"I hope somebody breaks a baseball bat over your head"

[Guttercat]

"We didn't demand he contact our attorney for a reason: we have nothing to hide. The truth is rather simple; it's the consequence of not telling the truth that might bite you in the ***."

~ Betsy Andreu


Gotta Love the pragmatism of that simple, but oh so poignant, statement!


Read more: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5...Floyd-Landis-investigation.aspx#ixzz0zvo7WeaS

What got me was her statement to the effect of, "It's not a very popular thing to be married to Betsy these days". Got to hand it to Frankie as well...he stands a lot to lose and perhaps already has. But, it's all a sinking ship anyway. Lots of people are and will be jumping ship with preemptive strikes to avoid going down with it. Who knows if this may not be their motive as well. Regardless, I like the lady's style of forthrightness, intelligence, and backbone in this interview.

There's always two sides to every story, and more, but the evidence is mounting against the ol' LA. Too bad he couldn't just be an @sshole on the playing field, and not an @sshole in his personal/professional life as well.

 

[tubularglue]

this is all just beginning,

what a mess


so many companies
so many people, and
so many hands in the cookie jar

 

[NashbarShorts]

I give a lot of props to the Andreus.

First of, in terms of "I hope your family experiences adversity", well gee, Frankie did get fired (contract non-renewal) from USPS after he made it clear he would not go on a program anymore. Granted, Postal threw him a bone in letting him be the domestic DS for one season, but it was a pretty bare bone.

Then, he got fired for no "reason" after he and his wife testified in the SCA case. DS of the team that was quick becoming the best team in the US, and then next day he is fired. Official reason was that (Len Pettyjohn?) was dismayed at Frankie's "committment" to OLN. Blech

This on top of the fact they are raising 3 kids, right? That's some adversity. "Hey Dad -- you're fired!".

Anyhoo, props to both of them. I remember listening to a old Betsy interview where she recalled seeing Frankie pulling up the final climb in a TdF mountain stage. Ppl were calling her saying "wow, Frankie is kicking ***". Instead, she was seething -- she knew straight off he was juiced. He called her after the stage and she immediately said, "what the f*ck was that?!"...chewed him out.

Good on Betsy for being HONEST despite everything, and good on Frankie for tolerating it. Couldn't have been easy for him!! They'll both be better for all of it.

 

[TubularBills]

I give a lot of props to the Andreus.

...

Good on Betsy for being HONEST despite everything, and good on Frankie for tolerating it. Couldn't have been easy for him!! They'll both be better for all of it.

Good points... but, and without knowing them... the use of the word "tolerating" implies that Frankie disagreed with Betsy, or Betsy was wrong... I suspect the reality was that Betsy called BS and FA sheepishly agreed... i.e. admitted the truth and accepted the consequences of the stronger 'partnership'... and agreed, "both [are] better for it."

 

[tubularglue]

I remember listening to a old Betsy interview where she recalled seeing Frankie pulling up the final climb in a TdF mountain stage.

can you provide a link from above. I have never heard or read about it ?

curious

 

[TubularBills]

can you provide a link from above. I have never heard or read about it ?

curious

http://cozybeehive.blogspot.com/2009/11/8-things-on-lance-armstrong-from-other.html

Scroll down to #8

and, if you haven't seen the rest of the evidence... browse. A nice summary of the historical archive.

 

[john_d]

tubularglue asked : can you provide a link from above. I have never heard or read about it ?

http://competitorradio.competitor.com/2007/07/152betsy-andreu/

 

[TubularBills]

It is somewhat ironic that a couple of years ago when cyclingnews changed their format... and there was quite a bit of backlash and internal 'Forum' generated rumblings that they had 'sold out' ...that now, I find it my go-to source for their un-spun honest reporting and fan base. Kudos, to all.

 

[pedaling squares]

SI's first voicemail was heavy, but she was contrite in the second.

The second message was anything but contrite. One of the first things she said was "I didn't admit to anything to you." How does that relate to the first message and more importantly, have you ever heard an innocent person say "I didn't admit to anything?" A field day for statement analysts. She ensures that alcohol and prescription drugs are inserted as convenient excuses. Some act of contrition - don't blame me, blame the drugs. And I hear terrible stories about you. But your kids are cute. God be with you!

 

[TubularBills]

The second message was anything but contrite. One of the first things she said was "I didn't admit to anything to you." How does that relate to the first message and more importantly, have you ever heard an innocent person say "I didn't admit to anything?" A field day for statement analysts. She ensures that alcohol and prescription drugs are inserted as convenient excuses. Some act of contrition - don't blame me, blame the drugs. And I hear terrible stories about you. But your kids are cute. God be with you!

