Rock sues Tour of Georgia



TheDarkLord said:
If the agreement was just oral, don't see how they can make a case legally.
exactly it didn't work for Clinton, oh not that kind of ...

I guess Ball just wanted to make sure that his team would be in the news before & during Tour de Georgia even if they are not invited. I still think he's going to call a press conference 1 hour before the offiicial one (like he did in California) to announce something... team folding? Axel Merckx joining as the DS?

All the make sure that the media talk about his team.
 
earth_dweller said:
exactly it didn't work for Clinton, oh not that kind of ...

I guess Ball just wanted to make sure that his team would be in the news before & during Tour de Georgia even if they are not invited. I still think he's going to call a press conference 1 hour before the offiicial one (like he did in California) to announce something... team folding? Axel Merckx joining as the DS?

All the make sure that the media talk about his team.
Ok, that makes some sense. Anything to be in the news. After all, he is in the whole business for no purpose other than publicity. He probably doesn't even care what kind of publicity he gets as long as he is in the news. ;)
 
TheDarkLord said:
Ok, that makes some sense. Anything to be in the news. After all, he is in the whole business for no purpose other than publicity. He probably doesn't even care what kind of publicity he gets as long as he is in the news. ;)
yep that's my take on it, it's all about publicity. I'm amazed the see the crowds that gather around RR at races. At Cali, people were buying the bottles when other teams given them away! the power of publicity.
 
TheDarkLord said:
If the agreement was just oral, don't see how they can make a case legally.
I would not trust anything Ball does; but that doesn't mean this is groundless or unprovable. He may very well have been led to believe that his team would be invited. Perhaps there are others who can back him up.

One thing that makes me suspicious is that Ball is suing with not much time before the start of the race. It may be a strategy of brinksmanship, where he is gambling the organizers will back down. We saw a similar tactic in California where he tried to get the OP Three into the race.

The TdG's excuse for not inviting Rock was weak. Essentially they complained that Rock would bring too much publicity. :rolleyes: That was when they were arguing that they didn't have enough team slots for the best domestic team in the country.
 
I smell something beyond Rock riders with doping clouds and Ball's personality here as the reason. Who are the owners of the ToG? There's something else here I suspect... but I could be wrong obviously. Is it establishment versus anti-establishment? Are there some scores to be settled? Do they resent his money? Do they just want him out of USA cycling... the quicker the better. It's like a mini-Astana situation... it seeems.
 
Crankyfeet said:
I smell something beyond Rock riders with doping clouds and Ball's personality here as the reason. Who are the owners of the ToG? There's something else here I suspect... but I could be wrong obviously. Is it establishment versus anti-establishment? Are there some scores to be settled? Do they resent his money? Do they just want him out of USA cycling... the quicker the better. It's like a mini-Astana situation... it seeems.
The difference between this and the Astana situation is that european cycling can survive getting rid of Astana. Big dollar U.S. domestic sponsors are hard to come by, and they are likely to get harder to come by in the near future.

I would not be surprised if there was some sort of personal issue between Ball and Medalist Sports, which also organizes a number of other U.S. races.
 
Bro Deal said:
The difference between this and the Astana situation is that european cycling can survive getting rid of Astana. Big dollar U.S. domestic sponsors are hard to come by, and they are likely to get harder to come by in the near future.

I would not be surprised if there was some sort of personal issue between Ball and Medalist Sports, which also organizes a number of other U.S. races.
Given the revelations here about Ball's willingness to punch out restaurant owners/maitre de's when he doesn't get his way... it wouldn't be a surprise if he had told a few important people in the US cycle racing world to "fark off" (or words to that effect) privately on the phone... :rolleyes:
 
Bro Deal said:
I would not trust anything Ball does; but that doesn't mean this is groundless or unprovable. He may very well have been led to believe that his team would be invited. Perhaps there are others who can back him up.

One thing that makes me suspicious is that Ball is suing with not much time before the start of the race. It may be a strategy of brinksmanship, where he is gambling the organizers will back down. We saw a similar tactic in California where he tried to get the OP Three into the race.

The TdG's excuse for not inviting Rock was weak. Essentially they complained that Rock would bring too much publicity. :rolleyes: That was when they were arguing that they didn't have enough team slots for the best domestic team in the country.
not weak.

Publicity is not <race + RR = net gain.>

Publicity for ToG = just race publicity.

RR seek to crowd out race publicity.

If RR did not hijack and cannibalise race publicity, they would be in.
 
thunder said:
not weak.

Publicity is not <race + RR = net gain.>

Publicity for ToG = just race publicity.

RR seek to crowd out race publicity.

If RR did not hijack and cannibalise race publicity, they would be in.
I see your point.

