular basis. If he signs some random piece of paper, you'll hang that up instead, and that fails to benefit Giro as much.

Dan

Quoted message said:

But Giro obviously paid for him to come. They want to maximize return on
this investment. If he signs a Giro poster, you might hang it up, and see
the Giro logo on a regular basis. If he signs some random piece of paper,
you'll hang that up instead, and that fails to benefit Giro as much.

Dan

The "posters" went home with my daughter yesterday, and I don't honestly
recall if they even mentioned Giro, but they probably did.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

"Dan Connelly" <d_j_c_o_n_n_e_l@y_a_h_o_o_._c_o_m> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Incredibly lame, in my opinion. What, exactly, are they protecting?
Contador's certainly in no danger of over-exposure; he's hardly a
household word in this part of the world (USA).

If the concern is over-exposure, it's a global marketplace in sports
stuff. Whether he's popular in the US or not isn't relevant.

But Giro obviously paid for him to come. They want to maximize return on
this investment. If he signs a Giro poster, you might hang it up, and see
the Giro logo on a regular basis. If he signs some random piece of paper,
you'll hang that up instead, and that fails to benefit Giro as much.

Dan

Marty said:

Quoted message said:

On Sep 27, 3:07 am, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]>
wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

(Sent 9/27 to Cyclingnews.com)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Giro brought Alberto Contador to Interbike on Wednesday, to sign autographs.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Sort of.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'd brought along a couple photos taken during his 2007 TdF ride, including
one my son took, hoping to have them autographed.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

His handler (manager?) would have none of it. The *only* thing he'd sign
would be one of two small "posters" (about 11x18 or so) they made available.
Not only that, but they wouldn't even allow him to write anything but his
name. Couldn't even have him write "To Kevin" on it. Someone said the
handler said something about not wanting autographs to end up on eBay or
some such.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Incredibly lame, in my opinion. What, exactly, are they protecting?
Contador's certainly in no danger of over-exposure; he's hardly a household
word in this part of the world (USA).

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I don't blame Contador himself; he seemed totally at the mercy of his
handler, and doesn't appear to have much of a grasp of English. He just did
exactly as he was told to do.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

So instead I had Phil Liggett sign it instead (Contador 2007, Kevin 2017!).
Phil couldn't understand why they wouldn't allow Contador to personalize an
autograph either.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I guess Contador's handler must be looking at all the damage done to Lance
Armstrong's reputation and worth from personalizing autographs and signing
people's photos.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycleswww.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

Quoted message said:

They ought to be goddamned glad there are people there wanting their
autographs after the fiascos of the last two years.

Quoted message said:

Smokey- Hide quoted text -

Quoted message said:

- Show quoted text -

2 years? Just about 10 years now.
--
Marty- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Good point, Marty. I was thinking of the last two TDFs, but going back
to the Festina mess, it has been almost ten years.

Smokey

On Sep 27, 9:47 am, Dan Connelly <d_j_c_o_n_n_e_l@y_a_h_o_o_._c_o_m>

Quoted message said:

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Incredibly lame, in my opinion. What, exactly, are they protecting?
Contador's certainly in no danger of over-exposure; he's hardly a household
word in this part of the world (USA).

If the concern is over-exposure, it's a global marketplace in sports stuff.
Whether he's popular in the US or not isn't relevant.

But Giro obviously paid for him to come. They want to maximize return on this
investment. If he signs a Giro poster, you might hang it up, and see the Giro
logo on a regular basis. If he signs some random piece of paper, you'll hang that
up instead, and that fails to benefit Giro as much.

Giro gets their advertising value to the trade by having Contador
at their display at Interbike. It's unlikely they gamed it out
further
to restrict him from also signing any non-Giro item; after all, you
haven't heard Mike complaining about this happening before
from whatever celebrity has been at the Giro booth in the past.
I wonder if the handler was from Contador's agent rather than
from Giro.

Anyway, it was probably just Contador's manager trying to
prevent Pat McQuaid and [censored] Pound from standing in the
autograph queue and getting poor Contador to sign some
ridiculous anti-doping pledge or confession of heresy that
he couldn't read (From now on, all WADA decisions will
be rendered in Esperanto, etc.)

Ben

Quoted message said:

Giro gets their advertising value to the trade by having Contador
at their display at Interbike. It's unlikely they gamed it out
further
to restrict him from also signing any non-Giro item; after all, you
haven't heard Mike complaining about this happening before
from whatever celebrity has been at the Giro booth in the past.
I wonder if the handler was from Contador's agent rather than
from Giro.