Wow, excellent analysis of the sublime. An excellent Counter Point for the naysayers that pipe in with... Say it isn't so...

 

[bianchigirl]

This is a woman who doesn't want to have to go in the court room and testify about what she heard because she doesn't want to have to take the consequences of her actions

 

[python]

<snip>
I've never been an LA hater, and highly enjoyed his racing, but when you ruthlessly plow over people enough times... eventually the piper comes calling. If he's guilty of such...I wish him well in becoming a better man.

whoever you are, bravo !. i can sign under this gracious statement !

 

[Berzin]

OK, so now we have this. It is sensational to say the least, but to me it's still peripheral to a degree.

There is one thing that is more important that has yet to come out, and that is another rider unequivocally cooberating the Landis accusations of organized doping on the team.

To me, and I could be wrong, proving there was an organized doping ring and that Armstrong doped his whole way through those 7 victories is what will lead the other chips to fall. It may not be the most important aspect of the investigation, but I don't think you can get to the other stuff without this very important chip falling.

I must say I feel like an idiot for falling for that whole single mother with a sick child nonsense, and thought Lemond was a slimeball for recording their telephone conversation when he said he wasn't.

Goes to show you that one should never jump to conclusions about anyone in this whole sordid mess. Funny how people are questioning the character of guys like Landis and Papp. This lady makes them look like choirboys in comparison-talk about no integrity whatsoever, sheesh.

 

[Anonymous]

McIlvain:

 

[Tubeless]

The second message was anything but contrite. One of the first things she said was "I didn't admit to anything to you." How does that relate to the first message and more importantly, have you ever heard an innocent person say "I didn't admit to anything?" A field day for statement analysts. She ensures that alcohol and prescription drugs are inserted as convenient excuses. Some act of contrition - don't blame me, blame the drugs. And I hear terrible stories about you. But your kids are cute. God be with you!

The article says the recording was left on Betsy's answering machine "in the spring of 2008". Stephanie says on the tape "I've moved on. I don't have any contact with Lance." Really?

"Ante Up For Autism" Benefit For Talk About Curing Autism - Arrivals
October 3, 2008 - Dana Point, CA, USA"

http://www.exposay.com/stephanie-mc...Ackerman,+Jenny+McCarthy+and+Patrick+MCIlvain

 

[thehog]

OK, so now we have this. It is sensational to say the least, but to me it's still peripheral to a degree.

There is one thing that is more important that has yet to come out, and that is another rider unequivocally cooberating the Landis accusations of organized doping on the team.

To me, and I could be wrong, proving there was an organized doping ring and that Armstrong doped his whole way through those 7 victories is what will lead the other chips to fall. It may not be the most important aspect of the investigation, but I don't think you can get to the other stuff without this very important chip falling.

I must say I feel like an idiot for falling for that whole single mother with a sick child nonsense, and thought Lemond was a slimeball for recording their telephone conversation when he said he wasn't.

Goes to show you that one should never jump to conclusions about anyone in this whole sordid mess. Funny how people are questioning the character of guys like Landis and Papp. This lady makes them look like choirboys in comparison-talk about no integrity whatsoever, sheesh.

This tapes alone don’t say a lot. But like you say when presented with
the rest of the evidence it says much more. It provides context. The
tape shows McIlvain is under severe stress. Why would this be? Who is
applying the pressure? It’s not Betsey – she simply saying “just tell
the truth”. Looks to me McIlvain is being lent on from above… from her
employer?, from Armstrong himself? Her calls to Betsey to are
irrational, crazed and the talking of women who is about to implode.
These tapes are very worrying and shows the control that Armstrong had
on some people. Sure McIlvain is drunk and taking way too many
prescription drugs but why is that so? People generally sit at home
alone and drink two bottles of wine when they don’t feel good about
themselves I feel a lot of sympathy for McIlvain. By telling the truth
would have taken this stress away but then she had the pressure of
losing her job. No one should ever be put in that position. She didn’t
want to be in the hospital room and she didn’t ask for any of this –
but alas Armstrong had a habit of dragging people into his lie. I hope
this time around she has the opportunity to set the record straight
but more importantly free herself from the burden she’s carried since
2005. People may think Floyd is destroying cycling but right here he’s
giving a person the opportunity to set her self free and not be victim
to any personal or employment ramifications.

 

[Kennf1]

The article says the recording was left on Betsy's answering machine "in the spring of 2008". Stephanie says on the tape "I've moved on. I don't have any contact with Lance." Really?

"Ante Up For Autism" Benefit For Talk About Curing Autism - Arrivals
October 3, 2008 - Dana Point, CA, USA"

http://www.exposay.com/stephanie-mc...Ackerman,+Jenny+McCarthy+and+Patrick+MCIlvain

She must have meant just during the two weeks preceding the phone call.

