Why do my hard earned tax dollars support a bike team?

Ken Very Big Li

On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 19:28:35 +0200, David Off <david.off_dumpthisbit_@voila.fr>
wrote:

>Ronde Champ wrote:
>
>> I work hard for my money
>
>no you don't, you spend most of the day on r.b.r

ROTFLMAO! A truer statement has never been made on r.b.r.

Churchill

"Marty Wallace" <mart@geo.net.au> wrote in message
news:40ed3cff$0$27218$61ce578d@news.syd.swiftdsl.com.au...
>
> "Sam" <marathonman@mindspring.com> wrote in message news:-
> iPaHc.9293$oD3.7611@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> >
> > "Alex Rodriguez" <adr5@columbia.edu> wrote in message
> > news:cchmff$o7$2@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu...
> > > In article
> > > <152f6cbe.0407070758.11ce6549@posting.google.com>,
> > > rondechamp@aol.com says...
> > > >Hey, Why does the US federal Government support a
> > > >bike team in France? I work hard for my money, and
> > > >think the taxes I pay could be better used. What a
> > > >Boondoggle!
> > >
> > > Like any other company, you have to advertise to get
> > > more business.
> USPS
> > > wanted to get more customers in Europe to use their
> > > service, so they
> > sponser
> > > a bicycle racing team. For the money they spend, they
> > > get an
excellent
> > > return on investment. So they continued to do so until
> > > ignorant folks started to complain.
> > > -------------
> > > Alex
> > >
> >
> > I would like to see some proof that they are getting
> > bang for their buck
> in
> > terms of promotion and advertising. I doubt they are.
> >
> >
>
> My God you're an idiot. The fastest rider and the fastest
> team in the biggest race in the world! And you want proof?
> If you don't think thats good promotion and advertising
> then you tell us what is.
>
> Marty

Speaking as a non-American I would never have heard of the
"USPS" if it wasn't for the Tour, so their marketing worked
in my case

USPS is smart to do this, they are getting all of Europe
focused on their name, cycling 'I sense' is much more
popular in Europe than North America

Mike

In article <VucHc.45732$JG5.989020@news20.bellglobal.com>, Churchill wrote:
>
> "Marty Wallace" <mart@geo.net.au> wrote in message news:4-
> 0ed3cff$0$27218$61ce578d@news.syd.swiftdsl.com.au...
>>
>> "Sam" <marathonman@mindspring.com> wrote in message news-
>> :iPaHc.9293$oD3.7611@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>> >
>> > "Alex Rodriguez" <adr5@columbia.edu> wrote in message
>> > news:cchmff$o7$2@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu...
>> > > In article
>> > > <152f6cbe.0407070758.11ce6549@posting.google.com>,
>> > > rondechamp@aol.com says...
>> > > >Hey, Why does the US federal Government support a
>> > > >bike team in France? I work hard for my money, and
>> > > >think the taxes I pay could be better used. What a
>> > > >Boondoggle!
>> > >
>> > > Like any other company, you have to advertise to get
>> > > more business.
>> USPS
>> > > wanted to get more customers in Europe to use their
>> > > service, so they
>> > sponser
>> > > a bicycle racing team. For the money they spend, they
>> > > get an
> excellent
>> > > return on investment. So they continued to do so
>> > > until ignorant folks started to complain.
>> > > -------------
>> > > Alex
>> > >
>> >
>> > I would like to see some proof that they are getting
>> > bang for their buck
>> in
>> > terms of promotion and advertising. I doubt they are.
>> >
>> >
>>
>> My God you're an idiot. The fastest rider and the fastest
>> team in the biggest race in the world! And you want
>> proof? If you don't think thats good promotion and
>> advertising then you tell us what is.
>>
>> Marty
>
> Speaking as a non-American I would never have heard of the
> "USPS" if it wasn't for the Tour, so their marketing
> worked in my case
>
> USPS is smart to do this, they are getting all of Europe
> focused on their name, cycling 'I sense' is much more
> popular in Europe than North America
>
>

Also, I think the USPS is privatized and therefore not
supported by the US government. Complain instead about how
the US government does support the US automakers, US
highways, and the US petrolium industry. Talk about a
boondoggle. Since when is it the responsibility of any
government to 'bail out' a corporation (Chrysler) or a city
(New York)?

