Pat McQuaid Gets His Due Reward For The Emasculation Of Olympic Track Cycling
by fmk on Feb 13, 2010 6:10 PM EST
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PrintHaving colluded with the IOC in making sweeping changes to track cycling at the Olympics - all in the politically correct cause of so-called ‘equal opportunities’ - which saw the removal of Blue Ribband events the Madison and the 4,000m Individual Pursuit, UCI president Pat McQuaid has finally received his due reward.
The Irishman - who was banned from the 1976 Olympiad because he'd raced in Apartheid-era South Africa and is currently serving a second four year sentence term as president of the UCI - has been elected a member of the International Olympic Committee, following in the footsteps of another cycling luminary, Hein Verbruggen.
Speaking on Irish radio just minutes after his appointment had been announced, McQuaid had no comment as to whether he'd be receiving a salary of thirty pieces of silver.
While not as gushing as Sandra Bullock’s likely Oscars® acceptance speech, McQuaid was not short of a little hyperbollix:
"I am deeply honoured to be elected as one of the IOC members and to represent and promote the interests of the IOC and Olympic Movement, in Ireland and elsewhere throughout the world. I look forward to working with its President Jacques Rogge and its members and to building upon the productive relations that I have already established with the IOC through my role as President of the UCI. My new role will extend beyond cycling and my objective is to replicate the success of the IOC's working relationship with the UCI which has contributed significantly to the enhanced professionalism and globalisation of cycling while also resulting in the introduction of new Olympic disciplines."
McQuaid went on to outline some of his finest achievements to date:
"Our work to introduce BMX as a new Olympic discipline and to make several changes to the track cycling programme of the 2012 Olympic Games are case studies of how to improve the popularity of sport and how to attract young people to participate in sport."
Funny that he forgot to mention the Keirin. Must have slipped his mind. He also overlooked other events he has overseen the handling of during his time at the helm of the UCI, such as the UCI’s response to Operación Puerto and various other doping rings uncovered throughout Europe (except in the Anglo-Saxon countries), the controversial removal of the Tour de France’s maillot jaune from Floyd Landis, more individual doping case than you could shake a stick at, war with Tour de France organiser‘s ASO, war with WADA, a peace settlement with ASO, a peace settlement with WADA, war with the AFLD and the much-delayed introduction of the biological passport to cycling.
In congratulating the Irishman, IOC president Jacques Rogge also highlighted McQuaid’s work to remove cycling events from the Olympics, both in the past and in the future:
"I am very happy to have Pat McQuaid on board the IOC. As a former cyclist Pat knows the sport inside out and has done a tremendous job since his election at the head of the UCI. He has been instrumental in strengthening the reputation of the federation and rejuvenating the cycling programme at the Olympic Games. He brings a great expertise and we look forward to working with him in the future."
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So much crap.
Maybe him and Dick Pound can think up creative new ways to screw athletes.
The whole IOC is a stomach-churning collection of individuals.
Agreed with much of this except the way you frame it in terms that suggest...
…that the problem here is that female athletes very legitimate requests for some kind of parity are the problem. Perhaps ‘emasculate’ was not the word you wanted.
let's try grammar
…that the problem here is that female athletes made very legitimate request for some kind of parity.*
Parity ought to mean 'lift people up' not 'bring others down'
I have no problem with having more women’s track medals, so as to match the men, or even if one has to trim an event from the men’s calendar. But to remove the blue riband track events (both men’s and women’s) seems bloody ridiculous.
But my problems with Pat and Hein extend well beyond that. No wish for a big rant, so I’ll just shut up now.
Oh I fully agree
The ‘solution’ that was found for this was appalling for athletes of both sexes. Never meant to imply anything else. I was just commenting on how the point was framed.
My problem is that they used gender parity
as a nice looking excuse for doing what they want to the track schedule. Pretty clever way to deflect criticism, I have to admit.
As if the IOC gives the tiniest shit about gender parity. Or indeed anything other than patting themselves on the back and lining their own pockets.
Perhaps ‘emasculate’ was not the word you wanted.
I dunno. I think it was the mot juste in this case.
pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway
I think it wasn't. Since it suggests that the problem is that...