 

[Berzin]

Hog-I guess I'm just cynical.

Let's face it, the so-called stress she was under to keep her job doesn't factor into abusive phone calls to Betsy Andreu in 2008. By then she had already married quite well within the corporate structure of Oakley and Armstrong was retired.

In fact, as far as her job security ever being in jeopardy, during the Lemond tapes she said specifically that it was Armstrong himself that wanted her to work with him exclusively.

To me, and this is only my opinion, it sort of paints a different picture of her and whatever stress she was supposedly under.

 

[Guttercat]

whoever you are, bravo !. i can sign under this gracious statement !

Thank you. That's a very nice thing to say but I had to chuckle a bit when I read it...I'm not generally known for being consistently gracious...hard-headed and outspoken, perhaps.

 

[theswordsman]

Damn, this crew does some good research

I still think the Feds have more than two voice mails. There was no need for Betsy to turn over everything to the New York Daily News. She apparently turned these over shortly after the second call.

Andreu gave the voicemails to the Daily News two and a half years ago, right after receiving them. Then and now, Andreu said she shared the tapes to illustrate how much nastiness she faced for testifying against Armstrong in a 2005 arbitration case.

"I wanted to show what kind of treatment we were getting," Andreu says. "When I got those phone calls, I was worried on one hand and disgusted on the other."

But all along, we were told in the media that Betsy had tapes of McIlvain apologizing for the perjury. Maybe those came later, after the ones were turned over to the Daily News? Or the two she gave them made her point?

Betsy Andreu also told The Times that the government has obtained voice mails left on Andreu's message machine by Stephanie McIlvain, a representative of Oakley Inc., a longtime Armstrong sponsor. Andreu said those recordings indicated McIlvain lied when testifying that she hadn't heard Armstrong admit using drugs.

I don't recall reading that Betsy had set up the LeMond call.

Andreu, who said she arranged the LeMond telephone conversation, also has provided federal investigators voice mail recordings allegedly left on her machine by McIlvain in which Andreu says McIlvain acknowledges regret for "lying" in the 2005 Texas civil case deposition.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/15/sports/la-sp-lance-armstrong-20100916

Two sets of tapes from different times and talking to different people should be enough to put McIlvain up to her neck in hot water.

 

[theswordsman]

There is one thing that is more important that has yet to come out, and that is another rider unequivocally cooberating the Landis accusations of organized doping on the team.

To me, and I could be wrong, proving there was an organized doping ring and that Armstrong doped his whole way through those 7 victories is what will lead the other chips to fall. It may not be the most important aspect of the investigation, but I don't think you can get to the other stuff without this very important chip falling.

I'm convinced those chips have fallen.

Three other former U.S. Postal riders told the Journal in interviews that there was doping on the team during the time Mr. Armstrong was its lead rider, and one of them admitted that he himself had doped.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...06.html?KEYWORDS=lance+armstrong+floyd+landis

A former teammate of Armstrong said in a telephone interview Wednesday that he had spoken with investigators. He said he detailed some of his own drug use, as well as the widespread cheating that he said went on as part of the Postal Service team — all of which he said was done with Armstrong’s knowledge and encouragement.

The rider, who has never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs or methods, asked that his name not be used because investigators advised him not to speak publicly about the information he provided. He has not been called before the grand jury that has been convened in Los Angeles to investigate the case.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/sports/cycling/05armstrong.html?ref=juliet_macur

 

[buckwheat]

McIlvaine restricts her tweets and before she blocked me, she was still doing a big high school cheerleading, rah, rah thing for Pharmstrong Inc.

Don't be surprised if these recent tweets also show up, as they occurred after the Andreu phone msgs. were recorded.

McIlvaine has lost her grip on reality because of the crazy stress on her life from all directions.

I'm happy that Floyd decided to tell the truth for his sake. His life will keep getting better and better and he'll be able to deal with all of the inevitable upheavals we all face.

 

[thehog]

Hog-I guess I'm just cynical.

Let's face it, the so-called stress she was under to keep her job doesn't factor into abusive phone calls to Betsy Andreu in 2008. By then she had already married quite well within the corporate structure of Oakley and Armstrong was retired.

In fact, as far as her job security ever being in jeopardy, during the Lemond tapes she said specifically that it was Armstrong himself that wanted her to work with him exclusively.

To me, and this is only my opinion, it sort of paints a different picture of her and whatever stress she was supposedly under.

