Tour de France - is it unAmerican?

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Henry, it's just his opinion: he is only saying how HE personally would
react.


No, he's not. He is saying that his
kick-'em-in-the-nuts-when-they're-down
attitude is "American", which I find repugnant.

--

David L. Johnson


And what from that article makes you think that those aren't his personal
beliefs? He is trying and convicting an entire nation based on an opinion
that he doesn't share? That's not logical. And, yes, not only is it
repugnant, but it is false.

Pat in TX

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It's not sportsman like to beat up on your opponent when they are down.
Even boxing has rules for this. I don't know the rules for real
wrestling,
but I know there's certain parts of each other's body they avoid. Of
course, if you opponent is out for good, you go ahead and take your win,
but
winning by default can't be as satisfying as beating a healthy and worthy
opponent. I think it is sad if it has become American to do whatever
possible to make the contest unfair.

Well, you can rest easy, because it has NOT "become American to do whatever
possible to make the contest unfair." Sheesh! One hack writes such a thing
and that makes it fact? Get real!

Pat in TX

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This is why I hate the culture of this country I live in. If it's not this
it's yell at the cyclist because he's in your way and you're more
important. Yell at the cashier because they're not fast enough and you're
in a hurry. Step on anyone you can to get ahead.

Great country we have here.

Preston

Preston, you are making the same mistake that the Salon writer did: don't
generalize for the entire country, the entire culture. I don't know where
you live, but it is NOT representative of the entire country. Get a grip,
man!

Pat in TX.

"Preston Crawford" wrote:

This is why I hate the culture of this country I live in. If it's not this
it's yell at the cyclist because he's in your way and you're more
important. Yell at the cashier because they're not fast enough and you're
in a hurry. Step on anyone you can to get ahead.

Great country we have here.

Sounds awful. I'm glad I don't live there.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

"Pat" wrote in message
...
Preston, you are making the same mistake that the Salon writer did: don't
generalize for the entire country, the entire culture. I don't know where
you live, but it is NOT representative of the entire country. Get a grip,
man!
Well said this is not the general situation for most parts of
the country. Just because some hack sports writer says
something does not make it true.

"Fred" wrote in message t...
I'd consider moving, if I were you. I really despise Americans who fail to
appreciate what they have. Go live under a dictatorial regime or a third
world economy. I have. It will teach you a renewed appreciation for what
you have. It is not only a great country we have here but the absolute
best. Love it or leave it or change it but don't complain about it.

Fred

Queries:

1) Is top-posting American?

2) If you don't complain, how do you change?

3) If going somewhere else doesn't cause you to question where you've
been, even a little bit, have you wasted your time?

-Luigi

homo sum; nil humanorum a me alienum puto

"Preston Crawford"

wrote:

This is why I hate the culture of this country I live in. If it's not this
it's yell at the cyclist because he's in your way and you're more
important. Yell at the cashier because they're not fast enough and you're
in a hurry. Step on anyone you can to get ahead.

---snip---

Which "American culture" are you referring to? There is no single "American
culture", the country is just too darned big to allow that. Compare the
"culture" of Upper East Side New York with the "culture" of rural Mississippi,
the "culture" of the Upper Midwest, or the "culture" of the Mountain States.

---snip---

Great country we have here.

Preston

Lots of people all over the world seem to think so or we wouldn't have so many
immigrants.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

In article , Kevan Smith wrote:
On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 16:10:04 -0700, Zoot Katz from
Balsa Pacific Aero Ltd. Engineering & Bicycle Mongery wrote:

Then other ones that later got invented, like Disc Golf, I'd also
consider American "sports"... thpttt!

WE have some nice disc courses here. It's a nice pastime, but the
athleticism is on a par with walking.

Play with time -- how fast can you finish the course? Just doing
that is pretty amusing. Then, if you're wanting to emphasize disc
golf skill, add on a certain number of seconds per throw.

Works better on courses with few people, but it doesn't take very
long to play through.

-- Dan

--
Dan Cosley * http://www.cs.umn.edu/~cosley/)
GroupLens Research Lab, Univ of MN (http://movielens.umn.edu/ * 612.624.8372)
*** Just a foot soldier in the Army of Truth ***

Sun, 27 Jul 2003 19:39:17 -0400, ,
"Eric S. Sande" wrote:

AFAIK, baggataway, called lacrosse by settlers, is the sport
indigenous to this continent. "Baggataway" translates as, "little
brother of war".

I don't know what they called it but the Aztecs had something like
arena handball. If you lost, well, you didn't get a comeback year.

Tlachtli.

The Maya played two main kinds of game: handball and "big ball". Their
"big ball" game had two main variations, that played by dynastic
rulers and that played by other members of the elite. Each variant
could be played using either stone yugos low around their waist or
wooden ball deflectors high on their chest. There seem to have been
three classes of "goals".
--
zk

Something this knucle-dragger doesn't get is that waiting for your fallen
rival isn't just kissy-poo nice guy crap - it makes a better race. These are
tough guys that have ridden a long race and they want to win in a tough
competition with other tough guys, not by having their win handed to them on
a silver platter. So Mr. "I'll knock you down and take your wallet" is
another red-neck jerk who pretends he knows what being tough is all about,
but is really just a wimp talking trash.

Have to agree with this. In any case....

I don't think Ullrich was in a position to really punish Armstrong on the
climb, he already knew it, was relieved when Armstrong crashed simply because
it stopped the attack for a moment, not because Ullrich thought it might allow
him to escape. I dont think Ullrich would have attacked at that point even if
he felt good, but he seemed to be pretty cooked after an unsuccessful attack on
the previous climb and seemed resigned to follow. After LA wrecked the group's
pace hit a wall. Whether they were waiting or not until Hambone waved them
back is debatable. Jan's and the little group's subsequent performance to lose
less than a minute to LA was supremely bad-ass.

Columnist guy should have focused on another incident: the yellow jersey as
water-carrier. Strikingly un-American was the reaction to this controversy,
that having VHPena carry bottles was a disgrace to Tour tradition. Most of my
American friends thought this it was great that a guy would keep performing his
job like a freakin machine even when wearing the yellow. They didn't see
anything demeaning or disgraceful in it at all. But the Europeans seem quite
offended that Pena didnt prance around like a queen.

Robert