…McQuaid un*man*ned track cycling, literally cut its balls off, and by extension feminized it. So you’re constructing the request on the part of female athletes for equal treatment as a threat to the integrity of the male athletes, per se. Presuming you don’t meant to say that, it’s a bad choice of words, since it suggests it (as does your line about political correctness. So maybe you do believe it, in which case I just vigorously disagree).
In any case, I would suggest that real problem is that in the name of the admirable goal of promoting equality, McQuaid quite cynically took the opportunity to basically cut endurance track events for both sexes in favor of more telegenic sprinters events and even more ‘telegenic’ bmx competitions. Thus proving that the IOC doesn’t give a crap about the traditions of any of the sports it supposedly involves, but rather only about TV ratings so it can justify more and more extensive bribes for each of its members.
cut its balls off
That’s a meaning of the word Ed, but we both know the language well enough to know it doesn’t just mean castration and has achieved a wider usage. I think you’re just not reading it right.
pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway
my entire point was that it has connotations you might want to avoid in this context...
…as you said.
Telegenic how?
I’m not sure I get how the Omnium is more telegenic than the pursuit. 4 minutes of action compared to the odd event over several days is far more telegenic.
nice article!
One of the more disturbing parts of the change in Olympic events seemed to be the way the decision was taken with so little consultation of the countries/athletes involved.
I think one could easily write a book full of corruption, manipulation, ego, mismanagement, etc by examining the various un-transpararent, answerable to no-one world governing sports bodies (F1, FIFA, IOC, etc) (and non sports bodies) .
I do know most of them live like fat cats in lovely Switzerland
Moo
Right.. In one clause you made yourself ridiculous
the controversial removal of the Tour de France’s maillot jaune from Floyd Landis
"Here the high school level of immaturity will be left to hottitude columns and people like myself." Der Phil. H
It was 'controversial' Frinking... people talked, discussed, raged etc
There are people on this site who still see Landis as being hard done by. The fact that we still have differing opinions about it, means it was controversial. That said, I was one of the people who felt what happened to him was just.
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
You misinterpreter the word controversial...
Controversial is as their is reason for people to believe it wasn’t true. This can be due experts who said it was not a closed call but he lost his case.. Point over.. Get over it people. American cyclist also dope
"Here the high school level of immaturity will be left to hottitude columns and people like myself." Der Phil. H
ah frinking, don't be ridiculous,
next thing you’ll be telling me that even nice guys dope! Get serious dude.
I still think Landis was screwed. Whether guilty or innocent, I have a problem with the way
the whole process was carried out and do believe that McQuaid contributed to making a murky process controversial by his prejudiced comments about Floyd’s testosterone levels. Let’s not all go around congratulating ourselves on how sophisticated and continental we are while we laugh at the poor rubes across the pond who got taken in by a sly Landis.
And Frinking, I also wish I had the fearless conviction of the young…
This I can agree with.
The ‘authorities’ looked like they had learned all of their investigative procedures from watching Casablanca and reading Kafka and Sartre . . .
Well if you're a Bible Belter or whatever, yes.
I
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
So on the Landis case,
Frinkster and you & I are not in the Bible Belt. If the analogy holds, despite some unenlightened mutterings in the distance, we should hold the deyellowjersification of Landis as wholly uncontroversial. If I present you a square and you say it is round, that does not make its shape controversial. Or at least that is how I use the word.
I agree that it shouldn't be controversial,
but it’s a word that can be used in different ways as you are no doubt aware. My problem in fact originated with the use of the word ‘ridiculous’ but fmk’s use of ‘controversial’ was accurate in my opinion…
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
+1 Ted is totally right..
Their are people who believe we never were on the moon. That doesn’t make the moonlanding controversial..
"Here the high school level of immaturity will be left to hottitude columns and people like myself." Der Phil. H
How about we just agree to disagree?
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
but then
the vast majority of the members of this website are american and i would imagine that the Landis doping case is controversial in america and probably amoung the members of PdC. I also agree it shouldn’t be considered any more controverisal than Vino’s case for example, but perhaps seahorse has a point in that what is controversial can depend on the group.
At first i was about to reply to seahorse, “hey wait, not everyone in the bible belt …”, but then i realized that’s exactly her point. In the bible belt it actually is a controversy. In some places it’s controversial whether a woman can show her face in public. And in some places it’s not so sure about Landis.
