[Germanrazor]

I am not opening the political Pandora’s box, just wondering why a perfect sport of cycling is now being infiltrated with a rider claiming a political soapbox to spout what no one cares about!!!!!

Leave political and social issues out of your job my friends! Ride the darn bike like you stole it and provide viewers with a excellent race to watch.

Spectators do not care your political or social stance! If we did, or cared, we would watch C-Span all day long with you on it telling us how you feel.

And when I thought cycling was the only sport staying away from this, all of a sudden one rears their head to spout from their pie hole.

 

[rola643]

Sigh....

 

[maelochs]

I have no idea what Kevin Reza said and do not want to know .... I do, however, wish that the hardest challenge I faced each day was having to ignore an athlete saying things I didn't want to hear.

Anyway ... Stage 20 starts soon ....

 

[Merlincustom]

Well, Moscon called Reza the N word and the UCI did nothing, so there is that.
https://cyclingtips.com/2020/03/gianni-moscon-bike-throw-kuurne-brussels-kuurne/

 

[maelochs]

Well ..... hmmmmm ..... I have some strong feelings on the topic but I choose not to engage. But that is a lot different than taking a knee for unity or some such..

Stage 20 starts soon!

 

[Germanrazor]

It is simply a matter of keeping politics and social injustices from the workplace as your platform to tell your grievances. I cannot use my workplace as a demonstration site nor to take a knee for things I believe in.

If you have a issue with someone go to them direct. If you feel passionate about a social issue attend those events but never use your workplace to carry the banner.

I do not agree with some of the things that have happened in the country or around the world, but I dare not politicize it while on the job that puts food on the table and a roof over my head.

This is why I have effectively boycotted all sports to this date.......simply athletes using it for air time to voice their ideology. I don’t watch a sport to hear social ills nor politics, I watch it to see the sport!

 

[rola643]

It is simply a matter of keeping politics and social injustices from the workplace as your platform to tell your grievances. I cannot use my workplace as a demonstration site nor to take a knee for things I believe in.

If you have a issue with someone go to them direct. If you feel passionate about a social issue attend those events but never use your workplace to carry the banner.

I do not agree with some of the things that have happened in the country or around the world, but I dare not politicize it while on the job that puts food on the table and a roof over my head.

This is why I have effectively boycotted all sports to this date.......simply athletes using it for air time to voice their ideology. I don’t watch a sport to hear social ills nor politics, I watch it to see the sport!

I'M 100% WITH YOU ON THAT! I've given up on the NFL but that started before this latest movement.

 

[Merlincustom]

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/amp/ncna1240426?__twitter_impression=true

 

[LongKayak]

I read this yesterday and, at first, was going to let it pass. However, on further thought, I decided I needed to speak my voice.

First, the fact that Reza is one of only five riders in the top tier makes one question the description of cycling as a "perfect sport." If no one points out the flaws and shortcomings then the perception of perfection holds rule. But the sport has a long history of exclusion, dating back decades to Major Taylor and before. Reza is using his platform to point out the inequity in society as a whole, not just the sport.

Furthermore, the derogatory comments made by his "colleagues" in the peloton show that the problem is still alive and well in bicycle racing. In a "perfect" sport, these slights would have been punished, not swept away.

That's my two cents worth.

Roll on!

 

[maelochs]

I'd say the paucity of black pro riders is more about economics than racism---Somalia never quite manages to assemble an Olympic squad, you notice?

I am not even sure what sports--beyond soccer, which everyone else in the world mistakenly calls "football" ( ) and cricket are popular in Africa .... and since there are vastly distinct regions of Africa, about which I mostly know nothing except the bad news I see ....

But the economic bar to cycling is pretty high. I could leave race aside and say that by and large lower-income people are not well-represented in cycling (which is probably a better, less controversial, and more accurate way to view the situation) just as low-income people are not well-represented in a lot of sports---in this country as well as around the world.

I don't think this is necessarily racist at all. I mean, nobody wonders why there aren't more Chinese people in the Professional Lumberjack league (or whatever they call themselves,)and not many Africans ski or skate .... cross-country skiing isn't big in Australia, that I have ever heard. I have never seen the Inuit People's beach volleyball team.

Racism might be a barrier, but I think economics is the higher hurdle.

The fact that riders or anybody still have that much prejudicial hatred is an issue, but it is a flaw which seems to run throughout the human race.

 

[maelochs]

Oh, and please don' take that post too seriously.

 

[Merlincustom]

In Europe, historically cycling was the sport of the working class, many of whom were poor. But here the financial entry barrier is high.
https://www.velonews.com/culture/a-conversation-on-racism-in-cycling-with-retired-pro-dr-tim-erwin/

 

[rola643]

I'd say the paucity of black pro riders is more about economics than racism---Somalia never quite manages to assemble an Olympic squad, you notice?

I am not even sure what sports--beyond soccer, which everyone else in the world mistakenly calls "football" ( ) and cricket are popular in Africa .... and since there are vastly distinct regions of Africa, about which I mostly know nothing except the bad news I see ....

