Sports on TV

Recently there was a good discussion between 4father, Mississippi G an myself about the minimal coverage cycling gets in popular media, especially TV. Major cycling events like the Le Tour have started to get coverage primarily because of the superstardom of Lance, but if you want to see an event like the Tour of California you'd better take a few days of vacation from work, because you'll need to stay up late in the night to watch it. However, if you want to see fishing, pig wrestling or NASCAR you can get a constant supply of it on OLN or ESPN in prime time. It's a sad reality that cycling is a fringe sport in the US. The people interested in watching races are mostly those who participate in races. It seems it will only get worse as time goes on and Lance's star begins to fade, which is an inevitability now that he's retired. We really don't have a cyclist to take his place in the spotlight as a major sports figure. Most of the Hellclimb Gang aren't Baseball, NFL or NBA fans that I know of, so what interest does sports on TV hold if you don't get cycling, running or skiing event coverage except on rare occasion? When you think about it though, sitting in front of the TV watching something is counter intuitive to our lifestyle. I'd much rather be outdoors doing SOMETHING than sitting inside watching TV, except on those evenings when I'm curled up with my little Honey watching a movie after a hard day of working and riding.

Anybody see or hear what Bryant Gumbel had to say about the Winter Olympics? Anybody wonder why racism still exists in the US? I think he's an idiot, so I can brush his comments aside, though I respect his right to say anything he wants and don't believe he should be censored in any way. I just want what he's said to be recognized for what it is. I don't watch his show because I have limited interest in the sports he would consider to be "real Sports".What really bothers me about this is that what he said is so racially inflamatory, but he'll only be minimally if at all accountable for it because he's black. Seems it's justified to be a racist or make a racist statement if you're of any other race than white. It's a disturbing double standard, and I hate double standards. Here's the worst part of this racist's comments made on "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel":

"Finally tonight, the Winter Games. Count me among those who don't like 'em and won't watch 'em. In fact, I figure when Thomas Paine said these are the times that try men's souls, he must've been talking about the start of another Winter Olympics
"Because they're so trying, maybe over the next three weeks we should all try, too. Like try not to be incredulous when someone attempts to link these Games to those of the ancient Greeks, who never heard of skating or skiing.
"So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world's greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that make the Winter Games look like a GOP convention."


Tell Shani Davis that. Reminds me of what a joke it is to call the winner of the Superbowl the "World Champions" without the rest of the world being involved in any way. To me this attitude is an example of what separates sports that most US citizens consider to be "real sports" NFL, NBA, and Baseball from fringe sports like skiing, ice skating, running, cycling , soccer etc. Wonder what Gumbel thinks of cycling.