Ricco lovesTifosi/Tifosi loves Ricco

pictit
pictit Posts: 603
edited March 2010 in Pro race
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ricco-b ... n-his-side



Quote:
"I don't think the tifosi are interested if there's doping (in cycling) or not. They're interested in the battle and competition. I don’t think real tifosi are interested in doping. If someone is a fan of Ricco, they still are now, even if he's made a mistake or not." :?:
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Comments

  • blackrockracer
    blackrockracer Posts: 86
    This is exactly the problem with the sport. Makes me sick that this twat will be racing again in a few weeks. The tifosi dont care about his doping record , neither do the sponsers, he still get front page coverage in the magazines..... its business as usual in the pro peleton!!
  • pictit
    pictit Posts: 603
    He doesn't exactly sound repentant.In fact if one assumes he agrees with the 'Tifosi' it all gets very confusing.But maybe he is to be admired for his 'honesty :wink: ' for telling it 'as it is' in his opinion !!!!! :shock: :)
  • camerone
    camerone Posts: 1,232
    i think he is just spectacularly stupid.. he refers to Rossi not paying taxes and still being popular, hardly the point really, unless tax evasion gives you a performance advantage. he is still a jumped up little pr1ck who refers to himself in 3rd party too.
  • le_patron
    le_patron Posts: 494
    You could argue that at least he's being honest. It's clear what he thinks, he's saying it and the majority of the tifosi probably agree.

    Attitude is probably not much different to one we all share to an extent, we consume and enjoy the end product regardless of where it came from, be it a hamburger, a sports shoe or pro-cycling. It's easier not to deal with it.

    The equation : scandal = no sponsor = no money = no team = no work doesn't really apply in the same way in Italy.
  • thomasmc
    thomasmc Posts: 814
    He is certainly one of the more interesting characters in cycling and he reminds me a bit of poor old Ashley Cole in the media portrayal of him, he can just do nothing right. At this stage he is certainly the pantomime villain of the peloton.
    But a bit of me likes him for being so politically incorrect and not following the script when riders serve their ban.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    He can have his views but it's a shame the likes of cyclingnews.com chose to give him the platform. Why don't they ring up Dan Martin, Adam Blythe, Taylor Phinney or Romain Sicard to get some better views instead? :?
  • shinyhelmut
    shinyhelmut Posts: 1,364
    Doping I might be able to forgive him for but referring to himself in the third person is unforgivable....
  • le_patron
    le_patron Posts: 494
    Kléber wrote:
    He can have his views but it's a shame the likes of cyclingnews.com chose to give him the platform. Why don't they ring up Dan Martin, Adam Blythe, Taylor Phinney or Romain Sicard to get some better views instead? :?

    Because it's a soap opera.

    As thomasmc says, he's the pantomime villain, which is good for a story, especially when it involves his attractive girlfriend also doping and then having a public (and no doubt scripted) falling out.
    Cyclingnews (or any media) aren't moral crusaders, they will print/post what will sell more copies and get more clicks. If someone want to be the pantomime super-hero (Cavendish kind of stepped into this role) then I am sure they will print stories, but everyone just not saying anything at all is not that interesting a read.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    I realise that but just wish there could be some balance, there are plenty of interesting tales out there to tell, but the media picks up the dregs some time.
  • dougzz
    dougzz Posts: 1,833
    ShinyHelmut wrote:
    Doping I might be able to forgive him for but referring to himself in the third person is unforgivable....

    The Doug feels you may have a point here :)
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    Kléber wrote:
    He can have his views but it's a shame the likes of cyclingnews.com chose to give him the platform. Why don't they ring up Dan Martin, Adam Blythe, Taylor Phinney or Romain Sicard to get some better views instead? :?


    What consitutues a better view then ? Id have thought Ricco is an interesting enough character to allow him to have his say. These sites/magazines can only print so much i did it for the team stuff before folks get bored and move on.
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    Once again, I know what you mean. It's just that Ricco's every comment gets full coverage whilst a good rider doesn't. And the likes of Dan Martin don't give "it was a team effort, I am calm, we'll see" quotes.
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    Kléber wrote:
    Once again, I know what you mean. It's just that Ricco's every comment gets full coverage whilst a good rider doesn't. And the likes of Dan Martin don't give "it was a team effort, I am calm, we'll see" quotes.


    Dan Martin gets a full page every month in Pro cycling so you can hardly say he doesnt get his say , it is rather dull though.
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,711
    Ricco speaks the truth.
    I'm sure the attitude in Italy Spain and Belgium differs from the UK.
    They lack our naivity.
    Then you have the US fans who still support the likes of FLandis and Hamilton, regardless of guilt.
    Maybe theirs is more of a "win at all costs" mentality, rather than an understanding of the sport's problems.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    Moray Gub wrote:
    Dan Martin gets a full page every month in Pro cycling so you can hardly say he doesnt get his say , it is rather dull though.
    Serves me right for not buying the magazine that often :wink: But a lot of those columns are ghost-written.

