Spare Tyre said:
AFAIK the rest of the world is not as litigious as the US.
I think you'd be laughed at in Australia if you sued for something like that.
Australia is about the size of the continental United States, and we have fourteen times as many people as you in the same amount of space. Things happen. We're not allowed to toss dwarves either.
And suing only works if you're telling the truth and the other guy is lying.
In the US it would be a violation of employment law. I've got two Management degrees, and spent seven years in a management position. I know from first hand experience that bad employees can say anything they damn well please, while I had to hold my tongue, especially when their future employment possibilities are concerned. If I'm an athlete or an actor and someone tells the press something that might cause people to not want to hire me, and cost me millions of dollars in future income, I wouldn't really care how many Australians laughed.
It''s that type of management responsibility that has Riis refusing to give details while Schleck and O'Grady are allowed to lie to the press, future employers, and their fans about what went on.
Before this event, the Spanish press, reporting what people had seen, already had the two guys out partying in Seville, Malaga and Murcia, along with a teammate some name as Cancellara. So this wasn't a one time thing, and it's not Riis's word against theirs.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, it was Saxo Bank Technical Director Trey Greenwood who was waiting for the two when they stumbled in at 5:30 in the morning after a "drinking spree". Some of the European press just named their source as a senior Saxo Bank member. But Greenwqood isn't their boss, so he can speak to the press about what actually happened without worries.
I've looked at over 150 International stories on this with the help of Google News and Google Translate. I believe that Schleck and O'Grady were out getting drunk and were in sorry condition, with no sleep, less than eight hours before they were meant to get on their bikes for a highly paid work day.
I believe Schleck lied in a quickly sent press release. I believe that O'Grady lied in a phone interview with The Australian to try to cover his ****, and am honestly concerned for the guy because he tried to defend the actions by saying he had just ridden his **** off in the Team Time Trial, which was actually on August 28.
I believe that Schleck tried to make Riis look bad by insinuating that he was the one that caught them, and was in a bar at the time he did so. That Schleck press release caused a lot of people, including journalists, to leap to the riders defense, accuse Riis of overacting, of seeking revenge against guys who were leaving, and saying that because of his own past, he apparently had no right in their minds to enforce any rules whatsoever. I believe that the actions and lies of both riders showed disrespect for their teammates, the team, Riis, the fans and the sport. That's a lot of harm for two guys trying to cover their butts after a drinking spree.
Riis has said that O'Grady is lying to himself but has no right to lie to him. He's also said in response that he obviously wouldn't have sent guys home for having one or two drinks.
It was in a different situation, but I hope people remember that Michael Rassmussen was fired and pulled from the Tour de France not for a positive doping test, but because his team found out that he lied to them. I'm not defending Rassmussen, I'm saying that these two guys get added to the list of people who have done wrong in cycling and lied to protect themselves.
If fans want to stand by them because of past performances or whatever, that's their prerogative. God help me, I was an Armstrong fan a couple of years ago, and read Bruyneel's book online. But it's time to stop with the one or two drinks, one AM, I've done that myself before nonsense. These guys screwed up big time, it apparently wasn't the first time in even this race, and they continue to lie to you about it.
I've posted links to everything in earlier posts in the thread. One of the sporting.dk articles also quoted someone as suggesting that the two were probably also smoking something "as usual". If it is "the usual", even if it's tobacco, it's not something a professional cyclist should be doing. Smoky lungs and dehydration from alcohol aren't the way to start a stage race.
Another senior source in the Danish cycling world have no desire to come forward with names. Men han forklarer, at både Andy Schleck og Stuart O'Grady er kendt for at elske de våde varer. But he explains that both Andy Schleck and Stuart O'Grady are known to love the wet goods.
- De er virkelig glade for våde varer, og jeg er sikker på, at der som sædvanlig er røget en del indenbords, forklarer han til Newspaq. - They are really excited wet goods, and I am sure that as usual, smoked a portion inboard, he explains to Newspaq.
http://www.sporten.dk/cykling/riis-haaber-andy-fik-en-laerestreg