Lessons from baseball

[pleyser]

I haven't seen this covered in a recent thread...I think the outcome of the Lance investigation could go one of a few ways. We are well on the way, if not there yet, to viewing all major achievements in cycling from the mid 90's on (if not well before) like the "steriod era" in baseball. Asterisks all over the place! Lessons learned from Euro teams, long lists of riders with postive tests and phenomenal racing average speed increases taint the era. My thought is that Lance will respond, if charged with wrongdoing, like Roger Clemens. Go down swinging, but losing all credibility and the PR battle. Andy Pettitte got off relatively easy, coming clean after denial. Barry Bonds, once one of the most noted players of any era, retired in obscurity and is discredited. No matter the sport, it all follows a pattern. Marion Jones was the most persistent liar...deny, deny, deny, insert # of years/months...tearful apology.

In my opinion, if he took a page from Alex Rodriguez, some of his legacy could remain intact.

Quote from ESPN and New Your Times:

"In an interview with ESPN after the report came out, citing "an enormous amount of pressure to perform," Rodriguez admitted to using banned substances from 2001 to 2003. "All my years in New York have been clean,” he added, saying he has not used banned substances since last taking them following a spring training injury in 2003 while playing for the Rangers. "Back then, [baseball] was a different culture," Rodriguez said. "It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naïve. And I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. I did take a banned substance. And for that, I am very sorry and deeply regretful."

 

[Oldman]

While many of the disclosures in cycling could lead to some baseball-like admissions from atheletes, for Lance the circumstances are hugely different from Alex Rodriguez or others:

1. USADA is after a system of illegal activity. Individual participants can and will save themselves by disclosing what they know about drugs, money and the means of distribution.
2. The atheletes involved in Balco were atheletes first, endorsement vehicles as a secondary source of income.
3. Balco atheletes or their agents didn't seek to control the organizations that governed the sport nationally or internationally. There was no significant evidence of corruption beyond their own actions.

Based on news and conjecture Lance is on a path to be investigated for many more things than being an enhanced athelete.

 

[JMBeaushrimp]

In my opinion, if he took a page from Alex Rodriguez, some of his legacy could remain intact.

"Back then, [baseball] was a different culture," Rodriguez said. "It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naïve. And I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. I did take a banned substance. And for that, I am very sorry and deeply regretful."

Public Strategies testing the waters for a new approach?

 

[sagard]

A-Rod is as clean as most elite professional cyclists now and always.

Just like most elite baseball players.

 

[BotanyBay]

Public Strategies testing the waters for a new approach?

That's what I was thinking.

 

[hfer07]

PBS is currently broadcasting a special show on Baseball in which is aboard the doping topic in an interesting manner-even BALCO & Novitzky have a special part in it.
What gave me chills about the program was the fact that nowadays the american public/media seems to be OK with the doping issue-or at least has found a justification behind its practice--as they comment on how the spectacle has overshadowed the means used by the players to get results.
If there is a lesson that needs to be learnt from Baseball is this: please do not look the other way when the dirty reality behind the records is revealed.

 

[Oldman]

PBS is currently broadcasting a special show on Baseball in which is aboard the doping topic in an interesting manner-even BALCO & Novitzky have a special part in it.
What gave me chills about the program was the fact that nowadays the american public/media seems to be OK with the doping issue-or at least has found a justification behind its practice--as they comment on how the spectacle has overshadowed the means used by the players to get results.
If there is a lesson that needs to be learnt from Baseball is this: please do not look the other way when the dirty reality behind the records is revealed.

This is a good place to maintain that awareness, IMO. No sport can rely on the casual observer to guess what is real anymore, unfortunately.

 

[PotentialPro]

While many of the disclosures in cycling could lead to some baseball-like admissions from atheletes, for Lance the circumstances are hugely different from Alex Rodriguez or others:

1. USADA is after a system of illegal activity. Individual participants can and will save themselves by disclosing what they know about drugs, money and the means of distribution.
2. The atheletes involved in Balco were atheletes first, endorsement vehicles as a secondary source of income.
3. Balco atheletes or their agents didn't seek to control the organizations that governed the sport nationally or internationally. There was no significant evidence of corruption beyond their own actions.

Based on news and conjecture Lance is on a path to be investigated for many more things than being an enhanced athelete.

This is quite an interesting thought. We know that there was some money changing hands, how this gets characterized is very important. Whether to buy a blood testing machine or otherwise, it has been stated repeatedly this is unethical. What if there were other payments? Not just from LA, but many others? This creates a systematic corruption that is perhaps a bit mind boggling. Can we say the inmates controlling they asylum?

 

[fatandfast]

many of the athletes(baseball) that testified in front of congress and a grand jury were found to have used PEDs. Palmerro is up for the hall of fame. Clemens lied,McGuirre lied but the damage to the sport was minimized through millions spent on PR by the league and the players union. Cycling has no money to spend on any of these techniques. The big races have there own designs. The TDF spends all it's PR cash letting people know that they step up testing so that all other races look lax. Baseball and football in the US have a drug problem but 2 out of 3 parties involved ,teams and the players have left the 3rd group,the fans out of the process. As cycling has seen if the fans put in lots of effort into anti doping it kills your sport and it's public opinion. and it's cash flow. Cyclings way of testing and punishing offenders is the difference not the amount of drugs in the sport. If cycling wants to be a bigger sport they should test like the other sports..maybe make a lunch date with the managemnt of Man U..they appear to know what they are doing