Twitter Smackdown: Lance Armstrong vs. Tony Kornheiser
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When ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser heard that Washington DC’s Pennsylvania Ave. would have a dedicated bike lane that might slow down the parade of commuter SUVs, he launched into a trademark rant, which included some joking advice for drivers to show who is in charge by, um, bumping into the cyclists: “Just tap them, don’t kill them,” Kornheiser advised.
It wasn’t long for that comment to make its way to the world’s most famous cyclist, Lance Armstrong, who also happens to have one of the world’s most famous Twitter feeds (with almost 2.5 million followers). Fusing Twitter brevity with dripping disdain, Armstrong tweeted: Listening to Tony Kornheiser’s comments/rant on ESPN radio re: cyclists. Disgusting, ignorant, foolish. What a complete f-ing idiot.
He later added: Have a listen. http://ow.ly/1nByQ. Listen to the March 11, part 1 segment and go to 30 mins in. #whatapunkasschump
Don’t click the link, because I guess the prospect of an angry Lance Armstrong (and thanks to Lance, millions of angry bicyclists) was too intimidating for the suits at ESPN. They quickly removed the online audio archive of Kornheiser’s cyclo-mania.
Yo, suits! This is the internet! Nothing ever gets wiped out of existence. In fact, I’ve got it right here:
ESPN was hopeful, however, that the controversy would put ESPN at the top of the Twitter heap, earning another great zinger from Armstrong: How douchebags apologize…RT @ESPNRadio980: @ESPNRadio980 – Hoping to be a Trending Topic Worldwide today, keep your fingers crossed…
Naturally, the fun had to come to an end, so Armstrong is appearing on Kornheiser’s show today to hash it all out. On right now, in fact.
The moral of all this is that car commuters are not going to go down without a fight. Cyclists, get ready for the Long War. It will be assymetrical warfare–3000 pound vehicles against little bitty people–so unconventional strategies will be required. What are the weapons cyclists will turn too? Keys? Spray paint? Mace? Lemme know, because it’s on…[Update: for anyone who thinks I am seriously proposing war in the streets. I'm kidding. Really].
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Tim,
F*** off you troll. We’re in this together. Cars ain’t going anywhere. Bikes ain’t going anywhere. It’s called SHARING. Didn’t your mom teach you to SHARE and that nothing was ever solved by fighting? Thanks for making the world a $hittier place to live.
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Such a GREAT way to encourage mainstreaming bicycle commuting…this entire post renders your previous article meaningless. Twit.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=getting-more-bicyclists-on-the-road
Hmm. I guess there is a severe epidemic of “I don’t recognize tongue-in-cheek humor” flu spreading across the land, perhaps affecting drivers (due to enclosed AC systems) more than cyclists.
In response to another comment. See in context »PS: Thanks for the link to this excellent Scientific American article.
In response to another comment. See in context »This is ridiculous. Tony Kornheiser has gotten into a lot of trouble recently for saying things that were obviously jokes in contexts that were obviously comedic.
The notion that anyone thinks he was actually advocating hitting bike riders is absurd. It was just an opportunity for people who enjoy self-righteous indignation to be self-righteously indignant. Thumbs down to ESPN for (undoubtedly) forcing Mr. Tony to apologize, but of course, corporations only care about green.
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