Berzin said:
I don't think there's anything to expose with Liggett and Sherwen. I just think they were overenthusiastic fanboys who understood that propping up Wonderboy would be good for business.
I think they were genuinely in awe of his accomplishments, but up until then they had never lost their perspective on the overall cycling scene until Armstrong began winning his tours. And the manner in which they went about it was utterly and completely shameless.
The disappointing aspect about this was how enthusiastically they became shills for the American cable network channel that paid them handsomely to play up the American Miracle on Two Wheels, and for that I cannot give them a pass.
Funny how at least Liggett has made critical public comments about the Armstrong affair, but not a peep out of Sherwen, Roll and Graham Watson that I know of.
I would argue the first huge clue to Armstrong's doping (or should have been a huge clue, in hindsight) came on Stage 9 in the 1999 TDF on the climb to Sestrieres. Armstrong, who previously had never been a climber, accelerated and caught Escartin and Conti, two top climbers and rode away from them.
This is also the stage when Betsy Andreu watching on TV from the USA could not believe how well Frankie was climbing and stated words to the effect, "What the hell, Frankie is not a climber" (paraphrasing).
Commentating on Armstrong's acceleration Liggett said, "... the acceleration of Armstrong is absolutely frightening here ..." I wonder if Liggett now reflects back to that day and his comments and has an "aha" moment?
I agree that both Liggett and Sherwin lost their perspective and became shills for Armstrong, USPS and American TV and were responsible for giving credibility to the Armstrong Lie.
It shows that in commentating as in everything else, when emotions overwhelm us critical thinking goes out the window. Critical thinking (not cynicism) is the key to the truth. We could use more of that in the Clinic!
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