Tour De' France...

[Soonerus]

Anyone care ? I have reached a point where I really enjoy it...Tip: DVR the 2 hour replay during the middle of the day and watch it that evening without commercials...pretty good...

[royalfan5]

I only care about performance enhanced athletes when they are playing baseball.

[Soonerus]

I only care about performance enhanced athletes when they are playing baseball.

Funny, I have reached a point where I care very little about MLB...

[royalfan5]

Funny, I have reached a point where I care very little about MLB...
so you only like foriegn dopers?

[Soonerus]

so you only like foriegn dopers?

Plenty of Americans in the Tour....

[royalfan5]

Plenty of Americans in the Tour....
and they are all on drugs, and aren't proficient at a sport that matters.

[SoonerGirl06]

Is there actually a sport left that DOESN'T have participants pumping drugs?

[Soonerus]

That is really an unfair statement/generalization ...

[royalfan5]

Is there actually a sport left that DOESN'T have participants pumping drugs?
but, nobody does more drugs than bicycle racers.

[SoonerGirl06]

but, nobody does more drugs than bicycle racers.

Really? I would have thought baseball players, football players or wrestlers to be at top of the list.

[Soonerus]

but, nobody does more drugs than bicycle racers.

That is an uninformed, stereotyping type of comment...

[SoonerGirl06]

That is an uninformed, stereotyping type of comment...

Are you saying this because it's true or because you're just a fan of bicycling?

[Soonerus]

I do not think "doping" is any more prevalent in cycling than most sports and it is certainly not the leader....I am not a cyclist, just have enjoyed the Tour De' France the last 3-4 years...

[royalfan5]

Really? I would have thought baseball players, football players or wrestlers to be at top of the list.
players from those sports have turned to stuff like blood doping yet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_doping

[mdklatt]

I watched a little bit of that. I had no idea it started in England. :confused:

[Soonerus]

I watched a little bit of that. I had no idea it started in England. :confused:

Just this year...for a change...

[SoonerGirl06]

players from those sports have turned to stuff like blood doping yet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_doping

Have they been able to prove this in the world of cycling or is it just rumor?

I think I've heard of other types of athletes doing this... I think sprinters if I'm not mistaking.

[royalfan5]

Have they been able to prove this in the world of cycling or is it just rumor?

I think I've heard of other types of athletes doing this... I think sprinters if I'm not mistaking.
Yes, all bicycling is taking another corrupt sport(track and field) and sticking them on bikes.

[mdklatt]

Just this year...for a change...

If they're going to bike across the Channel, I'll tune in again.

[Soonerus]

Lots of different athletes have, it is just unfair to label the entire sport for a few events....

[SoonerGirl06]

Lots of different athletes have, it is just unfair to label the entire sport for a few events....

As the old saying goes... "A few bad apples spoil the bunch". Not saying it's fair, but it does make the sport as a whole look bad when a player(s) do stupid things like that.

[Soonerus]

As the old saying goes... "A few bad apples spoil the bunch". Not saying it's fair, but it does make the sport as a whole look bad when a player(s) do stupid things like that.

On that analysis, every sport is tainted...

[SoonerGirl06]

On that analysis, every sport is tainted...

Every sport is tainted, which is such a shame because there really are no true competetive sports left.

[Soonerus]

Women's softball ???

[royalfan5]

On that analysis, every sport is tainted...
but not every sport is the pointless exercise of outdated technology.

[SoonerGirl06]

Women's softball ???

Ha! Like those women aren't pumped up on testosterone! Yeah, right!

[TopDaugIn2000]

Tip: DVR the 2 hour replay during the middle of the day and watch it that evening without commercials...pretty good...

that's what I do, and yes, I watch it.

[Soonerus]

but not every sport is the pointless exercise of outdated technology.

wtf...clearly an unfair and biased statement.....

[TopDaugIn2000]

you call cycling OUTDATED?!?!?!?!?!?!

[royalfan5]

you call cycling OUTDATED?!?!?!?!?!?!
we've had cars for over a century now. Cyclists might has well be Amish. Hell the last doper to win practically was close enough.

[TopDaugIn2000]

uhhhh, yeah. go watch your nascar and drink some beer.

you couldn't go 10 miles on a cycle if your life depended on it.

