tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post666071686932537580..comments2024-03-27T11:44:15.723-04:00Comments on The Retrogrouch: Marco Pantani's Accidental DeathBrookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110998345857993287noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-22384961496230242532015-08-23T09:48:23.730-04:002015-08-23T09:48:23.730-04:00Nice counterpoint. Thanks, JustineNice counterpoint. Thanks, JustineBrookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12110998345857993287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-57383964625860405672015-08-23T09:41:29.441-04:002015-08-23T09:41:29.441-04:00What makes a person's fall tragic is a weaknes...What makes a person's fall tragic is a weakness in his or her character, or a mistake he or she made. In that sense, Pantani is a tragic "hero", if you will.<br /><br />While, as you say, the governing structure of bicycle racing is terribly corrupt (though, to be fair, so is that of FIFA or any number of other sports' governing bodies), it's not what led to Pantani's downfall. He, like almost anyone else who has ever competed, wanted to win. He--like Lance and any number of other racers--simply decided that they were willing to go along with the corruptness of the system in order to get what they wanted.<br /><br />The notion that the cycling "mafia" brought Pantani down because he was "winning too much" is ludicrous. If that were the case, why couldn't the UCI or any other authority stop Lance, say, before he won the Tour for the fifth time? For that matter, why didn't anyone stop Eddy (and I say this as one of his great fans), whom French cycling fans reviled for winning "their" Tour and simply annihilating the opposition? Or Hinault, who won more than any other cyclist in history besides Mercx?<br /><br />Please understand that I enjoyed seeing Pantani (and he was a favorite of French cycling fans) because he won with an elan and pizzaz that Miguel Indurain, great as he was, thoroughly lacked. And, in seeming contrast with his bad-boy image, he had a work ethic that Jan Ullrich (who won the Tour the year before Pantani) didn't have. Yes, he had his demons and made bad choices, but he was also a sympathetic character in ways that Lance, Ullrich and others weren't. I think that's what LeMond meant when by he said Pantani had "the eyes of a 16-year-old". That is what makes him a tragic "hero", as it were, and the circumstances of his death all the more terrible.Justine Valinottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852069587181432102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-37818158887284347192015-08-21T03:44:37.355-04:002015-08-21T03:44:37.355-04:00Thanks for posting the link with the blog post. I&...Thanks for posting the link with the blog post. I'd not heard this tale.<br />Wilsonteamdarbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10730985048207207697noreply@blogger.com