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weekend

The ‘Propaganda Peloton’ paper

The rare Saturday post here coincides with the second and final day of the International Association of Communication and Sport’s summit in Dublin, Ireland. I spent almost the entire night finishing up the slides and notes for my presentation today.

I did get about two hours of sleep, and arrived at the conference just in time to see a morning session that included a presentation by one of our former professors, and also her daughter, who is a law student at Syracuse. I have photos of that young woman as a very little girl, and have now watched her give research for a few years. She’s been studying Name, Image, and Likeness in the NCAA and I’ve been trying to make the case that she could graduate from law school and carve herself a substantial niche in that brand new area. Whatever she does, she’ll be brilliant at it, just like her mother.

Later I gave my last presentation of the conference. This was actually inspired by someone else’s paper from last year. I sat in a conference room in Chicago and jotted notes last March and thinking I could do a similar, but different work. I had a topic that no one researches, one only barely discussed in the popular media.

And, then, last September, la Vuelta a España took place. There, and in the months to follow, we had an instance where sportswashing most decidedly did not work. So I talked to one of our friends and Sports CaM colleagues, Dr. Julia Richmond. I knew the story, but she knows propaganda. We batted it around, and she figured out precisely the way we should frame the work.

This version of the research was titled “Propaganda peloton: Sportswashing in professional cycling.”

If you need a citation: Smith, K.D. & Richmond, J. C. (2026, March 13-14). “Propaganda peloton: Sportswashing in professional cycling. [Conference presentation].” IACS 2026 Summit, Dublin, Ireland.

So today I gave our little example of how and when and why sportswashing didn’t actually work. (It usually does.) All it took was the specific circumstances of the sport of road cycling, like the lack of liminal space between fans and athletes, a history of protest, a route through the Basque country and one other thing …

I’m presenting this paper at #IACS26 in a few moments on behalf of @rowanuniversity.bsky.social and The Center for Sports Communication and Social Impact.

If you were here you could hear how the story turns out.

If you are here, it’s in room E206.

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— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.org) March 14, 2026 at 9:43 AM

Usually, sportswashing can be successful in road cycling. There are a lot of multinational petrochemical sponsors now. There are nation-states sponsoring teams. (Indeed, I used one of those to make a point in this presentation about budget disparities.) And while it can work in those other cases it didn’t work here because of genocide. By November, the Israel Premier Tech team was being denied entry into other races, riders were breaking contracts or outright retiring, IPT stepped away as the sponsor of the team in question a year early. Their owner also parted ways with the team.

And wouldn’t you know it, in the audience for this presentation was someone who knows all about this, and another scholar who has a friend that, until last year, drove for Premier Tech. But it’s interesting, and it worked because of what Richmond did to make it happen. I hope someone in the room knows her and tells her how I was bragging on her. She couldn’t be there, because she had to attend a wedding in the Caribbean.

He said jealously, in Dublin.

That’s two years in a row I’ve presented cycling research at this conference. I’m going to develop a reputation for doing that if I keep this up.

The IACS conference ended today. I attended a bunch of great sessions, met some lovely new people and saw some friends for all too short a period of time. Some of them we’ll see at next year’s conference. Others we won’t see until the conference goes abroad once again.

My lovely bride, who is the executive director of IACS, helped put on a great conference. Their largest ever attendance, despite this dumb new war in the Middle East keeping about four percent of the participants from attending. It was also their first hybrid conference with the people from Sport and Discrimination. And everyone seemed to have a good conference. Some of the board members celebrated at Il Corvo, a little four-star Italian restaurant just across the street. Because I know people, I was invited for this little dinner. I had the carbonara, which is a good litmus test for an Italian restaurant. If it’s good, you can be comfortable ordering other things on the menu. The carbonara was good. I guess we’ll have to come back again.

Poor me.

More on Monday, when we’ll be spring breaking.

adventures / Italy / Switzerland / video / weekend — Comments Off
29
Jun 25

Video from the Bernina Express

The grand finale of this wonderful vacation was a ride on the Bernina Express, a four-hour scenic train ride from Chur, Switzerland, to Tirano, Italy, crossing the Swiss Engadin Alps. We went over almost 200 bridges and dozens of tunnels. And the scenery … well, see for yourself.

Tomorrow we take a car from Tirano to Milan, and then onto our first plane ride, headed for home.

Time to start planning our next vacation, I guess.

adventures / Italy / photo / Switzerland / weekend — Comments Off
29
Jun 25

Riding the Bernina Express

Today we rode on the Bernina Express which, like yesterday’s ride on the Glacier Express, is a “Panorama Express.” It connects Chur, Switzerland, to Tirano, Italy by crossing the Swiss Engadin Alps a route designed for sightseeing, a route which was declared a World Heritage Site in 2008. You go over 196 bridges, through 55 tunnels and cross the Bernina Pass at 7,392 feet above sea level.

Like many of the trains we’ve seen, this one is electrified. Unlike some, this one does not use the cogwheel style to navigate the steeper gradients. This train route, which has been around for almost 120 years, does a few picturesque loops in choice places. But the scenery is grand everywhere, as you’ll see in the next video post.

Since we’re winding down — tomorrow we head home — I should take a customary moment to brag on the trip designer. My lovely bride put this whole thing together, from schedules to excursions, to places to sleep and many of the restaurants. As ever, she put together an amazing trip.

