Hell Has Frozen Over: Lance "Considering" Admitting Guilt

[rhubroma]

Sports is supposed to be about playing by the rules. The rules say that when a rider is disqualified the win goes to the next place rider. That didn't happen in this case. Why didn't it happen? Because the rules don't mean anything in pro cycling. Pro cycling is a joke. Better to laugh at the circus than to take it seriously.

Floyd's ride to Morzine gave me a huge charge when it happened. Nothing is going to nullify that vicarious experience. Same with Armstrong's win on Plateau de Beilles. Now, I'm sure those rides were drug-saturated, but that present knowledge doesn't diminish the experience I had at the time of the race. It's not like I'm going to edit my memories to make them conform to some bizarre standard.

The past experiences have colored my present view of the sport, though. Now I am completely convinced that cycling is a filthy doped up circus. The "clean" riders, if there are any, are marginalized and are tasked with supporting and whitewashing the entire filthy enterprise.

I'm not going to rag on Cobblestoner for thinking Lance "won" his Tours. The sport is so messed up that it doesn't matter who wins or loses. It's just a filthy circus that's fun to watch. The only thing that matters is whether or not Kolobdnev gets his money in the end.

The problem with your analysis is that the suffering is real, though the means of velocity enhancement are not uniform in the peloton.

Doping has always been present, the real problem is when it became an arms race. That arms race is killing this sport. In this sense Armstrong has been the sport's greatest killer, for which he can hardly be claimed the winner of anything, but an assassin and a loser of astounding proportions.

 

[Tom375]

And the analogy is complete.

Professional wrestling has lots of fans. They seem to think it is a filthy circus that's fund to watch.

And the actors never admit to their contrivances.

Just like professional cycling.

The out-of-control doping doesn't seem to diminish the emotional attachment that many exhibit.

Dave.

Hence the laughable devotion and to some extent the laughable hatred shown by the comments on Strava. Was a bit shocked at the blindness of it all at first but it is WWF (or whatever the present incarnation is.. TDF??) fans are no longer caring if its real or not! The last battle is being fought now between the cycle fans that want a genuine sport and those that want wrestling/gladiators on bikes..
For this reason LA can't be allowed to win - he stands for the WWFisation of pro-cycling.

 

[Fortyninefourteen]

And the analogy is complete.

Professional wrestling has lots of fans. They seem to think it is a filthy circus that's fund to watch.

And the actors never admit to their contrivances.

Just like professional cycling.

The out-of-control doping doesn't seem to diminish the emotional attachment that many exhibit.

Dave.

.....With one caveat. Professional wrestling does not publicly pretend to be anything more than what it is: Outrageous entertainment, caricature of itself, predetermined outcomes. No Olympic aspirations, no authentic sporting achievement( although some would argue to the contrary) Note that there is no betting on Pro wrestling.

Cycling is the exact opposite in terms of the above.

 

[D-Queued]

.....With one caveat. Professional wrestling does not publicly pretend to be anything more than what it is: Outrageous entertainment, caricature of itself, predetermined outcomes. No Olympic aspirations, no authentic sporting achievement( although some would argue to the contrary) Note that there is no betting on Pro wrestling.

Cycling is the exact opposite in terms of the above.

That is a very interesting list.

Sport wagering and Olympic aspirations have long been odd bedfellows.

Perhaps Phat and Nein can call Vince McMahon to get some tips on running a pure entertainment sport, uncontaminated with the seduction and perils of gambling.

Dave.

 

[Race Radio]

The primary goal of the "Crapfession" story was to derail this

http://sports.sho.com/programs/60-minutes-sports

Like most of his recent PR efforts it failed

 

[thehog]

Messi is a phenomenal football player. Didn't think the Americans knew who he was. Most likely juiced with Barca.

 

[Tom375]

The primary goal of the "Crapfession" story was to derail this

http://sports.sho.com/programs/60-minutes-sports

Like most of his recent PR efforts it failed

What's Messi got on Lance?

 

[Tom375]

Messi is a phenomenal football player. Didn't think the Americans knew who he was. Most likely juiced with Barca.

D'oh you got there first !

 

[Clorox]

Armstrong offered approx. $250,000 "donation" to USADA in 2004!

 

[thehog]

D'oh you got there first !

Only one thing bigger than a Lance doping story an that's football! (not soccer)

 

[Tom375]

Only one thing bigger than a Lance doping story an that's football! (not soccer)

Think LA's so vain he might be upset to be 2nd billing?

 

[Oldman]

And the analogy is complete.

Professional wrestling has lots of fans. They seem to think it is a filthy circus that's fund to watch.

And the actors never admit to their contrivances.

Just like professional cycling.

The out-of-control doping doesn't seem to diminish the emotional attachment that many exhibit.

Dave.

To my knowledge Vince McMahon doesn't take back door "testing" donations. Every bribe comes through the front door and is orchestrated professionally; providing a level playing fie....er...mat...ring, whatever! It appears to be more orderly and businesslike than cycling.

 

[Neworld]

Doping has always been present, the real problem is when it became an arms race. That arms race is killing this sport. In this sense Armstrong has been the sport's greatest killer, for which he can hardly be claimed the winner of anything, but an assassin and a loser of astounding proportions.

Speaking of an Arms race and LA...

Its fair to believe that LA et al...
(a) bought off, controlled, the UCI and ASO right?
(b) could have doped in an unbridled capacity right?
(c) could have had HCTs even higher than Mr. 60%/Riis right?
(d) had a HCT of 70%, who can deny that possibility?

