Is Walsh on the Sky bandwagon?

[ruamruam]

Re: Re:

Armstrong is being a *** in regard to the whole affair. He is using a girl who was sexually abused to get back at Walsh.

On that basis, one could ask, were you yourself not guilty of using the girl when you posted the link to the Last Word interview?

Armstrong is, at least, aware enough to acknowledge the difficulty people will have with him criticising Walsh. Five years ago Walsh could not see the problem of him defending Humphries (a man who did the state some service, with his writing) and his pursuit of Armstrong (a man who did the state some service, with his charity).

And - in defence of Armstrong's comments - he is not alone in what he said: some of Walsh's peers agree with the Texan, as do many of Walsh's readers.

It could be argued but my motivation for posting the link was to let people on this forum know about the interview as I thought people would be interested in listening to the interview. As the vast majority are not from Ireland they may not have been aware of it.

Armstrong's response to the interview was to post a cynical tweet attacking Walsh.

 

[veganrob]

Re: Re:

Armstrong is being a *** in regard to the whole affair. He is using a girl who was sexually abused to get back at Walsh.

Agreed, he's attempting to further his narrative of being unfairly treated too. Disgusting.

Armstrong is a *** for sure, but that is not the way I interpret his comments at all. He is directing them at Walsh alone and deservedly so.

 

[Beech Mtn]

Re:

LA's listened to the interview. And has things to say to the Indo about DW:

"His position is appalling and totally inexcusable. Having said that, it's not surprising. David does what David wants.

Despite all of our differences, I say this knowing I have literally zero cred on issues regarding him."

And on DW saying the comparison of his support for Humphries and pursuit of LA was odious:

"Calling the comparison 'odious' when we're talking about a crime that has actual victims, versus an athlete who competed in a sport where the crime (doping) was pervasive just shows how dysfunctional he truly is."

Never thought I'd see the day, but I agree with Lance.

 

[Forever The Best]

I agree with Lance too.
'Journalist with integrity'

 

[hazaran]

This posse is in a nutshell why it is so incredibly easy for a Lance or anyone really to discredit everything Walsh says or does. He is plain insufferable and it stands above all he does.

 

[Netserk]

Re:

I agree with Lance too.
'Journalist with integrity'

For a moment there, I thought Hitch still had his signature displayed

 

[King Boonen]

Re: Re:

Armstrong is being a *** in regard to the whole affair. He is using a girl who was sexually abused to get back at Walsh.

Agreed, he's attempting to further his narrative of being unfairly treated too. Disgusting.

Armstrong is a **** for sure, but that is not the way I interpret his comments at all. He is directing them at Walsh alone and deservedly so.

We'll have to disagree then, or continue in the Lance thread, but it's probably not worth our time

 

[veganrob]

Re: Re:

Armstrong is being a *** in regard to the whole affair. He is using a girl who was sexually abused to get back at Walsh.

Agreed, he's attempting to further his narrative of being unfairly treated too. Disgusting.

Armstrong is a **** for sure, but that is not the way I interpret his comments at all. He is directing them at Walsh alone and deservedly so.

We'll have to disagree then, or continue in the Lance thread, but it's probably not worth our time

Nah, it's not.

 

[Electress]

Not sure it'll be the end of Walsh. I suspect he'll lay low for a while then re-emerge when it's blown over.

With respect to his commentary on cycling, I do think the 'I know things you don't know so you must just trust me' demonstrates a pretty high opinion of himself - also an unwillingness, I think, to have his views / preconceptions change when faced with evidence to the contrary.

As for Lance - well, his 'comments' are probably the stuff of some journo. ringing him up and asking for his thoughts. Maybe he should have said 'I have none'. But loathe him though I do I can't imagine he was ringing around offering his opinions on the matter. All pretty tawdry though.

 

[Mayo from Mayo]

Re:

Not sure it'll be the end of Walsh. I suspect he'll lay low for a while then re-emerge when it's blown over.

With respect to his commentary on cycling, I do think the 'I know things you don't know so you must just trust me' demonstrates a pretty high opinion of himself - also an unwillingness, I think, to have his views / preconceptions change when faced with evidence to the contrary.

As for Lance - well, his 'comments' are probably the stuff of some journo. ringing him up and asking for his thoughts. Maybe he should have said 'I have none'. But loathe him though I do I can't imagine he was ringing around offering his opinions on the matter. All pretty tawdry though.

Carry on loathing

https://www.buzz.ie/celebs/lance-armstrong-article-tom-humphries-257184

 

[fmk_RoI]

Dónal Óg Cusack admits a lack of judgement:

My intention was to help a human in a dark place who asked me for help. I showed a lack of judgement in this situation for which I am genuinely sorry.

Not only does David Walsh stay silent, it seems the rest of the Irish media has lost its voice on this matter too.

 

[Benotti69]

Re:

Dónal Óg Cusack admits a lack of judgement:

My intention was to help a human in a dark place who asked me for help. I showed a lack of judgement in this situation for which I am genuinely sorry.

Not only does David Walsh stay silent, it seems the rest of the Irish media has lost its voice on this matter too.

Ewan McKenna and Paul Howard among others have spoken out on twitter.

IIRC SundayBusPost did an article on Walsh.

 

[Mayo from Mayo]

Re:

Dónal Óg Cusack admits a lack of judgement:

My intention was to help a human in a dark place who asked me for help. I showed a lack of judgement in this situation for which I am genuinely sorry.

