What's the Status on Armstrong vs. FDA?

[leftover pie]

Should have stuck with Joey!

She DJ's in Toronto now. Looks very very very good.

The girl on the right is Spike who played the pregnant girl who went out with Snake.

and got knocked up by shane who then took acid at the gourmet scum concert and thought he could fly. ah degrassi, what an awesome show.


/wildly off topic post

 

[Trailzz]

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=6019436

 

[Anonymous]

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=6019436

most interesting..

poor old tyler..

 

[Semper Fidelis]

most interesting..

poor old tyler..

150 grand bonus for his trouble. 2nd highest paid rider on the team!

 

[BotanyBay]

Should have stuck with Joey!

She DJ's in Toronto now. Looks very very very good.

The girl on the right is Spike who played the pregnant girl who went out with Snake.

The girl on the right was the knocked-up punk-haired girl? Wow, how 'boat that?

 

[BotanyBay]

and got knocked up by shane who then took acid at the gourmet scum concert and thought he could fly. ah degrassi, what an awesome show.


/wildly off topic post

Funny, I always thought that Degrassi portrayed the most extreme teen-angst issues a tv writer could find. I couldn't believe Canadian kids could get so messed-up. Then I went to college,worked in NYC and met some REAL Canadians. I had no idea that Canadian teens are so heavily into drugs by age 9.

 

[D-Queued]

150 grand bonus for his trouble. 2nd highest paid rider on the team!

Just 1/10th of a real cyclist. I don't know about Tyler, but that could bother other people.

The article flagging this part was interesting:

The four-year renewal struck that year included a "morals turpitude and drug clause," specifically citing "failure to pass drug or medical tests" and "inappropriate drug conduct prejudicial to the team" as causes to suspend or fire riders

Dave.

 

[BotanyBay]

Lynda Zelnick, my hero:

In February 2001, Lynda Zelnick, a USPS contracting officer, wrote to Allen Furst, then the managing director of Tailwind, to warn him about the "the need for prudence and discretion in talking with the media."

She also noted "the Postal Service's concern about the deleterious impact upon the anticipated value of our sponsorship" that the news was having, and said that the agency was hiring a PR firm to run interference in the future. The $50,000 cost, she added, was being deducted from the overall sponsorship fee.

I love it. They made Tailwind pay for the BS through deductions. Awesome.

 

[Polish]

There is no ME in prejudicial

The article flagging this part was interesting:

The four-year renewal struck that year included a "morals turpitude and drug clause," specifically citing "failure to pass drug or medical tests" and "inappropriate drug conduct prejudicial to the team" as causes to suspend or fire riders

Dave.

pass all drug tests - check. no problem there...

fire riders for inappropriate drug conduct prejudicial to the team - looks like Floyd dodged a bullet not getting himself fired back then lol.

Lance flushed his blood and gave him a warning though. Does that count?


Hey, how come no one saw this ESPN Article coming?

 

[Semper Fidelis]

pass all drug tests - check. no problem there...

fire riders for inappropriate drug conduct prejudicial to the team - looks like Floyd dodged a bullet not getting himself fired back then lol.

Lance flushed his blood and gave him a warning though. Does that count?


Hey, how come no one saw this ESPN Article coming?

Probably so.


I am not sure why this ESPN article snuck up on the forum.

 

[sniper]

Probably so.

I am not sure why this ESPN article snuck up on the forum.

I could be wrong. In fact, I could be completely off. Still, if I'm not, then i vaguely believe to have been able to deduce from the article (again, if I'm not terribly mistaken) that LA is in some serious ***.
but again, I'm just speculating here.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey, how come no one saw this ESPN Article coming?

Because in reality although its interesting it doesnt offer anything particularly relevant.

We now know how much postal paid, and a few details about lances bonus's. Not really groundbreaking stuff.

but nonetheless very interesting to read.

 

[sniper]

Because in reality although its interesting it doesnt offer anything particularly relevant.

We now know how much postal paid, and a few details about lances bonus's. Not really groundbreaking stuff.

but nonetheless very interesting to read.

new facts indicting LA, no. but nothing relevant? The ESPN is giving the investigation full coverage. Landis is in the whistleblower's program (not sure if that was official already). The USPS is opening the registers.

I might be way off, but to me, this article speaks volumes.

 

[Beech Mtn]

From the article, we know that there definitely was a doping clause - that's not speculation. We also know that the Postal Service was getting antsy about doping way back in 2000, when they added the clause. One can speculate that somebody from Tailwind/the team reassured the postal service that no doping was going on.

If Floyd is right about the TdSuisse positive in 2001, that would be after this doping clause was added.

We also know that for whatever reason, the Postal Service was reluctant to reveal the details of its sponsorship agreement with Tailwind.

