Hyannis port ride on NBC



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Marlene Blansha

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Did anyone watch that? I was kind of curious, even though it's really more of a ride, not a race.

All I can say it that thankfully NBC doesn't cover cycling as a rule. It was about 5 minutes of
actually showing the riders, and about 20 minutes of soppy, cloying, indepth interviews with the
kids from Best Buddies, which was just torture to watch. ANd of course about 90 ads for volvos. Just
like NBC olympic coverage, 90 percent sappy stories about the athletes struggles against adversity,
and about 10 percent live coverage. I was just waiting for someone to mention their faith in Jesus,
but I didn't catch any of that, one saving grace!

However, they did show Bob Kerrey on his bike. Apparently he's quite the athlete and has raced
pretty seriously from what I hear. The rest of it was basically a sappy infomercial. ANd no one had
any good bikes!
 
"Marlene Blanshay" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> All I can say it that thankfully NBC doesn't cover cycling as a rule. It was about 5 minutes of
> actually showing the riders, and about 20 minutes of soppy, cloying, indepth interviews with the
> kids from Best Buddies, which was just torture to watch.

And what, exactly, were you expecting? Making racing interesting (even to an audience of racers) is
hard enough. I cannot imagine a way to make a recreational ride anything but abjectly tedious to
watch. [Well....okay....if all the riders were all buff and naked, loaded up with methamphetemine,
and heavily armed....and the whole thing set to a score written and performed by Ministry....that
might begin to approach watchable.] It's the whole Lance Armstrong thing all over again. Lance isn't
all hip, cool, rich and famous because he's a stud on a bike. He's all those things because he
struggled bravely to overcome adversity....were it not for all the soppy, cloying aspects of his
story, to most of the US he'd be just
 
>rom: [email protected] (Marlene Blanshay)

>l I can say it that thankfully NBC doesn't cover cycling as a rule. It was about 5 minutes of
>actually showing the riders, and about 20 minutes

Haven't you noticed that NBC would cover a democratic party sweat off? Mass. is a firmly one party
state despite the governors races here the last few years. Kerry is a piece of ****, NBC is going
to kiss his ass because they think he is electable. None of this was about cycling; It was about
giving Kennedy/Kerrey as much time on air as they could. Bill C
 
In article <[email protected]>, " Tim Mullin"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> "Marlene Blanshay" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > All I can say it that thankfully NBC doesn't cover cycling as a rule. It was about 5 minutes of
> > actually showing the riders, and about 20 minutes of soppy, cloying, indepth interviews with the
> > kids from Best Buddies, which was just torture to watch.
>
> And what, exactly, were you expecting? Making racing interesting (even to an audience of racers)
> is hard enough. I cannot imagine a way to make a recreational ride anything but abjectly tedious
> to watch. [Well....okay....if all the riders were all buff and naked, loaded up with
> methamphetemine, and heavily armed....and the whole thing set to a score written and performed by
> Ministry....that might begin to approach watchable.] It's the whole Lance Armstrong thing all over
> again. Lance isn't all hip, cool, rich and famous because he's a stud on a bike. He's all those
> things because he struggled bravely to overcome adversity....were it not for all the soppy,
> cloying aspects of his story, to most of the US he'd be just

Well, maybe not. As for the NBC thing, I realized it was a ride, not a race, and the only reason to
bother with it was the Kennedy connection. Heaven forbid they should show the US PRO race, or the SF
grand prix!
 
"Marlene Blanshay" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Heaven forbid they should show the US PRO race, or the SF grand prix!

It's the sad paradigm of sports in america today. Lance got it right, it's not about the bike. It's
about the man. As it is with Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. [Is it a coincidence they're all on
the Nike payroll?] The cult of personality. And while it's been good for all the individuals
involved, has it been good for their sports? The NBA is pretty much unwatchable now. Some chick has
to join the PGA for anyone to get interested. And cycling? You can't turn around without seeing
LANCE! pitching Subaru or some financial services. His face was staring out all over the news stand
this month. But those same televisions and magazines still don't feature bicycle racing in any
meaningful manner. Maybe if Armstrong turned the tables, and said, "Hey, I AM a bicycle racer, too.
It IS about the bike sometimes!" things might change. Maybe more people would take an interest in
not only who he is, but what he does. And maybe then more people in the US and Canada would take a
little more interest in bicycle racing in general. I'm not holding my breath, though....I suggest
you don't either.
 
In article <[email protected]>, " Tim Mullin"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> "Marlene Blanshay" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > Heaven forbid they should show the US PRO race, or the SF grand prix!
>
> It's the sad paradigm of sports in america today. Lance got it right, it's not about the bike.
> It's about the man. As it is with Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. [Is it a coincidence they're all
> on the Nike payroll?] The cult of personality. And while it's been good for all the individuals
> involved, has it been good for their sports? The NBA is pretty much unwatchable now. Some chick
> has to join the PGA for anyone to get interested. And cycling? You can't turn around without
> seeing LANCE! pitching Subaru or some financial services. His face was staring out all over the
> news stand this month. But those same televisions and magazines still don't feature bicycle racing
> in any meaningful manner. Maybe if Armstrong turned the tables, and said, "Hey, I AM a bicycle
> racer, too. It IS about the bike sometimes!" things might change. Maybe more people would take an
> interest in not only who he is, but what he does. And maybe then more people in the US and Canada
> would take a little more interest in bicycle racing in general. I'm not holding my breath,
> though....I suggest you don't either.

I have to differ though, that golf got plenty of attention before the ANnika sorenstam thing. It
gets huge amounts of coverage and even has its own channel, so plenty of people are interested.
 
