Obžínky

Tomorrow is Obžínky (Obzinky), one of two Harvest festivals celebrated in Czech folklore. Back in the day, before I gave my life to the bike, I wouldn't have missed Obžínky for the world! I don't remember the last time I made the trek to DTJ in Taborville, Ohio for this special day, but tomorrow I'm going back!

My Sanction Ended last month

Chris Mayhew, whose interest in me is like that of an obsessed schoolgirl (and who is such a p*ssy that he whispers insults to me under his breath as he pedals quickly by me on his bike when he spies me at the pseudodrome, rather than straight up tell me to my face to f*ck off - which anyone with a pair of balls would do - but which no one except Adam Myerson seems to have), incorrectly thinks my doping ban is still in effect.

Sorry buddy, but it's already passed.

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris Mayhew"
> To: "John Verheul"
> Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 12:05 PM
> Subject: You guys gonna welcome Papp back to racing?
>
>
>> His unbanned day it tomorrow, I believe.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Chris Mayhew
>> www.jbvcoaching.com

Mike Friedman says something intelligent

U.S. Cyclists Are Masked, and Criticism Is Not

By JULIET MACUR

"The cyclists were the first athletes to be seen wearing masks or doing anything proactive to combat the effects of pollution."

Mike Friedman, quoted in the NY Times:

“This is really a surprise, because I didn’t think it was going to be such a big deal,” Friedman said. “Why we wore the masks is simple: pollution. When you train your whole life for something, dot all your i’s and cross all your t’s, why wouldn’t you be better safe than sorry?"

Exactly. Regardless of how much production China does for US companies, I don't understand why we would risk our Olympians' health and performances in order not "offend" the Chinese government. I mean por favor - this is the same government that developed the mobile execution bus to more swiftly kill its citizens and harvest their organs for sale on the black market...

(Note: photo above is of Bobby Lea, and not Mike.)

To Absent Friends

---
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device.

My Love for the Castro Regime

I was just thinking, as I'm wont to do (haha), and I want to reiterate the fact that the Cuban government is one of the most evil plagues to ever have been wrought upon a country. Anyone supporting said regime or otherwise arguing that it is somehow "not as bad as people say" should be compelled to live like a state-supported athlete in Cuba for a month. Even the much-vaunted Cuban baseball players still experience conditions during their training, recovery and competition phases that aren't fit for ANIMALS!

Anyone trying to place blame for the suffering of the Cuban people on the United States instead of on the Castro regime should be compelled to do graduate research in Cuba on ... oh, I don't know, some facet of the relationship between Cuba's intake of foreign exchange and it's expenditures on domestic infrastructure development. Of course this research would never happen because someone foolish enough to blame anyone other than Castro&Co. for the suffering of the Cuban people would obviously be so stupid and mentally defective as to most likely never have graduated from high school, let alone college.

The only blame that can be assigned to the United States for the state of affairs in Cuba is for our not having overthrown the illegitimate Castro regime via military intervention when the moment was right, and then for completely losing OUR b*lls and moral legitimacy (reference Val’s attempted emasculation of Cuban men) by allowing Castro to hold power thanks to our practice of benign neglect (as opposed to actively fighting against totalitarianism in our hemisphere as we once fought communism in Eastern Europe).

Can you imagine tossing an East Berliner BACK over the last wall segment of the Berlin Wall and into an anti-vehicle trench so that he could be slaughtered by East German guards? Granted, the West allowed Peter Fechter to bleed out and die after his unsuccessful escape attempt, but for the most part we ("The West") didn't do the GDR's dirty work for them and kill those who succeeded in making in past the Iron Curtain.

But now we do Castro's dirty work by mopping up those few brave souls who do - against all odds - escape that island prison.

So to all members of the Cuban state security apparatus who are reading my comments and planning to use them as justification for continuing to persecute my family - f'ck you. If I can't get my hands on you and the Cuban people can't string you up from a lamppost in this lifetime - in some other existence what is left of your spirit will not be renewed and you will rot in a hell of your own making. Hijos de putas.

Cuban Athletes vs. non-State Supported Athletes

Example of the special privileges and enhanced material conditions experienced by state-supported athletes in Cuba (Photo (c): Chris Milliman, 2005) vs. non-state supported athletes in other countries.