As many long time blog readers know, along with being an avid mountain biker, cyclist and cycling fan (both road and mountain), I am also a football fan. Football as in soccer, not football as in brown, pointy, throw, carry and only occasionally kick throughout the game ball. But for the sake of this blog post, I am going to make it easier on my five readers and refer to football in its (apparent) God-given, American, Christian name: soccer (vurp). I will also add that much of this post is aimed at my American readers, for in America soccer is not the in your face, national headline dominating sport that it is in the rest of the world, it’s primarily known as a sport for kids that don’t/won’t play “real” sports like football, baseball, basketball, hockey, softball, volleyball, golf or tennis. You many have noticed that amongst the sports I just listed there is another sport absent… cycling.
Yep, whether you like it or not fellow cyclists, there is NO doubt in my mind that most of America does NOT view what you and I do as a sport and that cycling is way more like soccer than some of you would care to admit. This is why I have to confess, I am a little disappointed at seeing some of the recent Twitter and Facebook posts from cyclists bashing soccer players as weak, faking, diving babies who need to “harden the fuck up and race bikes.” I expect these sort of things from mainstream American journalists who make their living off of football, basketball and baseball and attempt to gain readers and listeners with over-the-top statements every four years when the World Cup comes around. You know, sort of how every July when the Tour happens, some dick headed sportscaster or journalist goes on a diatribe about cycling… cardio freaks, funny hats, too tight clothing, get off the road, slowing my commute, not a sport, yada, yada, yada.
Sigh…