[Is it a coincidence they're all on the Nike payroll?] add the James kid to that list..............
90 M$ for a shoe contract? at 18? hasn't played above high scholl level yet? (Ok so he was the
hottest thing at the high school level and may play above that... but really)
 
They also covered some type of sports awards show ... Lance won the "world sportsman of the year
award" (beat Tiger Woods), presented by Miguel Indurain and made a nice, short acceptance speech.

jw milwaukee
 
I thought I'd offer another point of view regarding the "Volvo Hyannis Port Challenge" aired on NBC
the other day.

NBC attempted to cover in one half hour three events that took place over 90 miles of roads in
Eastern, MA during a thirteen hour span on May 17th. The three events were a 90 mile fund raising
ride from the JFK Library in Boston to the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, a three race criterium
and a combined clambake/auction/floor show. The singular purpose of these events was to raise money
for the Best Buddies organization and the singular purpose of the half hour coverage was to showcase
Best Buddies through the efforts of many people from various aspects of the cycling community. More
than one million dollars was raised on May 17th for the Best Buddies program.

I went back and looked at my tape and most of the time was devoted to the cyclists although they
were often not on their bikes. Essentially the film tracked two Best Buddies teams as they prepared
for the event and then it followed them as they attempted to ride the 90 miles. Interviews focused
on the both the preparation and the impact participation in the Best Buddies Program has had on the
individuals [Buddy and partner with intellectual disabilities]. The interviews reminded me very much
of the up close and personal interviews ABC did a few years back at the Olympics.

I think the film also showcased the cycling community at its best. Riders, promoters,sponsors,
officials, mechanics ,etc. coming together to raise money for the Best Buddies organization.

The event and the coverage was not about bike racing rather it was about the cycling community
helping Best Buddies to advance its programs.

You can get more information about Best Buddies by going to its web site at bestbuddies.org. I would
agree that Senator Kerry should not have been in the piece but perhaps for a different reason namely
this coverage was about 2003 and Senator Kerry rode in 2002.

Bill Dolan
 
"Marlene Blanshay" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, " Tim Mullin"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > "Marlene Blanshay" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >
> > > Heaven forbid they should show the US PRO race, or the SF grand prix!
>

> I have to differ though, that golf got plenty of attention before the ANnika sorenstam thing. It
> gets huge amounts of coverage and even has its own channel, so plenty of people are interested.

I was really happy to see Annika in the PGA and I was hoping that she would finish in the top 10.

What a weak ego/personality some of those players must have, imagine trying

I hope another woman comes along and kicks their ass!

Hope to see a woman in the TdF soon.

Hawke
 
"Marlene Blanshay" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> I have to differ though, that golf got plenty of attention before the ANnika sorenstam thing. It
> gets huge amounts of coverage and even has its own channel, so plenty of people are interested.

True, but golf's ratings have been slipping over time. The rise of Tiger Woods reversed this for a
while, but for the last four years the decline has continued. It pretty much goes like this....when
Tiger plays, people watch. When he doesn't, they don't. That's why all the network and tour execs
had such wood for Sorenstam. Did ANYONE watch the Colonial after she failed to make the cut?
According to the ratings, no. Plenty of people are interested, but that number is shrinking, and
Tiger's putting his and Phil Knight's best interest ahead of the sport isn't doing anything to
change that.
 
" Tim Mullin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:F%[email protected]...
>
> "Marlene Blanshay" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > I have to differ though, that golf got plenty of attention before the ANnika sorenstam thing. It
> > gets huge amounts of coverage and even has
its
> > own channel, so plenty of people are interested.
>
> True, but golf's ratings have been slipping over time. The rise of Tiger Woods reversed this for a
> while, but for the last four years the decline
has
> continued. It pretty much goes like this....when Tiger plays, people
watch.
> When he doesn't, they don't. That's why all the network and tour execs had such wood for
> Sorenstam. Did ANYONE watch the Colonial after she failed to make the cut? According to the
> ratings, no. Plenty of people are
interested,
> but that number is shrinking, and Tiger's putting his and Phil Knight's
best
> interest ahead of the sport isn't doing anything to change that.

How are they putting their own interest ahead of the sport?

And if they are, why should they be expected to do otherwise? Any sport, after all, is just a game.
It's not life or death.
 
"Marlene Blanshay" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Did anyone watch that? I was kind of curious, even though it's really more of a ride, not a race.
>
> All I can say it that thankfully NBC doesn't cover cycling as a rule. It was about 5 minutes of
> actually showing the riders, and about 20 minutes of soppy, cloying, indepth interviews with the
> kids from Best Buddies, which was just torture to watch. ANd of course about 90 ads for volvos.
> Just like NBC olympic coverage, 90 percent sappy stories about the athletes struggles against
> adversity, and about 10 percent live coverage. I was just waiting for someone to mention their
> faith in Jesus, but I didn't catch any of that, one saving grace!
>
> However, they did show Bob Kerrey on his bike. Apparently he's quite the athlete and has raced
> pretty seriously from what I hear. The rest of it was basically a sappy infomercial. ANd no one
> had any good bikes!

I have to assume they showed the "celebrity" race not the Fattie Masters 35+ crit (only race of the
day, BTW). It was one hell of a difficult course. 70+ starters and 15 finishers. Complete race of
attrition. We were screaming at our team mates to stay on the road even though they felt they were
out of it because everyone that finished placed in the $$. You were either going uphill or downhill,
no in between. Anyway, the celebs raced with special needs kids on the bike and did a pretty good
job of it. Tom Brady (Patriots QB), Carl Lewis and others raced in the celeb race...

Danny Callen
 
On Wed, 28 May 2003 22:10:22 -0400, Danny Callen wrote:
> Carl Lewis and others raced in the celeb race...

Were there doping tests?
 
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