I'm with you. I'm not excusing her behavior I'm trying to understand it. You see to leave a message like she did on a voicemail machine with the words in regards to smashing someone over the head with baseball bat you would have to be very highly strung state and compromised. You could be right. Its just a politically motivated action from McIlvain to protect and advance her job. However if this was the case I'd think you see someone using more calming tactics to sway another person. From what I can see or should I say from I can hear is a women who is losing the plot because of pressure. She knows what happened in that hospital room. But she wants to protect Lance but is demonised by the truth. Her real annoyance is she's envious of Betsy's strength. She wish she had the same quality. As others have stated its a train wreck. Its very messy and ugly.

To keep things simple McIlvain was pressured directly by Lance. He also wanted her to speak to Betsy and "calm her down". Novi doesn't care if Armstrong admitted to his drug use or not in the hospital room. However witness tampering and bribing witness with the promise of future earnings is a very serious infraction. He also defrauded SCA. Believe me when I say this - McIlvain will crack and tell all. Its the only thing she can do to save herself - because its hard to take care of your sick child from jail.

I think to understand the situation better you have to put yourself in McIlvain's shoes - what would have you done? Floyd had the same situation. If you admit then you're taking on the biggest name in cycling and back in 2005 - 2008 that's a big effort - no one could do that - at the time Armstrong was untouchable.

 

[Tubeless]

This tapes alone don’t say a lot. But like you say when presented with
the rest of the evidence it says much more. It provides context. The
tape shows McIlvain is under severe stress. Why would this be? Who is
applying the pressure? It’s not Betsey – she simply saying “just tell
the truth”. Looks to me McIlvain is being lent on from above… from her
employer?, from Armstrong himself? Her calls to Betsey to are
irrational, crazed and the talking of women who is about to implode.
These tapes are very worrying and shows the control that Armstrong had
on some people. Sure McIlvain is drunk and taking way too many
prescription drugs but why is that so? People generally sit at home
alone and drink two bottles of wine when they don’t feel good about
themselves I feel a lot of sympathy for McIlvain. By telling the truth
would have taken this stress away but then she had the pressure of
losing her job. No one should ever be put in that position. She didn’t
want to be in the hospital room and she didn’t ask for any of this –
but alas Armstrong had a habit of dragging people into his lie. I hope
this time around she has the opportunity to set the record straight
but more importantly free herself from the burden she’s carried since
2005. People may think Floyd is destroying cycling but right here he’s
giving a person the opportunity to set her self free and not be victim
to any personal or employment ramifications.

The timing of the McIlvaine recordings on Betsy's answering machine matches the filing of the "Lemond vs. Trek" lawsuit on March 20, 2008.

http://www.trekbikes.com/pdf/media/en/03202008_Lemond.pdf

Oakley Sunglasses comes up early in the document (para 8):

"Mr. LeMond also lent his sports celebrity to the launch of the first sport-eyewear company, Oakley. Mr. LeMond was the first athlete to wear Oakley Pilots and was wearing Oakley sunglasses when he won his first Tour de France in 1986."

So why would Stephanie McIlvay be calling Betsy Andreau after Greg LeMond sues Trek? If you read the lawsuit, it's obvious that LeMon'd strategy was to air out the Trek-Armstrong connection and the whole doping angle to apply pressure on Trek to settle. Trek receives the lawsuit, calls Armstrong, who calls McIlvay to apply pressure to LeMond and those close to him.

There were some clear alliances going on around this whole case, dating back to the famous hospital room conversation and the SCA case which divided the Armstrong supporting camp in a bitter way. Betsy has been reported to be close to LeMond - and obviously McIlvay is close to Armstrong. Both LeMond and Armstrong had business relationships with Oakley and Trek. Stephanie had maintained a double-faced friendship with both sides, including bad-mouthing Armstrong behind his back. This is now obvious as we're hearing first hand from the tapes.

Look at the document discovery request that LeMond's lawyers made (page 48 of the lawsuit PDF file). No wonder FDA received some 60,000 pages of documentation from LeMond as part of their request - including contracts between Trek & Armstrong.

One interesting tidbit from this lawsuit that I did not know previously - a claim that the $500,000 payment to UCI was in fact to cover the 1999 cortisoid incident (para 54). This would have set UCI and Armstrong to be "friends for life", and would later lead to additional donations after the alleged EPO positive at Tour de Suisse in 2001, and to help pay for the Vrijman report to exonerate Lance of the 2005 retesting of the 1999 samples. Anyone still wondering why Lance's team would always get advance warnings of UCI doping tests?

 

[BroDeal]

As crazy as she was then, imagine how much crazier she must be now after spending the spring and summer watching her impending doom creep ever closer in a steady drip of newspaper articles. Local booze sales must be through the roof.

When the chips start a-fallin',
There's a man you should be callin',
That's FDA-4796, Let it ring!
McIlvaine is a loser and I think she is a boozer.
So she better make that call to Novitzky!