Lance Armstrong appears finally to have run out of rope. (Read 2702 times)


Feeling the growl again

    except:

     

    In 2006, Time named him in the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. He is currently a Senior Advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox.

     

    Like I said.  Complete buffoon.  Influential =/= smart.  They've also named Putin, Arafat, Hitler, and similar as men of the year

    "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

     

    I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

     

      I agree. 

       

      I'm just saying it's easy to ignore a buffoon when he/she has no influence.  When a guy says baseball players who cheat will be thanked later and the guy has a high position on one of the top baseball teams it annoys me. 

       

       

       

       

        I don't get how the government keeps getting brought into this discussion.  The USADA is not a government agency.

         

        It's because I'm not too smart... I didn't read the articles presented, and I assumed that it would lead to something like what Clemens is going through (and all of baseball went through a few years ago).

        Life Goals:

        #1: Do what I can do

        #2: Enjoy life

         

         

          I assume there's also the matter of the US Post Office money going to the team he was on. 

           

           

           

           

             If your kid is a promising athlete and loses a kidney because he begins doping in high school without your knowledge because his heroes do it, then you will realize what a big deal this is. Yes, that IS GOING ON IN HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS. 

             

            Lance Armstrong is a lier, a thief, and a cheat as was his teammates who got caught and admitted that they all did it. There is a mountain of evidence for this conclusion even if it took this long to build a solid case against him. The real athletic heroes are the guys and gals on this forum that push themselves against long odds and with no Nike endorsement or other financial backing, and achieve great things, WITHOUT cheating their way to personal victory.

             

            If you really think this is not big deal, how would you feel to learn that you came in 2nd in the biggest race of your life because the guy who won skipped a couple of miles but was never caught? Does that put it into perspective for you?

             

            Scott

             

            1.  Athletes use PEDs because they work, not because their heroes do it.   

             

            2.  I'm waiting to hear about the high school kid who decided to use EPO or recycle his blood because he thinks Lance did it.  I suspect I'll find more kids who were empowered by Lance's recovery from cancer.  (Yes, he really did have cancer.) 

             

            3.  Your hypothetical is a little confused.  Let's look at the 2005 TdF to deconstruct your questions.

              

               Second place: Ivan Basso.  2-year ban for doping (he claims he only planned to use EPO, but never got to).

               Third place: Jan Ullrich.  Stripped of that finish for doping.

               Fourth place: Francisco Mancebo.  Didn't start 2006 because of doping.

               Fifth place: Alexandre Vinokourov.  Banned in 2007 for 2 years after failing a doping test. 

               Sixth place: Levi Leipheimer.  Failed doping test.

               Seventh place:  Michael Rasmussen.  Banned for two years for skipping scheduled doping tests.

               and so on

             

            Let's reformulate your question.  What if you came in 2d in the biggest race of your life because you couldn't catch the guy who skipped the same couple of miles that you skipped?  My response would be to suck it up and move on.  You lost.   

            LedLincoln


            not bad for mile 25

              The point is, you do not win a contest if you don't play by the rules of the contest.  Lance did not win TdF if he cheated.  Rosie Ruiz did not win the Boston Marathon in 1980.  She skipped a few miles.  Using needles is the doping equivalent.

               

              The sad thing is now we don't know who won those races.  Maybe #2, maybe #142.


              Why is it sideways?

                I guess for me, it's like this. Lance had a chance to be a leader in his sport and work with authorities to clean it up. It wouldn't have been easy, but I think he could have figured out how to do this without damaging his reputation as a hard worker, a powerful athlete, and a cancer survivor. Imagine if he could have added "anti-doping crusader" to this list of accomplishments.

                 

                Instead, he has used his power within the sport to undermine any attempt to make it clean.  That seems to me like the wrong decision--both ethically and in terms of his larger legacy as a person and an athlete.

                 

                I think that pettiness on behalf of some folks (LeMond) early on in this process contributed to Lance making this bad decision, and who knows whether the USADA could have worked better with him on it. My guess is that there is plenty of blame to go around. 

                  I don't get how the government keeps getting brought into this discussion.  The USADA is not a government agency.

                   

                  No but it does get a lot of its funding from the US government through drug control grants, so the "spending of government money" critique is still valid.  The question becomes whether fighting doping in sports is in the best interest of the public and should be a government priority.  I think it should.  Others have said they think it shouldn't be.

                  Runners run

                    1.  Athletes use PEDs because they work, not because their heroes do it.

                     

                    This argument seems a bit flawed for me.  For an up and coming high school athlete the best evidence that PED's "work" is that their heroes do it and get away with it.  It reinforces the notion that it's worth it and that it is the only path to success.

                    Runners run

                      I don't get how the government keeps getting brought into this discussion.  The USADA is not a government agency.

                      Okay...so you just want to drink ANY milk they ship out?  

                      "If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus


                      Feeling the growl again

                        I'm just saying it's easy to ignore a buffoon when he/she has no influence.  When a guy says baseball players who cheat will be thanked later and the guy has a high position on one of the top baseball teams it annoys me. 

                         

                        Ah.  Now I get your point.  And it is a good one.

                        "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                         

                        I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                         


                        Feeling the growl again

                           Lance had a chance to be a leader in his sport and work with authorities to clean it up. It wouldn't have been easy, but I think he could have figured out how to do this without damaging his reputation as a hard worker, a powerful athlete, and a cancer survivor. Imagine if he could have added "anti-doping crusader" to this list of accomplishments.

                           

                           

                          Paula Radcliffe.  An athlete who ran a few truly outlandish and freaky performances -- much freakier than Lance -- yet I believe to this day was completely clean.  Why?  In addition to passing all tests she had them freeze extra samples so they could go back at a later date and test them again when the testing methodology had been improved.  That's a heck of a gamble for someone to take if they are dirty.  Since that time they've developed the HGH test, among others.

                          "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                           

                          I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                           

                            one of the top baseball teams it annoys me. 

                             

                             

                            Heh, heh.  5th place in the AL East baby!

                            Runners run

                              I don't get how the government keeps getting brought into this discussion.  The USADA is not a government agency.

                               

                              USADA:

                               

                              As a non-profit, non-governmental agency, our programs:
                              • Provide deterrence and preservation of sport for athletes, coaches, students, teachers, parents, scientists and more through education and resources;
                              • Include numerous protections for athletes to ensure that only athletes who are guilty of a doping violation are sanctioned;
                              • Strive to systematically identify and sanction those individuals who are engaged in the effort to gain an advantage over athletes who are competing clean; and
                              • Fund pioneering research for the detection of doping substances and techniques, and the pursuit of scientific excellence in doping control.

                               

                              The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff

                               

                              2014 Goals:

                               

                              Stay healthy

                              Enjoy life

                               

                              dennrunner


                                A fielder misses a tag (and knows it), but the umpire calls the runner out.  Is the fielder cheating if he doesn't tell the ump?

                                A receiver traps the ball, but the referee doesn't see and calls it a completed pass.  Is the receiver cheating?

                                Is the difference premeditated intent to cheat?  And does it matter if cheating is premeditated or just happens during the action?

                                Is the difference in cheating with PEDs that they provide an unfair advantage whereas my examples given do not?

                                I seriously doubt that Armstrong had any unfair advantage over any of his competitors that had any chance of beating him.

                                Does that mean I think he never used PEDs?  Don't be silly.