[Soonerus]

we've had cars for over a century now. Cyclists might has well be Amish. Hell the last doper to win practically was close enough.

Sorry really dumb comment....

[TopDaugIn2000]

and if you don't like the sport, stay outta the thread. you don't see me over in the baseball forum stinkin it up, do ya?????

[royalfan5]

and if you don't like the sport, stay outta the thread. you don't see me over in the baseball forum stinkin it up, do ya?????
I go to other forums for my baseball discussion. If it's in the South Oval instead of General Sports, you should expect it to be fair game.

[Soonerus]

These cyclists are amazing athletes.....

[olevetonahill]

Anyone care ? I have reached a point where I really enjoy it...Tip: DVR the 2 hour replay during the middle of the day and watch it that evening without commercials...pretty good...
I aint watchin any fags on bicycles in spandex :eek:

[Soonerus]

I aint watchin any fags on bicycles in spandex :eek:

Ole, I love you buddy but that is a really ignorant statement...

[olevetonahill]

uhhhh, yeah. go watch your nascar and drink some beer.

you couldn't go 10 miles on a cycle if your life depended on it.
Put that Mofo in the back of My truck Ill ride it till the cows come home :D

[olevetonahill]

Ole, I love you buddy but that is a really ignorant statement...
Did I ever say I was fukin smart ?;)

[Soonerus]

Ole, I love you buddy but that is a really ignorant statement...
ditto...

[SoonerGirl06]

Did I ever say I was fukin smart ?;)

I happen to think you're a genius!!!!!

:D :D

[Soonerus]

I happen to think you're a genius!!!!!

:D :D

Suck up...

[SoonerGirl06]

Suck up...

Oh.... you're just jealous! ;) :D

[Soonerus]

Oh.... you're just jealous! ;) :D

Probably true...

[SoonerGirl06]

Probably true...

But yeah.... I'm a suck up too.... :D ;)

[Soonerus]

But yeah.... I'm a suck up too.... :D ;)

I won't touch that....

[StoopTroup]

No more Tour De Lance.

No more Tour De France.

[SoonerGirl06]

I won't touch that....

You're no fun.... :(






:D

[Soonerus]

No more Tour De Lance.

No more Tour De France.

No it is actually still occurring and Americans are still invloved...

[Soonerus]

You're no fun.... :(






:D

Well....suck....I am trying to be a gentleman...

[SoonerGirl06]

No more Tour De Lance.

No more Tour De France.

You have to admit Lance brought heightened interest to the sport from those that might have otherwise not tuned in.

[SoonerGirl06]

Well....suck....I am trying to be a gentleman...

Do gentlemen even exist on the SO?

[StoopTroup]

No it is actually still occurring and Americans are still invloved...

Once the next American wins it 5 or 6 times...

I'll watch again.

[Soonerus]

Do gentlemen even exist on the SO?

Yes, I really believe this...

[SoonerGirl06]

Dammit Rus! I wish you weren't so serious all the time... it makes the teasin' so much more difficult! :D

[olevetonahill]

Well....suck....I am trying to be a gentleman...
YOU ?:eek:
Leave My woman alone I like when she sucks UP:D
Or Down :cool:

[olevetonahill]

Yes, I really believe this...
Where ? when ?:D

[TopDaugIn2000]

so since cars were invented I guess the following sports aren't to be considered any longer:

rodeo (horses are SO last century)
skiing (now that we have snow-mobiles)
skateboarding (punks! just buy a civic)
track (why would you want to run when you can drive?)
swimming (get a boat)

the list goes on and on.

[StoopTroup]

You have to admit Lance brought heightened interest to the sport from those that might have otherwise not tuned in.
I totally agree.

I don't think Lance got the accolades he should have.

If he hadn't beat cancer, I'm not sure he would have gotten the press that he did.

Cycling gets less interest in this Country than Soccer yet most everyone I know had a bike when they were a kid.

[TopDaugIn2000]

interesting article:

link (http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2007/columns/story?id=2928031)

Dysfunctions, doping in cycling shouldn't create disillusionment

LONDON -- The U.S. press corps at the Tour de France has never been particularly large. Even in Lance Armstrong's heyday, the nature of media distribution networks enabled a few of us to report back to the whole country.