I just carried the luggage. And sweat through the heatwave.

Here’s another one of these amazing views on the Bernina Express route. This is a panorama, so you know what to do.

(Click to embiggen.)

At one of the really high up places the train actually for precisely eight minutes. You can get out on a landing which is high up in the mountains, and enjoy this view.

This route is a four-hour train ride. It is designed for tourists and isn’t the cheapest ticket. The people across from us did this the entire time.

When we exited the train in Tirano, we were in Italy, at the central train station, which is surely sufficient for the task, but hardly as grandiose as you might picture when you think of central train stations. The web told us there would be cabs aplenty waiting outside, but that wasn’t the case on an early Sunday evening.

Our hotel was a few miles away. Too far to walk. What to do, what to do.

Just across from the station there was tourist and newspaper kiosk. I walked over there. The guy said he spoke a little English, and he spoke a good amount of it.

He called every cab company in town, but everyone was busy. He helped us pirate the neighboring restaurant’s wifi, which bothered one of the waiters, but our guy — and I deeply regret not asking his name — did not care. Then, while still selling things to people as they passed through, he called the hotel and had them arrange a ride for us. They told him 10-15 minutes, and 15 minutes later, the ride showed up. If it wasn’t for the kiosk guy, we’d still be standing outside the train station instead of this beautifully restored rustic B&B. The The Contrada Beltramelli is probably the nicest place we’ve stayed on this trip, and the food is easily some of the most outrageously good food of the whole vacation. Plus! Despite part of this structure dating back to the 17th century, the rooms have air conditioning, helpful in this heat wave.

And while we’re leaving for home tomorrow, there’s still more to see. When you’re done exploring the Contrada Beltramelli’s site photos, come back here for some nice video highlights from today’s train ride. The views are definitely worth your time.

adventures / photo / Switzerland / video / weekend — Comments Off
29
Jun 25

St Martin Church, Chur

Before we caught the train out of Chur, we took a little walking tour of the Old Town. (Pronounce it “Coor.”) Two churches were on the agenda, but one of them was closed for visitors. St. Martin’s Church, however, was a highlight.

St. Martin’s square marks the historical north-south route through the inner city. The fountain, decorated with the signs of the zodiac, and the statue date to 1716. Much of it is still original. Also, it provides you cold water, which is a treat on a hot day like this.

Next to the fountain there’s a relief for the visually impaired, that gives a perspective on the entire city. St Martin’s is in the back of the shot, in the center of the relief. You can see the patina on the steeple.

It looks like this.

The Romanesque church was built in the 8th century, mostly destroyed 600 years later in one of those city-defining fires. Using parts of the original building, it was rebuilt in late Gothic style. It’s the largest late-Gothic church in the region. and was a critical part of the ancient town’s Reformation.

I doubt this door is original.

Wikipedia has a list of 116 churches named after St. Martin (there are five saints named Martin, our guy here is St. Martin of Tours) around the world, and this one isn’t even on the list!

After that fire, the tower was completed in 1534, complete with a watchman’s room and Renaissance dome. It stayed like that for 350 years, then got a neo-Gothic upgrade, which didn’t go over well in the neighborhood. Then came the current roof design in 1918 as part of a larger renovation. the tower was given a pointed roof as part of the church’s overall renovation.

I like the little details. This leaf is hand-carved in each of the congregations pews.

Off to the side, where musicians or choir members sit, are some other stylistic carvings.

At the end of the renovation, now 100-plus years ago, the nave received stained glass windows by Augusto Giacometti depicting the Christmas story. So these are relatively new parts of the church, still.

On the walk back to our hotel, and the train station, we passed some picture windows in the stores that had some antiques of their own. This looks like a National Cash Register (of Dayton, Ohio) Model 79, a nickle-plated number that they debuted in 1897. They’ll fetch you a pretty penny at an auction today, but what a beautiful showpiece.

Anyone want to guess what this is?

Figured it out yet?

Yeah?

No?

This is a cylindrical calculator. It will work out multiplication, division and more using graphically displayed logarithms. And if you need precision, you’re set up. This calculator is accurate to six decimal places. This is a smaller model, a 10

I’ve never seen one of those before.

You’re going to see some more sites you’ve never seen in the next post. I’ll be sharing a few of the views from our last train ride, today’s experience on the Bernina Express. Don’t miss it!

adventures / Switzerland / weekend — Comments Off
28
Jun 25

Riding the Glacier Express

We rode out of Zermatt on The Glacier Express, a panoramic train through the Swiss Alps. The whole route is a 181 mile experience, bypassing the local stops, and maximizing the views with great big windows. They call it the “slowest express train in the world.”

We didn’t take the whole journey, but stopped in Chur, which gave us most of the scenic views. We ambled our way to the Hotel of Three Kings, where we stayed on the second floor, after temporarily breaking the elevator. (All the luggage went in, something shifted and jammed the doors. The attendant had the special trick key to solve the problem. The rooms didn’t have air, which is important just now, but they did have fans, which were helpful. Chur — pronounce it “Coor” — is Switzerland’s oldest city. We’re only here for the night. We have one more scenic train ride to take tomorrow. But, first, enjoy a few of the views from the Glacier Express.

Tomorrow is our last train ride, taking us to our last stop on this grand adventure. We’ll ride the Bernina Express. Come back and see the views.