Tuesday’s with Dirty: Around the Horn Absurdity

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It’s official: Cycling is still not a main stream sport in the United States. It doesn’t matter how many people you see on the road riding. It doesn’t matter how much Jeff Novitzky‘s crusade to bring down Lancey Pants is in the media. We still don’t exist to most Americans. That’s fine, I don’t really have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the talking heads on ESPN’s “Around the Horn” mocking Flecha and Hoogerland for getting hit by a car in stage 9 of the Tour. I have watched that crash repeatedly and not once have I considered laughing. Maybe my expectations are too high for a show with such a huge audience. Maybe I am over reacting to what was said. Either way, it made my blood boil when I heard it. If you have been cycling for any amount of time, you have either been hit by a car or know somebody that has. Every time that I have been hit, I have walked away. But I have friends that have not been so fortunate. I know people  that have been seriously injured, like our own Big Jonny, and now live in daily pain, or other friends that are now permanently disabled. I have even experienced the unfortunate reality of knowing two people that have lost their lives while riding. Never once have I considered laughing.

I mentioned this topic on the DC Facebook page and it generated enough response that I thought a full on post was warranted. I am not much of an angry letter writer, but I did just that yesterday. I would encourage you to listen to this show’s pod cast and decide for yourself if it is worth sending an email. It doesn’t have to be irate or mean, I just want to let ESPN know that we are out here, we are listening, and we didn’t approve of what we heard. The stupidity starts around 13 minutes in:

LISTEN HERE.

“Does it make me a bad person for laughing every time I see that crash..” –Michael Smith.

Hey Mikey, it sure does, and around these parts it makes you the number one douchebag. Would you laugh at an NFL player breaking his neck in a tackle? An MLB player getting hit in the face with a fastball? What about an NBA player breaking his ankle coming down from a dunk? Didn’t think so.

ESPN contact info:

E-mail:

ath@espn.com
General Customer Care E-mail.

* Update from Granny in the comments: you can write their ombudsman

Snail mail:

ESPN
Attn: Around The Horn
ESPN Plaza
Bristol, CT 06010

About Dirty biker

I am a fan of singletrack, singlespeeds, single women and single malt. Bisbee, AZ - Follow on Instagram @dirty_biker

79 Replies to “Tuesday’s with Dirty: Around the Horn Absurdity”

  1. I sent those assclowns an e-mail yesterday. I suggest you all do the same. It’s asses like this that encourage other asses behind the wheel to hit us while we ride bikes.

    Michael Smith is, in fact, a Bobby Fucking Bigwheels.

  4. if you listen in the beginning, they are laughing about the crash from the git go… knowing that it was an upcomming segment of their bcast. listen closer and it sounds like the microphones cut in just after they were talking about the crash and laughing.

    then towards the end they berate the TDF for “the way it is run and the drugs involved” as if every other sport they yank their cranks for doesn’t have the same issues.

  5. There are so many points wrong with that little segment. One says I hope there is no damage to the right rear fender of the car. Another says, “we dont want them on the road on our way to work…”. Neither one of those two commentators mentioned hoping everyone was ok. The only redeeming part about Smith’s comment was that he said he was glad no one was seriously hurt.

  6. write their ombudsman.
    http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?id=2826900

    point out the recent pattern at espn of commentators who voice a callous and sociopathic disregard for fellow humans. in your message, ask them if the companies that pay to advertise at espn think this stuff is funny!

    “If Peyton Manning crashed onto a barbed-wire fence and returned to a game, you’d never hear the end of it for the rest of your life.” Jason Gay

  8. It was Woody Paige saying, “We don’t want bikes on the road with us when we’re going to work.” I live a few blocks from where he works. I don’t want ignorant, belligerent armchair quarterbacks’ commuter tanks on the road when *I’m* riding to work, either, Woodster.

  9. I wrote my letter this morning.

    When I wake up tomorrow and the first thing I feel is pain, I’m going to think about Woody Paige and how much harder I am than him.

    Sexual harassment much, Woody? That suit was tossed because there was an arbitration clause in the woman’s employment contract, not because the evidence against you was insufficient.

    http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2008/08/29/2008-08-29_espn_stars_jay_crawford_woody_paige_off_.html.

    http://deadspin.com/5473862/make+up-ladys-sex-harassment-suit-against-espn-appears-headed-toward-settlement.

    You’re a bum. I am harder than you.

  10. ath@espn.com seemed to work for me. Jim Rome, BTW, was the first I heard commenting on the TdF as a joke, so Michael Smith isn’t even original.

  11. I’m not gonna click on the link to listen to that shite cause doing so puts money in their coffers by way of advertising exposure and I already know they’re a bunch of lowlife never-was-wishin-were-a-has-been losers.

    fuckem.

  12. Rome has been bashing cycling ever since he couldn’t figure out how to balance on his own two wheels.

    yet, ESPN has evidently determined that poker is a sport.

  13. I generally enjoy ESPN radio except when these knuckleheaded neanderthals try to discuss any sport that’s not “American,” like cycling or soccer, AKA football to the rest of the planet. They show such ignorance of the skill, talent, dedication and unbelievable toughness of the Europro riders that any body with a passing interest or knowledge of true sports should and would respect. Peyton Manning, Steven Jackson, etc, etc, gets a bruised rib and gets out of the game immediately and a week off before he has to “play through the pain.” Hoogerland, Flecha, Contador, etc, etc, have to get their abraded asses back on the saddle and ride to the finish, no matter how far, or they go home, for good. These ESPN guys are pathetic.

    Another thing – how did they find a new pair of shorts with enough room for Hoogerland’s enormous balls? If any of the guys at ESPN had 10% of his testicals they would have saluted and celebrated his toughness.

