Nick Against the World (79 Viewers)
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OP
A few words from Lippi regarding Marcos passing, which pretty much echo my own thoughts posted earlier:
Lippi grief at Pantani tragedy
Monday, 16 February 2004
by Lorenzo Zacchetti
Revered Juventus coach Marcello Lippi has revealed to skysports.com the intense grief he felt upon hearing that cycling hero Marco Pantani had passed away.
The Bianconeri boss spoke of the sadness he felt upon hearing of Pantani's death, with the cyclist having been found alone in a Rimini hotel room, just minutes away from his hometown Cesenatico.
Pantani, a national hero to fans of cycling, had been suffering from depression and Lippi believes that not enough was done to help him, and indeed other sportsmen, who struggle to cope once their careers are over.
''That is what moved me most,'' Lippi told skysports.com. ''He wasn't miles away, yet still he died alone in a hotel room.
''If something like that should happen to me, I am sure that my close friends in Viareggio would rush in to bring me out of trouble, but where were Pantani's friends?
''Having been in football as a player and now a coach, I think it is deadly important to keep in touch with the friends you meet in childhood, that is something I try to teach my younger players.
''At the peak of your career, you get overpaid and over praised, but then everything ends and you have to get on with your life.''
Lippi continued to pay tribute to Pantani, a sportsman who enjoyed consistent success in the cycling world.
''Pantani the champion will never be forgotten, but what shocked me in his death was the solitude of the man,'' Lippi concluded.
Lippi grief at Pantani tragedy
Monday, 16 February 2004
by Lorenzo Zacchetti
Revered Juventus coach Marcello Lippi has revealed to skysports.com the intense grief he felt upon hearing that cycling hero Marco Pantani had passed away.
The Bianconeri boss spoke of the sadness he felt upon hearing of Pantani's death, with the cyclist having been found alone in a Rimini hotel room, just minutes away from his hometown Cesenatico.
Pantani, a national hero to fans of cycling, had been suffering from depression and Lippi believes that not enough was done to help him, and indeed other sportsmen, who struggle to cope once their careers are over.
''That is what moved me most,'' Lippi told skysports.com. ''He wasn't miles away, yet still he died alone in a hotel room.
''If something like that should happen to me, I am sure that my close friends in Viareggio would rush in to bring me out of trouble, but where were Pantani's friends?
''Having been in football as a player and now a coach, I think it is deadly important to keep in touch with the friends you meet in childhood, that is something I try to teach my younger players.
''At the peak of your career, you get overpaid and over praised, but then everything ends and you have to get on with your life.''
Lippi continued to pay tribute to Pantani, a sportsman who enjoyed consistent success in the cycling world.
''Pantani the champion will never be forgotten, but what shocked me in his death was the solitude of the man,'' Lippi concluded.
OP
++ [ originally posted by Stupendous Man ] ++
The women they have dressed up in football kits to show who won and the standings at the end of the week are scrumptious, though.
The women they have dressed up in football kits to show who won and the standings at the end of the week are scrumptious, though.
++ [ originally posted by Stupendous Man ] ++
The women they have dressed up in football kits to show who won and the standings at the end of the week are scrumptious, though.
The women they have dressed up in football kits to show who won and the standings at the end of the week are scrumptious, though.
Sorry to flood your thread with this Nick, but if you look at the overwhelming theme here... maybe there is a worthwhile discussion as well as a tribute to a great champion
A few impotant reactions to marcos passing...
Jan Ullrich
Marco Pantani was the only rider who stood between Jan Ullrich and victory in the 1998 Tour de France, when Il Pirata cracked Der Kaiser on a miserable day in the Alps. Pantani attacked on the Galibier and pressed home his advantage on Les Deux Alps. Ullrich, a victim of the cold and two punctures, finished 9 minutes down and lost the Tour.
Upon learning of his death, Ullrich remembered Pantani with the following words, written on his website janullrich.de: "I learned of the death of Marco Pantani with great consternation. His premature death has shaken all of us deeply. Marco had stamped himself on his time, through his style as a cyclist. It was not by chance that he was so popular. I can't and don't want to write more here because I have no background information."
Stefano Garzelli (former teammate)
"I can't find the words," Garzelli told L'Equipe. "It is again difficult to believe. I don't know what his state of health was. I saw him for the last time at the last Giro. I didn't know that this was possible. He has had a lot of pressure, even outside cycling. He was very strong but also very sensitive. Even a normal man would have had trouble to withstand it, imagine then an athlete."
Richard Virenque
"I am revolted," Virenque was quoted in L'Equipe. "I knew Marco was depressed. The media were really out for something. They attacked a depressed man. That can drive you to the worst extremities. It is dramatic. The same thing happened to him in Italy as to me in France. If you have a family around you to help you, you can overcome the situation, otherwise, you can do incomprehensible, permanent things. Marco was left depressed. And he is dead. There is nothing more to add."
