General Cycling Discussion - Really good article

I was browsing Lance Armstrong's website and found a link to an article that I really liked. I didn't like because it bashed Berry Bonds but because it shows how little credit Armstrong gets compared to what he does. Just thought I would pass it on.
-Matt-

Lance Armstrong Article (http://www.vanderbilthustler.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2001/10/05/3bbd2e7a71aae)

I don't know anything about Barry Bonds, so I can only go on what was actually said in the article, but it wouldn't surprise me one little bit. In this country, there is a cricketer named Shane Warne (I could rattle off plenty of other names, he just springs to mind), who has done just about everything possible to bring his sport into disrepute, yet the "great unwashed" still think he's wonderful.

While this country has yet to produce a TdF winner, there are plenty of sportspeople out here who are more worthy of being rolemodels and receiving adulation. They just don't get the hype that Warne does. I think Joe Stephens deserves a lot of credit for this article.

Interesting article. But I think the reason that Armstrong doesn't get as much hype is simply that, in the U.S. (and north america in general) cycling doesn't get as much hype as baseball (or basketball, hockey, football). In the Netherlands, Erik Dekker was voted Dutch sportsman of the year- this in a country crazy for soccer. Can you imagine a cyclist being voted American or Canadian Sportsman of the year? Even Armstrong! I can't see Roland Green being voted Canadian sportsman of the year- no one even knows he exists, except us of course. It's a shame, because frankly I think that winning the Tour is a far bigger feat than hitting home runs, and this is coming from a baseball fan.

Anyways, I think Armstrong probably could hit home runs- didn't be play baseball at some point in his life? I actually bet he'd be good at it. I know he's a baseball fan, anyways- well, of course, he is a Texan.

I was watching Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year Award last week and was made sick by the winners. Kert Shilling (?) and Randy Johnson, pitchers for Arizona Diamondbacks, won the award. It irritates me that those two guys who may have pitched one time each in the best of seven games could win sportsman of the year. Lance kicked butt in the TdF, the Tour of Switzerland, and I'm not sure what else, and his name was barely mentioned at the award ceremony.

The reason for this overlook is SALES! Lance on his bicycle doesn't sell subcriptions of Sport Illustrated like those jerks who play baseball. I think it was funny that Lance didn't even show up at the event. I guess he knew he wasn't going to win. I wouldn't show up either. Lennox Lewis, heavy weight boxing world champion from England, was considered as a finalist. I like boxing and I like Lennon Lewis, but a guy who in the past year won two fights and lost one should not be considered in the same league as LA or even Jonathan Vaughters (who couldn't finish the TdF because of a wasp sting and the UCI rules on medication).

I also like baseball and I think Randy Johnson is a great pitcher, but you're right- it's sales. Not like Lance Armstrong is suffering of course. However, in terms of sheer grit, I'd like to see any of these guys finish a game with a broken collarbone, or get back on a bike with blood all over them (maybe Lewis could do it, he's used to pain), or ride a bike through the Arenburg Forest in the rain! Cyclists beat pitchers, golfers, and even football players hands down!

Originally posted by wabbit
or get back on a bike with blood all over them (maybe Lewis could do it, he's used to pain

Actually, a lot of sports will not allow players to continue if they are bleeding these days due to the risk of HIV infections. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with being a wuss. In any case, Lance didn't win the award because cycling is not a sport that appeals to the great unwashed, but who really cares? With so many of those award ceremonies going around, the value of individual awards must surely be diminished anyway.