opinion de farce

[ProfTournesol]

Greg Baum
a so-called 'sports-writer' for The Age (should be sport-writer as his knowledge and interest in sport stops at AFL) has written an error filled opinion piece in today's Age. Never one to let mere facts to get in the way of his opinion, he reached the predictable conclusion. Perhaps he's also responsible for today's on-line poll on The Age site too.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/tourdefrance/where-to-now/2007/07/26/1185339167858.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

I couldn't imagine the Age allowing their cycling writer to write a major article on footy - why do they do it?

 

[MikeyOz]

Yep I read this bullsh&t article, which of course he has no link that you can contact him directly on. I just love how on the major new shows, i.e morning shows, how suddenly all of the sports people become Tour de France/Cycling experts, especially now given an Australian is right in the thick of it. And we get these dimwits writing articles with mis-informed opinions.

I love as well how all the experts are using the buzz words, Tour de Farce, etc.... yet we let Footballers get away with everything, including drugs and we welcome them back with open arms.

Double standarded.... carp.

 

[rooman]

A female runner has tested positive for EPO in an OOC test on Jun 18, is International Athletics being called IAAF de Farce?, (remember Ben Johnsson, FloJo etal?) Ferarri is claiming a spying scandal in F1 de Farce, Italy has had corruption exposed in its football administration in UEFAdefarce, AFL is legendary in FootydeFarce... Pro basketball in the USA has referree betting scandals, cricket has had corruption in betting scandals and recent cloud of possible murder ( fortunately dismissed) but with credible evidence of betting corrution in the wind.

Sport is at the mercy of big business and adminstrators egos and empires...the athletes suffer and are forced to " compete" to survive, risking their lives, their morality and their financial survival.

On the roads drivers get away with killing vulnerable road users and innocents..
Countries go to war over dubious issues, putting young lives on the front line for back room politics.
Society is rife with double standards and since man picked up a bone and hit his mate to eat to survive that is the way it has been. Not that that is acceptable.
What is acceptable is to work to improve aspects of life we all share...our love of family, our need for food and excercise and our right to a clean and unpolluted planet. All the rest is back gound noise that we have to deal with on a daily basis whilst we strive to survive with our sense of propriety intact.

Humbug to the cheats and those who exploit the situations for their own misguided ends...all of them...especially the snailmeedya

 

[Andrew Priest]

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 08:55:56 +1000, ProfTournesol
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Greg Baum
>a so-called 'sports-writer' for The Age (should be sport-writer as his
>knowledge and interest in sport stops at AFL) has written an error
>filled opinion piece in today's Age. Never one to let mere facts to get
>in the way of his opinion, he reached the predictable conclusion.
>Perhaps he's also responsible for today's on-line poll on The Age site
>too.
>http://www.theage.com.au/news/tourd...1185339167858.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
>

Phill Liggett has a column in today's Australian ... details at
<http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22140376-2722,00.html>
and Cade's mum is interviewed at
<http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22141913-2702,00.html>.
-----
Churchlands, Western Australia
Giant CRX 1; Giant Boulder SE
http://aushiker.com http://backpackgeartest.org http://geocaching.com.au

 

[cfsmtb]

I couldn't imagine the Age allowing their cycling writer to write a major article on footy - why do they do it?

Load of bollox. Clearly Baum has a extremely limited knowledge of TdF history What about the early decades, what with riders openly drinking & having a ciggie? Or the tragedy of Tom Simpson? The tour has always survived, including two world wars and it will survive and evolve past this latest transgression by a selfish bunch of idiots.

Regarding AFL though, as a thoroughly disenchanted female fan I'm disgusted at hearing the almost weekly despatches of boofhead antics. Oh their **footy players**, hahaha, minimise their **** behaviour by laughing it off in the meedya. Nah fcuk it, I'm taking my sporting allegiances (and money) elsewhere.

 

[Theo Bekkers]

cfsmtb wrote:

> Regarding AFL though, as a thoroughly disenchanted female fan I'm
> disgusted at hearing the almost weekly despatches of boofhead antics.
> Oh they're footy players, hahaha, minimise their **** behaviour by
> laughing it off in the meedya. Nah fcuk it, I'm taking my sporting
> allegiances (and money) elsewhere.

People get very confused about sport. Sport is something you take part in.
When you have 80,000 people in a stadium and 36 of them are running around
on the grass bit whilst the other 79,964 are drinking beer, that isn't
sport, it's entertainment.

Theo

 

[cfsmtb]

No, you're rather confused about what is like to be a (now ex) fan of a particular football code. Clear delineation there.

