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521sunnyside · 07-24-2010, 05:13 AM

Mr. Mariotti got it right in his comparison of Lance Armstrong with the likes of Ali, Mays and Unitas. All great men, in and out of their respective sports. Where Ken Griffey Jr. fits into this mix is beyond me.

Mr. Mariotti’s very little to no knowledge of professional cycling is further evidenced by his comments about Armstrong’s lackluster performance in not winning even one stage. Seven winners of the overall race have done so by not winning a single stage. Current race leader Alberto Contidor may become the eighth as his strengths lie in the mountain stages where he failed to win and the remaining stages are relatively flat. One being an individual time trial. Andy Schleck, in fact, won two of those mountain stages and sits in second place. Mark Cavendish, who currently holds the record for stage wins with 13, will likely never win the overall race. To further educate you Mr. Mariotti, Mario Cipolini won 12 stages in the Tour de France and never finished a race.

This year’s race has been plagued with crashes which are part of the sport and have more to do with course selection than rider competence. This is evidenced by the fact that the entire Peloton protested stage two from Brussels to Spa because of the danger. To put things into perspective for you Mr. Mariotti, Armstrong crashed once in his 7 tour wins. That’s approximately 15,750 miles of racing with one crash. He went down five times through no fault of his own in this year’s addition, costing him a total of about 28 minutes. Take those away and assuming everything else is equal, he sits somewhere in the top ten.

You suggest similarities with Jose Canseco and this latest Floyd Landis affair. Canseco wrote a book to throw anyone he could under the proverbial bus and, of course, to make money. Landis wrote a book to bilk cycling fans into paying for defending a lie. Now there is a fraud. The only similarity is the fact that both these guys got caught and after everything was said and done, they didn’t like the fact that others were better at cheating. I’m all for blowing the whistle for the better good but neither one of these guys did anything for the betterment of anything other than self interest. Throw Greg “the evidence against Armstrong is overwhelming” LeMond, in the mix, who incidentally testified against Landis, and you have three guys who are not very well liked by their respective professional communities. Another similarity if you will. There is no vindication in the end when the antagonist has self-serving interests. By the way, an autographed Mark McGwire baseball - $500.00; Alex Rodriguez - $299.00; and the “vindicated” Jose Canseco - $49.99. Very much the same with both Landis and LeMond – two squandered careers!

One point in which you are dead on … Jeff Novitzky’s primary interest is self-promotion at taxpayers’ expense. He has found his slice of the American pie, that’s for sure. So look for the bestseller in the sports section of bookstores everywhere …

You’ve heard this before Mr. Mariotti, if you are going to write about something to do with a sport at least know what you are talking about!

07-24-2010, 05:13 AM	#5 (permalink)
521sunnyside Upright	Mr. Mariotti Mr. Mariotti got it right in his comparison of Lance Armstrong with the likes of Ali, Mays and Unitas. All great men, in and out of their respective sports. Where Ken Griffey Jr. fits into this mix is beyond me. Mr. Mariotti’s very little to no knowledge of professional cycling is further evidenced by his comments about Armstrong’s lackluster performance in not winning even one stage. Seven winners of the overall race have done so by not winning a single stage. Current race leader Alberto Contidor may become the eighth as his strengths lie in the mountain stages where he failed to win and the remaining stages are relatively flat. One being an individual time trial. Andy Schleck, in fact, won two of those mountain stages and sits in second place. Mark Cavendish, who currently holds the record for stage wins with 13, will likely never win the overall race. To further educate you Mr. Mariotti, Mario Cipolini won 12 stages in the Tour de France and never finished a race. This year’s race has been plagued with crashes which are part of the sport and have more to do with course selection than rider competence. This is evidenced by the fact that the entire Peloton protested stage two from Brussels to Spa because of the danger. To put things into perspective for you Mr. Mariotti, Armstrong crashed once in his 7 tour wins. That’s approximately 15,750 miles of racing with one crash. He went down five times through no fault of his own in this year’s addition, costing him a total of about 28 minutes. Take those away and assuming everything else is equal, he sits somewhere in the top ten. You suggest similarities with Jose Canseco and this latest Floyd Landis affair. Canseco wrote a book to throw anyone he could under the proverbial bus and, of course, to make money. Landis wrote a book to bilk cycling fans into paying for defending a lie. Now there is a fraud. The only similarity is the fact that both these guys got caught and after everything was said and done, they didn’t like the fact that others were better at cheating. I’m all for blowing the whistle for the better good but neither one of these guys did anything for the betterment of anything other than self interest. Throw Greg “the evidence against Armstrong is overwhelming” LeMond, in the mix, who incidentally testified against Landis, and you have three guys who are not very well liked by their respective professional communities. Another similarity if you will. There is no vindication in the end when the antagonist has self-serving interests. By the way, an autographed Mark McGwire baseball - $500.00; Alex Rodriguez - $299.00; and the “vindicated” Jose Canseco - $49.99. Very much the same with both Landis and LeMond – two squandered careers! One point in which you are dead on … Jeff Novitzky’s primary interest is self-promotion at taxpayers’ expense. He has found his slice of the American pie, that’s for sure. So look for the bestseller in the sports section of bookstores everywhere … You’ve heard this before Mr. Mariotti, if you are going to write about something to do with a sport at least know what you are talking about!