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Putting cyclists "under my car"

Updated at 3 p.m. Tuesday: Bernie Miklasz, the host of a sports program on KSLG-AM 1380 (1380ESPN) in St. Louis and the lead sports columnist of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, briefly was embroiled in a controversy regarding an anti-cycling remark made on his show.

On his program Friday, one of the other people on the show that day said he would like to put cyclists "under my car."

Today, Miklasz made this statement about the situation at his online forum at STLToday.com:

The comment was made by Max Leinwand who sat in on the Friday show, as he does most Fridays. He works as a producer and writer and editor for Fox Sports Net.

And he will issue a formal apology when he goes on the air Friday - he will do so at my request. The apology will also be posted on the station web site.

I did not make the statement and did not even hear the comment as it was made. As I said previously, I am running a show in a studio where 5 voices are in the mix. Plus, I am continuously online, checking e- mails.

What I want to know is, who is going to be man enough to apologize to me for falsely attributing the comment to me? Who on these cycling web sites will have the decency to acknowledge that they have made a mistake by erroneously identifying me as the person who made the comment?

I have been contacted by attorneys who are prepared to file suit on my behalf. I do not wish to do that and will dismiss the thought as long as a gentlemany request is fulfilled.

We all make mistakes, and so a formal apology to me will suffice. It would be just as appropriate as me asking Max to apologize for making his regrettable comment. He made the comment in jest, but the remark was out of line and inappropriate nonetheless.

The question I have is: once Max issues his apology at my request, will the leaders of the cycling community who falsely attributed the comment to me display the basic decency of admitting their serious error by offering a gentleman's apology?

As a driver, I always treat cyclists with respect. But I won't stand for false accusations - the lies being told against me.

We'll see who has honor, and who does not.

Below is the transcript of the show as transcribed by a member of the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation. You can listen to it yourself here: http://archive.streamaudio.com/kslg_am/bernie_miklasz_show%206-2-06.wma. The transcript comes from about 2 hours and 20 minutes into the show.

Miklasz: Adam from his Blackberry e-mails. This is a good one. I like this. Adam I'm praising you in advance

Adam's e mail: "You know what gives me the ass, these people who think they are Lance Armstrong riding their bikes in the middle of the city street like it's their own personal race track. Traffic in both directions must navigate around these people and that really burns my ass."

Miklasz: That's a good one, that's a really good one. Why do these bike riders dress like they're Lance Armstrong? Why? You're not in the Tour de France, you're not even in the Tour de Georgia. You're in Forest Park. Nobody cares.

Other DJ: Respect the bike rider but the bike rider must understand where he belongs on the road ... stay to the shoulder

Voice (speaking at the same time as the other DJ) : Under my car.

While it is regrettable the remark was made by someone on his show, I must give Bernie credit for finding the answers and sharing them publicly and promptly. As best as I can tell, the reason why the quote was attributed to him because the voice did sound a lot like his.

Unlike cases in Cleveland, Houston and Raleigh, N.C., where the radio hosts allowed the anti-cycling rants to rage on, Bernie quickly went on to the next subject once the statement was made.

I've read hundreds of Bernie's columns a lot over the years. Upon retrospect, the comment definitely was out of character for the normal tone of his commentaries. That's why I was careful to present Bernie's side of the story in an earlier version of this post, in which he said he did not make the remark and wasn't sure at the time who made it.

I, for one, regret any role I had in fanning the flames against Bernie. The way he handled this firestorm shows he is truly a class act.

Roger 2 comments links to this post 1:21 AM

Comments:

Yeah, Bernie's a class act who threatens to sue people at the drop of a hat.

 Anonymous : 8:59 PM

 

Where's the outrage over this Max Leinwad character? He basically made light of killing people. Maybe we should be writing HIS boss at Fox. The guy is being FORCED to give an apology. No evidence he stepped forward on his own accord. Does he have a conscience. Evidently, he thinks it's real funny making jokes about killing cyclists. ha ha. funny funny. The sad part about how this whole thing unfolded was that the focus became the honest mistake made by someone transcribing the broadcast, rather than validation of aggression toward cyclists. What a lose-lose situation for everyone. Just makes me sick. Bill H.

 Anonymous : 10:31 PM

 

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