 

[ProfTournesol]

Yep I read this bullsh&t article, which of course he has no link that you can contact him directly on.

Double standarded.... carp.

here is his email address:
[email protected]

here is the letter I've already sent him

"Dear Greg
Thanks for your unexpected interest in cycling, and thank you for taking the time to write an article on such a minor sport during the footy season. The up-coming resignation of Kevin Sheedy is clearly a major pre-occupation as there are several factual errors in your story. Perhaps the exciting footy season has left you little time to actually research sport stories in areas outside your area of expertise?

For your information, Michael Rasmussen was not disqualified by his team, he was withdrawn by his team as he had lied to his team and broken its code of Conduct. He has not been found guilty of a doping offense despite yours, mine and many other people's suspicions. Technically, Rasmussen has not missed any doping tests, an offence that would result in the immediate suspension of any athlete, rather he had failed to notify the Danish Cycling Union of his whereabouts for possible random testing on 2 occasions and failed to notify the UCI (international cycling union) of hs whereabouts on 2 further occasions. He has therefore missed the opportunity for unscheduled tests to be performed and it is possible (and desireable) that heshould have been not allowd to start the Tour as a result of this. He had been issued written warnings for this but the UCI rules stipulated a 'presumed positive' positive result after omitting 3 notifications to the UCI. Nevertheless, concern and criticism in the Danish press led them to publicly release their information. Clearly there is a need for better co-ordination of testing processes and information sharing but Rasmussen's behaviour had not triggered a ban under the current rules (although clearly they should be tightened).

Rasmussen was not leading the Tour from the start, a Swiss rider, Fabian Cancellara won the London prologue and led the race for the first week, then followed by German rider Linus Gerdeman. Michael Rasmussen only assumed the lead in the Alps during the second week of the Tour.

Professional cycling missed an opportunity following the 'Festina Affair' to clean up it's act and is now paying the price. This may require a generational change, as many team sporting directors and principals developed under the 'old system'. What is significant is that cheaters are now being caught , making this less of a Tour de Farce than any of the last 10 editions of the race. More positively, riders themselves staged a protest before the start of a stage: in previous years it would have been a protest against the imposition of testing and the loss of their rights, this year it was a protest against cheaters in their sport.

'Operation Puerto' has dicovered the name and blood samples of 200 athletes. Only 48 of these have been named , less than 48 named publically. All of those named have been cyclists and the UCI and various European cycling federations appear to be the only sporting bodies interested in pursuing the athletes involved. The process has been made difficult because at the time of the arrests in the case, doping itself was not illegal in Spain, hence doping flourished in Spain. Nobody therefore has been charged with doping, and the Spanish invetigating magistrate had closed the case, restricting access to the information, and then releasing the information to the UCU but not allowing it to be used in prosecutions of athletes, hence the ongoing delay. Those that have been able to be prosecuted are out of the sport (Basso, Ullrich, Hamilton). You may also be interested in Googling information on an ex-pro cyclist called Jesus Manzano who really began this process through his public confession several years ago. His story, whilst discredited by his peers at the time has been largely confirmed by subsequent events.

As you clearly identify, there is a bind for cycling - pursue cheats and risk public censure (exacerbated by inaccurate reporting) or keep quiet to protect the image of your sport. AFL is facing a similar dilemma as you know. Whilst you would never condemn the whole AFL for the sins of a few (or the sins of the many), and never cease to devote 90% of your winter sports coverage space to the AFL, perhaps you could re-examine this story with updated facts. A good place for you to start is our own Australian site, CyclingNews (http://www.cyclingnews.com ) or VeloNews. Both these sites have extensive coverage, and can provide you with some factual information for your next story on cycling. I look forward to reading it"

here's our chance to politely educate a 'sport writer' (he only understands AFL and has often displayed his appaling lack of sports knowledge in articles on soccer and F1)

 

[Michael Warner]

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:54:19 +0800, Andrew Priest wrote:

> Phill Liggett has a column in today's Australian ... details at
> <http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22140376-2722,00.html>

FWIW, I found Phil's article a lot more annoying and wrongheaded (he
constantly drops clangers as a commentator, too, even though he's
an enthusiastic chatter and reputedly a nice bloke). He's arguing that this
year's race is now pointless because the elite dopers are being chucked
out, and I couldn't disagree more. IMHO this will go down as as the year
that the Tour was saved.

 

[MikeyOz]

IMHO this will go down as as the year
that the Tour was saved.

I agree..... I also wonder if with the names being caught maybe some of the other riders that could be on them are deciding not to do that well ?

But total agreement, they are doing something.

