For Cycling's Big Backers, Joy Ride Ends in Grief

[Jagers]

For Cycling's Big Backers, Joy Ride Ends in Grief.

 

[Polish]

OK, now HERE is a guy who will be mad that Lance spent money on Jet Fuel and Hot Chicks - Mr Williams. He thought he was going to get a lucrative contract for his donation to the LAF. WaaWaa. Jet Fuel & Hot Chicks Waa.

"A company Mr. Williams co-owned, eSoles, wanted to sell athletic shoe liners bearing the Armstrong Foundation's "Livestrong" logo. Mr. Williams believed he had been given that right in exchange for his pledges to the foundation. But the foundation—which had an agreement with Nike, one of Mr. Armstrong's top sponsors—said no."

The LAF said No. Good for them.

And then Floyd "reached out" to Mr Williams, who then encouraged Floyd to drop his Lance Bombs?

The LAF should be mad at Floyd & Mr Williams I would think.

 

[Anonymous]

"In a 2008 interview with the Journal, Mr. Weisel said he believed doping in cycling should be handled internally. "Handle the problem below the surface and keep the image of the sport clean," he said. "In the U.S. sports—baseball, basketball, football—most fans couldn't care less."

I think he he must post here...

"Donors interviewed by the Journal say they had no clue Mr. Landis wasn't telling the truth. "I believed him when he said he was innocent, and then was highly disappointed when he later said he lied and cheated,"

Several definitely post here...(I will withhold the crass language I have for people stupid enough to have believed that, but it rhymes with mucking crumbmasses)

"Mr. Armstrong's response came just over an hour later.

'To be honest, and I say this as a good friend of yours, I don't feel like dealing with this right now," he wrote. "I'm afraid it's up to you guys to sort out. For what it's worth, and maybe a good solution, is to return you all of your money and let's all get on down the road.'"

That guy is a serious douchebag...because later, they said this:

"Mr. Williams's logo plan unraveled, and the foundation declined to return his donations. A foundation spokeswoman says it doesn't "accept donations with strings attached" and "never had a formal relationship with, or entered into any agreement with, eSoles."

Really, no agreement? Sounds like the man with one ball thought differently...then again, this isn't the first time he has failed to pay money he said he would...in fact, it is kind of his "thing"...

"In August, Mr. Weisel was notified that he and Tailwind are among those named as defendants in a suit Mr. Landis has brought under the federal False Claims Act."

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy...

 

[D-Queued]

The cracks are showing.

Think: Epic.

Dave.

 

[Hugh Januss]

OK, now HERE is a guy who will be mad that Lance spent money on Jet Fuel and Hot Chicks - Mr Williams. He thought he was going to get a lucrative contract for his donation to the LAF. WaaWaa. Jet Fuel & Hot Chicks Waa.

"A company Mr. Williams co-owned, eSoles, wanted to sell athletic shoe liners bearing the Armstrong Foundation's "Livestrong" logo. Mr. Williams believed he had been given that right in exchange for his pledges to the foundation. But the foundation—which had an agreement with Nike, one of Mr. Armstrong's top sponsors—said no."

The LAF said No. Good for them.

And then Floyd "reached out" to Mr Williams, who then encouraged Floyd to drop his Lance Bombs?

The LAF should be mad at Floyd & Mr Williams I would think.

So yet another individual who has been ****ed by LA in a business deal comes forward and the fanboy/PR machine (and I certainly hope you are the second, because if you are just a fanboy going to all this trouble then you should not be allowed to procreate) says waaah, he's just a complainer, Lance could never do any wrong. How many times do you think ...........hold on I'm sorry............how many times do they think that this will fly?

 

[Polish]

So yet another individual who has been ****ed by LA in a business deal comes forward and the fanboy/PR machine (and I certainly hope you are the second, because if you are just a fanboy going to all this trouble then you should not be allowed to procreate) says waaah, he's just a complainer, Lance could never do any wrong. How many times do you think ...........hold on I'm sorry............how many times do they think that this will fly?

The guy tried to bribe Lance/LAF.

They said no.

And then Lance offered the guy a refund.
C'mon, that is Great customer service.

 

[D-Queued]

The guy tried to bribe Lance/LAF.

They said no.

And then Lance offered the guy a refund.
C'mon, that is Great customer service.

You should read the article.

Lance went back on his word, and then lied about the refund as well...

Mr. Williams's logo plan unraveled, and the foundation declined to return his donations

He didn't try and bribe Lance. Lance is all about product placement and 'awareness'. Any idiot can see the logos all over the thing. Well, almost any idiot.

Dave.

 

[Berzin]

So all these chamois-sniffing corporate types got their ASSets handed to them when they invested in Tailwind Sports, because the company never turned a profit-good for them.

