Poaching. Let's see, what does that really mean? And should convicted/accused poachers feel guilty? Defensive? Or just 'fess up?
Nice to see that this term is in circulation in the NW these days. Hopefully it will remain current, and have the same long legacy of phrases such as "Campbelling/being Campbelled" and "schlonging."
Now poaching is a very serious crime and all such charges must have firm evidence to have any sort of credibility. And like all serious crimes, it is best if the defendent just 'fesses up to the charge rather than claiming innocence or a convenient alibi.
I'll confess. For instance, I've won the Olympia Capital Criterium the last three years in the Masters division. This would stand as outright poaching if all I did that day was the masters event, since I am a cat. 1. It is/was poaching, but by entering the pro/1/2 race later in the day, I can get away with it since I can say it was a "warm-up." Of course if those fields were a bit tougher, maybe it wouldn't be considered poaching at all. There's a lot of gray area. And tons of examples that could be brought forth.
Now, on the other hand, when a certain mountain bike PROFESSIONAL won the AMATEUR national road race, this was out and out, undisputed poaching. The Pro had tons of class, talent, and experience, but no ROAD PRO CONTRACT. What was he to do? Not race the AMATEUR champs. After all, it was right there in Utah, a mere 6 hour or so drive away. That was undisputed poaching.
In between these two examples is when there are two events in the same region on the same day, and an established champion chooses to do the easier event, and then goes ahead and wins it. Why be defensive? It is what it is. The poacher's presence at either event would have caused trepidation among either field--the poacher was just going with the surer bet. Or maybe grandma lives on the course or something. That would be a good excuse.
Charges of poaching can only be leveled at individuals that are capable of winning races. You can't just hurl the charge at anyone that is doing "the other" event in the region on a particular day. Those individuals are simply "doing the other race." They weren't going to strike fear in the hearts of either field. They are simply making a prudent choice to not recieve a complete ass-kicking at the tougher event.
The fact is, to poach, you have to be a winner. It's really a compliment. It's never easy to win any bike race.
(*Pros that are home and not away with their team get an automatic exemption from poaching charges no matter where/how hard the race they enter/win.)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I remember a thread on cyclingsoup a while back about the Nationals poaching. Now all of that blog content is deleted so I can't find it, but I remember Russell@ being a little defensive about it.
What then would be your term for something like Tubbs's ride at Sea Otter prologue a couple years back?
A local strong guy puts down a top 5 against a deep field of NRC talent.
"A life-time achievement ride" maybe? That's how I view Ian's ride, and my 4th at the Boise Twilight last year. Those kinds of rides give a bit of reference to all the successes an amateur has gotten in their career, even though they never quite made it to the pro ranks. It means they really are pretty good, and maybe could have "made it."
At least you started debate, and getting a win, no matter the copmetition is always good for morale.
And aren't blogs for stirrin' things up?
;-)
i thought blogs were for raking in big money through ads! Russell told me so. I am still waiting for my check. I hope the eyewear thing works out.. and for the record I thought it was called sandbagging.
Elite nationals is full of ex-pro road cyclists and pro MTBers, pro triathletes, etc. There really is no regulation on what the event is for other than non-UCI Team cyclists (this debate might warrant another discussion on what defines a Professional. In my career it means you make a living doing it). The year Carl won there were many ex-pro's in the race: defending elite champ Chris Walker, ex-Mapai racer Chann McRae, and even Kenny Williams to name a few. Carl was definitely a member of our team and had been racing with us for well over a year at many races (5th at Gila in 04, 2nd at Ecology, etc). Of course, had we not had Carl up front, Fischer likely could have come around Raby for the win. So it would have worked out for us anyway. But, we ended up with 1st and 3rd which is even better. I don't really think of it as poaching because elite nationals and a really challenging race and I just don't think any pro MTB racer could jump in and win. The fact that he had a flat tire with 10k to go and Tubbs and Owen Gue dropped back and paced him back to the field also shows that it was a team effort, not one superhuman ride.
Andrew, I'm not sure I am defensive, just trying to make sense of it all. I'm not sure USA Cycling knows what the race is for, so how can we? It's an interesting topic.
RC
Yeah, I thought it as sandbagging too. Poaching is more like Westover downgrading and riding in the Cat 3's.
Pru-Dog, you misunderstood me. I said ACTION FIGURES are where the money is at.
RC
Post a Comment