Mike

Mark Weaver

"Churchill" <yes@yes.com> wrote in message news:VucHc.45732
>
> Speaking as a non-American I would never have heard of the
> "USPS" if it wasn't for the Tour, so their marketing
> worked in my case
>
> USPS is smart to do this, they are getting all of Europe
> focused on their name, cycling 'I sense' is much more
> popular in Europe than North America

>

But this is pointless because the USPS doesn't serve
European customers. That is, as I understand it, Europeans
can't even use the USPS to send mail or packages from Europe
to the US.

However, even though cycling isn't as popular here, Lance
has very high name recognition in the US and the
commercials featuring him racing through "sleet, snow,
gloom of night, etc" are actually pretty effective images
for a delivery service.

As for the USPS advertising in general -- of course they
have to advertise. They're in competition with FedEx, UPS,
Airborne, etc for the package delivery business, which is
the potential growth area. The rise of the Internet has
greatly increased package delivery (due to internet
shopping) while it has reduced ordinary mail delivery (due
to email).

Mark

Werehatrack

On Thu, 8 Jul 2004 10:08:57 -0400, "Churchill" <yes@yes.com> wrote:

>Speaking as a non-American I would never have heard of the
>"USPS" if it wasn't for the Tour, so their marketing worked
>in my case
>
>USPS is smart to do this, they are getting all of Europe
>focused on their name, cycling 'I sense' is much more
>popular in Europe than North America

It's not bad advertising in the US, either, and having seen
the budget numbers for what they spent supporting Lance & Co
a couple of years ago, I think they're doing pretty well
particularly since they're getting a lot more than just some
forgettable and tawdry billboards and print ads. (By
comparison, it would have cost several times as much to
support a NASCAR entry of any note, and would not have given
them a penny's worth of international recognition, nor would
it have reached the upper-echelon US business decision-
makers whose attention they also wanted to draw.)

Recently, of course, the fact that Lance has been winning
*in France* has been scoring points with some of the less
intellectual Americans. They demand their bread and circuses
loudly. (Some of our local post offices were selling USPS
cycling jerseys a few months back, and they sold out rather
quickly. I was surprised that this was the case.)
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to
reply via email. Surrealism is a pectinated ranzel.

Drs

"Werehatrack" <rault00@earthWEEDSlink.net> wrote in message
news:vrsqe0dlo3605m4u7r7bdbgfn6gr6spa4s@4ax.com

[...]

> Recently, of course, the fact that Lance has been winning
> *in France* has been scoring points with some of the less
> intellectual Americans.

How could anyone be impressed by beating a bunch of cheese-
eating surrender monkeys? :-)

--

A: Top-posters.
B: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

Alex Rodriguez

In article
<iPaHc.9293$oD3.7611@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
marathonman@mindspring.com says...

>I would like to see some proof that they are getting bang
>for their buck in terms of promotion and advertising. I
>doubt they are.

Ask the USPS. They have the numbers.
-------------
Alex

Alex Rodriguez

In article
<zRaHc.9294$oD3.721@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
marathonman@mindspring.com says...
>But USPS does not pay taxes on the building or land it owns
>as does FedEx and UPS which is a big business advantage.
>Even with the monopoly it has, it cannot make money. Some
>people should be fired and the postal carriers union is
>part of the blame. Can anyone show proof that sponsoring a
>bike team increased their market share?

Other companies don't have to deliver to every single
address in the country.
---------------
Alex

David Kerber

In article <ccjtd5$hoc$1@lust.ihug.co.nz>,
drs@remove.this.ihug.com.au says...
> "Werehatrack" <rault00@earthWEEDSlink.net> wrote in
> message news:vrsqe0dlo3605m4u7r7bdbgfn6gr6spa4s@4ax.com
>
> [...]
>
> > Recently, of course, the fact that Lance has been
> > winning *in France* has been scoring points with some of
> > the less intellectual Americans.
>
> How could anyone be impressed by beating a bunch of cheese-
> eating surrender monkeys? :-)

I don't even know if there are any French in the race; the
top competition is Spanish, Italian, German and American,
with a few Aussies, Dutch, and Russians thrown into the mix.