And to think they invested this money not to promote cycling in the US, but to have "access" to the great and mighty Lance Armstrong.

This article just adds another layer to this whole sordid mess. It certainly makes for some entertaining reading at the very least.

 

[Polish]

So all these chamois-sniffing corporate types got their ASSets handed to them when they invested in Tailwind Sports, because the company never turned a profit-good for them.

And to think they invested this money not to promote cycling in the US, but to have "access" to the great and mighty Lance Armstrong.

This article just adds another layer to this whole sordid mess. It certainly makes for some entertaining reading at the very least.

For these high rollers - this was a "Fantasy Camp" not an investment to turn a profit.

$200,000 to $2.5mil is chump change for a billionaire.

Interesting that 70% of Floyd Fairness Donations came from these guys.
Many were oblivious to the doping it seems.

 

[BroDeal]

The finance stuff, apart from any doping, was very interesting.

First we have Tailwind losing money every year. It was kept afloat by friends of Wiesel. It is hard to believe that they could run a legitimate operation with fixed and known sponsorship amounts but still consistently lose money. It would not surprise me if, like many small operations, there was a lot of embezzlement. Inventory to walks off and ends up being bro-dealed to acquaintances.

Second, I was always skeptical about the FLandis raising $2M from schmoes. These fundraising drives never seem to bring in much money. It turns out that 70% was donated by friends of Wiesel and, by extension, Armstrong. Add in a few $100K spent by Landis himself and the amount raised from the public could be quite small. Many of the large donors had to have known that Landis was guilty.

Third, people have been donating to LAF with the expectation that they will be able to use the Livestrong logo to market their goods.

 

[Race Radio]

Reed did a good job. Money is often what maintains the myth

More to come next week, make sure you get your copy of SI and the WSJ.

 

[MacRoadie]

More importantly, the cracks are really beginning to show, and the list of names of guys who'd really rather not see their names in print is growing.

 

[washedup]

How much of the 70% could be considered hush money?

This Williams guy should be expecting a bit of a PR bashing. Still, I get the feeling that LA is running out of stones to toss.

 

[thehog]

The finance stuff, apart from any doping, was very interesting.

First we have Tailwind losing money every year. It was kept afloat by friends of Wiesel. It is hard to believe that they could run a legitimate operation with fixed and known sponsorship amounts but still consistently lose money. It would not surprise me if, like many small operations, there was a lot of embezzlement. Inventory to walks off and ends up being bro-dealed to acquaintances.

Second, I was always skeptical about the FLandis raising $2M from schmoes. These fundraising drives never seem to bring in much money. It turns out that 70% was donated by friends of Wiesel and, by extension, Armstrong. Add in a few $100K spent by Landis himself and the amount raised from the public could be quite small. Many of the large donors had to have known that Landis was guilty.

Third, people have been donating to LAF with the expectation that they will be able to use the Livestrong logo to market their goods.

Correct. I've said on here before that the concept of the FFF came from Armstrong and company. Even more ironic is the current defence by Armstrong is that "Floyd took money from the people to perpetuate his lie" - what we discover that it wasn't the people he took money from by Armstrong/Tailwind investors. You can see Floyd was learnt on with tremendous pressure and money. Floyd wasn't just wrapped up in the lie of doping but the pressure that Armstrong had "arranged" the financial support for the defence.*

What's even more strange is the UCI. Surely McQuaid knew that Armstrong associates were funding Floyd? Also why fund the defence then not hire him back into the team? Why cut him off completely? I think it was hush money which backfired a little. The more Floyd protested the more he looked guilty and the more the public hated him. By that point he had gone too far to come back. Lance shut him up and dropped him.

The information i have is Floyds positive was leaked because McQuaid had a habit of shutting them down between the A & B sample tests.

Another point of interest; the more Lance won the Tour the richer Lance became and the less the investors saw in return. You'd think they would have cashed a share.

 

[BroDeal]

What's even more strange is the UCI. Surely McQuaid knew that Armstrong associates were funding Floyd? Also why fund the defence then not hire him back into the team? Why cut him off completely? I think it was hush money which backfired a little. The more Floyd protested the more he looked guilty and the more the public hated him. By that point he had gone too far to come back. Lance shut him up and dropped him.

I have always suspected and said so on many forums that many of the people advising FLandis did not have his best interests in mind. They saw the Landis case as a way to attack the LNDD, which did the testing that proved Armstrong was using EPO. There have been rumors for a while that Armstrong funded much of Landis' defense. Now it turns out that it was not Armstrong himself but friends of his.

Armstrong followed his usual pattern. As soon as someone is no longer useful, he does not mind stabbing them in the back.