The only thiong I would say though is that cycling events, unlike other sporting events, are subsidized by the teams. The day that cycling race organizers are forking out $5-8 Million in prize money to the cyclists (which is approximately the offering at golf and tennis tournaments) is the day IMHO that race organizers can start dictating to sponsored teams that they have to tone down their own impact at the event or not be invited. As far as I can see, Rock are trying to change the way cycling is marketed. Granted Ball is probably not the world's nicest guy... :rolleyes:

I think if cycling is saying that sponsors have to be low key so that the race takes center stage... they are missing something and further reducing the potential return for sponsors.
 
Crankyfeet said:
I see your point.

The only thiong I would say though is that cycling events, unlike other sporting events, are subsidized by the teams. The day that cycling race organizers are forking out $5-8 Million in prize money to the cyclists (which is approximately the offering at golf and tennis tournaments) is the day IMHO that race organizers can start dictating to sponsored teams that they have to tone down their own impact at the event or not be invited. As far as I can see, Rock are trying to change the way cycling is marketed. Granted Ball is probably not the world's nicest guy... :rolleyes:

I think if cycling is saying that sponsors have to be low key so that the race takes center stage... they are missing something and further reducing the potential return for sponsors.
RR = good

new business model.

But they farked up on Cali.

Have to respect the sport first. Cant roll out the dopers and ride the route before the race, to position your brand.
 
thunder said:
not weak.

Publicity is not <race + RR = net gain.>

Publicity for ToG = just race publicity.

RR seek to crowd out race publicity.

If RR did not hijack and cannibalise race publicity, they would be in.
I am not buying this. I think it is a lame excuse from the TdG. So what if people crowd around Rock and oogle the hotties? What else are the fans going to do? Sit around and stare at banners for the TdG's sponsors. Bringing more people out to each stage cannot hurt.

There has to be something else going on behind the scenes. It may be as simple as Ball being an asshole to the wrong person. It might be that the TdG does not want the stigma attached of Hamilton and crew. But the reasons of stealing publicity and not having room for the team are bogus.
 
Bro Deal said:
I am not buying this. I think it is a lame excuse from the TdG. So what if people crowd around Rock and oogle the hotties? What else are the fans going to do? Sit around and stare at banners for the TdG's sponsors. Bringing more people out to each stage cannot hurt.

There has to be something else going on behind the scenes. It may be as simple as Ball being an asshole to the wrong person. It might be that the TdG does not want the stigma attached of Hamilton and crew. But the reasons of stealing publicity and not having room for the team are bogus.
payback for Cali. For using Hamilton, Sevilla and Botero
 
But if Rock Racing is invited they will probably try to bring Sevilla, Botero and Hamilton.
 
I think that there is a lot more that happened in California than we are privy too.

Medalist on behalf of TdGA can invite whichever team they want, it is a private entity and is not forced to invite any UCI registered team. Basically, they don't need to be fair. They showed it at California by not inviting Symmetrics who well in fairness should have been there as the UCI Americas winner. They're showing it again in Georgia. But Ball is much well louder than the Symmetrics team so he's riled up the 'fanbase' and is taking it to the courts.

I wonder if the other teams complained about RR at Cali? How about, for example, that they took a lot more of their allotted spaces (like in parking lots) which made other teams hunt for spots? Other rumors of the team disregarding rules were floating around.

And then of course there is the stupidity of having the 3 banned riders on the course prior to each stage.

Lastly, did Medalist/Cali/AEG have to shell out extra lawyer, PR,... fees in California to handle all the stuff thrown at them by Ball?

I think Birrell & Medalist just got tired of dealing with diva Ball and thought this was the way to handle it.
 
Bro Deal said:
I am not buying this. I think it is a lame excuse from the TdG. So what if people crowd around Rock and oogle the hotties? What else are the fans going to do? Sit around and stare at banners for the TdG's sponsors. Bringing more people out to each stage cannot hurt.

There has to be something else going on behind the scenes. It may be as simple as Ball being an asshole to the wrong person. It might be that the TdG does not want the stigma attached of Hamilton and crew. But the reasons of stealing publicity and not having room for the team are bogus.
TdG had no problem with Hamilton and Tinkoff at the race last year. I was there and the crowd had a very warm welcome for Hamilton. Lots of true believers out there. Landis also showed up promoting his book and got a hero's welcome. I think there is another reason for the RR ban than employing a host of former dopers, especially when the other teams have similar employees.
 
When is Ball going to thank the TdG officials for inspiring him to go out and make his own cooler tour?
 
huboon said:
When is Ball going to thank the TdG officials for inspiring him to go out and make his own cooler tour?
if ball is cool, gimme luke warm