Joe you are spot on with this and the observation that sport needs to tell a story. Winning, especially when it is predictable, can get boring quickly. Case in point the Team Sky / Chris Froome years that became a chore to watch. Winning all the time is only interesting if there are personalities AND a level of excellence that demands attention (Michael Jordan, Steph Curry, Tiger Woods, Ohtani etc.). Pogacar is still watchable because he is a bit of a swashbuckling character but the UAE side is slowly drowning that out. Would he be as compelling if he didn’t ride Monuments? I think sports also need underdogs and up and comers (Wrexham, the Rockets and EF being perfect examples) to follow. Also great observation that sponsor driven sports suffer when team names and team members keep changing and cycling probably suffers the most. Multiple disciplines and no clear hierarchy ala F1. Then there is the whole privateer model where the individual is also the content creator - which you know all too well. Keegan Swenson is a terrific talent but Payson McElveen is way more interesting. Hopefully cycling as a whole learns some of this but its a big ask.
Nice, Joe.
Thanks Tom. It's on my long list of articles to write something similar about EF, too. I'll get there one day.
Joe you are spot on with this and the observation that sport needs to tell a story. Winning, especially when it is predictable, can get boring quickly. Case in point the Team Sky / Chris Froome years that became a chore to watch. Winning all the time is only interesting if there are personalities AND a level of excellence that demands attention (Michael Jordan, Steph Curry, Tiger Woods, Ohtani etc.). Pogacar is still watchable because he is a bit of a swashbuckling character but the UAE side is slowly drowning that out. Would he be as compelling if he didn’t ride Monuments? I think sports also need underdogs and up and comers (Wrexham, the Rockets and EF being perfect examples) to follow. Also great observation that sponsor driven sports suffer when team names and team members keep changing and cycling probably suffers the most. Multiple disciplines and no clear hierarchy ala F1. Then there is the whole privateer model where the individual is also the content creator - which you know all too well. Keegan Swenson is a terrific talent but Payson McElveen is way more interesting. Hopefully cycling as a whole learns some of this but its a big ask.
Thanks for this Joe. So many smart points here. I agree!
Excellent article. Rockets, as well as your work, are a great inspiration for Team Drali–Repsol 🤝