Armstrong statement imminent! Email exchanges to be revealed

[nvpacchi]

From ESPN's Bonnie Ford:

"Lance Armstrong's RadioShack team has struck back at doping allegations made by Floyd Landis, Armstrong's former teammate who this week confessed to having used performance-enhancing substances throughout his career -- including the 2006 Tour de France he won.

The RadioShack team posted a statement on its website Friday and attached a lengthy series of e-mails from Landis and his personal physician Dr. Brent Kay, who is also the primary owner of Landis' team, to various cycling officials and sponsors.

According to the statement, those e-mails show that Landis' allegations were "a troubling, angry and misplaced effort at retribution for his perceived slights,'' including the fact that his OUCH-Bahati Foundation team was not invited to the Tour of California.

"Having been refused, Landis later communicated directly with Armstrong and threatened to 'say directly that I'm going to accuse you and our former teammates of using blood doping and performance-enhancing drugs to help you win the three Tours de France in which we raced together,' the statement reads.

"Armstrong's response to Landis was identical to the responses to the same type of threatening text messages received from Landis two years ago -- that there would be no consideration, money, team positions or anything else given in exchange for not airing false accusations," the team says on it website. "Getting no satisfaction and not receiving a position on the RadioShack team, Landis then carried through with his threat and provided the press with his false accusations.''"

No mention of the personal attacks on Dr. Kay

 

[Anonymous]

is it really that bad to snort coke? Really is the stigma still there? Look I can't do it myself, problem with my nose and general dislike from most drugs, but I know many in my study and line of work that do it and it really is not that big a deal anymore here in Europe, mainly due to the fact that many high-level professionals need it to work those long hours, is the stigma still there in the US?
I wouldn't be surprised if the entire writing and editing staff of velonews does coke, so you could point to anyone and be correct

Huh? You missed my point...really man, nevermind...

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

It would help if Bonnie Ford actually read the emails rather than just re-hashing the Armstrong press statement.

 

[slcbiker]

Boy it's pretty one-sided here. Lance fanboys on other sites and only Lance haters here. No one in the middle.

I doubt anyone these days is going to fake/edit emails. It's too easy to get copies from various points in the food chain. And particularly not ones that copy in Steve Johnson. So the first page of posts in this thread is silly Lance hating.

As for the rest of it, I do have sympathy for Dr. Kay, though the ride on Radioshack thing is kind of weird. TOC and Radioshack don't come out looking great, but I suspect they are feeling like disclosing everything short of actual dopiing is their best policy.

 

[Barrus]

Huh? You missed my point...really man, nevermind...

sorry sleep-deprived and bored, not a good combination

Bad article on ESPN, didn't even bother to investigate the e-mails herself

 

[thehog]

My fav:

From: Floyd Landis

Date: May 6, 2010 10:46:01 AM CDT

To: Lance Armstrong, Hess, Stephen A, Andrew Messick

Subject: Info

Mr. Armstrong,

I should have included this in the last email but overlooked it. Please contact me in any of the following ways so I can give you the location at which you can serve me with papers.


I should also point out that this email trail will make a lawsuit after my public statements appear to be what it would be, a PR stunt, rather than what a lawsuit at the moment would appear to be. So once again I'd like to remind you that calling my close friends with allegations of alcoholism and insanity will be ineffective and certainly threats of "tweeting" that if I have something to say I should just say it reflect poorly on your mental well-being and maybe seeking help is a good idea for you. Of course like I've stated, a legal course is preferable.

Regards,

Floyd Landis.

 

[Anonymous]

sorry sleep-deprived and bored, not a good combination

Bad article on ESPN, didn't even bother to investigate the e-mails herself

no worries! I get grouchy as well when I run out of the white angel...

 

[ckfrancis]

cycling is

the best soap opera for middle aged men.

 

[Anonymous]

My fav:

From: Floyd Landis

Date: May 6, 2010 10:46:01 AM CDT

To: Lance Armstrong, Hess, Stephen A, Andrew Messick

Subject: Info

Mr. Armstrong,

I should have included this in the last email but overlooked it. Please contact me in any of the following ways so I can give you the location at which you can serve me with papers.


I should also point out that this email trail will make a lawsuit after my public statements appear to be what it would be, a PR stunt, rather than what a lawsuit at the moment would appear to be. So once again I'd like to remind you that calling my close friends with allegations of alcoholism and insanity will be ineffective and certainly threats of "tweeting" that if I have something to say I should just say it reflect poorly on your mental well-being and maybe seeking help is a good idea for you. Of course like I've stated, a legal course is preferable.

Regards,

Floyd Landis.

