Curly Neutralized

I'm sure this picture is how the ASO feels right now. Yes, the battle to see who's member is bigger goes on at the expense of the UCI this time. Ol' Curly has to giggle a bit when he thinks of Ol' McQuaid trying to pick up the pieces on this one. I'm sure the ASO-holes feel like they won some big battle. Now don't get me wrong... I'm kinda glad this has come to a schoolyard scratching and biting match (cuz, they both fight like little girls). For some reason I have a soft spot for the little race promoter that got screwed when the PROTour grabbed a handful of "say-so" and started calling the shots. They had to know that bullies never last long and that someday, true leadership would be needed. The worst part is that the ASO-holes are not exactly the best fit for that role. Ol' Curly has a little tip for the UCI... cuz Ol' Curly thinks they can still lead this sport. Here's what you gotta do UCI... so listen up.... G-Dubya listen up as well... you can use this too.

You want to "fire" the current system. Make it look like you acknowledge that it's just not working and you want to do something "new". Scrap what you're currently doing, get all of the players at the table and announce that you'll lead the effort in sanctioning races and making sure policy is followed. This means doping too... while you can't call the shots, you have to be the "check" in the process. Require WADA to follow procedure and if they don't do it... they can't suspend riders. You make that final call based on their findings. Now if everyone follows the rules... developed by all of the players of course. The race promoters have to agree to following the rules provided you let them control their races. Let's face it... they provide a venue for PRO Cycling to attract sponsors and money. YOU haven't proven yourself to be good at that... so you need to acknowledge that. Now the promoters have to follow the system to get a UCI "rating"... this UCI rating helps folks decide how big or little the race is... this rating is based on a number of factors (purse, TV coverage, difficulty of the courses, length, etc...) Little race... little UCI rating... Big race... Big UCI rating. Now YOU have to manage that part... put an incentive in place for folks to follow the rules... Your friggin job is to make sure that RACING happens and do things that help it happen smoothly... not to put up barriers.

Now it's no wonder that the ASO-holes have revolted... they do that... they have a history... organizationally and culturally. They'll have the nards at this point to encourage others to revolt... Now I know what you're saying UCI... "but people won't listen to us when we rule on things"... and I'll tell you to shut your Swiss piehole! Make the rules in advance... make folks agree to them in advance. Here is an example... fictitious of course... Let's say you have a race where a crash occurs 4km from the finish... and the leadership of the race is affected by it... put an out in the policy that says "we will follow the 1 km rule regardless of the outcome" or better yet... look at the damned finishing circuit ahead of time and call out any safety concerns... Sorry Levi... you crash... you lose... Perhaps Ol' Curly should ask Rory to neutralize the pack at PR until Curly can safely get enough of a lead to win. Jeebus....! It's bike racing... people crash... people don't win all the time...

Alright... now as I said before... this $h!t ain't over... Like Patrick Swayze sez in my favorite movie, "Road House"... "Left boot!"... no wait... I mean "it'll get worse before it gets better"

Ol' Curly has been up all night worrying about lil' Curly's fever (which is now fine) so training will be light... Nap intervals: 10 X 1 hour - alternate "on" periods with eyes-closed rest periods. Oh yeah... and Ullrich is supposed to make some big announcement today about his cycling... you should wait for that.

Tomorrow is trivia...