Eddy Merckx (five time Tour winner)
"Pantani became a victim of the judicial system that continued to pursue him," Merckx told Het Laatste Nieuws. "Afterwards he was a broken man. I have always regarded him as an exceptional rider, as a champion who has earned his place in the gallery of the great climbers such as Gaul, Bahamontes, Jimenez and Van Impe."
Lucien van Impe (climber extraordinaire)
"Marco found it tough to come to terms with his success," Van Impe told Het Nieuwsblad. "In Italy he couldn't even go outside any more, his popularity prevented it and it was unbelievable. I consider Pantani to be the last real climber."
Jean-Marie Leblanc (Tour de France director)
"I am surprised because a champion is struck down at 34 years," Leblanc was quoted in L'Equipe. "And not just any champion: Marco forged an extremely strong path because he was a climber, a climber with panache. Everyone remembers his attacks on the Galibier or Luz Ardiden. I'm not surprised, because we all knew well that he did not negotiate the passage between the time of success, glory and money and the return to normal life. No doubt he was too alone, not healthy or not surrounded by anyone, too weak to face the temptations. This is a waste. I am always perplexed to see someone who has the drive, the character, the strength, the determination to be a champion and not the capacity to show the same aptitude for the time of sporting retirement."
Sandro Donati (CONI's medical advisor)
The medical advisor to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), Sandro Donati, expressed his frustration and anger at the death of Pantani. Donati, a campaigner for better health among Italian sportsmen and vociferously anti-doping, was one of those who did not want Pantani to go to the 2000 Olympics for health reasons.
"At the moment there are doctors who must have a terrible feeling of remorse," said Donati. "It is difficult to comment on, because for the past few years I've already said what was necessary to say, and I have been described as an enemy of sport."
Gianni Petrucci (CONI president)
The president of the CONI, Gianni Petrucci, was quoted by Radio RAI as saying, "Sport is a metaphor for life and the champion, at the bottom of it all, is still just a man. It is not banal; nothing is owed to us in this life that we are passing through and all of us need to be prepared.
"We all need to question ourselves about Marco. We should have intervened to correct certain hysterias and certain extremes. With the technical directors and the athletes I always talk about the "day after" when the floodlights are extinguished and they are lining up at the door of the post office.
"We are not all great enough to adapt to the see-saw of fame, riches and subsequent stress. With Marco I will always preserve a memory of an athlete determined and fragile. Of someone who wanted to win notwithstanding all the dramas that he had lived through."
Giuseppe Martinelli:
"For those who loved him there is only one word: tragedy. He was a phenomenon, and this cannot be denied. He was the number one of cycling, he became the symbol of evil. Certainly some didn't love him. And others have wanted too much. Make no mistake. He was a giant."
Manolo Saiz:
"He has been the best climber that I have known. He was a valiant rider and we have to remember moments like when he attacked Induráin."
Vincente Belda:
"We have lost two champions..." (speaking also of Jose Maria Jimenez)
Mario Cipollini:
"I am upset. It is a tragedy of enormous proportions for the whole bicycling world, it leaves an immense void. I am incredulous. All of the riders (at the Tour Med) are shocked by this event."
Stefano Garzelli:
"I do not have words, I am upset. This is difficult to believe."
Fernando Escartín:
"I am very upset and what comes to mind is Chava... [to leave cycling] is a very abrupt change and it is necessary to have one's head very well seated, it is necessary to be mentally strong because it is a very abrupt change of life to be mainly without the public that cheers one up. Cycling is very hard and you spend much time away from home, very alone and when you retire, your life changes an important way."
Franco Ballerini:
"It is a such a huge thing that doesn't seem true to me. I don't have words, it is impossible to find words."
Felice Gimondi:
"Marco has paid much too dear a price. For years he has been in the eye of the cyclone after having been number one in the world."
Mario Scirea, Fassa Bortolo, from the Tour Med:
"We are all upset. This is a deadly blow - news that I would never have expected."
A few impotant reactions to marcos passing...
Jan Ullrich
Marco Pantani was the only rider who stood between Jan Ullrich and victory in the 1998 Tour de France, when Il Pirata cracked Der Kaiser on a miserable day in the Alps. Pantani attacked on the Galibier and pressed home his advantage on Les Deux Alps. Ullrich, a victim of the cold and two punctures, finished 9 minutes down and lost the Tour.
Upon learning of his death, Ullrich remembered Pantani with the following words, written on his website janullrich.de: "I learned of the death of Marco Pantani with great consternation. His premature death has shaken all of us deeply. Marco had stamped himself on his time, through his style as a cyclist. It was not by chance that he was so popular. I can't and don't want to write more here because I have no background information."
