This column has long been in favor of harsh penalties for reckless, self-centered stupidity.
Now it’s looking like bicycle racing team Jumbo-Visma may be in agreement with us.
During the 1980s and 1990s, TV and newspaper coverage of the Tour de France was scant.
When American rider Greg LeMond began winning, coverage was still limited to a daily 30-minute TV roundup and a brief AP bulletin in our sports pages.
That changed when Lance Armstrong burst on the scene.
TV coverage extended to hours daily, as the entire race was broadcast.
Armstrong’s doping scandal and subsequent disgrace didn’t affect coverage and neither did the absence of U.S. winners.
One of the features of today’s minute-by-minute coverage are scenes of spectators crowding into the road as the riders come by, forcing them to weave their way through a limited area lined with screaming fans.
This actually comes as a shock to Americans.
The U.S. equivalent to allowing fans that close to the competitors would be to let football fans fill the end zones and line up on the hash-marks while the game proceeded.
Or, letting baseball fans line the basepaths while the players ran.
In the Tour, these fans originally were found on the mountain roads where speeds were reduced and riders came by in small groups.
Fans encouraged riders with national flags and cooling water as competitors labored their way up the mountain.
Some would run alongside riders for a short distance, trying to boost their morale.
TV has changed that as well.
Now many, if not most, of these fans aren’t trying to help riders, instead they're using the riders as an excuse to get their faces on TV globally, then boast about it to their buddies back home.
Instead of looking at the riders, these louts — usually young males — face the TV camera on the motorcycle accompanying the riders, vying for cheap and fleeting fame.
This year on Stage 15 it came to a head.
Some fool was attempting to take a selfie with the Peloton as a backdrop.
He extended his arm as his back was to the riders and he collided with Jumbo-Visma rider Sepp Kuss.
The idiot knocked Kuss off his bicycle and, according to ESPN, "[triggered] a pileup that sent two dozen riders to the deck, including two teammates of Kuss."
French police know the identity of this clown but he "would not be arrested unless Kuss would sue him."
A policy that doesn’t say much for French law enforcement.
The good news is Jumbo-Visma is considering suing.
Reuters reports a team spokesman said, "The team might [sue]. We'll find out how and when."
Here’s hoping Jumbo-Visma does sue and sues for a crippling amount.
This dangerous, reckless behavior won’t stop until there are real penalties accompanied by very real consequences.
We think justice would have been done if the perpetrator had been thrown to the ground while traveling at 25 miles per hour, just like the riders were.
In the absence of that punishment-fits-the-crime penalty, we’ll settle for litigation.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker's bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.