Media amnesia and reactions

[sairyder]

This just in on ABC news (Australia) not sure if linked yet

"The cyclist, referred to only as XZTT - and who was registered at elite level with Cycling Australia - competed in a race in China in 2010 under UCI rules and submitted a routine drug test.

Two days later the A sample was analysed and a small amount of the main metabolite found in cocaine was detected.

The cyclist should have been told about the positive test within a week, but for months he continued to race and even signed on with a new sponsor in early 2011.

The contract included a provision that would see the deal terminated if he breached anti-doping rules.

It was not until March 2011 that the UCI wrote to the cyclist. The union also notified Cycling Australia in March.

But nearly a month passed before the cyclist heard anything further, and when he did it was not from Cycling Australia but from the general manager of anti-doping programs and legal services at ASADA.

Despite the delays, the ADRVP found against the cyclist, so he took his case to the AAT.

The tribunal has now set aside two initial decisions made by the ADRVP, finding that: "The long delay in notifying the athlete of his initial test results meant that the UCI was in gross breach of its own anti-doping rules and the WADC provisions governing results management."

"The tribunal has concluded that ASADA and the ADRVP each misconceived their respective legal obligations... in so far as they proceeded on the basis that it was sufficient for the ADRVP to reach conclusions based on a possible finding."

AAT judge Duncan Kerr found the provisions of Australia's national anti-doping scheme had not been properly understood or given effect, but that when the provisions were properly addressed, "a conclusion adverse to XZTT must still be reached".

The tribunal directed the ADRVP to make a single entry in the register of findings relating to the presence of benzoylecgonine.

The terms of the entry shows that the amount of the metabolite detected was not a positive finding for use in-competition.

The ADRVP must now determine what the consequences of the finding are for the cyclist."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-...ussie-cyclist-drug-test/4333616?section=sport

 

[slowup_fastdown]

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

THE FITZ FILES

THE question I have fielded most often in the past fortnight, no kidding, is how I came to be soooo certain Armstrong was a drug cheat that - many times in this column over many years - I was prepared to go right to the point of defamation implying exactly that, long before it was proved.

The broad answer is this: having lived in Europe for five years, I came to understand what many Europeans did - if you wanted to win in cycling you had to be on the juice. Subsequently, through the '90s and the early part of last decade, it became acknowledged as the most drug-addled sport in the world, with cyclist after cyclist shown to have flecks of urine in their drugs.

Now, the notion Armstrong could not only win clean against proven drug cheats, but also DOMINATE them, winning the Tour seven times, was obviously ludicrous. And it was all the more ludicrous when you had a highly credible media organisation such as L'Equipe newspaper exposing him for the failed EPO drug test of 1999, masseuse Emma O'Reilly coming forward and making her own credible allegations in 2003, in the book, LA Confidentiel: Les Secrets de Lance Armstrong and all the other bits and pieces over the years.

To me, it was all blindingly obvious. But if a cycling bozo like me could pick it, how could the people running the show not know? I frankly cannot believe they didn't.

And following credible claims that Armstrong bragged about successfully suppressing a positive test on the 2001 Tour of Switzerland, the first and most obvious question they must answer is: What the hell was the total of $125,000 in ''donations'' made by Armstrong and his management company to the UCI in 2002 an 2005 for, if not to gain influence? They really thought Armstrong was donating money to help in the fight against drugs? Bull****.

