Please dont think most Americans have this attitude. I almost take offense in that. Balls views are not that of the average American.

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TIME RXR

I'm an American as well.

Ball is the stereotype...................sadly. Big mounthed, entitled, and vindictive among other things. He may have good people around him, and if thats true, they shouldn't let him speak for them.

He should run for office .

Starnut

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"Don't pedal harder, pedal faster!"
Q-FACTOR IS A RED HERRING

BB30.COM

I agree that Mr. Ball is a tool, but you can't say he isn't good at what he does. I mean, if all Rock did was win 1 or 2 races last year, we wouldn't be talking about them right now. so as long as the "no such thing as bad publicity" line holds true, this guy is the king. and I forsee a lot more bad publicity in his future.

Unfortunately you're right..... which is just one of the reasons I may be moving to Europe after school.

The other big, big one being this guy we call our "President".

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www.ChrisDiRe.com

Yes in Antartica though. Just a few scientists and some penguins for him to annoy

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TIME RXR

How is Mike Ball's hiring Hamilton anything different than what Bruyneel or Riis have done? He'll fit right in to the pro peloton. Nothing will change in 08.

I dont like Bruyneels ethics neither. Would be funny if clean teams could gang up on teams that have questionable practices, but I do not think the pro peleton works that way.

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TIME RXR

...mainly because you'd first have to find a clean team.

When an outlaw image is that important as it is to Rock some things are done to promote said image and the to teams publicity as much as they can. Paris Hilton isn't really they way she acts sometimes, she just does it to promote herself. I think, this is just my guess.

So just after I agree to move to Europe, the Australian electorate finally chucks out our little "all the way with my best mate George" PM...

Ok, back on topic: the "any publicity is good publicity" is exactly why teams can never be trusted to self-police.

Maybe instead of trying to confiscate the rider's salary if he fails a test, the *team* should be fined twice that amount... put in a market-incentive to keep clean... It would also make dodgy teams less attractive to riders, since there is the risk of the team collapsing if several of their riders are caught.

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Graham

Andreu just left the DS position at Rock Racing.

Some pretty ominous words here:

"Some of the ways that they've handled the sponsors that were considering coming on to the team made me uneasy," Andreu said. "I also had problems with the fact that I had no input at all in decisions about riders joining the team."

"Fundamentally, I think most of the cycling world, at this point in the sport's history, is pretty much on the same page about the direction in which it needs to develop," Andreu said. "Rock Racing does a lot of things that are different from anyone else. They have their own agenda and they have their own goals and they have their own way of setting out to achieve those goals. I'm not entirely comfortable with the way they are hoping to do that."

http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/13864.0.html[/i]

Man what a waste of a great guy...

I had heard about the team struggling with relationships with some equipement sponsors etc...

Again though, it's not "Everyone associated with that team".

I am just worried for some of their riders and staff...

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charles@pezcyclingnews.com

Hey Pez, do you think some or most of the riders /staff would bail to other teams if given the chance. I only know what I read about them, but seems to me they are getting, well, not so positive publicity. I could be wrong. But I have to think some of the riders are thinking "what the hell have I got myself into"

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TIME RXR

I fear they have few options at this time. Lets hope for them that this team recovers from this. I see some real tension between the dopers (real or implied) and those wishing to get as far away from them as they can. Its going to be a long season.

I used to be a fan of _________________(fill in the blank)
Now I just want to ride my bike

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WW Velocipedist Gargantuan

I think in the long run this is a good thing. The best way to clean something up is from within. Maybe in the past if the team leader was doping the rest of the riders figured it may improve their chances to win an important race. Now they would probably not take the risk and have the rider get caught and have the entire team disband, thus losing their jobs.

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"Really fast people are frustrating, but they make you faster. When you get faster, you might frustrate someone else."

2009 Trek Madone 5.5 Project One SRAM Force 16.4 lbs w/pedals and cages.
2007 Bianchi 928 Carbon Lugged- SRAM Rival-17 lbs.