There were perhaps half a dozen American writers who have covered the entire Tour and a handful of others who would parachute in halfway through when the mountain stages began, or puddle-jump over from Wimbledon or the British Open.

The numbers didn't change much in 2006, when we showed up to follow the Year-After-Lance storyline. Then Floyd Landis snagged the yellow jersey in a wide-open field depleted by doping busts, and the plot thickened. Landis rolled across the finish line last July 23 in first place and I boarded a plane a day later thinking that American interest in the race, while unlikely to return to Armstrong era-levels, would continue.

This year the scribes' contingent appears to be smaller, partly because travel budgets have tightened and partly because some of my colleagues have taken themselves out of the game, expressing disgust for the sport's eroding credibility. Fewer figure to follow the race from home.

I understand their disappointment. What I don't understand is their disillusionment.

If top cyclists are among the most-frequently-tested athletes in the world, I would submit that I am currently one of the most-frequently-lied-to reporters in the world. I have notebooks and floppy disks and hard drives full of interviews which I knew, or suspected, or would find out later were nonsense.

Riders and team directors and staff and entourage members have fibbed to me in multiple languages and met my gaze with their own open, seemingly genuine blue- or brown- or hazel-eyed stare, asking me to trust them.

No one has chosen to confess to me, and perhaps self-servingly, I don't think that's because I ask the wrong questions. It takes more guts than most of these guys have to spill to a person who's been with them on the trail every day, as opposed to a relative stranger -- sometimes for a tidy sum.

I'm not alone in wiping my shoes after walking through all this dishonesty. We've all been there, and most cycling writers I know have a rider or a case or a moment that toppled them into cynicism.

For the French writers, it was the 1998 Festina scandal. From the day Richard Virenque returned from his drug suspension to the day he retired, he didn't log one second of air time on Tour broadcasts without the accompaniment of a derisive Francophone chorus in the press room -- similar to the House of Lords' reaction to a speech they don't like.

The Germans came to grief with homeboy Jan Ullrich. David Millar's tumble from grace distressed the Brits, although his subsequent outspokenness has redeemed him at least in part.

But there haven't been a lot of Tour defections among European writers. They've hung in there, trying with various degrees of competence to chronicle an ethically and factually challenging story about a continental pastime. This might sound familiar to the folks being towed along on the distasteful Barry Bonds home-run chase.

Cycling is expendable for American writers. They could afford to bail when the fairy tales started to fall apart. They got ticked off when the likeable Tyler Hamilton was compromised; they felt burned when Landis' monumental Stage 17 became the centerpiece of an arbitration hearing rather than a coffee table book; and they are turned off by the continuing questions and debate about Armstrong. They seem to be taking things personally.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying the picturesque spectacle of the Tour as long as you can live with the tension of what lies beneath. Those who are shocked, simply shocked that guys with great backstories might also have skeletons heaped in the closet have only themselves to blame for souring on cycling.

Most stories about doping are regrettably un-gettable while they're unfolding. In that way, being a cycling writer in 2007 is no different from covering municipal government or criminal justice or finance any time.

Think you don't know what's legitimate and what's not in a bike race? Cry me a river. How often does a City Hall scandal break the first time the mayor shovels a contract to a buddy? Are crooked judges exposed the first time they take a bribe? Do we know about insider trading or price-fixing instantly, as it's happening?

Just because we'd like sports to be a haven of escapism doesn't mean it is. Corruption in any field of endeavor generally has to build to a critical mass before it reveals itself, and usually takes a whistleblower to get the ball rolling.

Writers can do their part by refraining from godding up cyclists and by putting their feats into context. I'm not claiming I've always done this perfectly. Doping journalism has a steep learning curve.

We can write about teams with pockmarked histories or a remarkable surge in results. We shouldn't declare riders guilty until proved innocent, but we're entitled to rip them when they're shown to be charlatans.

People cheat across the board. We don't stop covering politics because candidates steal elections, we don't stop covering corporations because executives embezzle, and we keep writing love stories even though people stray from their partners. We shouldn't stop covering the Tour de France because some riders dope.

Anyone who bought into the myth-making ought to feel even more obligated to stick around and pay attention to the fallout. Doping and enforcement efforts obviously have immense implications for the sport's economics, for team dynamics and fan loyalty. And count me among the writers who believe that where cycling is now, racked with doubt, several major American sports are heading in the near future.