 

[Bala Verde]

This guy is for real

Lance Armstrong’s fall: A case for allowing performance enhancement

He is a "scientist"

and although this link was interesting

Moreover, enhancement science — pharmacology, nanotechnology, biotechnology and genetics — is more sophisticated. A recent Nature article, for example, discusses oxygen-carrying particles that could be inserted in athletes’ blood and DNA therapies that could enhance muscle performance.

he says things

To perform consistently, 21st-century athletes enhance legally with better gear, specialized diets, physical trainers, vitamin B, and energy drinks and gels. Why not add drugs and other technologies to the list of legal enhancements, especially when most of us are enhancing our workplace concentration with a morning coffee or energy shot?

his rigorous analysis oozes science

In my engineering and sustainability classes, I ask my students how many have played sports in high school or college. Usually, at least half raise their hands. Then I ask how many know people who enhanced illegally. The hands stay up, even if I limit the question to high school athletes. Enhancement — legal or illegal, according to confused, arbitrary and contradictory criteria — is pervasive

My anecdotal class surveys show that students have significant skepticism about the reported side effects of such treatments and drugs, as well as perceptions of bias among regulators against enhancement.

so why not legalize, let's only ban the dangerous stuff

It wouldn’t have to be a free-for-all: Age limits and other appropriate regulations could limit dangerous enhancements for non-professionals; those that are too risky could be restricted or, yes, banned.

However, some supplements such as creatine, alphalipoic acid and at least some currently banned steroids would probably be acceptable.

What were the effects of prolonged steroids abuse again? Shrinking pelotas?

Also, before he said:

Today, the gap between superstar athletes and almost-stars is rapidly growing. The benefits of being at the top of your game — money, sponsors, cars, houses, movie careers, book deals and groupies — have never been clearer. After all, how many lucrative marketing contracts go to bronze medalists?

With so much at stake, why does he believe the bad, dangerous "banned stuff" would not be used again?

and he goes on, good stuff

In professional sports, normal people do not compete normally. We watch athletes who are enhanced — through top-notch training, equipment and sometimes illegal substances — compete for our amusement. And, despite our sanctimonious claims that this is wrong, we like it that way. So we do athletes a deep disservice by clinging to our whimsical illusion of reality at the cost of their livelihood. If we allow football players to take violent hits and suffer concussions so that we might be entertained, why not allow them to use substances that might cause them health problems? It’s their decision.

and he can't make up his mind about Armstrong, the alleged doper who cannot admit his guilt, because he is trying to tell us something. Or so.

Armstrong’s alleged doping in the Tour de France is just more evidence that human excellence is increasingly a product of enhancement.

[... later ...]

But don’t force the Tour de France to cling to outdated ideas of how athletes pedaling for their professional lives should behave. Cyclists have enhanced, are enhancing now and will continue to enhance. In his stubborn refusal to admit guilt in the face of the evidence, maybe this is what Armstrong is trying to tell us.

According to the professor, despite the overwhelming evidence, Armstrong remains silent and with that he is telling us that we should legalize the benign dope.

Lolwhut? How this slipped passed the editorial board...

 

[LaPlagne87]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v0qlliFq8U&feature=player_embedded

 

[biomac]

Thank you, Bala Verde, that's exactly what needs to be proclaimed:

HAPPY DOPING!

Only make sure its being performed under the following rules circumstances the
author is eager to put forward:

"What should be done? Past a certain age, athletes should be allowed to use whatever enhancements they think appropriate based on objective data."

Be aware though that this will completely revolutionize our oh so
humanitarian, Christian society.
All the best,
Götz Heine

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

BBC have decided that Yates being sacked/leaving Sky isn't worth reporting.

 

[blackcat]

its the B strategy. BeeB BBC + BSkyB, get ahead of the story, and control the message.

 

[argyllflyer]

BBC have decided that Yates being sacked/leaving Sky isn't worth reporting.

Most (i.e the ones that have no writer's name attached) of their sports stories are from the Press Association via PA Sport, and there has been no confirmation from Sky, Yates or De Jongh of the most recent departures. The lack of news in this case is likely little to do with the BBC. PA Sport regurgitate press releases and without one, they will have no story. They might re-hash the Telegraph story later if nothing is forthcoming.

 

[Freddythefrog]

They need to reign in a limb !

BBC have decided that Yates being sacked/leaving Sky isn't worth reporting.

