The internet world is abuzz with talk over the peloton's neutralization of Stage 9 of the Giro D'Italia. Pedro Horrilo's crash into a 150 foot ravine during Stage 8 prompted them to organize their concerns about the safety of the course. Apparently, Stage 9's kermis-like circuit race had parked cars still on the course, among other hazards. I can't blame them. Yeah, they're the best in the world riding one of the most competitive stage races in the world. They don't need to harden the fuck up. They've already done that. Probably while you were arguing on the internet. Okay, okay. Probably while we were arguing on the internet.
What they're doing now is refusing to let their having hardened the fuck up be turned into an unnecessarily dangerous game of puppetry, a sport of profit that places the alleged kings in danger for heightened entertainment value that strips them of honor should they opt out. Basically they're refusing to be rodeo clowns, NASCAR drivers, or prizefighters, and can you blame them?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
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I was with you until you liked NASCAR to Rodeo Clowns...
ReplyDeleteI love cars, and I love cars fast, but 70mph decents in the Giro? bicycle racing at that level is more dangerous than any NASCAR loop I could even imagine.
Maybe Rodeo Clowns is a bad example. Maybe NASCAR is, too. But the point is, that bicycle racing is not fundamentally about putting people in danger for the sake of entertainment.
ReplyDeleteNOL, couldn't agree more. I held a fist up in solidarity on Sunday, even though though I was ticked because that was the only day I had this week to actually watch a stage. I nevertheless will reflexively side with the worker over the owner, regardless of the setting (baseball, cycling, coal mines). I'm always willing to be proved wrong, but I've found over time that the workers are right 98% of the time. Most workers will not stop working just to "get attention" or "milk more out of the owners (promoters, etc.)." I gave DiLuca credit -- it could not have been fun to be the guy who had to grab that microphone and start explaining things to the fans who'd spent hours lining up for a stage of the most storied race in their country.
ReplyDelete"I nevertheless will reflexively side with the worker over the owner" - yeah, that definitely influences me, too. I wind up identifying with collective action that shakes up the way things to and holds a new power.
ReplyDeleteWell said, NOL. Well said.
ReplyDeleteYeah I was just insulting NASCAR drivers. The fact that the riders stood up to the organizers was a wonderful break from the increasing comodification of the sport.
ReplyDelete