But the economic bar to cycling is pretty high. I could leave race aside and say that by and large lower-income people are not well-represented in cycling (which is probably a better, less controversial, and more accurate way to view the situation) just as low-income people are not well-represented in a lot of sports---in this country as well as around the world.

I don't think this is necessarily racist at all. I mean, nobody wonders why there aren't more Chinese people in the Professional Lumberjack league (or whatever they call themselves,)and not many Africans ski or skate .... cross-country skiing isn't big in Australia, that I have ever heard. I have never seen the Inuit People's beach volleyball team.

Racism might be a barrier, but I think economics is the higher hurdle.

The fact that riders or anybody still have that much prejudicial hatred is an issue, but it is a flaw which seems to run throughout the human race.

Nice post. I would tend to disagree with the "low-income people are not well-represented in a lot of sports"

There are to many Michael Vicks ( I use his name as he was a local to me here and not that he's uneducated but he did come from the numbered streets of Bad News otherwise known as Newport News, Va. low income area) in pro sports that couldn't fill out an unemployment application on their own....and as I type that I realize there is difference between low income and little or no education for excellent athletes that got them pushed through elite levels of sports regardless of education

 

[Merlincustom]

There’s big money in college athletics for the universities, so they have every incentive to give a free ride to talented athletes who are not strong academically. There’s a push now for the athletes to also get a piece of that NCAA financial pie, and they should get it. There’s also bigger money in many professional sports. It costs a family of 4 anywhere from $150 to $360 to attend a baseball game. Everything’s inflated, from concessions, to merchandise, to parking. Television rights, advertising, big money everywhere. All of this explains why pro sport salaries are so high. None of this is true with professional cycling. There’s not much money for the rider unless he’s a superstar.

 

[rola643]

There’s big money in college athletics for the universities, so they have every incentive to give a free ride to talented athletes who are not strong academically. There’s a push now for the athletes to also get a piece of that NCAA financial pie, and they should get it. There’s also bigger money in many professional sports. It costs a family of 4 anywhere from $150 to $360 to attend a baseball game. Everything’s inflated, from concessions, to merchandise, to parking. Television rights, advertising, big money everywhere. All of this explains why pro sport salaries are so high. None of this is true with professional cycling. There’s not much money for the rider unless he’s a superstar.

Sigh... I had a 14 paragraph response but deleted it. I'll just say students should be students first before sports. Listening to any NBA ( ok just most ) interview leaves little doubt in that.

It's a shame cycling is that way. Seems these are the people doing something for the love of the sport vs the money of the sport.

 

[Germanrazor]

There’s big money in college athletics for the universities, so they have every incentive to give a free ride to talented athletes who are not strong academically. There’s a push now for the athletes to also get a piece of that NCAA financial pie, and they should get it. There’s also bigger money in many professional sports. It costs a family of 4 anywhere from $150 to $360 to attend a baseball game. Everything’s inflated, from concessions, to merchandise, to parking. Television rights, advertising, big money everywhere. All of this explains why pro sport salaries are so high. None of this is true with professional cycling. There’s not much money for the rider unless he’s a superstar.

They are getting a free education! That is good enough. You must work in life before you are rewarded. I would be okay for all college sports to go away things become intramural sports only for the love of playing.

I would love to get paid for doing the right thing in life but I don’t nor does anyone! It’s called your conscience......same with sports paying your way to a free education if you are good enough. That is your payment.

 

[Merlincustom]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outl...7f26c0-bb80-11e8-a8aa-860695e7f3fc_story.html

 

[maelochs]

I have read a bit about this ..... the issue isn't that they are getting a free education (though the quality of that education might be marginal, which is another issue) it is ta number of other issues.

People are making hundreds of millions of dollars off these athletes, and these athletes are literally risking their lives. And no0t every college athlete gets a free ride---some get partial scholarships. And some get crippling injuries. And only a fraction will every play as pros.

Further the players' likenesses can be used in merchandise, including video games, and continue to make money for the athletic program for years to come ... and the players have No rights to any of the residual income.

Add to that that many spend their four years mostly studying plays, and come out of college broke and uneducated and not sufficiently skilled to play at the pro level ..... while their coaches were earning multi-million dollar paychecks.

if you choose to read up on it, college sports is pretty much a total scam which enriches everybody except the players ... or the schools. Oh, yes, the Athletic departments get rich ... but the scholastic departments ... you know, "school"---get shortchanged.

And if a player gets hurt and loses his/her scholarship ... the school is not responsible. Can't afford treatment/rehab? Life is tough. Literally crippled for life? Yeah, that happens. Can't afford surgical repair so that you might not be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life? Tough, the school isn't liable. Can't afford school anymore .... well, hope you learned enough to be a broke, homeless cripple because the school has no use for you and no obligation to you.

it isn't as simple as it might seem, and very few people who learn about the system and who aren't getting rich of the system think the system in an any way fair.

Bu those are just my opinions.

 

[Merlincustom]

Guy’s an idiot.
https://cyclingtips.com/2020/10/ame...-benched-by-team-over-racially-charged-tweet/

 

[Merlincustom]

Soccer team did the right thing in walking off the field.
https://www.facebook.com/341163402640457/posts/3880523855371043/