Fred Thistle said:
...that is absolutely what I think
Rather than speculate, and given that you're wrong, why don't you ask me? After all, I'm an active participant in both this thread and the wider forum. It's not like I'm Lance Armstrong, who is discussed ad nauseam w/o his ever actually being present. It's also not like you have any reason to think that I wouldn't answer, given my willingness to speak openly about the topic of doping. Heck, I even explained why I started this thread.
(For the 3rd time) TP said mean things about Vino via Twitter, then made the blanket statement that he disliked all cheaters, (a group in which he obviously lumped at least one rider who'd served a ban), but then failed to openly and publicly criticize his two pseudo-teammates (LL and LF) who had cheated at some point like Vino.
I'm a fan of Vino. I was disappointed that he cheated, but not surprised. I was pleased that he came back. I was disappointed that David Millar slagged him off. But I was doubly pleased that he won a Classic and seemed to enjoy the support of his teammates, including Contador. I was surprised and found it hypocritical that TP would lash out against Vino - using Twitter of all mediums - and
imply (not state directly) that he had no right to 1) compete, let alone 2) win, when his own pseudo-teammate was equally guilty of having been found guilty of doping.
In his situation, I probably wouldn't have attacked Vino, even if I did hate him, because the topic of doping is too polarized for athletes to take anything other than unambiguous stands. Either you detest doping in all its forms, and consider all riders who've doped to be non-entities, who shouldn't be allowed to compete, or you detest doping in all its forms, and recognize that compliance with the terms of a sanction is the only official "test" for whether or not a suspended rider is eligible to return to competition. Of course, you could also publicly condemn doping but secretly have practiced it for 7+ years, in which case you'd be fine with TP as long as you didn't get caught, I guess?
It's not like complex logic is required to see how Phinney puts himself into a difficult PR position, if anyone cares (and at least some do). For example, if Floyd Landis wins a race - say, the national championship, for instance - because he served a doping ban but never admitted to doping, let alone apologized for it, according to TP he is an illegitimate winner and a cheat who should "go away."
Or maybe he (TP) just dislikes Kazakhs, or ex-Telekom's or blonde men or whatever.
Why even open yourself up to that kind of negative scrutiny when you could adopt an unambiguous position against doping, without selectively selecting certain ex-dopers as targets for your insinuations of ongoing cheating or dishonesty, while ignoring others? There is a reason why universities offer course in the field of strategic communications - because often times, your relationship with your stakeholders (or fans) is important to the success of your endeavour (or career. or endorsement deals.).
The fact that "he's just a 20 year old kid who doesn't know any better" or "he wasn't even born when Levi tested positive so how could he know to condemn him" (paraphrasing) or whatever other explanation is put forward to defend him doesn't cut water with me because even 14 year old boys know that doping is bad and as a topic of conversation it requires some forethought to address. Christ, TP's father was a pro, his mother was a World and Olympic medalist, his unofficial mentor appears to be The Lance...he's a World Champ...you mean to tell me he doesn't understand the art of PR?
BUT, if by some miracle, Taylor Phinney truly didn't know that Leipheimer was positive in 1996 during the national championship...well, that in and of itself is justification for this thread - to ensure that no other rider (Especially genuine, All-American, Johnny-Appleseed types like TP) falls victim to the scrutiny of distrusting fans and jaded commentators who wonder how he could vilify the winner of L-B-L on the day of his triumph without being consistent in his condemnations and striking out at Li Fuyu or even the Great Levi Leipheimer.
TP quote:
Just woke up... Not so happy about LBL results.
about 11 hours ago via Tweetie
Vino is a doper and needs to go away.
about 6 hours ago via Tweetie in reply to hammt34
doper
about 6 hours ago via Tweetie in reply to azens3
Did I say anything bad about Astana? I don't care who anyone rides for...I just don't like cheaters.
about 6 hours ago via Tweetie
endquote
PS. if you have a lot of angry words to say to me, or even semi-critical ones, please send me a PM or an email, and don't hijack the thread to attack me. at this point i think this discussion is pretty well played out, but regardless, you don't do anything to advance the dialogue by reciting that which I (and many others) already know (what I did), but from your unique perspective, driven by your unique feelings. I'm not saying that I don't think you should hate on me, just that it'd be lame to do it in this thread since you could start your own here in the Clinic.
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