That said i’d allow frinking his point. But don’t tell me you guys really believe they landed on the moon! You fell for that one??
There's still a guy going around to bike clubs
showing a presentation about how ALL of the tests used to ‘convict’ Landis were flawed.
And then there’s Arne Baker’s report . . .
Whatever.. Don't agree with that..
Not every American is convinced of the innocent of Landis.. So the 5 people who think he is innocent isn’t enough for the controversial.. But hey.. I knew American where patriotic. It doesn’t surprise me.. that much
"Here the high school level of immaturity will be left to hottitude columns and people like myself." Der Phil. H
I think you're missing the point...
and this was never meant to be about Americans. It was about ‘controversial’. Whether you like it or not, the Landis case is.
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
Possibly... 'was?'
At this point, matters have been pretty definitively resolved, no?
I wish I could remember the thread from whence it came,
but quite recently there was a heated debate on the Landis situation. I was surprised, probably because in Australia it received very little coverage after the initial test results.
But really, was/is are both okay with me. My pedantry about why ‘controversial’ was used got me into this debacle. Personally, the Landis case has always been ‘meh’ for me, so I should have let Frinky go. Further up the thread, you’ll notice that in fact it was ‘ridiculous’ that caused me to write anything at all…
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
No.. We agreed that the Bible belt was in this case only the USA..
An not even all American but in my eyes a patriotic part of the Americans.. (Am I stepping on some toes now? I apologize) That’s where I was referring too.. Because I don’t think they found Di Luca or Rasmussen innocence.. While they both didn’t confess their doping use..
"Here the high school level of immaturity will be left to hottitude columns and people like myself." Der Phil. H
I didn't agree with you at all really... there's a Bible Belt in Sydney too
and I think it’s problematic to link patriotism and the Landis case. We’re all a bit biased about our own sportspeople. That doesn’t mean we’re patriotic.
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
Frinking: Twice you’ve framed this as if it was about being American or not. Earlier you said:
Get over it people. American cyclist also dope
Which suggests that only Americans have a problem with the Flandis case and that my use of the word implied that I am American and was showing some patriotic bias. Above you emphasis that reading with:
But hey.. I knew American where patriotic. It doesn’t surprise me.. that much
So allow me to clarify something for you. I’m Irish. Not American. And while I believe that Flandis willfully doped, that he should have had the book thrown at him and that he should never be allowed back on a bike, the simple fact is, the case was – and continues to be – controversial.
Next time, before you want to pick up someone on their use of a word, maybe put your own prejudices aside long enough to actually look at a dictionary and check what is and isn’t proper usage. Controversy – properly used - can describe a prolonged public debate over a matter of opinion.
pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway
Sorry dude..
But I missed the public debate in this one..
"Here the high school level of immaturity will be left to hottitude columns and people like myself." Der Phil. H
So you were two out of three of the brass monkeys – eyes closed, ears closed? Go you. Just cause you slept through it though doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Try Googling it sometime.
pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway
Probably it was a bigger deal in the rest of the world than in the Netherlands..
"Here the high school level of immaturity will be left to hottitude columns and people like myself." Der Phil. H
You could also try looking up 'ingenuous'
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
No, because I have no reason whatsoever to believe that Landis would be the only one flicked by a lab.
"Here the high school level of immaturity will be left to hottitude columns and people like myself." Der Phil. H
Exactly.
If we allow insanity to be the standard for what is controversial, we’re letting the crazy people win. Some things are obviously true to anyone who’s not nuts, such as the fact that the earth is more than 5000 years old and that we landed on the moon.
To hear you guys talk it just gives one more thing we Americans should be embarassed about.
It’s hard to find a professional sport in the USA that isn’t obviously dependent on dope but still is in denial about it. So when you take a niche sport like cycling with it’s apparently clean history, Hampsten, Lemond and to a degree Armstrong, from an American cycling fans standpoint it’s hard to accept we’ve been duped by one of our heroes (Hamilton, Landis). Add to that the kind of ridicule we cyclists endure for wearing Lycra etc., then it’s compounded because we’ve made a commitment to our sport publicly. So when a rider gets nabbed for what to you is obviously a doping case, We won’t believe it even if you rub our noses in it. At least not for a while (an eternity for some) because we have to wear some of the guilt simply because we made a commitment to our sport.
