Peter Sagan....it was just a pinch

He released a video statement apologizing for the incident where he said he was sorry.  Not "I'm sorry if I offended anyone but I'm sorry for doing this"

He's pretty young and is prone to immature things like this like most young guys.  Not cool but it could be worse.

Agreed! We shall see what he (or his team) decides he should "do" to atone...

Applaud?  

I think it is just as important to know what the young lady involved has to say about this.  Didn't George Hincapi MARRY a podium girl?

Just sayin

Well we know she wasn't asked. That's sort of the point. Go ahead and keep assuming that she might be into it. Then you don't have to ask. That's called entitlement. See how that works in the long run.

And WTF does Hincapi's marriage have to do with this? That gives us permission to grab what we want?

 

Maybe the podium girls like their job (with the exception of the assault by Sagan) and don't want you fighting do away with their source of income.  Just sayin.

Maybe we, as a society, can come up with better sources of income for the women in our sport.

But, again, go ahead with your assumption that they like the roles we've handed to them.  Then we get to excuse all sorts of inequities.

 

Dude, they're models.....they like their jobs...ask a woman who is a model.  We didn't hand them a "role"......that's a bit over the top. 

Yeah, Sagan was an idiot......as we all have been at times.  He apologized, like we all have to at times.  You're likely making it a bigger deal than she did.

Maybe. Maybe not. That's my point. We don't ask. We prefer to just assume and maintain the status quo (that then leads to inequity and, in this case, a$$ grabbing). The assumptions that "they like it", I feel, perpetuate the inequities that keep them relegated to that role (it is a role ... by definition). It's why Danica Patrick is offered a different type of commercial than any other professional race car driver ... where she's valued more for eye candy than she is for her well documented accomplishments on the track. Additionally, it's a significant part of the reason why we don't validate women athletes to the degree that we do male athletes.

I'm not just making this up. There are all sorts of studies and stuff. 

Yikes this is going to separate us into a few points of view...

Girls on the podium is not new and not going away any time soon. Should it? Not in my opinion but... thats my opinion and counts for squat.

Races of all types have girls on the podium F-1, IRL, NASCAR. Not all of them serve the same purpose but they are there.

Could the Women have the guys on the podium? Sure. Do they? Do they want them?

If it were a woman that did this (to a guy); would we have the same reaction? I would hope so but probably not.

The sponsor will address this and I would think the governing body will react due to the publicity the event is generating.

What should happen? Not my decision nor does my opinion matter.

If the reaction is deemed just it will be only in your opinion as others will see it as too severe or not severe enough.

So what can we learn from this? Will we change the tradition or continue?

Why do we give Flowers to a Man that wins a Stage of a race?  Maybe we should stop that too…

Better look around... My wife sure is "fond" of Denny Hamlin based on his commercial a few years ago... She asks me every once in a while if "It's Denny Time" then laughs at me.... 

(Denny.jpg)

You are assuming as much as anyone.  As noted, this is their job.  It's not like they are going to join up with a pro women's team if the industry does away with podium girls.   The are out a source of income.  I have no problem with industries the pay women for simply being attractive.  There are industries that pay women for simply being smart.

Sagan's behavior was completely inappropriate and he deserves the flak he's getting.

Funerals have flowers... Just sayin...

Sorry just had to...

Just one more thing to bring the world of cycling down..  We should be celebrating the 100th TDF and all we can talk about is a$$ pinching and doping... OOOOOPS did not mean to bring that up...

I can play the "exceptions" game all day long. We can start with testimonies of models who don't "like it". 

But it just deflects from the bigger conversation that we're so hesitant to have. That professional athletics remain, primarily, a man's game. We're hesitant to have it because we might actually come to the realization that we should share better. Especially the revenue streams that feed the machine. Right now, the male athletes get the huge majority of the small portions of that revenue that trickle down. This is because we're conditioned by the ads that generate the revenue. From the guy who's laughed at, in his skirt, for choosing the wrong beer to the podium girls who give it up for the winners.

I think it warrants interruption.  We can still find plenty to smile about regarding a healthy competition without needing to objectify women in the process.

Regarding the assertion above that my thoughts will turn bike races into funerals ... that's just another attempt to exaggerate what I'm trying to say to the point of pointing me out as a fool.  If I'm a fool, then we can go back to how it's always been.

Bernard - I NEVER assumed "she liked it"......in fact, I would be more inclined to think she didn't like it.  That doesn't change anything I wrote. 

On another note.....I have 4 daughters.......trust me when I tell you that they don't need "validation" for any of their endeavors. 

As for Danica.....I don't hear her whining.  Probably because she perfectly understands that if you're going to make "Go Daddy" commercials with the innuendos that they contain (and take the $$$$ that comes from it), you're going to have to be able to deal with the perceptions of some idiots.

In short......you don't give women enough credit....they don't need your help in standing up for themselves. 

Are you also a champion for the male models of the world who don't receive the equivalent pay of their female counterparts?

Sorry, there isn't an ad in this world that's going to condition me to believe that watching the WNBA is as entertaining as the NBA.  But I would really like to see the attempt.