I love the way Floyd calls him Mr. Armstrong all of the time...pretty funny actually...

 

[BroDeal]

I fully expected these e-mails to show a level of crazy that would further damage Floyd. I honestly believed there would be insane accusations and random crap.

Me too. I expected some late night drunken emailing that resulted in emails filled with swearing and ranting.

Reading the emails leads me to believe that if FLandis is crazy then he is crazy like a fox. I get the distinct feeling that FLandis' emails were written just to see what response he could get from Messick.

 

[nvpacchi]

sorry sleep-deprived and bored, not a good combination

Bad article on ESPN, didn't even bother to investigate the e-mails herself

At this point I wouldn't expect anything more from ESPN. I have curiously been watching Sports Center and other shows like 1st & 10, Sportsnation, simply to hear their take on the situation.

But when they have Skip Bayless and Jalen Rose commenting providing the most insight out of anyone on ESPN, it proves how much fanboy potential there is in Bristol, CT

BTW Jalen Rose did have a good understanding of EPO and other drugs, which he should as a former NBA pro, but it begs to question how prominent EPO is in the NBA?

 

[Roland Rat]

My fav:

From: Floyd Landis

Date: May 6, 2010 10:46:01 AM CDT

To: Lance Armstrong, Hess, Stephen A, Andrew Messick

Subject: Info

Mr. Armstrong,

[snip]... and certainly threats of "tweeting" that if I have something to say I should just say it reflect poorly on your mental well-being and maybe seeking help is a good idea for you. Of course like I've stated, a legal course is preferable.

Regards,

Floyd Landis.

Yeah, me too. I love that LA actually uses tweeting as a threat! I thought that was just something we joked about as a pi55-take, not that he actually did it!

If this is his response then he's more desperate than I thought.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, how the mighty have fallen ...."I will ****ing Tweet on you man if you don't keep quiet..."

 

[Anonymous]

So are we all of the opinion that these emails are pointless and do nothing to discredit landis, if anything make it look like the ToC were going out of there way to go down the anti-doping route.

 

[poupou]

If Landis had hacked the Lance web sites, I doubt it would have been a better fake release.

Great job Armstrong's boys. You are taking everyone for *******s.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

It would help if Bonnie Ford actually read the emails rather than just re-hashing the Armstrong press statement.

Of course this is the point.

People read press releases and rehash those talking points. A bit like LA's effort when he released his blood values - no-one was meant to read them.
How long did they remain up when people started reading them.

But this time it is the MSM that are asking the questions and won't be so easily taken in by Lances PR tactics.

 

[Aerodynamic]

I see there are two threads on this.

My take is the emails are polite and courteous, but they do appear to show that Landis was suggesting he be allowed to ride the TOC or he would make public his claims about Armstrong. There is passive aggression. It's not like an argument on a forum.

 

[Aerodynamic]

Remember Landis did quite effectively con people for many years over his innocents in numerous media interviews and personal conversations with supporters. Some just a few months ago. He is not going to make the mistake of ranting on an email when blackmailing somebody.

 

[Road Hazard]

Those emails do not at all paint Landis in a favorable light. Landis is clearly looking for something (TOC position or a position on Radioshack team), even through he doesn't explicitely say so.

Why else would he be writing emails that seem to veer from the subject of TOC spots to dishing the dirt on riders. He invites the TOC rep to attend a meeting where Landis is going to dish dirt, as if the TOC is going to exclude teams based on what some guy says at a meeting with doping agencies.

The long email by Dr. Kay to Landis is especiallty "bizarre" as someone else said. First, it's contrived and almost seems made for public release.

But what "problem" is Dr. Kay looking to "solve" by getting Landis on the RS team? If Landis is truly trying to clear his conscience, and if Landis is truly not looking for a payoff, then why is team RS and Landis's threatened disclosure of past doping even in the same email? If Landis has dirt to dish, and is doing so for the sake of cycling, why doesn't he just go ahead and dish it? What's he waiting for?

The answer is clear even if he doesn't explicitely make a demand, he's waiting to see what he can get. His "agent" the good Dr. proposes a spot on RS. Landis proposes a spot for his team in the TOC.

For me anyway, Armstrong lost his hero status when I read about the positive results that were ignored, and his childish jabs at Contador last year.

But Landis also lost any hero status he may have had with that god-awful website, the general insanity and this "give me money to defend myself" to "we all doped" about face.

Edit:

I don't think Landis was telling the TOC about his upcoming disclosure to show how anti-dopage OUCH-Bahati is... his tone is too accusatory: "be part of the problem or part of the solution" what the hell does that mean. Did Landis really expect that he'd simply name names and the TOC would cut teams out of their race next year? TOC can't exclude riders or teams on the say-so of one guy without evidence, they run a damn bike race not a lab.

