Lance Armstrong stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles

[TitoFan]

This about sums it up for me, too.


Rick Reilly: Armstrong still worth honoring - ESPN

That is a VERY Dumb article.

It says the author still supports Lance, although it's possible he may be guilty of taking PED's. No different than what a lot of other Armstrong supporters are saying.

[El Kabong]

Former Armstrong temmate Tyler Hamilton is coming out with a book that describes Lance and the blood doping & drug use in detail

Tyler Hamilton's new book 'The Secret Race' claims doping was a 'fact of life' with Lance Armstrong - NY Daily News

[Beanz]

This about sums it up for me, too.


Rick Reilly: Armstrong still worth honoring - ESPN

That is a VERY Dumb article.

It says the author still supports Lance, although it's possible he may be guilty of taking PED's. No different than what a lot of other Armstrong supporters are saying.

Exactly. It says even if he did cheat, which several people attest to him doing as well as owning up to doing so themselves,then the author doesn't care anymore? Mainly because everyone else was. I suppose then you do not take issue with Boxers using PED's because supposedly everyone is. This is the line of argument employed by Larry Olubamiwo.

[TitoFan]

This about sums it up for me, too.


Rick Reilly: Armstrong still worth honoring - ESPN

That is a VERY Dumb article.

It says the author still supports Lance, although it's possible he may be guilty of taking PED's. No different than what a lot of other Armstrong supporters are saying.

Exactly. It says even if he did cheat, which several people attest to him doing as well as owning up to doing so themselves,then the author doesn't care anymore? Mainly because everyone else was. I suppose then you do not take issue with Boxers using PED's because supposedly everyone is. This is the line of argument employed by Larry Olubamiwo.

If you bothered to read into the intent of the article, it basically says that the author (as well as a lot of other people) is not going to quit supporting Armstrong based on this witch-hunt (which it was, regardless of the actual events). And he's not withdrawing his support, mainly because of the inspiration that Armstrong has represented for millions of people, in a very worthwhile cause..... cancer.

To ignore Armstrong's positive influence on millions of people, and to compare him with the boxers who use PEDs..... is to be a bit unfair, IMO. Tell me..... how many boxers do you know of who have inspired even ONE person? Most of the PED users have been known to be self-serving assholes.

[Beanz]

This about sums it up for me, too.


Rick Reilly: Armstrong still worth honoring - ESPN

That is a VERY Dumb article.

It says the author still supports Lance, although it's possible he may be guilty of taking PED's. No different than what a lot of other Armstrong supporters are saying.

Exactly. It says even if he did cheat, which several people attest to him doing as well as owning up to doing so themselves,then the author doesn't care anymore? Mainly because everyone else was. I suppose then you do not take issue with Boxers using PED's because supposedly everyone is. This is the line of argument employed by Larry Olubamiwo.

If you bothered to read into the intent of the article, it basically says that the author (as well as a lot of other people) is not going to quit supporting Armstrong based on this witch-hunt (which it was, regardless of the actual events). And he's not withdrawing his support, mainly because of the inspiration that Armstrong has represented for millions of people, in a very worthwhile cause..... cancer.

To ignore Armstrong's positive influence on millions of people, and to compare him with the boxers who use PEDs..... is to be a bit unfair, IMO. Tell me..... how many boxers do you know of who have inspired even ONE person? Most of the PED users have been known to be self-serving assholes.

Priceless. I knew the authors intent before I read the article because he has been pedalling the same krap for a while now. Despite that I still read the article. If you are a cheat you are a cheat, inspiring people by fighting cancer is another issue entirely. How about your hero Ali? Are all these PED using boxers self-serving assholes? -Vitali Klitschko,Roy Jones jr, Mosely. If Manny is caught using will that render his homeless rat eating urchin, to charitable senator story uninspiring? No, but he will still be a cheat.

[Fenster]

The idea that Armstrong has done so much good for charity that it doesn't matter if he cheated is dumbfounding. Good people do bad things and vise versa.

It reminds me of a documentary film I watched about a Nobel Prize winning scientist/doctor. He is regarded as a genius by his peers. He identified diseases causing neurological problems. He basically saved tons of lives. He was also an unrepentant peadophile.

A genius, life saving child molester.

Daniel Carleton Gajdusek - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[TitoFan]

This about sums it up for me, too.


Rick Reilly: Armstrong still worth honoring - ESPN

That is a VERY Dumb article.

It says the author still supports Lance, although it's possible he may be guilty of taking PED's. No different than what a lot of other Armstrong supporters are saying.

Exactly. It says even if he did cheat, which several people attest to him doing as well as owning up to doing so themselves,then the author doesn't care anymore? Mainly because everyone else was. I suppose then you do not take issue with Boxers using PED's because supposedly everyone is. This is the line of argument employed by Larry Olubamiwo.