Don’t know all the answers but this makes some sense to me.
Bicycling is the nearest approximation I know to the flight of birds. Louis J. Helle, Jr.
So when you take a niche sport like cycling with it’s apparently clean history
flying dog – just to clarify something for a moment, because I know from personal experience how easy it is for others to miss irony and sarcasm and the like on the web … but, you were being ironic there, weren’t you?
pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway
No I wasn't trying to be ironic.
I was speaking in terms of the American experience where we seemed to think and or wanted to believe that our cycling heroes were above doping. I guess you could say we were in the grieving process when we denied but haven’t moved to anger the next step and then beyond that.
Bicycling is the nearest approximation I know to the flight of birds. Louis J. Helle, Jr.
No I wasn’t trying to be ironic.
You’re sooo definitely being ironic there. I can tell.
It’s cool. It means I’m laughing with you, not at you.
pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway
Go ahead, laugh at me.
In America there is almost no one who grew up with any knowledge of what professional bicycle racing in Europe was. So even as we learned about the sport weren’t aware of the doping that went on in the peloton until things like the Festina Affair and even then Americans weren’t in those headlines, so “we must have been clean”. Yeah that is naive, but I think it’s how so many of us have looked at all of our sporting heroes, at least in the beginning.
Bicycling is the nearest approximation I know to the flight of birds. Louis J. Helle, Jr.
So Americans weren’t aware of what the American cycling team got up to in 84 at the LA Olympics?
I’m sorry flying dog, but I actually used to read Winning Magazine in the 80s and 90s, and those guys certainly weren’t ignorant about doping in cycling.
pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway
I give up.
Bicycling is the nearest approximation I know to the flight of birds. Louis J. Helle, Jr.
I know exactly what you were saying,
and I thought it was generous of you to say it. If there wasn’t controversy in the original article, we certainly managed to make some ;)
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
+1
"well...you live in england so: you love the rain. loves the queen. hates cycling. based on mr bean had a tremendous amount of humour. all ride in a mini cooper. all getting drunk before the age of 12. getting drunk at least 3 times a day."- frinking, 7/9/09
In one clause you made yourself ridiculous
You have to read that far before I begin to make myself look ridiculous?!?
pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway
Chapeau! Chapeau!
I want to be as young and sure as Frinking ;)
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
Controversy Erupts Over Use Of Word Controversial
Who woulda thunk it?
An SB Nation spokesperson was quoted as saying: “The servers cannae handle the irony overload capt’n. She’s gonna blow.”
pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway
Didn't you get the memo?
I’ve imposed a worldwide ban on “politically correct” and all the similar concepts and related acronyms.
Staring at the swim team gets you killed by a gang of dancing ninja men who know how to twirl.
Memo? What memo? No one sends me nothing.
pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway
I tweeted it
Same thing.
Staring at the swim team gets you killed by a gang of dancing ninja men who know how to twirl.
by TheFigurehead on Feb 14, 2010 5:51 AM EST up reply actions
IOC thoughts
Good article and many thoughtful posts. I would like to chime in on the whole notion of the IOC and its inherent ridiculousness. In college, my best friend was born and raised in Puerto Rico. For convoluted reasons that never made sense to me, PR has its own O;ympic team, completely seperate from the US Olympic team. My friends father was a retired US Army colonel who ran the PR Olympic Committee for over a decade. A studious and thoughtful man, he could not stand meeting the other IOC members. He found many of them to be absolute idiots, nominated to their positions by more accomplished relatives (royalty, CEO’s, etc.) as a means of keeping them busy. During the Samaranch era, IOC members and local organizing committees focused on toadying up to Samaranch as a means of getting their bids approved. IOC delegates were quick to realize that their votes (on Game locations) were up for sale: in the event of the Salt Lake Winter Games a delegate from Romania insisted on “inspecting” the Salt Lake venues repeatedly (greater than twenty times !). These trips involved first class flights from Bucharest, shopping sprees for relatives, etc. All out of the SLOC’s pocket, and probably indirectly out of Utah taxpayers pockets as well.
No wonder all of the nonsense involving Olympic Cycling is taking place…
Fascinating. Thanks for sharing that. We speculate often, but not always with good reason.
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
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