I heard it first on World Service at 1.00 am GMT broadcast. Not sure what is on in the UK. World Service is proud to promote its editorial independence from the rest of the BBC.

 

[argyllflyer]

I heard it first on World Service at 1.00 am GMT broadcast. Not sure what is on in the UK. World Service is proud to promote its editorial independence from the rest of the BBC.

BBC Website is mostly filled with content provided by PA Sport. The Julich story for example...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/20088595

combines Sky's official statement

http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,17546_8194069,00.html

with that of Julich's sent to Cycling News.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/exclusive-bobby-julich-doping-confession

Sky have released no statement on De Jongh or Yates, and neither have the guys themselves. There is unlikely to be a BBC Website Sport story on it until something more official is released.

 

[Benotti69]

BBC Website is mostly filled with content provided by PA Sport. The Julich story for example...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/20088595

combines Sky's official statement

http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,17546_8194069,00.html

with that of Julich's sent to Cycling News.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/exclusive-bobby-julich-doping-confession

Sky have released no statement on De Jongh or Yates, and neither have the guys themselves. There is unlikely to be a BBC Website Sport story on it until something more official is released.

The Guardian is just as bad about reporting doping in cycling.

They leave most of it to the wire services, PA, AP, Reuters etc. Their cycling hacks are despicable when it comes to doping.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

The Guardian is just as bad about reporting doping in cycling.

They leave most of it to the wire services, PA, AP, Reuters etc. Their cycling hacks are despicable when it comes to doping.

Fotheringham sold out long ago to the Armstrong and Sky teat.

The rest of them are just a bunch of fat bandwagon jumping flag-wrapping ****nuts. They are also hilariously thin-skinned when it comes to taking criticism. They'd much rather deal with the suck-ups and fawners (alot like CN).

 

[argyllflyer]

BBC run with the press releases

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/20113671

 

[reginagold]

Here's a mea culpa from the editor of Outside Magazine, a US publication that helped build up Armstrong. Interesting link in the article to some discussion of the role of Sally Jenkins, author of It's Not About the Bike and two other books about LA.

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertai...i-enabled-the-cult-of-lance-armstrong/264430/

 

[Dear Wiggo]

Here's a mea culpa from the editor of Outside Magazine, a US publication that helped build up Armstrong. Interesting link in the article to some discussion of the role of Sally Jenkins, author of It's Not About the Bike and two other books about LA.

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertai...i-enabled-the-cult-of-lance-armstrong/264430/

And now Bill Gifford, also writing for Outside Magazine, has taken over, building up the cult of JV.

The more things change...

 

[thehog]

''Jan has that exploding body like Eddy Merckx -- as soon as they stop training they pump up like a car tire,'' commentator and former cyclist Phil Liggett said. ``Jan is a rider of pure talent. But Lance leaves him behind in the mental application 10 times over.''

Ullrich has many of the same super traits as Armstrong and his oxygen capacity is higher, yet he has finished second to Armstrong three times. Coyle once tested an Armstrong teammate with a physical profile equal to Armstrong's. He also tested a cyclist and triathlete with numbers higher than Armstrong's. But neither made a name for himself.

They wanted to win but didn't need to win the way Armstrong does. Coyle can't measure willpower.

Armstrong trains 365 days per year, 450 miles per week and his six- and seven-hour training rides add up to more time on the bike than any of his challengers. He rides the Tour stages in the spring to familiarize his mind and body with every tricky turn and every 20-minute ascent. He once rode the Galibier in a snow storm.

Freak of nature? Armstrong is a freak of commitment.

 

[FignonLeGrand]

The media hasnt forgotten all the dopers they continue to promote them. On the Cycling News front page today a story about retirement of Vino, second only to Armstrong in lack on contrition. Interview with Nibali about how great it is to be on a team run by Vino, just 2 weeks ago an article on Rebellin moving from one miniscule team to another and so on and so on.