Not only does David Walsh stay silent, it seems the rest of the Irish media has lost its voice on this matter too.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/david-has-made-a-bad-mistake-and-donal-og-has-made-a-bad-mistake-paul-kimmage-on-those-who-wrote-character-references-for-tom-humphries-36234456.html

 

[fmk_RoI]

Re: Re:

Dónal Óg Cusack admits a lack of judgement:

My intention was to help a human in a dark place who asked me for help. I showed a lack of judgement in this situation for which I am genuinely sorry.

Not only does David Walsh stay silent, it seems the rest of the Irish media has lost its voice on this matter too.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/david-has-made-a-bad-mistake-and-donal-og-has-made-a-bad-mistake-paul-kimmage-on-those-who-wrote-character-references-for-tom-humphries-36234456.html

I really don't think the letters are the problem. They're kind of embarrassing, for sure, but you can kind of understand them too, and you can kind of agree with Terry Prone's point about the real problem being the system that allows them and encourages them.

However. It is not the letter that is causing the real problem for Walsh: it's his 'Last Word' interview and his claims to know more than other people. It's his apparent attempt to say that Humphries's victim was lying.

That of itself is bloody awful, but it also underlines his standard operating procedure: this is what he was doing back in the 1980s when he was defending Sean Kelly with FUD ('trust me, there's nothing to see here'), this is what he was doing in the 1990s when he was defending PDM's use of Intralipid ('trust me, there's nothing to see here'), this is what he was doing in the noughties with LA ('trust me, there's everything to see here'), and this is what he's been doing the last few years with Sky/Foome ('trust me, there's nothing to see here'). His defence of Humphries on 'The Last Word' only serves to highlight the problem of trusting a man who's ego has been out of control for many, many decades now.

Again, though, who is going to hold him to account here? The Irish media is circling the wagons: even Kimmage's comments are not condemnatory, he saves his condemnation for that fan favourite, the lynchmob (up there with the witch hunt in favoured 'get out of gaol free' cards to play). While Ireland's commentariat has found itself with much to say about Harvey Weinstein, they are being awfully quiet about the problem closer to home. Perhaps because it's professionally too damned close to home.

 

[fmk_RoI]

Another week of silence from the Irish commentariat.

Humphries gets sentenced on Tuesday - will they find their voice then or have they successfully deep sixed this affair?

 

[yaco]

Common. It takes an exceptional circumstance for journalists to commentate on their brotherhood.

 

[fmk_RoI]

David Walsh speaks... about why he won't speak:

“I’ve taken more than a few hits arising out of this and am still feeling a little bruised. As a result I prefer not to say anything at the moment.”

 

[fmk_RoI]

And now he's found his voice. The TLR?

Soz.

 

[Benotti69]

Walsh claims he sticks by his "friends through thick and thin". Bet Pierre Ballestre will have something to say about that.

 

[noddy69]

Re:

And now he's found his voice. The TLR?

Soz.

Insensitive and ill judged comments ? It was apportioning blame on the victim.
2012 He said he knew.. "a damn sight more about it [the abuse case] than most people, and I believe Tom is a fine man".

I cannot believe he spoke about feeling a little beaten up recently. How does he think the victim felt. The ego is astounding- to apologise after giving a character reference which went some way to a reduced sentence. No apology during the trial, and trying to insinuate he was letting justice run its course. It seems he feels like if he spoke in the press it may alter the course of the trial.....which he already altered somewhat.

I can understand a friend standing by someone in private and by all accounts Mr Humphries was suicidal- but to give a character reference to someone who used a position of trust to get at a child is abhorrent

 

[Benotti69]

Re: Re:

And now he's found his voice. The TLR?

Soz.

Insensitive and ill judged comments ? It was apportioning blame on the victim.
2012 He said he knew.. "a damn sight more about it [the abuse case] than most people, and I believe Tom is a fine man".

I cannot believe he spoke about feeling a little beaten up recently. How does he think the victim felt. The ego is astounding- to apologise after giving a character reference which went some way to a reduced sentence. No apology during the trial, and trying to insinuate he was letting justice run its course. It seems he feels like if he spoke in the press it may alter the course of the trial.....which he already altered somewhat.

I can understand a friend standing by someone in private and by all accounts Mr Humphries was suicidal- but to give a character reference to someone who used a position of trust to get at a child is abhorrent

ray‏ @vinfox 2 hours ago

Odd how Tom Humphries refused counselling as he felt he wasn't deserving but was seemingly ok with character references. Classic manipulator

Think this tweet nails the kind of person TH is. Walsh is either willfully stupid, an idiot or both.

I dont think TH was suicidal.

 

[fmk_RoI]

Refusing counseling because he feels he doesn't deserve it is perfectly believable by anyone who understands depression.

Believing that the letters of reference were requested by his legal representative is believable by anyone who knows the legal system.

 

[fmk_RoI]

Ewan MacKenna's article

 

[heart_attack_man]

Re:

Ewan MacKenna's article

Good article.

Many moons ago, once upon a time, I thought Walsh had performed good work in his pursuit of Armstrong, at least getting it into the public arena in a more consumable way than L.A. Confidentiel.

I'll also give him further credit for wheeling out a word I hadn't used in a time and as Walsh put it perfectly himself - he is an odious individual, who just so happened to align his worldview with mine for a brief period is about all I can reconcile it to these days.

I had grown weary of his Sky-love, however he has now transgressed to an individual that I find truly repellent and loathsome.

 

[fmk_RoI]

Eamon Dunphy makes an eejit of himself and drops Walsh in it

"The story that I heard, through David Walsh in particular, was much more benign than the story that emerged and the evidence that was given," Dunphy said.

"It was not about grooming. It was more of a question, I was told, of underage sex which is, of course, serious, but he had been a colleague of mine and I went to see him and brought him a book."