Now that is an unfair arms race.

Imagine being a competitor on the inside, lining up against LA/UCI/ASO and trying to compete year after year.

 

[thehog]

Speaking of an Arms race and LA...

Its fair to believe that LA et al...
(a) bought off, controlled, the UCI and ASO right?
(b) could have doped in an unbridled capacity right?
(c) could have had HCTs even higher than Mr. 60%/Riis right?
(d) had a HCT of 70%, who can deny that possibility?

Now that is an unfair arms race.

Imagine being a competitor on the inside, lining up against LA/USI/ASO and trying to compete year after year.

I don't see how he could lose!

If he was offering payments to USADA, UCI etc. then no doubt many others were paid off.

 

[Fortyninefourteen]

I don't see how he could lose!

If he was offering payments to USADA, UCI etc. then no doubt many others were paid off.

Not unreasonable to think that other teams and individual riders were on the take either.....

 

[thehog]

Not unreasonable to think that other teams and individual riders were on the take either.....

I would agree.

But highest bidder wins. Lance.

In the 2000's a Top 10 Tour rider was getting 200-300k. Factor in top tier doping program, legal bills and pay offs and all of a sudden you're not earning a lot.

Lance was the only one (bar maybe Ullrich) who could afford it all.

Hardly a level playing field.

 

[Tom375]

Not unreasonable to think that other teams and individual riders were on the take either.....

Not that he'd need the pack stacked any more heavily in his favour.. certainly not out of the realms of possibilty though considering Vino / Kolo allegations and a lot of people's reply that this was , the norm etc.

So everybody that could be paid off - was paid off, everybody else that could be intimidated - was intimidated. That leaves a few straglers to be cleared up by the lawyers and LA himself. Couldn't lose..

 

[Cyivel]

.....With one caveat. Professional wrestling does not publicly pretend to be anything more than what it is: Outrageous entertainment, caricature of itself, predetermined outcomes. No Olympic aspirations, no authentic sporting achievement( although some would argue to the contrary) Note that there is no betting on Pro wrestling.

Cycling is the exact opposite in terms of the above.

You can bet at some places (Paddy Power for example) on pro graps

 

[D-Queued]

Not unreasonable to think that other teams and individual riders were on the take either.....

A practice well honed by Lance dating back to at least Core States.

In the Tour, a fellow going by the name of Ivan comes to mind.

Riis almost lost it over the Alpe TT result.

Where there is one, there are others.

My guess is that Jan never benefited, though.

Dave.

 

[Race Radio]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i...igure-donation-usada-article-1.1235928?pgno=1

Sources have told the Daily News that a producer from the show called Armstrong's crisis manager Mark Fabiani, the Democratic Party insider and former Clinton White House advisor, on Friday afternoon to discuss the segment. Fabiani apparently declined to discuss the allegations and "60 Minutes Sports" says Armstrong refused to comment for their story.
Several hours after the call, The New York Times reported that Armstrong was considering publicly admitting the doping that cost him his seven Tour de France titles.

"It was a preemptive strike," a source with knowledge of the situation told the Daily News.

In November, he posted a photograph of himself on Twitter on a couch, gazing at the seven yellow Tour de France racing jerseys mounted on his wall. Some of Armstrong's associates have said the photo was the cyclist's way of giving the middle finger to USADA and the rest of the world.

Armstrong's legal and public relations advisers, the sources said, wanted to divert attention from the "60 Minutes Sports" segment and see how the public would respond to an admission from the cyclist had used steroids, growth hormone, EPO and other banned drugs. The sources said Armstrong strongly dislikes "60 Minutes," which aired a segment in 2011 in which Hamilton acknowledged that Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs.

His advisers, one source said, were especially interested in the response from law-enforcement officials.

 

[D-Queued]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i...igure-donation-usada-article-1.1235928?pgno=1

...

The sources said Armstrong strongly dislikes "60 Minutes,"

His advisers, one source said, were especially interested in the response from law-enforcement officials.

I like 60 Minutes' credibility.

Dave.

 

[giamakr1]

there we go

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/08/showbiz/lance-armstrong-oprah/index.html

Oprah interview with Lance Armstrong airs January 17

 

[keeponrollin]

So can we run a book ?

.. how far will he get into the Interview before he mentions LiveStrong ?

I think he'll do it within the first two minutes. It'll be something along the lines of:

"I know what I took part in was wrong; but I thank God/Allah/Buddah/FSB that I founded LS to help Cure Cancer because that means it wasn't all bad ...."

So it'll be all a case of the other boys made me do it; but hey, I did start a cancer charity.

I absolutely guarantee that the lopsided scrote will pitch his Livestrong PR agency as some kind of validation for what a nice guy he is, & neatly avoid any questions as to why he got cancer in the first place !

 

[doperhopper]

Looks like a premeditated strategy of LA+UCI to deflect the focus from the main offender who was coming under fire - you remember, a just while ago they were talking about general doping amnesty, but once the SHTF they quickly switched to "no place in cycling" for LA, then tried to cover themselves by the self-appointed self-investigating self-cleaning-after-finding-minor-lapses comittee...

 

[Kernel]

Well, Oprah retired from her show, but she might do a Lance Special. Remember when Marion Jones went on her show after being released from prison? Marion's lame flaxseed oil story went over like a lead balloon.

Chapeau dude, you have a brilliant media understanding )