Surely CN is guilty of promoting proven dopers and the teams which hire them. A team may well hire an ex doper of Rebellin's 'stature' just because any news is good news and they know itll get picked up. Wasnt that the Rock Racing model?

Unfortunately it may not be possible to ban proven dopers from returning to the sport or even worse running a team however the media could at least not give them the flames of publicity and decide to boycott their PR?

 

[Grandillusion]

I think Brian comes out of this with great credit, and very little bitterness

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ot...rian-Smith-told-cyclist-hed-drugs-sacked.html

Nice sarcasm! (I hope it is anyway )

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

The media hasnt forgotten all the dopers they continue to promote them. On the Cycling News front page today a story about retirement of Vino, second only to Armstrong in lack on contrition. Interview with Nibali about how great it is to be on a team run by Vino, just 2 weeks ago an article on Rebellin moving from one miniscule team to another and so on and so on.

Surely CN is guilty of promoting proven dopers and the teams which hire them. A team may well hire an ex doper of Rebellin's 'stature' just because any news is good news and they know itll get picked up. Wasnt that the Rock Racing model?

Unfortunately it may not be possible to ban proven dopers from returning to the sport or even worse running a team however the media could at least not give them the flames of publicity and decide to boycott their PR?

Forget it. CN has seen the way the win is blowing. They can see that the UCI is resetting all the clocks to 1999. The peloton (except for the Aussies) have got the memo that dirty cycling was all in the past.

CN is now doing what it does best, sucking up to dopers and ignoring the fact that they are dirty as sin. They'll go back to pretending that translating press releases into english is a credible form of journalism. However, as most people employed by CN are too stupid to even be aware of their own conciousness, there is little hope that they might see the light.

Wake me up in 15 years time when the **** hits the fan again, or when someone beats up Frodo, because I'll enjoy seeing the fan hitting the ****.

Remember hacks - the reason why cycling is in the mess it's in, and will remain in the mess it's in is because of you. Sleep well.

 

[Tinman]

MJM I think I understand your cynicism and past scar tissue. But you are underestimating the power of social media, and the continuing fall out still to come for cycling. The fat lady hasn't sung yet. The breadth and depth of doping in cycling, and sport, is now being exposed in such a way that there is no stopping the story anymore. It's as inevitable as the Berlin wall was.

And maybe you are just ahead of editorial policy at CN. Maybe the contributing "journo's" who write this stuff are just not as deep as you, maybe slightly naive even. And maybe there isn't any substantial editorial policy at all...

One of my favorite quotes is from Clive James, who said that when he was younger he got routinely frustrated that people in his environment didn't meet his level of expectations for themselves. Now that he is older he is routinely pleasantly surprised with people, but only because he has reset HIS expectations from those around him...

 

[biomac]

MJM I think I understand your cynicism and past scar tissue. But you are underestimating the power of social media, and the continuing fall out still to come for cycling. The fat lady hasn't sung yet. The breadth and depth of doping in cycling, and sport, is now being exposed in such a way that there is no stopping the story anymore. It's as inevitable as the Berlin wall was.

And maybe you are just ahead of editorial policy at CN. Maybe the contributing "journo's" who write this stuff are just not as deep as you, maybe slightly naive even. And maybe there isn't any substantial editorial policy at all...

One of my favorite quotes is from Clive James, who said that when he was younger he got routinely frustrated that people in his environment didn't meet his level of expectations for themselves. Now that he is older he is routinely pleasantly surprised with people, but only because he has reset HIS expectations from those around him...

Quite a lot of maybes, don't you think TINMAN?
Of course there's an editorial policy and of course the story will stop before it gets 'to the roots'. Or where do you think all these successful ex-pros who work in cycling today come from?

Is it maybe you who is a little naive?

 

[Tinman]

Quite a lot of maybes, don't you think TINMAN?

Is it maybe you who is a little naive?

LOL. Maybe...! And maybe that's a compliment. Many around me call me a huge cynic. So maybe a naive cynic. Hmmm.