 

[[email protected]]

On Jul 27, 1:07 pm, cfsmtb <cfsmtb.2ud...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com> wrote:
> No, you're rather confused about what is like to be a (now ex) fan of a
> particular football code. Clear delineation there.
>
> --
> cfsmtb

People watch AFL? It's considered football? (yes I know what the F
stands for, but if I call a turd chocolate cake that don't make it
so). What ever will they think of next!

 

[cfsmtb]

here's our chance to politely educate a 'sport writer' (he only understands AFL and has often displayed his appaling lack of sports knowledge in articles on soccer and F1)

+1

Great work, ie: education, inform and ever-so-subtly take the **** all at the same time.

 

[Halcyon]

Andrew Priest wrote:
> On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 08:55:56 +1000, ProfTournesol
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Greg Baum
>> a so-called 'sports-writer' for The Age (should be sport-writer as his
>> knowledge and interest in sport stops at AFL) has written an error
>> filled opinion piece in today's Age. Never one to let mere facts to get
>> in the way of his opinion, he reached the predictable conclusion.
>> Perhaps he's also responsible for today's on-line poll on The Age site
>> too.
>> http://www.theage.com.au/news/tourd...1185339167858.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
>>
>
> Phill Liggett has a column in today's Australian ... details at
> <http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22140376-2722,00.html>
> and Cade's mum is interviewed at
> <http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22141913-2702,00.html>.
> -----
> Churchlands, Western Australia
> Giant CRX 1; Giant Boulder SE
> http://aushiker.com http://backpackgeartest.org http://geocaching.com.au
Phil Liggett's article? Methinks you guys do Phil an injustice...his
article is in the Oz tomorrow.
An easy mistake to make as his photo is alongside the article written by
Jeremy Whittle of The Times.
Halcyon

 

[Michael Warner]

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:30:18 +1000, MikeyOz wrote:

> I agree..... I also wonder if with the names being caught maybe some of
> the other riders that could be on them are deciding not to do that well

I doubt it. I think the same obsession with winning produces both great
results (given enough talent) and the willingness to risk doping.

 

[Harng Goh]

On Jul 27, 1:42 pm, Michael Warner <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:54:19 +0800, Andrew Priest wrote:
> > Phill Liggett has a column in today's Australian ... details at
> > <http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22140376-2722,00.html>
>
> FWIW, I found Phil's article a lot more annoying and wrongheaded (he
> constantly drops clangers as a commentator, too, even though he's
> an enthusiastic chatter and reputedly a nice bloke). He's arguing that this
> year's race is now pointless because the elite dopers are being chucked
> out, and I couldn't disagree more. IMHO this will go down as as the year
> that the Tour was saved.

Maybe I missed something, but I didn't see Phil Liggett's name
anywhere in that article.

 

[Michael Warner]

On Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:38:47 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

> People watch AFL? It's considered football?

A great many more than take an interest in any other sort of football (or
runball, in the case of thugby), apparently.

 

[Terryc]

cfsmtb wrote:

> Regarding AFL though, as a thoroughly disenchanted female fan I'm
> disgusted at hearing the almost weekly despatches of boofhead antics.
> Oh they're footy players, hahaha, minimise their **** behaviour by
> laughing it off in the meedya. Nah fcuk it, I'm taking my sporting
> allegiances (and money) elsewhere.

Lol, we had Tommy "Finger up the bum" Radonicus who thought you could do
anything on the field. Just standing near him was a toxic zone.

 

[[email protected]]

On Jul 27, 3:34 pm, Michael Warner <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:38:47 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
> > People watch AFL? It's considered football?
>
> A great many more than take an interest in any other sort of football (or
> runball, in the case of thugby), apparently.

Garn! You have Subiaco over there in WA, the Wallabies play there
every now and then. What more do you want?

 

[petulance]

On Jul 27, 2:38 pm, [email protected] wrote:
> On Jul 27, 1:07 pm, cfsmtb <cfsmtb.2ud...@no-
>
> mx.forums.cyclingforums.com> wrote:
> > No, you're rather confused about what is like to be a (now ex) fan of a
> > particular football code. Clear delineation there.
>
> > --
> > cfsmtb
>
> People watch AFL? It's considered football? (yes I know what the F
> stands for, but if I call a turd chocolate cake that don't make it
> so). What ever will they think of next!

Please do not insult football by equating aerial ping pong to it.
There is only one true form of football and it was invented in the
British Isles.

 

[osc]

Please do not insult football by equating aerial ping pong to it.
There is only one true form of football and it was invented in the
British Isles.[/QUOTE]
Actually I think you might find it originated in China around 2500BC assuming we are talking of the one true football...