And again, the biggest point, why wait. If you want to clean up cycling go ahead and identify who doped in 2000-2005, go right ahead. Instead he puts out the feelers months before hand to, in my mind, see what offers come in.

 

[Epicycle]

As for the rest of it, I do have sympathy for Dr. Kay, though the ride on Radioshack thing is kind of weird.

Supporting your friend is natural but there's also a place for honesty and Floyd could probably use some of that from Kay. It's obvious that Kay is well into Floyd's land of delusion reading those e-mails. Pretty much the same kind of thing that's on his nutty new website.

 

[thehog]

I myself many times have emailed race Directors and politely asked them if I could race. Its standard practice. Nothing unusual in doing so. Of course every rider wants to ride a race has obtains them the most coverage. It’s how cyclists earn a living. Not all of them turn over $30million a year.

Those emails do not at all paint Landis in a favorable light. Landis is clearly looking for something (TOC position or a position on Radioshack team), even through he doesn't explicitely say so.

Why else would he be writing emails that seem to veer from the subject of TOC spots to dishing the dirt on riders. He invites the TOC rep to attend a meeting where Landis is going to dish dirt, as if the TOC is going to exclude teams based on what some guy says at a meeting with doping agencies.

The long email by Dr. Kay to Landis is especiallty "bizarre" as someone else said. First, it's contrived and almost seems made for public release.

But what "problem" is Dr. Kay looking to "solve" by getting Landis on the RS team? If Landis is truly trying to clear his conscience, and if Landis is truly not looking for a payoff, then why is team RS and Landis's threatened disclosure of past doping even in the same email? If Landis has dirt to dish, and is doing so for the sake of cycling, why doesn't he just go ahead and dish it? What's he waiting for?

The answer is clear even if he doesn't explicitely make a demand, he's waiting to see what he can get. His "agent" the good Dr. proposes a spot on RS. Landis proposes a spot for his team in the TOC.

For me anyway, Armstrong lost his hero status when I read about the positive results that were ignored, and his childish jabs at Contador last year.

But Landis also lost any hero status he may have had with that god-awful website, the general insanity and this "give me money to defend myself" to "we all doped" about face.

 

[BikeCentric]

Those emails do not at all paint Landis in a favorable light. Landis is clearly looking for something (TOC position or a position on Radioshack team), even through he doesn't explicitely say so.

Why else would he be writing emails that seem to veer from the subject of TOC spots to dishing the dirt on riders. He invites the TOC rep to attend a meeting where Landis is going to dish dirt, as if the TOC is going to exclude teams based on what some guy says at a meeting with doping agencies.

The long email by Dr. Kay to Landis is especiallty "bizarre" as someone else said. First, it's contrived and almost seems made for public release.

But what "problem" is Dr. Kay looking to "solve" by getting Landis on the RS team? If Landis is truly trying to clear his conscience, and if Landis is truly not looking for a payoff, then why is team RS and Landis's threatened disclosure of past doping even in the same email? If Landis has dirt to dish, and is doing so for the sake of cycling, why doesn't he just go ahead and dish it? What's he waiting for?

The answer is clear even if he doesn't explicitely make a demand, he's waiting to see what he can get. His "agent" the good Dr. proposes a spot on RS. Landis proposes a spot for his team in the TOC.

For me anyway, Armstrong lost his hero status when I read about the positive results that were ignored, and his childish jabs at Contador last year.

But Landis also lost any hero status he may have had with that god-awful website, the general insanity and this "give me money to defend myself" to "we all doped" about face.

Weak-sauce spin attempt buddy. Massive fail.

 

[Doctor Blood]

I see there are two threads on this.

My take is the emails are polite and courteous, but they do appear to show that Landis was suggesting he be allowed to ride the TOC or he would make public his claims about Armstrong. There is passive aggression. It's not like an argument on a forum.

Yeah, I think there is just enough there for RS/LA and others to turn the PR tide against Floyd. Esp with Floyds past denials of doping, his assistant calling Lemond etc.
I hope he has some proof, or some one backs him up. I also hope he has good consel.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

Of course this is the point.

People read press releases and rehash those talking points. A bit like LA's effort when he released his blood values - no-one was meant to read them.
How long did they remain up when people started reading them.

But this time it is the MSM that are asking the questions and won't be so easily taken in by Lances PR tactics.

I agree but it is swimming against a tide of lazy journalism.

There are still journalists out there defending Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, so I don't hold out too much hope of objective, well-research journalism from the mainstream press.

 

[thehog]

I also hope he has good consel.

What's a consel?