The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

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Puma had a round pedal before Sampson
Editor:
So Eric Sampson is taking credit for inventing the round pedal (See "Tech Report: What we didn't see in 'Vegas")? Hmmm. Facts say otherwise. Puma had a round pedal years before the Sampson Stratics - which wasn't really 'round' anyway. Don't believe it? Pictures don't lie.

Dan Wildhirt
Longmont, Colorado

With baseball, you get fun and a winner; with cycling….
Editor:
Maybe the reason Major League Baseball doesn't participate in the WADA (See Wednesday’s mailbag: "Double standard? Or is it a triple?") is because they actually want to have a winner declared before the end of this century.

Seriously, when does the statute of limitations end for appealing the result of a UCI or IOC race? They're not still deciding who the winner of the 1999 Super Bowl, are they? How about the Kentucky Derby - do they tell all the bettors to return their winnings four months later because they found out one of the horses was doped? Don't laugh – four equestrian medalists from the Athens Olympics were DQ'd last week because the horses tested positive.

When I leave a ballpark after a baseball game, I know who the winner is, regardless of any umpire controversies. There is a result, so I feel I got my money's worth. Face it: Professional sports are not idealistic endeavors; they are dog-and-pony shows for the selling of stuff.

It's for this reason that the policy in NASCAR has always been that the first car across the line is the winner. Period. If they find that the winning team cheated (and they do, all the time) they fine them, dock season points, or even suspend them - but the result stands. Why? Because lots of people spent lots of money and time to come to their race instead of the gazillion other things they could have done, and they want them to come back again. I know, it's not fair and it's not pure - but it's business. I repeat: Pro sports are not idealistic endeavors; they are dog and pony shows for the selling of stuff.

Can't bike racing be fun for spectators again? If cycling is too important to be fun, then can somebody call me in 15-20 years to tell me if they've decided who the winners of this year's races were? You can reach me at the ballpark.

Ken Getchell
Conshohocken, Pennsylvania

Meanwhile, back at the ballpark …
Editor:
You may say “MLB marches to - shall we say? - a different drummer." But it might be more accurate to say they walk to the beat of a different pharmacist.

Mike Batley
Baltimore, Maryland

Pitcher’s blood was from sutures, not injections
Editor:
Curt Schilling had blood on his sock from having his skin sutured to his tendon sheath - not from injected painkillers. I think pitching like that, as well as he did, qualifies him for sports heroism … kind of like Tyler riding with his broken collarbone.

Randy Bitts
Corona, California

Time for ‘natural’ and ‘assisted’ categories?
Editor:
Pro cycling is starting to resemble pro bodybuilding. If you participate, you're a suspect in the doping department. Try this: Draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper. On the left side, write down every pro that has gotten popped for doping in the last year. On the right, write down everyone that you can name off the top of your head that is clean. Hmmmmm….

Are we to become like bodybuilding and have "natural" races, followed by the professional races?

I'm going to puke now.

Bryan VanVleet
Oceanside, California

The philharmonic, presented by propranolol
Editor:
For those who have decided to turn their back on professional cycling because of the drug scandals, I'm sorry to inform them that they better avoid the local philharmonic too (not to mention baseball, football or preseason basketball).

I think everyone should be wary of athletes that feel the need to drug, friends who are on Prozac, and orchestras that nearly put you to sleep (due in part to the fact that they're all on beta blockers). But there's also a value to our pure enjoyment of the sport - and that cannot be taken away by the percentage of friends, cyclists and violinists who need a crutch to keep up.

It's wrong, they suck, and they know who they are - but the fact that it's going on isn't going to keep me up at night!

Paul Mitchell
Sacramento, California

Paul, that NYT story may explain why our foaming rantist, Patrick O’Grady, has a bong made out of a bassoon. And speaking of O’Grady... -Editor

Rant’s political content was virtually nil
Editor:
Not having read last Friday's rant, I was compelled to by the two days of protestations in the mailbag. Hello? I had to read it twice to find the political reference, so miniscule it was, and I'm still reading it trying to figure out why anybody, right, left or otherwise cared. In fact, I'm trying to figure out why I'm even bothering to wri...

William Messer
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

I’m shocked, shocked to find ranting going on here!
Editor:
I cannot believe O'Grady can write such crazy foaming rants in a column named "Foaming Rant!” Unbelievable! What is next - news about bike racing on VeloNews? I cannot take this craziness any more. I will just crawl back under the covers now.

Michael J. Madigan
Tucson, Arizona

What about respect for the office?
Editor:
While I must respect Mr. Power’s opinion that we shouldn’t take O’Grady too seriously (trust me, I don’t), the problem I have with him isn’t that he cracks a joke every now and then (whether it is funny or not is another debate entirely), but the fact that he constantly bashes the administration. What ever happened to respect for the office? While I don’t want to open the elected/selected can of worms, the fact remains that he has held the position for four years.

Anyway, back on topic. I don’t read VeloNewsor the Friday rant to hear about politics. I have the news or other websites for that. I come to this website to hear about cycling. So, no matter which bank of the river you sit on or wade toward, is it too much to ask to leave it outside the realm of cycling?

Tim Root
Bloomington, Indiana

Tim, O’Grady says he has plenty of respect for the office … he just doesn’t think much of the guy using it. -Editor

It’s not just the L-people who dislike the W-guy
Editor:
First off, O'Grady lets there be light at the end of any dark week. And second, why do all your readers seem to feel that you have to be a "lib" or a "left-winger" to dislike Bush. This is just not so.

Living in California, I voted for the Governator. He put himself through school and has worked hard for what he has achieved. Bush on the other hand ... umm ... what was I talking about?

Patrick Caselli
San Jose, California

Don’t like O’Grady? Move on to the next article
Editor:
Let me start by saying I'm a conservative Republican from a conservative Republican stronghold, Orange County, California. For years I have read Mr. O'Grady's rants and although I rarely agree with him, I find him talented and entertaining.

Just a note to my fellow conservatives out there who continually bash O'Grady: If you don't like what you’re reading, move on – to the next article, website, planet, whatever … it's part of that freedom thing! Isn't that what this country is supposed to represent? My guess is those who say politics have no place in VeloNews wouldn't complain if O'Grady's views happened to mirror their own.

Charles O. Jones

Charles, we’ve tried moving on. But somehow, he always finds us. -Editor

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The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.