Apology not accepted
Written by: Sal Ruibal
Date: Sun Mar 21 2010
[Editor's note: ESPN's Tony Kornheiser ranted about cyclists on his March 11 radio show, and among various other comments he said, "I swear to you, it's all you can do to not run them down, like Wile E. Coyote, just run them over..."
The cycling community was understandably upset about these statements.
Lance Armstrong was one of the angry cyclists who had come across the Kornheiser remarks and he tweeted: "Listening to Tony Kornheiser's comments/rant on ESPN radio re: cyclists. Disgusting, ignorant, foolish. What a complete f-ing idiot." The 7-time Tour De france champion was subsequently invited to be on the Kornheiser radio show and during the show Kornheiser apologized and the two patched things up.
But sports writer Sal Ruibal does not accept the apology, and his Slowtwitch OpEd is below. -Herbert Krabel]
Sorry, but I don't accept Tony Kornheiser's phony apology.
That's the M.O. of these creeps: make an outrageous statement, say they're sorry and reap the higher ratings numbers.
I'm glad that Lance Armstrong took the time to get the global cycling community riled up about this, but in the end, Kornheiser got a lot of publicity and an invitation to go for a bike ride with the world's most famous biker. Not a bad day's work in the sports media business.
Lance doesn't live in my town, so he can forgive. I live in the D.C. area and ride here and don't want Kornheiser-inspired idiots trying to hurt me or my friends. Saying motorists should attack cyclists with their cars is pretty damn close to a terrorist threat. If his name was Abdul and he posted a rant that said Muslims should attack Americans with their cars, he would be on his way to Guantanamo in a heartbeat.
Oh, he was just kidding. He really meant to say they should just "tap" the bikers with their two-ton guided missiles.
Instead of riding with Lance, Kornheiser should be off the air for a few weeks. He can donate his sizeable ESPN salary for that period to local bike advocacy groups and spend his free time in an emergency room observing the real carnage that happens when a car hits a cyclist. That's no joke, Tony.
Another thing: I don't want him to get on a bike. He hasn't earned the right to share the streets and bike paths with cyclists AND cars. He might get killed out there by some idiot who heard another idiot on the radio suggest that cyclists were nothing more than Whack-A-Moles in spandex.
I'm also disappointed in ESPN. I have many good friends who work for ESPN and none of them would ever think about making the crazy talk that spews from some of the angry old men who dominate the network's daytime schedule. The ESPN that created the X Games and had the guts to feature mountain biking and BMX before they were Olympic sports wouldn't just let this pass.
Not too long ago, Kornheiser got a two-week suspension from ESPN for making crude comments about a female on-air colleague. For making threats against cyclists, he got Lance Armstrong on his show and probably an atta-boy from his producer. And will we see him back on Monday Night Football?
When Kornheiser was a sports columnist for the Washington Post, I respected his work. Now I don't even respect him as a man. That's because he has shown no respect for us.
Sal Ruibal covers cycling and action sports, among many other things, at USA TODAY.
The cycling community was understandably upset about these statements.
Lance Armstrong was one of the angry cyclists who had come across the Kornheiser remarks and he tweeted: "Listening to Tony Kornheiser's comments/rant on ESPN radio re: cyclists. Disgusting, ignorant, foolish. What a complete f-ing idiot." The 7-time Tour De france champion was subsequently invited to be on the Kornheiser radio show and during the show Kornheiser apologized and the two patched things up.
But sports writer Sal Ruibal does not accept the apology, and his Slowtwitch OpEd is below. -Herbert Krabel]
Sorry, but I don't accept Tony Kornheiser's phony apology.
That's the M.O. of these creeps: make an outrageous statement, say they're sorry and reap the higher ratings numbers.
I'm glad that Lance Armstrong took the time to get the global cycling community riled up about this, but in the end, Kornheiser got a lot of publicity and an invitation to go for a bike ride with the world's most famous biker. Not a bad day's work in the sports media business.
Lance doesn't live in my town, so he can forgive. I live in the D.C. area and ride here and don't want Kornheiser-inspired idiots trying to hurt me or my friends. Saying motorists should attack cyclists with their cars is pretty damn close to a terrorist threat. If his name was Abdul and he posted a rant that said Muslims should attack Americans with their cars, he would be on his way to Guantanamo in a heartbeat.
Oh, he was just kidding. He really meant to say they should just "tap" the bikers with their two-ton guided missiles.
Instead of riding with Lance, Kornheiser should be off the air for a few weeks. He can donate his sizeable ESPN salary for that period to local bike advocacy groups and spend his free time in an emergency room observing the real carnage that happens when a car hits a cyclist. That's no joke, Tony.
Another thing: I don't want him to get on a bike. He hasn't earned the right to share the streets and bike paths with cyclists AND cars. He might get killed out there by some idiot who heard another idiot on the radio suggest that cyclists were nothing more than Whack-A-Moles in spandex.
I'm also disappointed in ESPN. I have many good friends who work for ESPN and none of them would ever think about making the crazy talk that spews from some of the angry old men who dominate the network's daytime schedule. The ESPN that created the X Games and had the guts to feature mountain biking and BMX before they were Olympic sports wouldn't just let this pass.
Not too long ago, Kornheiser got a two-week suspension from ESPN for making crude comments about a female on-air colleague. For making threats against cyclists, he got Lance Armstrong on his show and probably an atta-boy from his producer. And will we see him back on Monday Night Football?
