Good interview of Pat Mc Quaid By William Fotherinham

12 sprocket

Heres a lesson in sports journalism or maybe just journalism, from William Fotheringham who is certainly one of the great cycling writers.
Notice how he just explores the issues with Pat Mc Quaid, lets the reader make their own mind up and doesn't throw in his own opinions.
If you want to see how the doping culture has been ingrained in cycling for 100 years or so read his book about Tom Simpson Title Put me back on my bike.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/sep/17/pat-mcquaid-uci-president-election

jinkypolly

Not a very good article at all, the issues are not explored, if anything it's the same old tired mantra from paranoid Pat.
Here's his quotes from the article without the journalists padding;

"Scurrilous, libellous, gangster politics."

"A lot of the stuff that's been said about me has been said as part of a political campaign."

"I don't mind going to congress. If it's Brian who wins I'll go over, shake his hand and go and find something else to do. But I think I deserve that right and there's people trying to undermine me.

"Brian has a group of supporters like Makarov, the Russian oligarch who wants to be the power broker in the UCI, and he's supporting Brian because he knows that I'll stand up to him. I feel that if it comes to an election, I have the support."

"I stand for president with a nomination which is valid within the rules. The proposals to change the rules are proposals that have come about as a result of what federations saw going on in Ireland and Switzerland and they said: 'This is wrong, this shouldn't be happening. Outsiders shouldn't be allowed to interfere with the process.'

"In four years' time I can look back and say I've changed the culture. That's what I want to do."

"clearing their consciences"

"There's 175 federations in the world. Where you and others are coming from is a narrow perspective of professional cycling in Europe. Over the last eight years cycling has developed massively in other continents, in Asia it's booming, South America, Africa the same. There's a huge amount of development going on around the world – those federations have a right to decide who should be their president. It's the national federations who bring the cyclists into the sport who have the right to vote and that's the way it is. The world is represented in Florence and the world will have its say."

Lumen

jinkypolly wrote: »

Not a very good article at all, the issues are not explored, if anything it's the same old tired mantra from paranoid Pat.

It's an interview.

The Guardian published this one on Tuesday focusing on Cookson:

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/sep/17/head-british-cycling-brian-cookson

jinkypolly

Lumen wrote: »

It's an interview.

The Guardian published this one on Tuesday focusing on Cookson:

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/sep/17/head-british-cycling-brian-cookson

Yes that's obvious, my reference to issues being explored was in reference to the OP's claim.
The 'interview' reveals nothing new, just the same old 'claims' from Pat.

niceonetom

Lumen wrote: »

It's an interview.

Exactly. But the piece does come over as more akin to a stump speech by PMQ with a little (and quite gentle) explanatory note here and there from Fotheringham. Paxman it ain't.

The Cookson interview is significantly better in that it actually challenges him on several issues - his reversal from company man to adversary of Pat, his failure to challenge the UCI's missteps during his tenure as a board member, some of the missed opportunities of his time as head of BC etc. Pat doesn't get any of that counter-questioning or follow-up in the first article which is a pity.

Hermy

12 sprocket wrote: »

If you want to see how the doping culture has been ingrained in cycling for 100 years or so read his book about Tom Simpson Title Put me back on my bike.

Terrible book which portrays Simpson as a hero which he wasn't.

12 sprocket

Hermy wrote: »

Terrible book which portrays Simpson as a hero which he wasn't.

A great book which identifies the CULTURE of doping and makes it clear that the only thing that changed over the 100 years were the drugs used. That is until mc quaid became president and challenged the culture which most commentators even non supporters agree is changing under his watch.

petethedrummer

Hear, hear. It is a fact that Pat has been the best UCI president since Hein Verbruggen.

Guybrush T

12 sprocket wrote: »

Heres a lesson in sports journalism or maybe just journalism, from William Fotheringham who is certainly one of the great cycling writers.
Notice how he just explores the issues with Pat Mc Quaid, lets the reader make their own mind up and doesn't throw in his own opinions.
If you want to see how the doping culture has been ingrained in cycling for 100 years or so read his book about Tom Simpson Title Put me back on my bike.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/sep/17/pat-mcquaid-uci-president-election

Interesting, I read that yesterday and saw it as a typical Guardian sneering hatchet job on someone they didn't like, particularly gems like this:

WF wrote:

The answer to a question about what he might be offering cycling morphs into his central defence against his critics: he is the victim of a plot.

He doesn't say he thinks McQuaid is a paranoid conspiracy nut not fit to run a bath, but he certainly implies it.

CramCycle

I thought the article was poor journalism, very little of the interview is published, referring to possibly long swathes of conversation as just that with no content. The bits that were published paint Pat as indecisive, backtracking and paranoid. It paints Pat in a bad light but even worse it is shocking poor journalism in that it goes into no real detail, reads more like filler for a slow news day in a red top.

Hermy

12 sprocket wrote: »

A great book which identifies the CULTURE of doping and makes it clear that the only thing that changed over the 100 years were the drugs used. That is until mc quaid became president and challenged the culture which most commentators even non supporters agree is changing under his watch.

Good one 12 sprocket - for a minute I thought you were serious.:D

Limestone1

niceonetom wrote: »

Exactly. But the piece does come over as more akin to a stump speech by PMQ with a little (and quite gentle) explanatory note here and there from Fotheringham. Paxman it ain't.

.

Where you and others are coming from is a narrow perspective of professional cycling in Europe

Limestone1

jinkypolly wrote: »

Not a very good article at all, the issues are not explored, if anything it's the same old tired mantra from paranoid Pat.

"Where you and others are coming from is a narrow perspective of professional cycling in Europe"

12 sprocket

Another interview with Pat Mc Quaid by a different journalist
http://www.sportspromedia.com/notes_and_insights/mcquaid_if_its_just_a_question_of_change_for_the_sake_of_change_then_theres/

buffalo

12 sprocket wrote: »

Another interview with Pat Mc Quaid by a different journalist
http://www.sportspromedia.com/notes_and_insights/mcquaid_if_its_just_a_question_of_change_for_the_sake_of_change_then_theres/

“The campaign unfortunately has been a fairly bitter one not based on manifestos and sporting promise or desires, but on personalities,” was McQuaid’s assessment

Has anyone got a link to McQuaid's manifesto?

12 sprocket

buffalo wrote: »

Has anyone got a link to McQuaid's manifesto?

Its quite similar to Brian Cooksons manifesto but Mc Quaid has already implemented a lot of it and is looking to be elected to finish the work.

CramCycle

Manifesto here.

Eamonnator

CramCycle wrote: »

Manifesto here.

That's a very impressive document.
It almost made me change my mind about P.McQ.