Iflanceisbannedbanthemall said:
If you admit, you are gone. That's the only way to clean house.
You really didn't put any thought into this, did you? The result of a policy like that would obviously be nobody admits and the house stays filthy. I guess for Lance lovers like yourself that would have been a good outcome - just keep on living in a little dream world. Cover your eyes and ears and yell "la-la-la-la" to prevent the truth from somehow making it into your ears. There's probably an executive position in the UCI for you. It must have hurt quite a bit to find out your hero was a fraud.
For those wondering how the Lance lovers argument has evolved, Iflanceisbanned is displaying the latest step. The "500 tests - never failed", "level playing field", "did so much for cancer research", "USADA is conducting a witch hunt" have all fallen by the wayside. Now it's "Lance is a scapegoat. Blame them all." At least they're finally accepting Lance was crooked. But still they grasp at straws...
Yes, they're almost all dirty but nobody was as dirty, as crooked, as powerful, as spiteful, as arrogant, as vindictive as Lance. He had influence over congressman, over the media, over a massive fan base, over the UCI, his cronies run USA Cycling. He had no qualms over using his power to destroy anybody who he perceived as a threat. He used the hero worship (based on his victories, which was based on doping) to exploit his fans and massively enrich himself.
Show me another rider who came close to doing what Lance did in terms of perverting the entire sport of cycling. To say that other riders should be investigated like Lance is lunacy. If you're investigating the mafia you go after the Godfather first. You don't say some low level foot soldier shaking down bookies is just as bad. When those foot soldiers turn against the Godfather, no - they do not get the same penalties as the guy running the operation.
The other cyclists who cheated at least had the self-respect not to say crap like this - when they know very well they were dirty:
"Finally, the last thing I'll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the skeptics: I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can't dream big. I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. But this is one hell of a race. This is a great sporting event and you should stand around and believe it. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets — this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it. So Vive le Tour forever!"
And don't say you're not a Lance lover - that you're just a neutral observer. Admit that you were hurt, you feel cheated, and now you're trying to salvage some pride by finding some way to rationalize what happened to Lance. If you're looking for somebody to blame for your loss of innocence, it's not USADA, it's not the journalists looking for the truth, it's not the cyclists who spoke up, it's Lance.