Endearingly dysfunctional cycling, with its back-biting, vindictive politics and secretive subcultures, is waving its dirty laundry like a flag. To me, that's a journalistic opportunity, not a letdown.

[TopDaugIn2000]

10 reasons you'll want to watch this year's Tour de France (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple/070706)

I finished reading Floyd Landis' "Positively False" Tuesday night, started "From Lance to Landis" Wednesday night, and just got back from riding my bike 16 miles to buy a Slingbox -- so I can watch the Tour de France just in case I find myself someplace without the Versus network during the next three weeks.

In other words, I'm pretty jazzed for this year's Tour de France, which starts on Saturday.

Oh, I know. Saying you're a fan of the Tour this summer is like saying you still listen to Creed. Because of the recent doping scandals, you're not supposed to care about the race. The Tour is so off the radar, the Department of Homeland Security has downgraded the wristband color code from yellow for "Livestrong" to white for "Apathy."

I don't care. I'm so excited about the Tour I even broke down and bought some biker shorts (which my wife refuses to let me wear in public). And here are 10 reasons you should be interested in it, too.

1. For a minute, look past the doping scandals. Landis has gone to court to keep his 2006 title, 1996 champ Bjarne Riis admitted he was juiced, and so many other cyclists have been charged with drug use that the Tour should replace the yellow jersey with a psychedelic tie-dyed T-shirt. None of this speaks well for the sport, to be sure. But it's funny how the people who mock cycling for the proliferation of performance enhancers often are the same people who love football despite the suspicious size and speed of NFL players. When several Carolina Panthers from Super Bowl XXXVIII were implicated in a steroid scandal, no one stopped watching the Super Bowl. When Shawne Merriman was busted for steroids, the media didn't scream that the Chargers' season was a joke. So why the double standard?

Despite its problems, the Tour de France is still a very compelling sporting event, and what these athletes do is nothing short of remarkable. Baseball players sit in the dugout half the game chewing sunflower seeds. Basketball and football players get halftime to rest, in addition to their bench time. Golfers walk and still have someone carry their clubs. Cyclists, meanwhile, race up to 130 miles an afternoon, fighting the wind and climbing up steep Alpine mountains in the heat of summer.

Considering what they do, the only performance enhancer that would seem adequate is gasoline.

2. Old-school cheating. And hell, the recent doping is nothing compared to some of the stuff that went on when the Tour was young. Back in the old days, fans would toss nails on the road and set up obstacles; riders would break the inkstands at required stage check-in points, and put itching powder in their opponents' shorts, and place cocaine on their eyelids to stay alert during the grueling race. Those are just some of the tactics described in Graeme Fife's wonderful history of the race, aptly titled "Tour De France." My favorite story, however, is about Eugene Christophe, whose front forks broke on a descent in the Pyrenees. He carried the bike five miles to a village, borrowed tools at a blacksmith's shop, and forged new forks, repaired the bike and then resumed the race. I tell you, if today's cyclists had to work at a blacksmith's forge, they wouldn't need steroids.

3. The race starts in London this year. Which is kind of like starting the Indy 500 in Cincinnati … except London has Big Ben, Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the Old Globe Theater, while Cincinnati has the Bengals.

The Tour often extends outside of France -- but this is the first time it has ever started in England.

4. U-S-A! U-S-A! Remember how much fun it was rooting against the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc countries during the Cold War? Now that Russia is our friend (well, sort of, sometimes), we've lost that drama at the Olympics. But you can recapture it at the Tour de France by rooting against those damn French, who keep implicating our guys in doping scandals. And we know it's all sour grapes because Americans have won the past eight Tours and 11 of the past 21, while a French rider hasn't won since Wham! was big.

5. A fashion statement -- Levi and a yellow jersey. The American with the best chance to extend the United States' reign is Discovery's Levi Leipheimer. He's a bit of an underdog, but he won the Tour of California, and the winner of that race has gone on to win the Tour de France every time. True, the Tour of California didn't start until 2006 (when Landis won it) but that doesn't alter the truth of the previous sentence.