    Ricco might be right that many in Italian don't want to know about doping but the more this happens, the more we'll get scandals and Italian sport will be undermined. The Giro should be a monumental race but it's part circus these days.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,241
    Blazing Saddles wrote:
    Ricco speaks the truth.
    I'm sure the attitude in Italy Spain and Belgium differs from the UK.
    They lack our naivity.
    Then you have the US fans who still support the likes of FLandis and Hamilton, regardless of guilt.
    Maybe theirs is more of a "win at all costs" mentality, rather than an understanding of the sport's problems.

    A friend of mine lived in Rome for a few years and he reckons the Italians see corruption and cheating as a fundamental part of life. Cheating the authorities and getting away with it is seen as an admirable quailty. A completely different attitude to the UK.

    I've also seen Tax Evasion described as 'Italy's national sport'
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    dougzz wrote:
    ShinyHelmut wrote:
    Doping I might be able to forgive him for but referring to himself in the third person is unforgivable....

    The Doug feels you may have a point here :)


    Dennisn got a chuckle out of that also. :lol::lol::lol::lol:
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    RichN95 wrote:
    Italians see corruption and cheating as a fundamental part of life.
    I'll generalise of course but it's quite different between north and south with the mezzogiorno or south being the hotbed for the general flouting of every law possible, from riding your moped without a helmet to "forgetting" to pay income tax to being the home of organised crime.

    For what it's worth, Ricco has just moved to Sicily :wink:
  • Le Commentateur
    Le Commentateur Posts: 4,099
    Regarding north & south I bet there's more EPO for quietly sale in Veneto than Sicily though. :)
    Un uomo solo al commando
  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,822
    Interesting in the Procycling interview that some riders appeared to be happy to speak out against Ricco : whether that's due more to his being unlikely generally or it's his doping and boasting of this. In the past it seems that would not have raised too much of an eyebrow.
  • stfc1
    stfc1 Posts: 505
    Kléber wrote:
    erves me right for not buying the magazine that often :wink: But a lot of those columns are ghost-written.

    Not Dan Martin's.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Pierre meets the Cobra
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    I'm with the tiffosi on this one.

    Spoils my enjoyment otherwise.

    I like what happens on the road. That's why I watch it.
    _
  • blackpanther
    blackpanther Posts: 221
    Hes growing on me,

    Ive long since stopped accepting as a starting point that riders are clean and dont really care. What does make it interesting is the characters and at least hes got one.

    Current flavour of the month is Wiggins, an undoubtedly good rider but also (in the way he comes accross with tweets and stuff) a bit of a twat. one mans meat and all that. Hes good value

    I hope he comes back even faster

    edit: i wrote t wat not fool

    Word brothers
  • Bakunin
    Bakunin Posts: 868
    Geez, the guy served his suspension. What more do you want?

    Does everyone have to be David Millar?
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,241
    Bakunin wrote:
    Geez, the guy served his suspension. What more do you want?

    Does everyone have to be David Millar?

    Some vague semblence of contrition would be a start. Everything he's said in the last few months has had a Cartmanesque "Screw you guys" feel to it. I have little faith that he's going to be going straight from now on and fully expect to 'excite' the tifosi on the Zoncolan come May.

    Of course, maybe the English language cycling media are focusing on the quotes that make him out to be a pantomime villian - in fact I'd expect them to. But I'll be surprised if Ricco's still in the sport by the end of 2012.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Bakunin
    Bakunin Posts: 868
    I understand that he rubs people the wrong way (3rd person silliness) and the stuff with the girlfriend is surreal, but he was suspended and he served that suspension. He is a young (not very bright) guy -- who won fame and money early on.

    Why does Ricco have to apologize? Nothing in the UCI rules about that. Shouldn't Basso and Vino apologize as well?

    Ricco gave someone up (no points for that?) -- Basso and Vino didn't.

    Consistency is important.
  • Bakunin
    Bakunin Posts: 868
    Oh, I forgot -- Basso didn't dope. He only thought about it.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,241
    Bakunin wrote:
    I understand that he rubs people the wrong way (3rd person silliness) and the stuff with the girlfriend is surreal, but he was suspended and he served that suspension. He is a young (not very bright) guy -- who won fame and money early on.

    Why does Ricco have to apologize? Nothing in the UCI rules about that. Shouldn't Basso and Vino apologize as well?

    Ricco gave someone up (no points for that?) -- Basso and Vino didn't.

    Consistency is important.

    I put Vino right alongside Ricco in the villain stakes, he just has the advantage of being a taciturn character unlike motormouth Ricco.

    Basso has at least changed the people he works with, opting to use Evans's trainer Sassi now. He gives the impression that he may be clean now.

    The question is - do you think that Ricco will come back clean? I just can't see it.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Bakunin
    Bakunin Posts: 868
    I don't know? Probably not.

    He may be DiLuca (mark 2).

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