 

[thehog]

I have always suspected and said so on many forums that many of the people advising FLandis did not have his best interests in mind. They saw the Landis case as a way to attack the LNDD, which did the testing that proved Armstrong was using EPO. There have been rumors for a while that Armstrong funded much of Landis' defense. Now it turns out that it was not Armstrong himself but friends of his.

Armstrong followed his usual pattern. As soon as someone is no longer useful, he does not mind stabbing them in the back.

im sure the good faith investors will be happy their $100,000 investment went to paying off the UCI. There are some really big turds out there and they're beginning to smell real bad.

It would also suggest that there are some other investors out there who will start to come forward not understanding why they didn't get any returns on their outlay. I think Armstrong is probably a better shiester than bike rider! Going to be some suing going on soon. Men with money will want their money.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

One point I enjoyed in that piece - it confirms that Tailwind was wound up in 2007.

Didn't Lances attorney Tim Herman say that LA didn't get a stake until December 2007 in Tailwind to explain the contradiction in LA's sworn testimony that he had a stake in Tailwind much earlier?

Herman statement:

The confusion on the timing, which is not new, stems from the fact that the Board of Directors of Tailwind decided in 2004 to approve the issuance of shares of Tailwind stock to Lance and others,” Herman said. “Although the Board of Directors told the intended recipients in 2004 that the stock would be issued, the stock was not actually awarded to Lance and the others until December 2007. Thus, when Lance was asked questions about it in 2005, he truthfully answered that he believed he was a small minority owner in Tailwind but did not know or understand the details. Those details were finalized in December of 2007.”

 

[elizab]

find a better

OK, now HERE is a guy who will be mad that Lance spent money on Jet Fuel and Hot Chicks - Mr Williams. He thought he was going to get a lucrative contract for his donation to the LAF. WaaWaa. Jet Fuel & Hot Chicks Waa.

"A company Mr. Williams co-owned, eSoles, wanted to sell athletic shoe liners bearing the Armstrong Foundation's "Livestrong" logo. Mr. Williams believed he had been given that right in exchange for his pledges to the foundation. But the foundation—which had an agreement with Nike, one of Mr. Armstrong's top sponsors—said no."

The LAF said No. Good for them.

And then Floyd "reached out" to Mr Williams, who then encouraged Floyd to drop his Lance Bombs?

The LAF should be mad at Floyd & Mr Williams I would think.

Polish, this line of reasoning is beyond old and worn. It's like hedge fund guy Joe Blow losing one of his clients to Bernie Madoff. When Joe Blow says the obvious that something fishy is going on (and with lance it's not conjecture but proof) with Bernie, Bernie with his impervious attitude shrugs it off that Joe Blow is jealous his returns aren't as high as Bernie's.
Is this the best line of defense you can do? Seriously, everyone will be jealous or have an ax to grind?
Some people may have been stupid and/or ignorant to buy "The French hate me" line, but that "everyone and their mother are jealous or have an ax to grind" is not just funny but shows desperation because there is no way out of the truth.

 

[thehog]

One point I enjoyed in that piece - it confirms that Tailwind was wound up in 2007.

Didn't Lances attorney Tim Herman say that LA didn't get a stake until December 2007 in Tailwind to explain the contradiction in LA's sworn testimony that he had a stake in Tailwind much earlier?

Herman statement:

Oh dear...... turds are smelling already.

It's going to take a lot to unravel this mess. There's 600 days in court right there.

Good sleuthing Doc. You really should get some of this onto a blog or website. I think it's wasted just on a cycling forum. Your research is excellent.

 

[Anonymous]

In cyclingnews' coverage, they used this picture:

I love that picture

 

[thehog]

In cyclingnews' coverage, they used this picture:

I love that picture

They've used for every Armstrong-Landis story.

 

[jimmypop]

The cracks are showing.

Think: Epic.

Dave.

I like where this is going. Progress!

 

[jmax22]

Wow! pretty much every one of these guys mentioned in the article were members of USA Cycling's Development Foundation as well. Makes you wonder how much USAC new about everything.

 

[Kennf1]

Wow! pretty much every one of these guys mentioned in the article were members of USA Cycling's Development Foundation as well. Makes you wonder how much USAC new about everything.

Heck, when you have people like Carmichael and Rene Wenzel involved ...remember the lawsuit by Strock and Kaiter.

Interesting comments (so far) on that WSJ article. It's as though the wristband army slept-in and didn't hear the alarm.

 

[Roland Rat]

Heck, when you have people like Carmichael and Rene Wenzel involved ...remember the lawsuit by Strock and Kaiter.

Interesting comments (so far) on that WSJ article. It's as though the wristband army slept-in and didn't hear the alarm.

I think the power of the Magic Yellow Wristband might be beginning to fade.