6. Borat: 2,200 Miles of France for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Need another guy to root for? Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan got hosed last year. He wasn't implicated in the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, but enough of his teammates were that his team didn't have enough riders to compete. So he got the boot from the biggest race in the world, even though he was innocent (as far as we know). This has been Kazakhstan's year in sports -- Oleg Maskaev beat Hasim Rahman for the WBC heavyweight crown -- so if Vinokourov wins, we'll probably get to see plenty of Borat clips.

7. The Versus Network. Are the live broadcasts on too early in the morning for you? Don't worry -- the replays are always on, and announcers Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen and Bob Roll quickly become summer guests you never want to leave. Granted, the Tour can be pretty repetitive, with lots of shots showing cyclists bunched together intermixed with the occasional breakaway. But even that is oddly hypnotic and relaxing to watch. And the furious finishes, the grueling Alpine climbs and the occasional rider flipping over a guard rail and plunging down a cliff (better hope those front forks hold up) make for damn good television.

8. Location, location, location. Plus, there is always the incredible scenery, which will range from Big Ben to the beaches of Dunkirk to the French Alps, the South of France, the Pyrenees and the Champs-Elysées. It sure as hell beats the view outside Cleveland's Jacobs Field.

9. The podium girls. No further explanation needed.

10. Bicycles are the new SUV. I'm way ahead of the curve on this one, but bicycles are poised for a quantum leap in popularity. Continuing concerns about global warming, rising obesity, diabetes and traffic snarls will prompt more people to ride bicycles in the coming years.

Which is the biggest reason I love the Tour. Most of America's most popular sports are enjoyed only from the couch. Not biking. No matter your age or weight, everyone can bike -- and should. It's fun, and a good way to get around -- the extra time it takes to bike somewhere is easily made up by the time you save not looking for a parking space or going to the club for a workout.

More importantly, it's good for you, good for the environment and good for the country. Who is more patriotic, the person who commutes to work on a bike, or the guy who slaps a U.S. flag decal on his SUV that gets 12 miles per gallon?

So turn on the Tour during the next three weeks and start riding your own stages. Once again feel the joy you enjoyed as a kid while you pretend you're breaking away from the pack on Col d'Aubisque. Trust me, there is no greater pleasure in sports than passing SUVs stalled in rush-hour traffic. Unless you're passing them as they fill up at the gas station.

[StoopTroup]

I'd say the real reason folks, the media included, have lost interest is not doping. It's more of a trust thing. I think people want heroes that they make them proud of their Country. Heroes that they can hold up to their kids and say "That athlete was one of the best that ever was...".

The Media and the readers, listeners and watchers are growing tired of cheaters and the Associations that are unable to properly control the ugly issues that every sports seems to attract.

Bottomline: We want a real hero and a good story about him. When we get let down time and time again...we find other things to entertain us.

[TopDaugIn2000]

I'm sure there are several that dope, but I like watching the race anyway. thsee than don't dope (or win) are still ****ing amazing athletes. I could only dream of finishing ONE stage of that race. Seriously.

[TopDaugIn2000]

yesterday (stage 2) was pretty good. lots of rain, which caused some problems as usual. Couldn't believe the crash with 2K left in the race. wow.

[TexasLidig8r]

Watching the Tour over the course of the past decade was enjoyable because we got to see an athlete who transcended the sport... Lance is the Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan of cycling.... combined with his personal story, overcoming cancer, a lovely wife with kids, then.... to divorce his wife and take up with a flat chested, average singer... was great theater.

Because he transcended the sport and was not French, the cowardly weasels, otherwise known as the French cycling organizations and their buddies in the French media, l'Equippe, did everything they could do to discredit Lance... from random drug tests after stage races (which is not out of the norm).. to testers showing up at Lance's hotel room at random hours to conduct a test (which is outside the norm)... to falsely reporting Lance had tested positive. It was a delight to watch the angst amongst the French.

Now, with no Lance, the shadow over Floyd Landis' win last year (he was basically a f'in' hillbilly on a bike)... American's interest in the Tour appears to be slumbering.... it certainly isn't dead but it is waiting for the next American cycling hero/star.

[Soonerus]

The tour is great to watch if you can FF through the commercials...Try DVR'ing the 11:00 version for evening watching....

[Jerk]

I tell you what. You Tivo all of the crashes for me and then I'll come over and watch:pop: