"Radio Shack" No More

[lostintime]

Yep . . .Rat Shack is no more . . . the stores with the half empty shelves has modified their name to "The Shack".
http://www.radioshack.com/theshack/

So what do we call the team now . . ."Team Shack" ?

We all know it's really just Team Lance . . . but I don't suppose The Shack would go for that

Maybe he'll follow this up with a new book called "It's Not About The Bike, Part II . . . It's About ME"

 

[53 x 11]

Not the news I was hoping for when I clicked on the thread title.

Would have been better if it read: "Radioshack Team no more after horrific acident; experts blame massive ego explosion."

 

[TrudyTas]

Not the news I was hoping for when I clicked on the thread title.

Would have been better if it read: "Radioshack Team no more after horrific acident; experts blame massive ego explosion."

Hilarious!

 

[anubisza]

hahaha, nice one.

 

[grimpeur]

More info here...

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/even_ceo_cant_figure_out_how

 

[ProTour]

I just recently bought some stuff for my computer there, the guys at the store were pretty excited to have Lance on their team. I like the place, the employees are always helpful, unlike at the larger stores.

 

[Indurrey]

Liveshack?

 

[Anonymous]

More info here...

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/even_ceo_cant_figure_out_how

Hilarious!

"There must be some sort of business model that enables this company to make money, but I'll be damned if I know what it is," Day said. "You wouldn't think that people still buy enough strobe lights and extension cords to support an entire nationwide chain, but I guess they must, or I wouldn't have this desk to sit behind all day."

 

[Hugh Januss]

Hilarious!

"There must be some sort of business model that enables this company to make money, but I'll be damned if I know what it is," Day said. "You wouldn't think that people still buy enough strobe lights and extension cords to support an entire nationwide chain, but I guess they must, or I wouldn't have this desk to sit behind all day."

Even though they try to be funny, the Onion usually seems to have a more realistic slant on thhe news than most other media outlets!

 

[VeloFidelis]

The US Postal Service ran in the red (in fact still does), and did not find it difficult to fund a world class cycling team. Don't confuse budgets with profits. Even a downward trending corporation has money to allocate for promotional purposes. USPS saw a direct benefit from it's involvement in cycling. It's not a stretch to believe that Radio Shack will as well.

 

[lostintime]

I thought the article was from The Onion was fairly accurate . . . because I wonder every time I go post or into a Rat Shack how they stay in business!


This seems a perfect marriage . . . . the aging cyclist on his last legs and the sagging retailer possibly on theirs.. ... .. both desperate to regain some old glory.


What better to way to regain youth than to merge with a hip new name like "The Shack" . . I think

I was rather looking forward to calling them Team RatShack myself!

 

[ThisFrenchGuy]

The US Postal Service ran in the red (in fact still does), and did not find it difficult to fund a world class cycling team. Don't confuse budgets with profits. Even a downward trending corporation has money to allocate for promotional purposes. USPS saw a direct benefit from it's involvement in cycling. It's not a stretch to believe that Radio Shack will as well.

I'm not familiar with Radio Shack but does it even compare to USPS? Postal service is pretty much present nationwide in every city, I suppose, and must have a gigantic payroll. RS have 37500 employees according to Wiki, USPS 750000+. USPS is also backed by the governement, so being in the red is much less taxing to them.

Indeed, big private companies will not shut down marketing and advertising completely when in the red. I think RS must be doing OK if they look forward to expand it though. If it runs in the average of other PT teams (6-10m), it might even be a good deal if the "LA bump" does wonders.

 

[md2020]

Another relevent Onion article.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/lance_armstrong_inspires_thousands

"PARIS—Cancer survivor Lance Armstrong's inspirational third-place Tour de France finish has motivated thousands of patients battling cancer to eventually finish third to their life-threatening disease."

 

[Bruce_Willis_97]

The CEO said they are still sitting on a fortune from RC cars in the 70's!!

Hilarious!!

I gotta admit my face twisted a bit when i saw the announcement of team radio shack...did crown fried chicken not pony up enough money???

 

[Murphyscu]

Shaquille O'neal did challenge Lance to a footrace, and did just sign that big contract . . . . Could you imagine the bike he would ride on for Team Shaq?

 

[SteveMedcroft]

More info here...

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/even_ceo_cant_figure_out_how

Come on! Citing a satirical news outlet (made-up and fake news for entertainment effect only) to support (edit - your negative opinion) about Lance Armstrong's new team sponsor is a biased way to begin a discussion? Whatever your personal issue with the Radio Shack stores and their company, having a well funded professional level team backed by a non-cycling sponsor is good for the business of cycling. It helps legitimize the sport beyond the boundaries of those of us who ride and race.

 

[ggusta]

Come on! Citing a satirical news outlet (made-up and fake news for entertainment effect only) to support your position that Lance Armstrong's new team sponsor is a biased way to begin a discussion? Whatever your personal issue with the Radio Shack stores and their company, having a well funded professional level team backed by a non-cycling sponsor is good for the business of cycling. It helps legitimize the sport beyond the boundaries of those of us who ride and race.