Oh, and we know that Dan Osipow is the guy who signed on the dotted line for Tailwind.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Because in reality although its interesting it doesnt offer anything particularly relevant.

We now know how much postal paid, and a few details about lances bonus's. Not really groundbreaking stuff.

but nonetheless very interesting to read.

I don't know about that.
The comments are an indication that the US public have finally woken up to the extent of the fraud charges.
Seems that the bottom line may have made a lot of citizens very angry.
Every other post seems to have been reported as a violation.

Looks like there's a whole new breed of haters out there, called Joe Public.

 

[DirtyWorks]

USPS Rolled Over

Something changed at the USPS. I wonder what the people with the authority to redact/release information have been told?

Someone interested in the topic might hunt down what has happened to the USPS execs that did the deal. Where are they now kind of thing...

 

[BotanyBay]

Goes to 11

Probably so.


I am not sure why this ESPN article snuck up on the forum.

Print journalism is ultra-competitive, especially today. There's no "team" in "I". Gotta be as awesome as you can be all the time, and share nothing unless you're getting something back. Sad but true.

My guess is that the boys have sniffed the existence of the larger article and are all going for random related table scraps. Interesting that SI writers are writing about CYCLING in January. It's like the Spinal Tap manager saying that "January's not a very big football month". Something's up if SI is writing about this sport in any month with snow in it.

 

[I Watch Cycling In July]

'....' $31.9 million to underwrite Lance Armstrong's pro cycling team during its glory years of 2001 to 2004 '....' reveal the exact dollar amounts at issue should Armstrong and former team officials be charged with fraudulent use of government funds '....' '....' The escalating figures show the tangible effect of Armstrong's star power and the leverage it gave Tailwind. '....'

Another point from the article is that it's possible to measure how much was paid as a direct result of previous wins, because the payment size escalated.

For each subsequent year the Sponsor and the Company shall agree upon the net Sponsorship Fee on or before July 1 of the preceding year. '....'

The term underwrite is used, implying that USPS were somehow taking on some of tailwind sports financial risks. I speculate that part of the annual fee negotiation was related to the escalating rider salaries or bonuses Tailwind was facing, because of previous results.

 

[PotentialPro]

Another point from the article is that it's possible to measure how much was paid as a direct result of previous wins, because the payment size escalated.



The term underwrite is used, implying that USPS were somehow taking on some of tailwind sports financial risks. I speculate that part of the annual fee negotiation was related to the escalating rider salaries or bonuses Tailwind was facing, because of previous results.

This brings up an interesting point, who else every got a stage win bonus during this time? The bonus is an interesting motivator when millions are on the line. Who cares about prize money from the race itself, but from my own contract, that is what I am really racing for.

I wonder if team orders prevented anyone else in pursuit of stage win glory, or especially motivated one person to beat all the others on specific stages so they can be the sole recipient of the money?

 

[Kennf1]

My guess is that the boys have sniffed the existence of the larger article and are all going for random related table scraps. Interesting that SI writers are writing about CYCLING in January. It's like the Spinal Tap manager saying that "January's not a very big football month". Something's up if SI is writing about this sport in any month with snow in it.

That's kind of the suspicion I had. That article got 130 comments in the span of two hours, and on its surface, it's really a very boring article for anyone but a hard-core follower of the sport.

 

[Siriuscat]

Stage win motivation, when you look at the numbers the Uniballer was pulling in bonuses the prize money from the TDF really was small change.

Handing over his GC prizes etc etc to split with the team was nothing to him and when you see them it's no wonder he didn't want to let any of the rest of them win stages. The ultimate team, ride for the boss then watch when he goes off with mega bucks in pre structured bonuses. Superb isn't it!

 

[BotanyBay]

Stage win motivation, when you look at the numbers the Uniballer was pulling in bonuses the prize money from the TDF really was small change.

Handing over his GC prizes etc etc to split with the team was nothing to him and when you see them it's no wonder he didn't want to let any of the rest of them win stages. The ultimate team, ride for the boss then watch when he goes off with mega bucks in pre structured bonuses. Superb isn't it!

The guy makes TexPat fly coach because he said he couldn't afford anything better. The guy grew up eating mac & cheese on 8-mile road (ok, that's just for illustrative purposes). This guy doesn't think $34k is "nothing". Never has, never will.

 

[Trailzz]

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/7...ition-against-Novitzky-from-Victor-Conte.aspx

 

[TexPat]

The guy makes TexPat fly coach because he said he couldn't afford anything better. The guy grew up eating mac & cheese on 8-mile road (ok, that's just for illustrative purposes). This guy doesn't think $34k is "nothing". Never has, never will.

Sorry, but some clarification is needed.
It was my very pregnant wife who deserved a better seat, I frankly didn't care. Naturally, I wouldn't refuse an upgrade, but the request was for her, who cooked and cleaned for us all, and who gave up the comforts of home to help out.