Recent content by ludwig

Boxing is arguably the most corrupt sport there is--doping (which is probably universal at the top level) is just a small part of that corruption. But it is also a sublime beautiful sport when its done right. There is dope testing in boxing and occasionally offenders are busted. But there...

I'd love to see a new governing organization that would be accountable to WADA. While its unfortunate to have to dictate spartan living and spartan salaries (they don't have to be THAT low, but they couldn't be TOO high) to these athletes, the bottom line is the profit motive distorts the sport...

The thing is, the media tends to portray those convicted of doping offenses or who confess to doping as exceptions and criminals, which in turn reinforces the (misguided) moralistic attitude among fans. If the media portrayed the facts in their proper context, allowing fans to draw informed...

Good post and topic. It makes me think about the accounts by Landis, Hamilton, even Millar that emphasize the personal and psychological costs of lying to everyone around them. Certainly everyone can agree this is a horrific price to pay. But if doping/lying is the only way to be a pro...

LOL I think that's more or less what has been implemented once cycling got disenchanted with increased testing and convictions post 2008. The hardest thing is getting the journalists to play along.

I wouldn't take anything away from Vitali's performance--bravo to him he and his brother as they dominate the sport. I agree there is most likely a very serious PED problem in boxing but I'm not sure what can be done about it. They possess even less resources to deal with it then cycling does...

LOL. It's all so logical when you think about it. Spanish=doper, now i got it :)

Well Willem, if you are sticking by your previous post then we don't have any substantive disagreement, only a semantic one. The core of the issue is cycling's leadership is knee-deep in the culture and their statements cannot be taken at face value given their history of blatant falsehoods...

Here's a problem with your train of thought WillemS. You seem to be trying to say that we ought to give every cyclist the benefit of the doubt, therefore they are not cheaters etc. However, think about where that thought process leads you in terms of anti-doping enforcement. If it were true...

I think you've pretty much rebutted your original post. Let's list some of the things you've conceded 1) the main organizational authority in cycling (and doping testing) can't be trusted. Indeed it's leadership (McQuaid/Verbruggen) is exactly the same as pre-Festina. 2) Cycling has earned...

Well I would need more evidence if I'm going to base a chain of reasoning as well as a belief system on one assertion. If Moncoutie was willing to allow a trustworthy journalist to follow him around for 8 months and the journalist declared Moncoutie verifiably clean, then I'd happily accept him...

2008 was not a Tour without doping incidents. The 3rd place overall is listed as "blank".

Hmm, results don't necessarily tell us everything. Heras was a big part of Armstrong's Tour campaigns. I think something went wrong for Heras in 01 and he was only strong for part of the race, but in 02 he was on rare form and journalists and observers considered him the 2nd strongest climber...

When he says wining the World's doped was "too easy" it sounds phony....hard to believe tbh. But with a dude like this you wonder how to differentiate between delusions and lies. Maybe deep down his ego needs to believe on some level that he would have won that World's without dope (though...

All this is dependent on the assumption that Moncoutie is clean. We have no reliable evidence of this outside of rumor or the assertions of people in his camp that obviously have interests of their own. Sure Millar/Gaumont suggested Moncoutie is clean but it wouldn't be the first time that the...