Time to call a spade a spade. After the latest doping incident and subsequent arrest of yet another Tour rider, I'm wondering, is anyone watching Le Tour anymore? I tuned into Versus' coverage last night and listened to a rather lethargic Bob Roll sounding like he'd lost his best friend as he was doing his best to comment on the action. Both announcers sounded like they would rather be anywhere else but in front of the camera calling the farce this race has become.
I became a Tour de France follower during Lance Armstrong's third effort at winning. As a person who lost his weight cycling, I must admit I was smitten with the romance of the race. Spending 20 miles in the saddle on a Saturday afternoon, I could only imagine the pain of riding over 100 miles a day for 21 days, all around France. No wonder cyclists look like skeletons. Here I was (am), still over 200 pounds, and riding a mountain bike for an hour or two. How in the world do these guys do it, day in and day out? Maybe dope has something to do with it.
Fast forward to last year, when so many big-name cyclists were caught doping and then banned from competition. And now the Tour is facing more controversy as cyclists continue to tempt fate and take enhancing drugs in order to survive the race.
One can only wonder how much longer this classic race, that has taught average Americans so much about the geography and beauty of France, can last. I haven't seen the telecast ratings for Versus' exclusive coverage, but one can only ascertain they cannot be good. Only the most ardent fan would stick around after all that's happening to disgrace the Tour.
Give me the pure sport of baseball anytime. Wait, bad example. Give me the good, clean sport of football...whoops. Okay, the Olympics, give me the Olympics...well, I guess there's not many sports out there that hasn't been touched by doping, but it sure seems Le Tour has more than its fair share and the lackluster attitude of its commentors is enough to tell you the real story.
That's all from the "drug-free" Fat Runner!
TFR
No comments:
Post a Comment