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Lance Armstrong won't fight doping charges

Bruce Jenner accused of doping. Proof -look at his current marriage.
 
Is it ok to think that he cheated AND that he has been the victim of an unfair witchhunt?
 
I think it's difficult to reconcile the humanity of our heroes. You see that with Paterno, Armstrong, Bill Clinton, etc. It is possible or someone to do something heroic and also something deplorable. Probably the case with Armstrong. I've never really cared for the guy, but it seems his net impact on the world is positive.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
Do you feel that way about Marion Jones?
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I don't remember the details of how she was caught, etc., but I thought that it was part of the larger BALCO investigation. If so, then no I probably don't believe she was the victim of an unfair witch hunt.
 
ibleedgoldandblack said:
I don't remember the details of how she was caught, etc., but I thought that it was part of the larger BALCO investigation. If so, then no I probably don't believe she was the victim of an unfair witch hunt.
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She was apparently "randomly drug tested" at every single event she ran in after the suspicion started, but yes she did herself in with a testimony flub in the BALCO case.
 
Hopefully this will teach ESPN and the rest of the media not to force goddamn bike riders down our throats anymore. It's one thing to tell us he won (I mean they give WNBA scores too), but they also used the ESPY's to give him a fucking handjob every year.
 
I have mixed emotions about this whole thing. Part of me is all "good for him" for not putting up with the inquiries anymore and just letting the shitstorm pass over. The flipside to that is the "what an asshole" for throwing in the towel and not defending himself against the charges more than he has. In my head I know it all reeks of guilt, but the idealist in me wanted to believe that FINALLY there was an undisputed 'best' of something. Even as it all went on, I know his access to the best of doctors (and drugs) allowed the team to get away with more while still 'passing' drug tests... but with the badass Nike commercial and the human interest side to his story (cancer) I wanted (and still want) to believe.
At this point, I think it's all just stupid. Strip his titles, whatever. He still won. He beat a bunch of other guys WHO WERE ALSO DOPING. They all do it, it's sad that personal vendettas against Lance turned it into a vicious witch hunt against him (and yes, I do believe regardless of everything he is a victim here). Any of these guys could have their lives and samples delved into and would come out on the bad side of things. I hate how they all throw eachother under teh bus as though they're all clean as whistles and it's only a couple guys who do it.
I hope this does not affect his charity or his philanthropic work.

As an aside, I am interested now to see what Nike does. LIVESTRONG is a big brand for them...
 
Deacfreak07 said:
I think it's difficult to reconcile the humanity of our heroes. You see that with Paterno, Armstrong, Bill Clinton, etc. It is possible or someone to do something heroic and also something deplorable. Probably the case with Armstrong. I've never really cared for the guy, but it seems his net impact on the world is positive.
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I don't see any reason to turn athletes or artists into heroes. We should just enjoy watching people do what they are good, or great, at. Hell, I can even enjoy country music, or curling, if the performers are good enough.
 
lbE08 said:
but the idealist in me wanted to believe that FINALLY there was an undisputed 'best' of something
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In cycling there already was ... nothing is going to change that

Eddy_Merckx.jpg
 
Heard guys on the radio complaining that he wasn't fighting this any more if he really is innocent....which just pisses me off.

Legal battles are so goddamned expensive and it's obvious that the USADA is never going to let this go until they win a judgement or get Armstrong to admit he doped....what he's doing now just allows him to put an end to all the legal stuff without admitting anything and while everyone will assume this is a passive/indirect admission of guilt, there's still no scientific evidence of his guilt and he will always be able to stand by his story without being millions of dollars further into a pointless legal battle.

Rules are rules, but something is obviously up with cycling if something like 9 out of the last 12 TdF champions have been "caught" doping.
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
That's more damning than any doping investigation.
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Huh - did you read the piece? Lance gets no money, not even expenses from Livestrong. It's fully firewalled, and even that (biased) writer agrees with that. And Livestrong doesn't present itself as an organization that funds research - it's mission to assist people and families who are currently living with the disease, and they do a very good job of that.

That piece is pretty much a hatchet job that says absolutely nothing. You have to understand - the cycling press HATES Lance. Always has. I'm not the world's biggest LA fan, but stuff like that makes his opponents look so petty and ridiculous. Just getting Texas Prop 15 passed alone was an immense accomplishment in the fight against cancer, and that was almost entirely Lance.
 
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Deadspin pointed out that all 7 of his titles would be awarded to riders with PED scandals.

1999: Alex Zülle (confessed to EPO use)
2000: Jan Ullrich (suspended from 2006 Tour; banned this year and stripped of all results from 2005 on)
2001: Jan Ullrich
2002: Joseba Beloki (kept out of 2006 Tour while under doping investigation, later cleared)
2003: Jan Ullrich
2004: Andreas Klöden (accused of illegal blood transfusion in the 2006 Tour)
2005: Ivan Basso (confessed to attempted doping, suspended)



Crazy stuff... I'm all for controlling PEDs and keeping them away from sports by nearly any means possible but damn... sure seems like the cycling and anti-doping organizations should have just cut their losses a few years back and devoted all future efforts on the present and future. Moves like this (stripping Lance's titles, etc) are almost always done to restore credibility but when you have a list like the one above... it does quite the opposite.
 
vadimivich said:
Huh - did you read the piece? Lance gets no money, not even expenses from Livestrong. It's fully firewalled, and even that (biased) writer agrees with that. And Livestrong doesn't present itself as an organization that funds research - it's mission to assist people and families who are currently living with the disease, and they do a very good job of that.

That piece is pretty much a hatchet job that says absolutely nothing. You have to understand - the cycling press HATES Lance. Always has. I'm not the world's biggest LA fan, but stuff like that makes his opponents look so petty and ridiculous. Just getting Texas Prop 15 passed alone was an immense accomplishment in the fight against cancer, and that was almost entirely Lance.
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I saw that Lance doesn't take money from the organization. The article certainly doesn't portray Livestrong in a very good light.
 
deacphan said:
it's funny the difference in treatment between him and his fundraising versus LBJ and "the decision."
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It's also funny the difference in treatment between apples and bowling balls.
 
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