I posted it and I have to admit maybe a little rage bait - intended in a fun funny way more actual rage bait - honestly, I just wanted to make fun of his grooming choices. #lowhangingfruit
There is more to it, but the best thing you can do is go hear it from one of the people involved in the whole saga, one Caley Fretz, who gave a good background to the whole thing and the fact Quinn seems to have no problem holding a significant grudge on one of the Tour Daily spin cycle podcasts this year (likely one of the days Quinn was ripping up the race to help Mads).
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I think this thread has been a pretty civilised discussion, all things considered. Certainly could have been a whole lot worse.
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But that is my point, we aren’t only talking about it because Quinn is loud, we would also be talking about it if Sepp did it (or Jorgenson).
Whatever happens it will make for good entertainment. I might begrudge his politics, but I have no problem with his hair and beard choices, I mean the guy is having fun, why get all bothered by it.
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@chris_cochran Are you sure you’re not just jealous of his luscious mane?
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I’ve got no comeback for that - I don’t love him but love him or hate him - he’s good fun (and he genuinely seems to be having fun).
Quinn’s only doing it this year because of the changed course. It’s easier because it’s shorter, so he doesn’t have to be afraid of getting humiliated. And even if he does well there’ll be an asterisk next to the results.
A man who holds a grudge like that also can’t handle the ego danger of doing Leadville for real.
I don’t support people who harbor racist views, period. End of story. If you are willing to overlook his shortcomings simply because he rides a bike fast, well….as noted, you are entitled to whatever you want to believe.
just as we are entitled to draw our own opinions of those beliefs.
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Also, the last time Quinn did a LifeTime event he crashed his bike and dropped out. That was on the flat roads of Kansas. So color me skeptical that he can stay upright even on this forgiving course.
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How he races, likely not a jot, but they may affect you and I indirectly.
On the face of it the views of one person alone matter not one bit, but no person is an island because we form groups of like minded people, which can often then grow to become movements. While not everyone in a group or movement actively participate in any actions, their voice adds validation to those that are taking some form of action. Those actions, depending on the size of the group or movement, potentially have ramifications that impact positively or negatively anything from few people in a local area to the entire global population.
A sports person, whether they or we like it or not, has a platform which deliberately or otherwise impacts how others might think and certainly means they have a more significant voice in whatever group or movement they deliberately or not end up being part of.
So I make no apologies for expressing discomfort at someone’s problematic views or for not being willing to get behind a clearly very talented bike racer as a result of the problematic views they hold.
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What’s the evidence that Simmons holds racist views?
I don’t think the digital blackface thing qualifies. At the time I discussed it with the rest of my research team (a bunch of sociologists studying retired NFL players) and we all thought the hullabaloo was stupid and thought Trek suspending him was dumb. We study race stuff, we’re all left of center, and our PI is black.
But is there other (i.e., actual) evidence?
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There is certainly a question over whether the social media post (posts?) was intentionally racist, or just clumsy, but the broader context suggested a a certain political stance, and a political stance that is now having major negative global ramifications thanks to their person that those with the same political stance collectively elected into the white house.
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I don’t vote the way that he does, but the rest of this - at least with regard to whether Simmons actually harbors racist views - sounds like correlations-of-correlations, not here’s evidence that Simmons is racist.
Note: correlations-of-correlations is how I describe things like “high blood pressure is correlated with heart disease, and certain medications clearly lower blood pressure, but we don’t (yet) have good evidence that those medications actually lower heart disease risk.”
I think it’s important to have a solid evidentiary bar when making accusations, both for fairness’ sake and also because vague stuff with potential false positives ends up making my side look dumb.
Sociology-of-race shifted somewhat from Racism Without Racists (a legit point about how structural inequalities can persist and replicate even without racial animus in the minds and intentions of individual people) to being much more willing to make accusations of racism that are often vague or poorly-founded, and make the median person/voter likely to tune out real stuff that Sociology has to say about race and just think of it all as “woke overreach.” Which is a bad outcome for Sociology and for those of us who want racism to decrease.
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I don’t know if Simmons is racist, I think what he did with the waving back with a darker hand tweet was a stupid action of a 19-year old. We have all done stupid things, especially when we were younger and we were not under such a spotlight like him. The thing that bothers me the most personally, and makes me not really like the guy, is his reaction to Johny when asked for a quesiton or interview this year at the TdF. He is holding a grudge against Escape Collective. This is a media outlet that his teammate’s wife works for. The chief editor lives in his same small town in Colorado. Jose Been does not work for EC. It was a differenct organization at the time. Years have passed. I would like to think he could move on and be open with the preeminent (imo) American cycling media outlet. Perhaps if he were change his mind, we would know more about the person that is representing the USA as road champion and be able to better understand him.
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He supports Trump, the accounts he follows on his IG account are some of the worst right-wing, racist groups…..
If he isn’t overtly racist, he is certainly comfortable supporting those that are….which makes him racist, IMO.
Of course, he could actually address the situation directly, but he refuses to….which also tells you something.
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So it’s covered in one of the podcasts? Do you know which one? Happy to listen to get the full story.
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Nine minutes back, y’all need some better hobbies.
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Queen who?!
I like his Dads J.K and Joseph Simmons a lot more.
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And as much as I am uncomfortable about Quinn because of his views, him high-fiving his dad while attacking off the front of the TdF on a climb was a fun moment.
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