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in
the newsgroups if possible).

S O R N I

David Kerber wrote:
> I don't even know if there are any French in the race

Didn't the French national champion almost win today's
stage?

Bill "no quips about quitting, either" S.

Luigi De Guzman

On Thu, 8 Jul 2004 12:46:05 -0400, David Kerber
<ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net> wrote:

>In article <ccjtd5$hoc$1@lust.ihug.co.nz>,
>drs@remove.this.ihug.com.au says...
>> "Werehatrack" <rault00@earthWEEDSlink.net> wrote in
>> message news:vrsqe0dlo3605m4u7r7bdbgfn6gr6spa4s@4ax.com
>>
>> [...]
>>
>> > Recently, of course, the fact that Lance has been
>> > winning *in France* has been scoring points with some
>> > of the less intellectual Americans.
>>
>> How could anyone be impressed by beating a bunch of cheese-
>> eating surrender monkeys? :-)
>
>I don't even know if there are any French in the race;
>the top competition is Spanish, Italian, German and
>American, with a few Aussies, Dutch, and Russians thrown
>into the mix.

There are lots. Today's Maillot Jaune is the French
National Champion.

The French are in an awful Tour de France slump, though.

-Luigi

Dave Jackson

In article <MPG.1b57444a99a7d9a6989881@news.ids.net>,
David Kerber <ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net> wrote:

> In article <ccjtd5$hoc$1@lust.ihug.co.nz>,
> drs@remove.this.ihug.com.au says...
> > "Werehatrack" <rault00@earthWEEDSlink.net> wrote in
> > message news:vrsqe0dlo3605m4u7r7bdbgfn6gr6spa4s@4ax.com
> >
> > [...]
> >
> > > Recently, of course, the fact that Lance has been
> > > winning *in France* has been scoring points with some
> > > of the less intellectual Americans.
> >
> > How could anyone be impressed by beating a bunch of cheese-
> > eating surrender monkeys? :-)
>
> I don't even know if there are any French in the race;
> the top competition is Spanish, Italian, German and
> American, with a few Aussies, Dutch, and Russians thrown
> into the mix.

Haha, man he has to be talking about the Green Bay Packers!

Dave in Minnesota

Leo Lichtman

"DRS" wrote:
Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet? THIS REMARK:
How could anyone be impressed by beating a bunch of cheese-
eating surrender monkeys?

Biff Stephens

The USPS is run as a private company. I am sure they get
help from the government and many many tax breaks but it is
(by the most part) a private org.

Biff

"Dave Jackson" <dave@NOSPAMcpointgr.com> wrote in message
news:dave-C0011C.12141908072004@netnews.comcast.net...
> In article <MPG.1b57444a99a7d9a6989881@news.ids.net>,
> David Kerber <ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net> wrote:
>
> > In article <ccjtd5$hoc$1@lust.ihug.co.nz>,
> > drs@remove.this.ihug.com.au says...
> > > "Werehatrack" <rault00@earthWEEDSlink.net> wrote in
> > > message
> > > news:vrsqe0dlo3605m4u7r7bdbgfn6gr6spa4s@4ax.com
> > >
> > > [...]
> > >
> > > > Recently, of course, the fact that Lance has been
> > > > winning *in
France*
> > > > has been scoring points with some of the less
> > > > intellectual
Americans.
> > >
> > > How could anyone be impressed by beating a bunch of
> > > cheese-eating
surrender
> > > monkeys? :-)
> >
> > I don't even know if there are any French in the race;
> > the top competition is Spanish, Italian, German and
> > American, with a few Aussies, Dutch, and Russians thrown
> > into the mix.
>
> Haha, man he has to be talking about the Green Bay
> Packers!
>
> Dave in Minnesota