"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - i CAN'T belive my eyes

I just saw Robbie McEwen on the front, actually working for Horner, chasing down the break on todays coverage of Romandie.

Shocking.

This will somewhat soften my negative view of the whinging prima donna. Even if it's Evans he turns out to be working for.

AHH! I wish I could be watching bike racing right now!..... stupid America, and their Baseball..... who wants to watch fat guys in tight pants hit a ball with a bat!?

who wants to watch fat guys in tight pants hit a ball with a bat!?

football? no effin' way.

basketball? college is OK.

baseball? still love it, and actually went to see the fat guys play in person on tuesday :)

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/2069/yanks1ds.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

AHH! I wish I could be watching bike racing right now!..... stupid America, and their Baseball..... who wants to watch fat guys in tight pants hit a ball with a bat!?

The people who are watching it (myself, an american, included) are watching on Cycling.tv on the internet. Somewhere aroung 35 dollars for the year subscription and well worth it.

The people who are watching it (myself, an american, included) are watching on Cycling.tv on the internet. Somewhere aroung 35 dollars for the year subscription and well worth it.

another option is to move to a country that's civilized enough to have it on regular network TV. works for me ;)

The people who are watching it (myself, an american, included) are watching on Cycling.tv on the internet. Somewhere aroung 35 dollars for the year subscription and well worth it.
I watched on cycling.tv premium also. Good to see something. But I will say again that if you watch a 391kbps feed on anything larger than about 4 inches, it is not very good. When you go to full screen mode there is just not enough data streaming at 391kbps to allow for a good clear picture of lots of fast moving action. It is better than nothing though.

AHH! I wish I could be watching bike racing right now!..... stupid America, and their Baseball..... who wants to watch fat guys in tight pants hit a ball with a bat!?

more fat guys sucking down beers and hotdawgs.

more fat guys sucking down beers and hotdawgs.

like this guy used to do? :)

http://www.americanphoto.co.jp/pages/celebrity/C/Previews/Plans-45527.jpg

Hey, don't mess with baseball.

McEwen still sucks. A lot.

Is McEwen a dick, why does everyone hate him?

McEwen pretty much defines premadonna. He was born with all sorts of talent for sprinting and he expects his team to always set him up perfectly without him ever having to work for it. If things don't go his way...http://www.sportaci.cz/wp-content/upload/tdf/boonen-ogrady-ewen.jpg

And I just watched him win the first road stage of the Tour of Romandie, and he's still damn impressive.

...
He was born with all sorts of talent for sprinting and he expects his team to always set him up perfectly without him ever having to work for it.
...
Sounds more like you're describing Petacchi. :rolleyes:
Regardless of what people think of him, there's no doubting his ability to get to the sprint without his team setting him up.

premadonna (adj): 1. someone who thinks they are better than everyone else. 2. Individual who makes otherwise boring group sprint stages interesting.

Let's face it, we're all still talking about that head-butt a year later. That's good entertainment. Kind of like WWF comes to cycling. ;)

Then again I like when they shove the frame pump into Dave's wheel in "Breaking Away"...

..."he's my cat and his name is RALPH!"

McEwen pretty much defines premadonna. He was born with all sorts of talent for sprinting and he expects his team to always set him up perfectly without him ever having to work for it.


I do agree with the first statement (the terms 'premadonna' and 'sprinter' are synonymous) , but McEwen is pretty handy at hitting that line first without a huge amount of support.

I don't think anyone is doubting McEwen's talents, as he is tremendously talented. He is also an asshat who appears to be willing to use non-legal methods to win. See 2005 TDF for reference.

...and it's Prima Donna


Prima Donna (noun)

1. A vain and temperamental person.

2. A distinguished female operatic singer; a female operatic star.

Is McEwen a dick, why does everyone hate him?

For one, he's a very confident guy, and that can be perceived as cockiness. I get the feeling he really thinks he's the fastest guy out there, which is a good attitude to have in sports, but once the race is over nobody really wants to hear it. Second, I get the feeling he's kind of a dirty guy. The headbutt in the TDF last year has already been given as an example, but watch some of his other sprint victories. Most of the time he doesn't hold a straight line, and you can tell he's doing it on purpose. Is that dirty, or just tactics? You decide. But if he's really the fastest guy, why mess around with trying to intimidate people? Just ride a striaght line and nobody will be able to catch up.

McEwen pretty much defines premadonna. He was born with all sorts of talent for sprinting and he expects his team to always set him up perfectly without him ever having to work for it. If things don't go his way...http://www.sportaci.cz/wp-content/upload/tdf/boonen-ogrady-ewen.jpg

What are you talking about? He does have a lead out train, but he can usually find his way w/out any support at all. The Pocket Rocket has a really good interview in this months edition of Cycle Sport, you should read it.

...and it's Prima Donna


Prima Donna (noun)

1. A vain and temperamental person.

2. A distinguished female operatic singer; a female operatic star.
+++1

(1.) pretty much describes most of the sprinters that I have met -- but not all. ;)

And here I thought it was Pre-Madonna, like, before Like a virgin and such.

:)

Is McEwen a dick, why does everyone hate him?

Because he named his son Ewen. As in Ewen McEwen :rolleyes:

He's an ex-BMXer. You do the math. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for my BMX brethren.

you guys have probably heard this story, and I might get booted off The Aussie Thread for this, but, whatever..... :)

'Story' goes, that during a stage of one of the major races down here -- I think the Tour Down Under -- McEwen made and agreement with compatriate, Matt White, that he wouldn't attack White if he (White)got up the road. So, Matt White gets in a good break, and apparently McEwen chaned his mind and started offering money to Spanish riders to chase down the break so he can have a shot at the stage win :)

Other than this story, we hear bits & pieces, and he obviously has the typical sprinter aggro in the last 500m of a race, but apart from this, I've heard him intervied countless times on Aus TV and radio, and nothing he's said has giving me a negative impression of him. Compared to track sprinters (runners) and many other power athletes, he comes across as downright humble :)

I love the egotistical bastard. He brings excitement to the sprint finishes, and aside from Boonen is the only guy who has a chance at beating Petacchi on a regular basis. ...talk about a guy who needs the perfect setup.