It Was Always About Omerta

[MacRoadie]

Opinion: Omerta, Bobby McGee, the yellow line and Floyd Landis’ claims

Finally, someone in the media (and VeloNews of all places) understands what went down and why...

 

[Wheels Go Round and Round]

what "went down" was another doper got caught..............


and then saw "jesus"




amazing.................... non the less

funny that same person never "saw jesus" when he was raking in all the money and fame..............strange don't you think?

 

[blackcat]

Opinion: Omerta, Bobby McGee, the yellow line and Floyd Landis’ claims

Finally, someone in the media (and VeloNews of all places) understands what went down and why...

beats the Rick Reilly piece in ESPN where he could not even get that Levi was on Gerolsteiner in 2006, and Landis was riding on a BMC not a Trek in 2006, and Landis was alluding to the 2000 Suisse not 2001. Idjit.

 

[Publicus]

A good read.

 

[luckyboy]

Thought this was gonna be some revelation from the former FdJ rider, Brad McGee then.

Methinks I need to go sleep

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I think this became clear when Floyd stated he was not sorry for doping.

I mean, after losing everything he still does not regret the actions that led to his downfall. Stunning, really.

He's furious he was singled out. It's that simple.

 

[DirtyWorks]

that's the point

beats the Rick Reilly piece in ESPN where he could not even get .....

those factual 'errors' just keep the myth alive. That's the point. The errors are used any number of ways to keep things going just the way they are.

It's as if Public Strategies edits the story.. P.s. Earned their retainer many times over...

 

[Colm.Murphy]

what "went down" was another doper got caught..............


and then saw "jesus"




amazing.................... non the less

funny that same person never "saw jesus" when he was raking in all the money and fame..............strange don't you think?

The cliche is: "None the less"

Your doper, the one you attempt to prop up despite the mounting evidence and weight of a Federal investigation, will come to know the name himself.

Enjoy the downslide.

 

[Colm.Murphy]

He's furious he was singled out. It's that simple.

Kind of proves he is human, to me.

I know I would not be happy were it me in his shoes, in this situation. I am not sure who would take a different course. Damn tight spot of bother.

 

[MacRoadie]

First, a disclaimer: I am no Floyd apologist and I make no excuses for him. I've actually been pretty outspoken in the past regarding everything that went down. Also, while the topic is omerta and there is pressure to follow the silent rule, there is ALWAYS a choice. It's a mafia term, but cycling isn't the mafia.

Having said that, here is my take.

Regardless of the Monday morning quarterbacking, and the clarity of hindsight, when Floyd got popped, he found himself in a position never before encountered in the history of professional cycling. He got popped WHILE wearing the leader's jersey in, and subsequently winning, a Grand Tour. Not just any GT, but the Tour de France. That had never happened before. Never before, even in the Cofidis scandal or others before that, had the doping spotlight been shown directly and brightly on the maillot jeune.

There was no script to follow, no prior example to look to, and no simple solution to the problem. Plus, even though he had been riding in the European peloton for several years, he was still something of an outsider. Armstrong had just won seven Tours in a row, and now along comes another American, except this one has very few palmares on his resume, beyond being a super domestique for LA. Floyd didn't enjoy the popularity or authority of his predesessor. Let's face it, there are riders who are deemed worthy to win, who have the "right" to win, and then there's everyone else.

Instead of the typical brushing off of a positive (either through a payoff or other means), Landis had to go into super-omerta mode, likely at the behest (or demand) of several in the heirarchy of the peloton. He was likely told to do what he had to to make sure the yellow jersey didn't have a doping stain on it. Floyd was told to clean up his mess, at whatever cost. It was never about Floyd's best interest, but the desire to maintain the status quo.

It's really not hard to imagine just how many people would like to see that stain erased. Riders, sponsors, teams, even the organizers would be best served with a fight to clear Landis (and in turn the jersey and the Tour) rather than a record book with a doper stripped of the jersey. Capitulate or go down fighting in the hope that a test goes bad or some technical error is committed. It seems like a pretty easy choice (not for Floyd, but for those calling the shots), especially when so many powerful people have so much riding on keeping the image of the Tour untainted. It's kinda like the need for finding WMD's in Iraq shifting from de-arming a dictator to justifying an invasion. Same play, different goal.

Add to all this, the very real likelihood of a complete blacklist and loss of any hope of racing professionally again, and the picture becomes complete. Floyd does whatever he needs to do to clear his (and the maillot jeune's) name, except he still gets blacklisted and left for dead by the very people he fought so hard to satisfy.

Again, just my take. YMMV

 

[Benotti69]

...