Stefano Garzelli (former teammate)
"I can't find the words," Garzelli told L'Equipe. "It is again difficult to believe. I don't know what his state of health was. I saw him for the last time at the last Giro. I didn't know that this was possible. He has had a lot of pressure, even outside cycling. He was very strong but also very sensitive. Even a normal man would have had trouble to withstand it, imagine then an athlete."
Richard Virenque
"I am revolted," Virenque was quoted in L'Equipe. "I knew Marco was depressed. The media were really out for something. They attacked a depressed man. That can drive you to the worst extremities. It is dramatic. The same thing happened to him in Italy as to me in France. If you have a family around you to help you, you can overcome the situation, otherwise, you can do incomprehensible, permanent things. Marco was left depressed. And he is dead. There is nothing more to add."
Eddy Merckx (five time Tour winner)
"Pantani became a victim of the judicial system that continued to pursue him," Merckx told Het Laatste Nieuws. "Afterwards he was a broken man. I have always regarded him as an exceptional rider, as a champion who has earned his place in the gallery of the great climbers such as Gaul, Bahamontes, Jimenez and Van Impe."
Lucien van Impe (climber extraordinaire)
"Marco found it tough to come to terms with his success," Van Impe told Het Nieuwsblad. "In Italy he couldn't even go outside any more, his popularity prevented it and it was unbelievable. I consider Pantani to be the last real climber."
Jean-Marie Leblanc (Tour de France director)
"I am surprised because a champion is struck down at 34 years," Leblanc was quoted in L'Equipe. "And not just any champion: Marco forged an extremely strong path because he was a climber, a climber with panache. Everyone remembers his attacks on the Galibier or Luz Ardiden. I'm not surprised, because we all knew well that he did not negotiate the passage between the time of success, glory and money and the return to normal life. No doubt he was too alone, not healthy or not surrounded by anyone, too weak to face the temptations. This is a waste. I am always perplexed to see someone who has the drive, the character, the strength, the determination to be a champion and not the capacity to show the same aptitude for the time of sporting retirement."
Sandro Donati (CONI's medical advisor)
The medical advisor to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), Sandro Donati, expressed his frustration and anger at the death of Pantani. Donati, a campaigner for better health among Italian sportsmen and vociferously anti-doping, was one of those who did not want Pantani to go to the 2000 Olympics for health reasons.
"At the moment there are doctors who must have a terrible feeling of remorse," said Donati. "It is difficult to comment on, because for the past few years I've already said what was necessary to say, and I have been described as an enemy of sport."
Gianni Petrucci (CONI president)
The president of the CONI, Gianni Petrucci, was quoted by Radio RAI as saying, "Sport is a metaphor for life and the champion, at the bottom of it all, is still just a man. It is not banal; nothing is owed to us in this life that we are passing through and all of us need to be prepared.
"We all need to question ourselves about Marco. We should have intervened to correct certain hysterias and certain extremes. With the technical directors and the athletes I always talk about the "day after" when the floodlights are extinguished and they are lining up at the door of the post office.
"We are not all great enough to adapt to the see-saw of fame, riches and subsequent stress. With Marco I will always preserve a memory of an athlete determined and fragile. Of someone who wanted to win notwithstanding all the dramas that he had lived through."
Giuseppe Martinelli:
"For those who loved him there is only one word: tragedy. He was a phenomenon, and this cannot be denied. He was the number one of cycling, he became the symbol of evil. Certainly some didn't love him. And others have wanted too much. Make no mistake. He was a giant."
Manolo Saiz:
"He has been the best climber that I have known. He was a valiant rider and we have to remember moments like when he attacked Induráin."
Vincente Belda:
"We have lost two champions..." (speaking also of Jose Maria Jimenez)
Mario Cipollini:
"I am upset. It is a tragedy of enormous proportions for the whole bicycling world, it leaves an immense void. I am incredulous. All of the riders (at the Tour Med) are shocked by this event."
Stefano Garzelli:
"I do not have words, I am upset. This is difficult to believe."
Fernando Escartín:
"I am very upset and what comes to mind is Chava... [to leave cycling] is a very abrupt change and it is necessary to have one's head very well seated, it is necessary to be mentally strong because it is a very abrupt change of life to be mainly without the public that cheers one up. Cycling is very hard and you spend much time away from home, very alone and when you retire, your life changes an important way."
Franco Ballerini:
"It is a such a huge thing that doesn't seem true to me. I don't have words, it is impossible to find words."
Felice Gimondi:
"Marco has paid much too dear a price. For years he has been in the eye of the cyclone after having been number one in the world."
Mario Scirea, Fassa Bortolo, from the Tour Med:
"We are all upset. This is a deadly blow - news that I would never have expected."