How 'bout that Lance?

[JOR_EL]

How \'bout that Lance?

Armstrong, that is. Purely and simply an American we can be truly proud-of!Refreshing, huh?Larry

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

Truly incredible! I was amazed to hear how he's constantly boo'ed and widely disliked in France with accusations of drug use, blood doping, etc. Not much in the US media about that, either.

 

[Egon]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

The Tour:
Between Greg Lemond and Lance, both of whom overcame serious health problems, the American's have surely cut into what is considered a European Dominated sport that entails much emotion.
Strangely, cycling was a predominate sport in America in the early 1900's and then fell into disfavor.
Egon

 

[RobS]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

Yeah, he's an amazing individual. The US Postal team came in second place which isn't too shabby either. Two other Americans placed in the top 20. Go Lance, go USA /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

Rob, this is the first time I've EVER known where the US team finished or even really thought about the team aspect of this. I had always just looked at LeMond or Armstrong and stopped there.

 

[RobS]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

Curiously enough, only three of the nine US Postal riders are Americans this year. There are Americans riding on other teams as well /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

So, other than another way to waste money, why does the US Postal Service need to sponsor a bicycle racing team?
It sure isn't as a way to indicate the speed of postal service, is it.

 

[Golfgar4]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

<font color=blue>"It sure isn't as a way to indicate the speed of postal service, is it."</font color=blue>

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[RobS]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

<font color=blue>why does the US Postal Service need to sponsor a bicycle racing team?</font color=blue>

Ironically, there was a bit on NPR the other morning related to this. I got so infuriated with the reporter I ended up sending a letter to Marketplace, NPR and my local station. I was mostly irritated that the reporter knew nothing of the sport and made no effort to learn.

Anyway, the reason USPS (and previous team sponsor Motorola) spend the money on a cycling team is for overseas business, nothing to do with the market here in the US. Cycling is huge in Europe and the Tour is the largest sporting event in the world with no admission charge. Good value for your advertising dollar (or Euro).

Speaking of speed: Lance won Saturday's time trial stage by riding 50km in 1:03:50. That's 29.2 miles per hour for a little over an hour... on a bicycle. Just amazing /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[RJohnson]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

I believe that it is a very good indicator of postal service speed. After all it took 2 weeks to complete the race /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif and they would alway hurry up and then stop and wait for another day/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif.

Randy

 

[Golfgar4]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

<font color=blue>"...and they would alway hurry up and then stop and wait for another day."</font color=blue>

Yup, yup, yup! Reminds me of my days in the Navy! /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

I do have to be careful about bad-mouthing the USPS too much. My father-in-law is a retired carrier. But when it takes 2 weeks to send a letter 5 blocks - well that just begs for comments! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[fishman]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

The Tour was great this year! First time I've personally seen cable coverage and I was impressed. The Outdoor Life Network (OLN) devoted two hours live in the morning to the event, then replayed it from 8 to 10 pm. Any cycling fan would have been in heaven.

I remember when Lance won his first tour, the city of Austin had a huge bash. Quite the event.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

"the reason USPS (and previous team sponsor Motorola) spend the money on a cycling team is for overseas business, nothing to do with the market here in the US. Cycling is huge in Europe and the Tour is the largest sporting event in the world with no admission charge. Good value for your advertising dollar (or Euro)."
Now I read that TWICE, and it still befuddles my mind. Just what in the pluperfecthell overseas business does the US Postal Service attract? Are there US Post Offices off shore other than FPO and APO? What overpaid civil serpant came up with that concept.
Let me see, they call themselves the postal SERVICE, and a farmer referrs to having his cow impregnated as having her serviced, so I understand the reason behind the name, but what overseas business can the US Postal Service attract?
BTW, Motorola used Lance to promote Irridium, the LEO system 70% owned by one of the brothers of a certain terrorist. Hopefully, the Postal Service will follow Irridium in the business world.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

The speed that amazed me was him averaging over 21 mph over 131 miles with an AVERAGE incline of over fifteen degrees! Think about that. It is a truly incredible human feat and yet it's only one stage of this race! Unbelieveable!

 

[rationalizer]

Re: How \'bout that Lance?

It probably goes without saying - but don't believe what you read/hear from the press. I was at two stages of the Tour last year (L'Alpe d'Huez and the following time trial) and no-one boo'ed or had a bad thing to say about Lance. Cycling in "Yurup" is an amazing spectacle - people from all over the world going to an event (for free) to cheer athletes who put it on the line for 21 days. There is no place to hide.

I suspect that the "cat calls" this year were from a vocal minority - hey, people boo the Yankees and Michael Schumacher too. Don't forget - Lance caught and passed Laurent Jalabert - a French favorite - on the previous stages...

FYI - a good friend of mine happened to ride with Lance and some USPS folks last summer. My friend commented that Lance was really just a supermotivated "bike geek". Coming from Texas - I suspect he has potential to be a "tractor geek" when he retires! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

One last comment - as impressive as Lance was in the tour - my "hero of the year" award goes to Tyler Hamilton for second place in the Giro d'Italia. 3 crashes, broken bone in his shoulder, and he wins a time trial and finishes second.