He's furious he was singled out. It's that simple.

the way i see it is he turned his back on his old life (family/community) for the pro cycling life and the 'promises' of Uniballer/Hog, then got tired of them screwing him and when got a better offer of better money took it to go to phonak, then the whole thing came crashing down on his head and pro cycling turned their backs on him, final straw came when he reached rock bottom and uniballer/hog who convinced him to take this road to a so called 'better life' refused to give him a ride, well he had no option but revenge...

he's furious that he played their game with their rules then they locked him out of the game. well if they are not gonna let him play, they're not gonna play anymore either...simple. Why not ? its not like cycling is important. It's a sport. a rather dirty sport along with most other professional sports nowadays.

 

[SpeedWay]

Yeah, I think this became clear when Floyd stated he was not sorry for doping.

I mean, after losing everything he still does not regret the actions that led to his downfall. Stunning, really.

He's furious he was singled out. It's that simple.

Say it softer. Your girlfriends around here still thinks he deserves the respect a "real" whistleblower is entitled to. One out - three back.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Finally, someone in the media (and VeloNews of all places) understands what went down and why...

Mac,

I think the article is mental gymnastics. "Doping is bad, but like yellow line violations, a part of competition." "part of competition" being a phrase used to make doping okay. I think there will be more of this kind of article that serves to soften the blow of doping or possibly a tarnished Armstrong myth.

IMHO, I am seriously doubting the myth will be harmed at this point.

 

[MacRoadie]

Mac,

I think the article is mental gymnastics. "Doping is bad, but like yellow line violations, a part of competition." "part of competition" being a phrase used to make doping okay. I think there will be more of this kind of article that serves to soften the blow of doping or possibly a tarnished Armstrong myth.

IMHO, I am seriously doubting the myth will be harmed at this point.

I don't disagree. The article, in and of it's self really isn't shedding any new light but I took two things from it:

1. As you say, there is a grey line developing in order to justify or rationalize the Landis allegations. It's no longer "It's all lies, there guys just trained harder and won clean". Now it's "Everyone was doing it and if you wanted to keep up you did it too". We've heard it emanating from the fan boys, and now we see it in print.

2. This appeared in VeloNews, the land of Wilcockson and Rogers. There was a time, not too long ago, that you couldn't find two ill words spoken of Armstrong and even fewer words suggesting ANYTHING that landis said had any merit.

It's more a matter of who is saying it, especially in light of the absolute tripe that Wilcockson wrote yesterday.

For VeloNews, "a part of competition" is a quantum shift from "just a few bad eggs did it, but the passport is working and the sport is clean".

 

[Hairy Wheels]

Nice piece.

The rider he was talking about is Gord Fraser....1997 Tour.

 

[Colm.Murphy]

I don't disagree. The article, in and of it's self really isn't shedding any new light but I took two things from it:

1. As you say, there is a grey line developing in order to justify or rationalize the Landis allegations. It's no longer "It's all lies, there guys just trained harder and won clean". Now it's "Everyone was doing it and if you wanted to keep up you did it too". We've heard it emanating from the fan boys, and now we see it in print.

2. This appeared in VeloNews, the land of Wilcockson and Rogers. There was a time, not too long ago, that you couldn't find two ill words spoken of Armstrong and even fewer words suggesting ANYTHING that landis said had any merit.

It's more a matter of who is saying it, especially in light of the absolute tripe that Wilcockson wrote yesterday.

For VeloNews, "a part of competition" is a quantum shift from "just a few bad eggs did it, but the passport is working and the sport is clean".

Also, the tripe being vomited by Reilly. He is about the worst there is.

 

[The Hitch]

the article falsely credits janis joplin with the song "me and bobby mcgee". She merely covered it but the song is by Kris Kristofferson.

How can you take the article seriously after that blunder

 

[Benotti69]

the article falsely credits janis joplin with the song "me and bobby mcgee". She merely covered it but the song is by Kris Kristofferson.

How can you take the article seriously after that blunder

the same way you could take a guy repeating most tested athlete in the world and never positive ..blah blah.....after testing positive for epo'99 TdF

at least Joplin never hid her drug use

 

[Roland Rat]

Mac,

I think the article is mental gymnastics. "Doping is bad, but like yellow line violations, a part of competition." "part of competition" being a phrase used to make doping okay. I think there will be more of this kind of article that serves to soften the blow of doping or possibly a tarnished Armstrong myth.

IMHO, I am seriously doubting the myth will be harmed at this point.

It's a shame then that Livestrongers are too stupid to think "Hang on, if it's part of competition and not that bad then why did he lie to us about it?"