Suspect timing..Case against Armstrong dropped....Contador Banned

[hmsgenoa]

Does anyone else find it suspect that the case against Contador drags and drags, and then a last little postponement and then, just prior to him receiving a ban, Armstrong, mysteriously, is let off the hook?

If only we could know what has gone on behind the scenes and who has been meddling. For this case against Armstrong to conveniently be dissolved just before Contador got his ban must be absolutely galling for Alberto. A high price for winning in 2009. One gets the feeling he has been stitched up like a kipper.

I'm normally the first to be a cynic when it comes to the pros doping, but there's something about the timing of all this that doesn't ring true.

I hope Alberto's legal team can beat the Old Boy Network who appear to have their strings pulled by Armstrong. I also hope that someone significant crawls out of the woodwork with something damning to say about the relationship Armstrong has with the UCI (and beyond) and pulls the rug from underneath the fraud for good.

Anyone else find it all a bit strange?

 

[BotanyBay]

Anyone else find it all a bit strange?

No. The timing has to do with the Superbowl weekend. Last Friday was an insanely busy day for any sports journalist. Either travelling, writing Superbowl stories or ordering hookers up to their hotel rooms in Indianapolis. In other words, far too busy to invest the time to write "WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?"

 

[hmsgenoa]

Hi Botany Bay, I can see the logic in your explanation but no there's definitely more to this than meets the eye. The reason I suspect Armstrong has been let off the hook is because of those implicated in the cover up - the UCI is I believe complicit in the fraud.

What would suit Armstrong better than the public having the perception that he's been exonerated and then subsequently see Contador go down.

The delay in reaching a decision in Alberto's case had diddly squat to do with The Superbowl.

 

[MacRoadie]

No. The timing has to do with the Superbowl weekend. Last Friday was an insanely busy day for any sports journalist. Either travelling, writing Superbowl stories or ordering hookers up to their hotel rooms in Indianapolis. In other words, far too busy to invest the time to write "WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?"

 

[BotanyBay]

Hi Botany Bay, I can see the logic in your explanation but no there's definitely more to this than meets the eye. The reason I suspect Armstrong has been let off the hook is because of those implicated in the cover up - the UCI is I believe complicit in the fraud.

What would suit Armstrong better than the public having the perception that he's been exonerated and then subsequently see Contador go down.

The delay in reaching a decision in Alberto's case had diddly squat to do with The Superbowl.

You misunderstand me. You asked if we thought the LA decision had any coincidence with the AC decision. I think not. I think the timing of the LA announcement had to do with the Superbowl. I think the decision was reached long ago. This past Friday was the BEST possible day to time this specific announcement.

The US department of Justice couldn't care less about the UCI, Pat McQuaid or anything related to it or him. Not unless it involved evidence or witnesses, that is.

I think AC's CAS decision was absolutely unrelated. But I have no doubt that Lance found a sadistic way to make a personal jab across the ocean.

 

[Porphyry]

Yes, it was very strange. The story went into the Friday newsdump slot, the time when awkward political stories are aired so that they attract the minimum attention. Not just a coincidence and not due to sports writers being busy with the Super Bowl, imo.

 

[ElChingon]

It was all done that weekend so the UCI could sneak their saddle rule in without any controversy.

 

[scribe]

Bigfoot was also spotted this past week.

 

[hmsgenoa]

Yes, it was very strange. The story went into the Friday newsdump slot, the time when awkward political stories are aired so that they attract the minimum attention. Not just a coincidence and not due to sports writers being busy with the Super Bowl, imo.

That aspect of the timing sounds about right, though being from over the pond I was not aware of it. Glad I'm not the only one who finds aspects of these two stories strange.

I'm very surprised that, when you consider all the fuss made over the continual re-scheduling of the Contador decision, and the timing of the Armstrong fiasco, after months of quiet, that not more people have cottoned onto this.

 

[hmsgenoa]

Bigfoot was also spotted this past week.

Didn't you know their making a remake of American Flyers? That's the guy with the beard.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Hi Botany Bay, I can see the logic in your explanation but no there's definitely more to this than meets the eye. The reason I suspect Armstrong has been let off the hook is because of those implicated in the cover up - the UCI is I believe complicit in the fraud.

What would suit Armstrong better than the public having the perception that he's been exonerated and then subsequently see Contador go down.

The delay in reaching a decision in Alberto's case had diddly squat to do with The Superbowl.

In the U.S. cycling is not a mainstream sport and a Spanish cyclist in some mysterious European court won't generate much reader interest. I seriously doubt CAS is purposely scheduling around an American sport's big weekend.

Save the conspiracies for Wonderboy's sudden dismissal. I agree the timing of the Wonderboy announcement was very purposeful. Bad news announcements are always scheduled for Fridays.

 

[pedaling squares]

I think BB has summed this one up nicely. The UCI/CAS et al don't reach into the US Judicial system or political sphere. The only timing that I find suspicious is going public with the decision at a time that will ensure that a sports-related story receives little to no coverage.

Scribe may have a point with Bigfoot, though. Could it be Jan after experimenting with the new hair products he is promoting?

 

[virandociclista]

I had a nightmare the day before the cas ban Alberto.

LA and JB put some clen in a food and paid to someone (a judas) near to AC to put this contamined food (sports suplements) with the other AC's suplements.

Then LA call PM and the circus was done!

 

[BillytheKid]

It is right and just that we be cynics.

This sort of thing is not uncommon if you pay attention to any news stories that have a political component. I do think UCI/CAS had some access to the same leaks that have plagued the Armstrong case from the beginning and, I think, it is not impossible to think they used advanced notice of the Armstrong case folding to soften the blow of the Contador ruling by holding back the ruling.

The DOJ was obviously in damage control mode.

For example, Armstrong is announced late enough in the day on Friday that, golly gee, it missed the weak-willed, evening network news that sadly most rely on to direct there thoughts. It airs at 5 pm EST which is 3pm here, 2pm further points west. What we see here, unless war has broken out, is 2 hours old. Cable news is live, but I think CNN was the only (cable) network to air the story beyond one read, but it lasted at the top only few hourly cycles and by Saturday had disappeared in the wake of the ready-made SUPER BOWL stories!

Now this is the way you bury a news story. Even if it made the Network broadcast, Friday evening has maybe a quarter of the typical viewers. By Saturday evening it's old news you see and well we have the SUPER BOWL! So it just vanished until Monday when the likes of NPR and WSJ pick it up and in my opinion to spin it a little. I don't know about NPR, but the WSJ had a legitimate WTF because it had pursued the story with volumes "sources close to the investigation" based stories.

But that did not last long because seemingly, right on cue, we had the Contador ruling. Timing is everything. I don't think it is out of the question that the UCI and CAS would what to soften the blow of the Contador ruling and waited on the Armstrong news. That would be the most of it.

 

[jackwolf]

I had a nightmare the day before the cas ban Alberto.

LA and JB put some clen in a food and paid to someone (a judas) near to AC to put this contamined food (sports suplements) with the other AC's suplements.

Then LA call PM and the circus was done!

Nah, that wouldn't be their style

 

[DirtyWorks]

I do think UCI/CAS had some access to the same leaks that have plagued the Armstrong case from the beginning...

Whoa there! That's a mighty big claim you are making. I'd like some evidence for these leaks you claim plagued the case.