If you bothered to read into the intent of the article, it basically says that the author (as well as a lot of other people) is not going to quit supporting Armstrong based on this witch-hunt (which it was, regardless of the actual events). And he's not withdrawing his support, mainly because of the inspiration that Armstrong has represented for millions of people, in a very worthwhile cause..... cancer.

To ignore Armstrong's positive influence on millions of people, and to compare him with the boxers who use PEDs..... is to be a bit unfair, IMO. Tell me..... how many boxers do you know of who have inspired even ONE person? Most of the PED users have been known to be self-serving assholes.

Priceless. I knew the authors intent before I read the article because he has been pedalling the same krap for a while now. Despite that I still read the article. If you are a cheat you are a cheat, inspiring people by fighting cancer is another issue entirely. How about your hero Ali? Are all these PED using boxers self-serving assholes? -Vitali Klitschko,Roy Jones jr, Mosely. If Manny is caught using will that render his homeless rat eating urchin, to charitable senator story uninspiring? No, but he will still be a cheat.

You're a regular Rick Reilly reader, are you? Anyway... I was careful to say "most" PED users, as I'm not prone to broad generalizations. But many definitely are (self-serving), in the sense that they have little other "society-improvement" qualities. Fact is.... nothing was ever proven on Armstrong. Never failed a drug test... was never disqualified for refusing to take a drug test. A lot of it is circumstantial, and "sour grapes" testimony from beaten adversaries and jealous teammates. A few posts back, I refuted some "evidence" with facts. I won't repeat them again, but you're free to look back and read them. Why Armstrong decided to give trying to fend off the USADA is anybody's guess, but only he knows for sure. Whatever any of us has to say is pure speculation.

By the way.... where did you read that Ali was my hero?
Just curious.

[Beanz]

Evidence?

Balls, Wheels, Doping. • It's not about the bike

Michael Ashenden | NY Velocity - New York bike racing culture, news and events

The Science of Sport: Biological passport: Effective fight or futile failure?



How Lance Armstrong Can Rekindle Rick Reilly’s Career « FireRickReilly

[Nameless]

It,s just one of the many athletes that got caught for doping and has been able to elude it for a decade because his doctors and his techniques were ahead of the time. It,s like the Balco scandals, if it wasn't from an inside source, many athletes would have eluded tests; better doctors, new techniques...
There is way too many witnesses on that one and the samplers have been tested and re-tested and the labs who did perform it (including Chateau Malabry in France) are among the top labs in the world. Is he guilty? To me, 100%.

HOwever: the tour de France is notariously famous for being filled with enhancers users, back in the 60' the Pelissier brothers (Henri and Charles) were showing to reporters the pills and other stuff that they were handed by the tour managers in order to complete. At the time, the idea of cheating by taking enhancers wasn't spread neither much acknowledged.
In the meantime, these produces got prohibited and some tests (severe?) got imposed to find the cheaters but the cheating culture was already well rooted.

Though Amstrong deserves to lose his titles, what's sad is that he's just one of all those who did cheat, I am about certain that around 50% of the runners have some skeltons in their closet at some point and because he did win a lot, he's the one singled out for it.

[TitoFan]

It,s just one of the many athletes that got caught for doping and has been able to elude it for a decade because his doctors and his techniques were ahead of the time. It,s like the Balco scandals, if it wasn't from an inside source, many athletes would have eluded tests; better doctors, new techniques...
There is way too many witnesses on that one and the samplers have been tested and re-tested and the labs who did perform it (including Chateau Malabry in France) are among the top labs in the world. Is he guilty? To me, 100%.

HOwever: the tour de France is notariously famous for being filled with enhancers users, back in the 60' the Pelissier brothers (Henri and Charles) were showing to reporters the pills and other stuff that they were handed by the tour managers in order to complete. At the time, the idea of cheating by taking enhancers wasn't spread neither much acknowledged.
In the meantime, these produces got prohibited and some tests (severe?) got imposed to find the cheaters but the cheating culture was already well rooted.

Though Amstrong deserves to lose his titles, what's sad is that he's just one of all those who did cheat, I am about certain that around 50% of the runners have some skeltons in their closet at some point and because he did win a lot, he's the one singled out for it.

Then who should they award Armstrong's titles to? How can we be sure that the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. finishers in those races weren't doping? Should the race results just be nulled? If the USADA has taken it upon themselves to ostracize Armstrong and ruin his career and legacy..... they should be even-handed about it and ruin a lot of other rider careers as well. Don't you think?

Armstrong's last title was back in 2005. Here we are in 2012, stripping him of all 7 titles. Rightly or wrongly.... does this smell a little rotten to anybody?

Efforts to rid sports (all sports) of doping are anything but even-handed. Authorities seem to choose their pariahs and go after them like pitchfork-wielding villagers after a grizzly bear.

Now.... after the fact..... it's open season on the fallen Armstrong, and you can bet everybody and their brother will come forward with some "new" story about how Armstrong "did this" and "did that". Amazing.