  15. YES! Gary Fisher is even getting it done on his twitter ( http://twitter.com/…Gary_Fisher )

    “@MrMichael_Smith step down Mr Smith. We will take you down. You are toast.”

    “@MrMichael_Smith you are not cool. I WILL PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE! stupid, eat s and die…”

  16. I’m sure if ESPN were covering the race, an apology would have been made immediately.

  20. I think you guys are barking up the wrong tree complaining straight to ESPN. They won’t give a damn. Think back to the show, who were the sponsors? That’s who you need to complain to. I gave up on ESPN years ago but I would guess there were beer commercials, car commercials, big banks & or insurance companies. Any who ever hope to sell anything in Europe? Seems to me Budweiser is now owned by a Belgian company. Any Bud or Busch commercials? I don’t think they would want their sponsorship of a show with an attitude like that being discussed in Belgium. Kick the ass of the sponsors & you just might get a reaction.

  22. Take away their cars for a week and give them all a bicycle to get to work. Bet their views would change real fast.

    Ignorance breeds stupidity, and this is a pretty strong case.

  23. half pint nails it. around the horn is sponsored by hanes brands and pizza hut. click over to the corporate websites and ask them if they like being associated with intolerance towards cyclists and ask them if they think cars plowing down cyclists is funny.

  26. DC thanks for posting this I was not aware of the stupid behavior of ESPN but since you have alerted me to their round table of ass clowns I have sent an email to them with my thoughts on the matter. I do find it odd that the rest of the world (from what I can see on VN and Facebook) is lauding Johnny Hoogerland as heroic and praising his courage while the clowns at ESPN think it was funny that he was flung into barbed wire at 40+ kph. As I told them in the email No Class ESPN, they wouldn’t know courage or funny if it …. well ran over them in a car.

    RoadieRyan

  27. Something I find particularly troubling about this segment was the doping rant from Bill Plaschke. This clip had nothing to do with doping. It had everything to do with a TV driver not paying attention to what he was doing, sending two harder than hell guys to stick-to-the-sheetsburg, followed by those two harder than hell guys getting up and kicking ass all the way to the stage finish. Nothing to do with doping.

    I get that most of my country isn’t as into cycling as I am. But since I’m also a baseball fan I understand that cycling isn’t the only sport made to look ridiculous by its biggest stars being doped to the gills in recent decades. 1998 was the year of Festina AND Mark McGwire, after all.

    Here’s the difference: When McGwire and Sosa and Bonds and Clemens happened, I don’t recall a whole lot of European sportswriters questioning the very legitimacy of their sport. That’s what these clowns are doing, friends. This attitude has been consistent among their general (non-cycling-specific) commentary ever since ESPN2 stopped covering the tour. (Maybe longer; my poor ass didn’t have cable for much of the 90s). If ESPN truly wants to be the “worldwide” leader, I think they should consider a different approach.

  28. ESPN & SI are full of blow-hard idiots that do little fact checking or provide any real use to sports or fans thereof. I sent my letter & signed the petition as I don’t care to listen to this crap when I do watch TV.

  29. Maybe @MrMichael_Smith will be the next Marv Albert caught with a hooker biting her back in a hotel. THAT would be funny.

  30. I don’t think they were laughing at anyone getting hurt.

    Me, I do laugh at almost every wreck I see in a bike race. I love the wrecks. I laugh when race car drivers wreck as well. Not because I want to see anybody hurt or dead.

    And you might consider some of there other points…the TDF is a joke, run like a JOKE…IT MIGHT AS WELL BE PRO WRESTLING!…I’d like to think it is getting better but the fact that AC is racing tells me it is probably not.

    And yeah, I’ve watched every stage and love it.

  33. He did apologize, however this earlier tweet of his makes the “apology” ring a little untrue for me:

    @MrMichael_Smith It had far been too long since I’d angered an entire community. Today I’ve managed offend cyclists everywhere. Guess what? It’s still funny.

    What a Fucktard

  37. Letter written.

    On another note, I had an interesting encounter with a car full of people tonight. One guy (the drunk one) yelled, “Do it! Lance,” which made me laugh, because I have yelled the same thing at cyclist (I wasn’t always a cyclist. Long story short, we ended up talking about the tour at the red light, and he (drunk as he was) mentioned how serious the crash was and how hard Hoogerland and Flecha are. This is a man, who with good odds, watches terrible sports shows.

    It’s happening, slowly, but it is happening. In the mean time, keep turning those cranks and stay safe.

  38. the Eurosport UK guys just gave the ESPN knuckle-draggers a dig. And with a much classier delivery i might add.

  41. Not impressed with Smith’s apology. Tired of jackasses doing retarded stuff and then saying I’am sorry in a half-assed sort of way.

  43. A little conversation between Mikey and a fan over on the Twitters:

    -@WilliamsR24
    @MrMichael_Smith All of these people attempting to ruin ur life and ur the jerk? It was a joke. Just like these people attacking u. A joke.

    -@MrMichael_Smith @WilliamsR24 thanks man. believe me i’m good. not gonna succeed.

  45. Pizza Hut came back with a seemingly apologetic email, Hanes, form letter, and ESPN also a form letter. There is no remorse from Smith and I am sure he was coached in an apology. Surprise, nothing is coming of this.

  46. Just Tweeted this BS. If these clowns ever got off their fat asses long enough to ride around the block they still wouldn’t have a clue about the respect pro cyclists deserve. Thanks for the heads up on this.

  48. I wrote a few polite yet outraged letters, though I suspect Mr. Trailer Park #45 is correct.

    Good thing I don’t watch TV.

  49. Might be best just to ignore dumb ass comments that are made for the purpose of getting publicity.