When Kornheiser was a sports columnist for the Washington Post, I respected his work. Now I don't even respect him as a man. That's because he has shown no respect for us.
Sal Ruibal covers cycling and action sports, among many other things, at USA TODAY.
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Comments
Spot on
Reviewed by: BV, Apr 21 2010 6:47AM
Great editorial. I've always maintained that it's NOT people in cars that are inconsiderate to cyclists, it's people being inconsiderate to people. For example, Sal mentions living in the D.C. area; try going for a run on the trails along the Potomic River on a weekday morning or afternoon and you'll see that cyclists can be equally inconsiderate to runners. However there's a big difference in the outcome if a cyclist hits me when I'm running due to he/she being inconsiderate or misjudging clearance versus a person in an automobile intentionally attempting to hit me on my bike! Someone in a position to express his opinion on TV and saying what he said is beyond irresponsible in my opinion, it's a criminal threat. Rahter than taking the idiot on a group ride, Lance should've challenged him to commute to work on his bike for a month.
Spot on
Reviewed by: Pete, Apr 13 2010 9:16AM
I agree. I missed this when it happened due to traveling but was outraged when I caught up yesterday. Like you, I work and bike in DC. I have endured the broken bones caused by an errant (let alone intentional) car driver cutting me off.
I have admired Lance's skill as a cyclist since I saw him woop the field in the Thrift Drug Classic many moons ago. I also admire his tenacity in the fight against cancer. But with all due respect, his acceptance of a private apology from Tony the biggot does nothing for me. Lance is not out there riding with cars in the DC traffic incited by Tony the biggot. ESPN should either can or muzzle the biggot. At a minimum ESPN should make some public service announcements to publicly counter the very public and dangerous on air statements by the biggot.
As for the commenter who said "can we not laugh at anything anymore" - laugh when your son/daughter/niece/mother/spouse/sig other gets run down by a driver while they are trying to get to work or are out for a pleasure ride, or maybe just walking along in a way that slows down an all mighty motor vehicle. Enjoy the belly laugh.
Oh yea, a 68 year old woman got crushed by a truck while riding her bike in DC last night. I am sure the commenter will find it amusing, but I doubt her family will.
I have admired Lance's skill as a cyclist since I saw him woop the field in the Thrift Drug Classic many moons ago. I also admire his tenacity in the fight against cancer. But with all due respect, his acceptance of a private apology from Tony the biggot does nothing for me. Lance is not out there riding with cars in the DC traffic incited by Tony the biggot. ESPN should either can or muzzle the biggot. At a minimum ESPN should make some public service announcements to publicly counter the very public and dangerous on air statements by the biggot.
As for the commenter who said "can we not laugh at anything anymore" - laugh when your son/daughter/niece/mother/spouse/sig other gets run down by a driver while they are trying to get to work or are out for a pleasure ride, or maybe just walking along in a way that slows down an all mighty motor vehicle. Enjoy the belly laugh.
Oh yea, a 68 year old woman got crushed by a truck while riding her bike in DC last night. I am sure the commenter will find it amusing, but I doubt her family will.
Kornheiser's steamin heap of ...
Reviewed by: Ange, Apr 3 2010 8:40AM
Had I not read this article, I would not have known about Mr. Kornheiser's comments. They are HORRIBLE and reflect a fair amount of ignorance and laziness on Mr. Kornheiser's part and he should absolutely be called out on this regardless of how you feel about his sports commentary.
I tend to believe that the first words out of someone's mouth reflect what they REALLY feel and that later apologies are frequently meaningless... they are made because it is necessary in order to keep their job. ESPN is in the land of extreme political correctness and I suspect this apology was mandated to keep his job...he has a history to my recollection.
Take home message here is that all cyclists need to assume that nearly all drivers don't care one whit about you. These days, if you are too nice on the road (riding right over on the shoulder) you get hosed....not only do you have to ride defensively, a little bit of offense doesn't hurt either. Ride like you are on a motorcycle...in the road (not on the side) and force a driver to pass you and not scootch by while staying in the lane because it is our road as well.
We should all work towards a road construction policy MANDATING addition of bike lanes on all new/repair road construction on roads with speed limits 45 mph or less.
I tend to believe that the first words out of someone's mouth reflect what they REALLY feel and that later apologies are frequently meaningless... they are made because it is necessary in order to keep their job. ESPN is in the land of extreme political correctness and I suspect this apology was mandated to keep his job...he has a history to my recollection.
Take home message here is that all cyclists need to assume that nearly all drivers don't care one whit about you. These days, if you are too nice on the road (riding right over on the shoulder) you get hosed....not only do you have to ride defensively, a little bit of offense doesn't hurt either. Ride like you are on a motorcycle...in the road (not on the side) and force a driver to pass you and not scootch by while staying in the lane because it is our road as well.
We should all work towards a road construction policy MANDATING addition of bike lanes on all new/repair road construction on roads with speed limits 45 mph or less.
Apology not accepted
Reviewed by: Patrick Serfass, Mar 31 2010 6:48AM
what a despicable human being. revoke kornheiser's drivers license and make him commute on a bike among all the road raging drivers that he seems to identify with. nice piece sal.
Ruibal
Herbert
Reviewed by: Herbert, Mar 28 2010 8:17AM
I very much appreciated that Sal Ruibal gave us a guest opinion piece on a very important topic. We hope to have more relevant opinion pieces as we move forward.