We love Lance, and everything associated with Lance. If Lance touches garbage, that garbage is suddenly the best garbage ever. We would never insult anything associated with the Cycling Messiah, who died from cancer, was reborn and rode to 7 tdf's on wings of angels. He is Risen, all Praise his Lance-ness. Amen!!!

c'mon 2010!

 

[SteveMedcroft]

We love Lance, and everything associated with Lance. If Lance touches garbage, that garbage is suddenly the best garbage ever. We would never insult anything associated with the Cycling Messiah, who died from cancer, was reborn and rode to 7 tdf's on wings of angels. He is Risen, all Praise his Lance-ness. Amen!!!

c'mon 2010!

Attacking my post is a way to deflect from discussion of the issue. We can discuss the merits of Radio Shack as a sponsor of a professional cycling team all you want. Cycling is a cheap sports sponsorship compared to most and a good value for a business.

The uphill battle team owners and race promoters (in the US at least) go through in securing sponsors is perception of the sport outside the walls of a site like ours - i.e. association with doping, thinking the Tour de France is the only event of merit on the calendar, etc.

Whether or not Radio Shack came to cycling only because of Lance's general appeal is irrelevant to me. That Radio Shack is spending money in the sport is a good thing for cycling.

 

[ThisFrenchGuy]

I think the question one could ask is what kind of events will Radio Shack aim at.

With LA on the team, i think the 2010 TdF is a given, and we all suspect the team will heavily cater to the rider. And it makes senses for the sponsor as well, since the TdF is the most important event and the only one from Europe to have any impact on the US.
But since you can't just race the TdF, they'll appear at least in one of the events considered as good preparation.
If they must rely on a wild card to get into TdF, they also maybe need to show some presence throughout the season.

Tour of California and Tour Down Under are likely. Maybe other Tours in countries where Radio Shack is relevant (is there any?).

Also, every super-domestique has its day, so I guess you could throw in a couple more prestigious races?

I have doubts that RS will aim one-day races (this year anyway).

It would be a good thing if Radio Shack sponsoring could outlive Armstrong (as a rider). Good for the sport, good for american cycling.

 

[Darrylc]

Yep . . .Rat Shack is no more . . . the stores with the half empty shelves has modified their name to "The Shack".
http://www.radioshack.com/theshack/

So what do we call the team now . . ."Team Shack" ?

We all know it's really just Team Lance . . . but I don't suppose The Shack would go for that

Maybe he'll follow this up with a new book called "It's Not About The Bike, Part II . . . It's About ME"

Oh dear, does this mean we are going to have to hear, 'here comes a shack attack' Barf time.

 

[Darrylc]

Not the news I was hoping for when I clicked on the thread title.

Would have been better if it read: "Radioshack Team no more after horrific acident; experts blame massive ego explosion."

love it

 

[racerralph]

Even though they try to be funny, the Onion usually seems to have a more realistic slant on thhe news than most other media outlets!

That's just it!!! Shows like Bill Maher's Real Time, Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, or Steven Colbert's The Colbert Report. Just tell the news. But the slant they put on it, makes you realize how absurd it all is. And since there is very little we can do about a lot of these everyday occurrences, At the very least we owe it to ourselves, to get a good laugh out of it all.

 

[Greyhound Velo]

"It's like walking into your grandpa's basement. You always expect to see something cool, but it never delivers."

That's the point, they may not have Ipods or 108" TV's to draw customers in, but when you really need a power converter for your 8 year old rechargeable whatchamacallit, they'll have it. I was just at my local RadioShack last week looking for a 1/8"-stereo-phono-plug-to-stereo-RC-plug conversion cable so I can hook my old computer speakers up to my TV, and the salesman handed me one 2 minutes after I walked in the door (and it was only five bucks). RadioShack will never be "cool", but it's definitely good to have one close by when you need geek-stuff.

 

[180mmCrank]

I presume they have moved on a bit from when we had one of these at school...

Radio Shack TRS-80 (Model I)

Catalog: 26-1001
Released: August 1977
Price: US $599.95 (with monitor)
How Many: 200,000 (1977-1981)
CPU: Zilog Z-80A, 1.77 MHz
RAM: 4K, 16K max*
Ports: Cassette I/O, video,
Expansion connector*
Display: 12-inch monochrome monitor
64 X 16 text
Expansion: External Expansion Interface*
Storage: Cassette storage*
OS: BASIC in ROM*
* Additional capabilties with Expansion Interface

 

[saxe_coburg_gotha]

Well done to "The Shack" sponsoring a cycling team. Good luck to them
There is a lot of synergy between them;
Mature Business (Past It but still needy)
Amercian (Yes and proud of it)
Selling broadcast equipment (Say no more yes we heard you the first time)

All this said it will produce results , new talent, widen the audience. It give something the Yanks can follow rather than "Borat" country.

Most interestingly it give Lance an opportunity to race "Prince Charming" (Vain selfish individual) Alberto Contadoris fair and square.