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

    Looks like they were working round the clock to prepare an air-tight case before bringing the charges.

     

    "numerous riders, team personnel and others will testify based on personal knowledge" of Mr. Armstrong's alleged doping. 

     

    They wanted to be sure they had him nailed. I am sure he knew this was coming.

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


    #artbydmcbride

      So their case is all 'testimony'?

       

      Runners run

        Not sure, but even if so, testimony = evidence. 

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

          They have had him nailed before.

          Runners run


          Feeling the growl again

            I gave him the presumption of innocence right up until practically all the major riders on his former teams had been busted with hard evidence.  I find it pretty unbelievable that everyone around him was dirty and he had no knowledge of and had not participated in any of it, despite him being the team leader, as he claims.  Those guys live dang close for months on end.

             

            It is NOT hard to beat the EPO test.  You get caught when you get over-confident, lazy, or are an amateur who doesn't understand the limitations of the test.

             

            That said, I'm sure hit team of well-paid lawyers will be out in force to cover him once again.  Perhaps USADA has gotten smarter from prior encounters and has things figured out this time, we shall see.

            "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

              So their case is all 'testimony'?

               

              They apparently have bloodwork that is "consistent with doping".  Without having seen the evidence, and sparing the biochemical mumbo jumbo, this basically means that while they don't have a smoking gun -- hard detection of an illegal agent in his system -- they have test results which are either consistent with doping, are highly likely to be the result of doping, or are almost impossible to get without doping.  We'll see what comes out during the trial.

               

              Remember back in the day when cyclists had hematocrits that were pretty much normal.  Then the EPO craze came in and due to the limitations of the EPO test, they used the fact that several cyclists on EPO who had sky-high hematocrits had died during races to establish a ceiling of 50 where if your hematocrit was above that, they prevented you from racing for "safety".  In reality, it was because it's bloody impossible to hit that unless you are on something (EPO or blood doping/transfusions).  All of a sudden, most of the cyclists had hematocrits of like 47-49.  Huh.  Wonder how that happened...

              "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

               

                The drive to tear this guy down is mystifying.  He beat some gnarly ass cancer.  He raised millions of dollars for research.  He won year after year after year and he's physically a freak of nature.  He's retired from competitive cycling and, so far as I can tell, hurting nobody.  Let it go.  

                 

                I will bet nickels that "consistent with doping" is not nearly as convincing as USADA would have us believe.  The government just passed on this whole circus for a reason.  

                Trent


                Good Bad & The Monkey

                  Yeah, I tend to feel as Cheevers does.


                  Why is it sideways?

                  xor


                    The thread title just makes me want to say "rope a dope".

                     

                    That is all.

                     

                    Cancer sucks.

                     

                    Trent


                    Good Bad & The Monkey

                      I wonder how much money, both taxpayer and otherwise, will end up being spent on this.

                       

                      I wonder as I just learned today about yet another place where dollars are being tightened at the Department of Health and Human Services, the governmental agency tasked with making grants to support scientific research and discovery. You know, to help fight cancer. Except, you cannot support research when there are no dollars left.


                      Why is it sideways?

                        I wonder how much money, both taxpayer and otherwise, will end up being spent on this.

                         

                        I wonder as I just learned today about yet another place where dollars are being tightened at the Department of Health and Human Services, the governmental agency tasked with making grants to support scientific research and discovery. You know, to help fight cancer. Except, you cannot support research when there are no dollars left.

                         

                         

                        This is actually a very efficient way to spend money because if you can actually convict Lance Armstrong, a known doper, and strip him of his titles despite his fame, then you can discourage the practice of doping much more effectively.

                         

                        Lance is a living symbol of the fact that up until now doping has been worth it. Cheating and encouraging others to cheat, distributing drugs to his fellow cyclists, and other illegal activities made him millions of dollars and earned him the adulation of people all across the world. 

                         

                        The USADA is not going to confiscate the money that Lance raised for cancer. People can still fight cancer without Lance around.

                        Trent


                        Good Bad & The Monkey

                          Let's say that he gets convicted and all the drugs go away. Nobody cheats again. So what?

                           

                          Let's say that he does not get convicted and the rate of drug use in cycling and all other sports goes way up. So what?

                           

                          Doping or not, Lance and the TdF have provided excellent entertainment. As entertaining and lucrative as any other great television show. Who cares if they chose to abuse their bodies to make great entertainment.  Then again, I don't / won't watch it, drugs or no drugs.

                          Trent


                          Good Bad & The Monkey

                            People can still fight cancer without Lance around.

                             

                            Are you suggesting that because private citizens chose to support research with their own dollars, there is no need to a federal agency to support scientific research and discovery?