 

[Freddythefrog]

If anyone doubted -

Forget it. CN has seen the way the win is blowing. They can see that the UCI is resetting all the clocks to 1999. The peloton (except for the Aussies) have got the memo that dirty cycling was all in the past.

CN is now doing what it does best, sucking up to dopers and ignoring the fact that they are dirty as sin. They'll go back to pretending that translating press releases into english is a credible form of journalism. However, as most people employed by CN are too stupid to even be aware of their own conciousness, there is little hope that they might see the light.

Wake me up in 15 years time when the **** hits the fan again, or when someone beats up Frodo, because I'll enjoy seeing the fan hitting the ****.

Remember hacks - the reason why cycling is in the mess it's in, and will remain in the mess it's in is because of you. Sleep well.

that MJM had not hit the nail very sweetly, just reflect on the "Yates-leaving-Sky" scoop and the journo that brought us that story. Gallagher must have had a very senior source for the Sunday paper to run with it front page - major picture. Since then, Fran has treated Gallagher to a ringside seat at the Sky-fest. Exclusives with Cav, Brad & Brailsford. A constant stream of other stories that could not have been more pro Sky, wrapped with the Union Jack, had they come from the pen of Fran herself. The most likely person to fit the bill as Gallagher's original source is Sutton. Sutton was feeling the heat after Daryl's expose of his past and the Mail running with it. A chance to expose the lying at the core of Sky and that one coach would sell the "DS" down the river to save his own soul for a few weeks more.

Even given everything that has gone on in the last few months, the wretched hacks have not got the bottle to ask Brailsford a few tough questions about his "due diligence" being precisely not that.

Into the same category could go all those who have sat at the top table of the UCI for years and done nothing whilst Hein and Pat have run amok. Yes Brian Cookson - you are an absolute disgrace. A couple of "tough" sound bites now - propelled through the ether by the same spin machine that gave us "Yates retires on Health grounds", that match today's wind direction,(is he taking lessons from St David ?) do not disguise the fact that you are exactly as much a constituent of the problem as Pat himself. For 10 years you have given him legitimacy.

This bunch are in the same pot as the hacks.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

We need something like the Nobel Peace prize for a cycling investigative journalistic prize. Perhaps like the Walkley awards? Something to motivate some of these people to actually do some journalism and lay off the PR echo.

From memory, it was a German journalist who outed Contador's positive. There's only one thing about this that concerns me - how? I mean seriously WTF how? The only way I can see that happening is Zorzoli yet again leaking info to someone - perhaps for some retirement account boost?

Seppelt, who specializes in doping matters and who was German sports journalist of the year in 2007, was speaking on ARD’s Mittags Magazin programme. He claimed that they contacted UCI president Pat McQuaid yesterday and received a complete denial that Contador was being investigated.

“We have been on this case for weeks and we knew a few days ago,” he said during the television interview. “We tried to contact the UCI yesterday, but they said they won't give a comment. We then called Pat McQuaid. He said 'I don't even know what you are talking about'."Then later the press release came out. So the UCI was lying yesterday.”

Read more: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5...have-received-transfusions.aspx#ixzz2D8a47j4r

Where did he get his info from? Amazing.

 

[Tinman]

that MJM had not hit the nail very sweetly, just reflect on the "Yates-leaving-Sky" scoop and the hack that brought us that story...

Into the same category could go all those who have sat at the top table of the UCI for years and done nothing whilst Hein and Pat have run amok. Yes Brian Cookson - you are an absolute disgrace. A couple of "tough" sound bites now - propelled through the ether by the same spin machine that gave us "Yates retires on Health grounds", that match today's wind direction,(is he taking lessons from St David ?) do not disguise the fact that you are exactly as much a constituent of the problem as Pat himself. For 10 years you have given him legitimacy.

This bunch are in the same pot as the hacks.

Do you think there is a move on to succeed Pat with St David, and that this may all be related?