I'm reasonably sure the handler wasn't affiliated with Giro; I see no reason
for a company like Giro to have someone with that skill set in their employ.
And this was, indeed, the first time I've been at a signing that was that
strict. I can see not allowing a yellow jersey to be signed, but someone's
own photograph? Or a cover of a magazine, for that matter?

Quoted message said:

Anyway, it was probably just Contador's manager trying to
prevent Pat McQuaid and [censored] Pound from standing in the
autograph queue and getting poor Contador to sign some
ridiculous anti-doping pledge or confession of heresy that
he couldn't read (From now on, all WADA decisions will
be rendered in Esperanto, etc.)

I think you nailed it!

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Quoted message said:

Giro gets their advertising value to the trade by having Contador
at their display at Interbike. It's unlikely they gamed it out
further
to restrict him from also signing any non-Giro item; after all, you
haven't heard Mike complaining about this happening before
from whatever celebrity has been at the Giro booth in the past.
I wonder if the handler was from Contador's agent rather than
from Giro.

I'm reasonably sure the handler wasn't affiliated with Giro; I see no reason
for a company like Giro to have someone with that skill set in their employ.
And this was, indeed, the first time I've been at a signing that was that
strict. I can see not allowing a yellow jersey to be signed, but someone's
own photograph? Or a cover of a magazine, for that matter?

As long as you're at Interbike, you might bring that up with someone from Giro,
Mike. They might be more open to feedback about that sort of thing than you suspect.
I'd say, btw, that it's highly unlikely that those restrictions are the idea of
Contador. Anyway, it's poor form - not as poor as refusing to let Merckx into Worlds
but poor nonetheless.

--
tanx,
Howard

Faberge eggs are elegant but I prefer Faberge bacon.

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm reasonably sure the handler wasn't affiliated with Giro; I see no
reason
for a company like Giro to have someone with that skill set in their
employ.
And this was, indeed, the first time I've been at a signing that was that
strict. I can see not allowing a yellow jersey to be signed, but
someone's
own photograph? Or a cover of a magazine, for that matter?

As long as you're at Interbike, you might bring that up with someone
from Giro,
Mike. They might be more open to feedback about that sort of thing than
you suspect.
I'd say, btw, that it's highly unlikely that those restrictions are the
idea of
Contador.

Sorry, I had thought I'd made in clear in the original posting that I didn't
think it was Contador running the show. And yes, I have a connection at Giro
and will be letting him know. I have many more connections with the
Discovery regime, but that doesn't really count anymore, does it?

Quoted message said:

Anyway, it's poor form - not as poor as refusing to let Merckx into Worlds
but poor nonetheless.

There are some real idiots out there, aren't there. What about the silly act
of refusing McQuaid an invitation to the TdF?

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

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

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Quoted message said:

Giro gets their advertising value to the trade by having Contador
at their display at Interbike. It's unlikely they gamed it out
further
to restrict him from also signing any non-Giro item; after all, you
haven't heard Mike complaining about this happening before
from whatever celebrity has been at the Giro booth in the past.
I wonder if the handler was from Contador's agent rather than
from Giro.

I'm reasonably sure the handler wasn't affiliated with Giro; I see no
reason
for a company like Giro to have someone with that skill set in their
employ.
And this was, indeed, the first time I've been at a signing that was that
strict. I can see not allowing a yellow jersey to be signed, but
someone's
own photograph? Or a cover of a magazine, for that matter?

As long as you're at Interbike, you might bring that up with someone
from Giro,
Mike. They might be more open to feedback about that sort of thing than
you suspect.
I'd say, btw, that it's highly unlikely that those restrictions are the
idea of
Contador. Anyway, it's poor form - not as poor as refusing to let Merckx
into Worlds
but poor nonetheless.

--
tanx,
Howard

Faberge eggs are elegant but I prefer Faberge bacon.

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Sorry, I had thought I'd made in clear in the original posting that I didn't
think it was Contador running the show.

Yes, now that you mention it, you did. But since we'd gotten this far down the
thread I'd forgotten.

Quoted message said:

And yes, I have a connection at Giro and will be letting him know. I have many
more connections with the Discovery regime, but that doesn't really count
anymore, does it?

No, I doubt that one's going to do you a lot of good anymore...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Anyway, it's poor form - not as poor as refusing to let Merckx into Worlds
but poor nonetheless.

There are some real idiots out there, aren't there. What about the silly act
of refusing McQuaid an invitation to the TdF?

Yep, that was equally dumb. Well, different, but still dumb. We're talking about
Eddy!

--
tanx,
Howard

Faberge eggs are elegant but I prefer Faberge bacon.

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?