If a certain sportsman has a reputation for being a 'difficult' interviewee when things haven't gone his way...
... it is NOT a good idea to try and interview him for the first time when he's just been narrowly (and perhaps unfairly) beaten after a very tough race and just wants to eat something and get back to the hotel.

Still, the doctors managed to sew my head back on okay. You can't even see the stitches.
(Capo, Mon 23 Apr 2012, 13:46, 16 replies)

There's nowhere near
enough info there to make it a story.
(username failed moderation, Mon 23 Apr 2012, 14:28, closed)

Really?
I didn't give specifics because I'm still in the same job and regularly interview him (thankfully with happier results than that initial encounter).

The salient points are there though - I should have known that it wasn't a good idea to wave a microphone under his nose in those circumstances, I did so anyway, and sporting woe ensued in the form of my head being figuratively bitten off.

Mind you, I reckon there's more than one person on B3ta who could look at my post and immediately correctly guess at the person concerned.
(Capo, Mon 23 Apr 2012, 14:42, closed)

Possibly.
There might be as many as three.

OK, well it was a fascinating glimpse into something. Good work.
(username failed moderation, Mon 23 Apr 2012, 14:58, closed)

was it
David Haye or Andy Murray?

Both are grumpy fannies and lose a lot.

Tim Henman?

Fatima Whitbread?
(magic the cat will someone please think of the kittens, Mon 23 Apr 2012, 16:32, closed)

There's a lot of grumpy sports people around I suppose
Fatima.. ouch :o)

I did say it was after a race, though, not boxing bout, tennis match or spear-throwing contest.
(Capo, Mon 23 Apr 2012, 18:02, closed)

You racist.

(StapMyVitals wouldn't mind a bit of that, Mon 23 Apr 2012, 20:31, closed)

I thought Cav* was getting tamer these days - or was it a while back?
* If not he, it definitely sounds like a cyclist though. And you're a Brit, and Wiggo tends not to win individual races.
( P-MONKE We're all fucked, Mon 23 Apr 2012, 22:54, closed)

Heh, knew someone would guess who it was
I've been in some small group interviews with him away from races and they're great, he's articulate, thoughtful, knows racing inside out and there's usually some laughs along the way too.

Race was last year, should have known he was in no mood to talk but I pressed on undaunted and I can kind of understand his reaction. Probably quite tame compared to what it would have been a couple of years earlier, mind, you're right, he has mellowed.
(Capo, Mon 23 Apr 2012, 23:04, closed)

AICMFP!
Last year, you say? Stage two in the Giro perhaps? Old sprinters get their wins by 'cunning' rather than pure speed lol.
Anyway, it's good to know that another B3tan has infiltrated sporting journalism :)
( P-MONKE We're all fucked, Mon 23 Apr 2012, 23:34, closed)

Impressed
Got the race correct too. His mood wasn't helped by fact that since he'd got into maglia rosa, he had to do all the TV stuff afterwards, sitting in the TV studio with AleJet next to him, after longest stage of race (242k from memory).
(Capo, Tue 24 Apr 2012, 10:04, closed)

I used to be a keen roadman in my yoof, but too many incidents with motor vehicles put me off in the end
Now I'm an elite level armchair cyclist ;)
British cycling has come on leaps and bounds over the last few years - It's such a shame that Joe Public here in the UK doesn't understand what an impact that the likes of Cavendish and Wiggins have had on the international scene.
All you usually hear about on the mainstream press is track cycling and the 'lympics. I get the distinct impression that our favourite sprinter has been coached into bigging up the olympic RR by his PR people over the last 12 months - a while back it was "Just one more race" now it's "an amazing chance to represent the UK" ;)
Anyways, next time you see him, please let him know that there's at least one middle aged bloke who jumps up and down in his living room screaming at the telly whenever he's up for a sprint!
( P-MONKE We're all fucked, Tue 24 Apr 2012, 11:04, closed)

Don't forget the drugs
Those stories make the mainstream press too ;o)

I think Cav wants to win the Olympics badly and has probably targeted it since London was announced as host. Whether it's realistic - nine times up Box Hill where in all probability there will be an attack each time, and only four team mates meaning you can't control the race as GB did in Copenhagen - is open to question. Let's hope he gives us something to cheer.

Was talking to a cabbie the other day who said four years ago he couldn't name one GB cyclist, now he can name four - Cav, Wiggins, Hoy, Pendleton - so the profile is going up very slowly, though surveys on watching/following sports shows it lags way behind even snooker or darts, let alone football, rugby, cricket. Shame.
(Capo, Wed 25 Apr 2012, 1:49, closed)

Ha!
Thought I recognised the writing style from ****.**, and yes, b3ta posting histories always kind of nuke any semblance of Internet anonymity. But you're a damn good cycling writer. ;)
(ChaRleyTroniC is invincible with his chips and cheese, Tue 24 Apr 2012, 22:59, closed)

Outed...!
Shhhhh...!

And thanks :o)
(Capo, Wed 25 Apr 2012, 1:50, closed)

Oh
is it cycling because rowers do races and it might have been Cracknell and he comes across as being a right tit.
( browser still relating boring anecdotes into a void on, Wed 25 Apr 2012, 10:51, closed)

Yup it's cycling
But I agree with you about Cracknell
(Capo, Wed 25 Apr 2012, 11:38, closed)