Sad day in Sports- Lance Armstrong

[Matt34]

Lance Armstrong to lose Tour de France titles, be banned for life after ending defense - Sporting News

Never tested positive, never admitted to doping, yet in the end the witch hunt prevails and he will be stripped of his seven yellow jerseys.

Hope you're happy Tygart.

"USADA's conduct raises serious questions about whether its real interest in charging Armstrong is to combat doping, or if it is acting according to less noble motives," such as politics or publicity, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks wrote.

Then there is this gem of an article:

Lance Armstrong gives up fight against USADA, raising questions about his innocence - Yahoo! Sports

 

[jonnythan]

What total bull. They should produce a sample that tested positive for a banned substance, taken during each victory they want to vacate. Otherwise let him keep his titles.

 

[MinusTheBear]

If egregious claims are made with NO PROOF and threatened his reputation, livelihood and everything that he worked for in his entire career, you would think he would fight this to no end, especially if they can't prove anything.

Honestly, I really don't feel sorry for him. He doesn't seem to be a quitter, but he quit on this....something smells fishy here.

 

[jinjuku]

If egregious claims are made with NO PROOF and threatened his reputation, livelihood and everything that he worked for in his entire career, you would think he would fight this to no end, especially if they can't prove anything.

Honestly, I really don't feel sorry for him. He doesn't seem to be a quitter, but he quit on this....something smells fishy here.

He had a fair shake in federal court. Arbitration? Arbitration is for fools. We don't sign any contracts around here that have an arbitration clause.

Arbitration from an entity (like your land lord or home builder and the like) is an admission that they never want to see court. Arbitration strips the individual of the full protections that the court awards can offer.

I understand Lance's reluctance to enter into arbitration.

 

[jonnythan]

If egregious claims are made with NO PROOF and threatened his reputation, livelihood and everything that he worked for in his entire career, you would think he would fight this to no end, especially if they can't prove anything.

You would think so, but they also shouldn't be able to vacate 7 years of victories without offering some kind of evidence on each of them.

 

[jinjuku]

You would think so, but they also shouldn't be able to vacate 7 years of victories without offering some kind of evidence on each of them.

And you would want to enter into binding arbitration with an organization that has that kind of power vs going back to court?

This smells like a case of sour grapes for an organization that could never prove there was actual doping going on but never the less convinced of it anyway.

If I was Lance I would take my $$ and let the record as it stands speak for itself. They may be selling something, doesn't mean people are buying.

 

[slipperybidness]

If egregious claims are made with NO PROOF and threatened his reputation, livelihood and everything that he worked for in his entire career, you would think he would fight this to no end, especially if they can't prove anything.

Honestly, I really don't feel sorry for him. He doesn't seem to be a quitter, but he quit on this....something smells fishy here.

He's tired of their BS and ready to move along with his life. It's a big FU to those idiots.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Arbitration is for fools.

You are so right. Unfortunately, every consumer auto insurance policy I've seen has an arbitration clause.

 

[jinjuku]

You are so right. Unfortunately, every consumer auto insurance policy I've seen has an arbitration clause.

That didn't work out for State Farm during Katrina. Sad that it takes that kind of action to supersede a contract clause.

For our business interest we don't sign nor do business with companies that insist on arbitration. We don't even have it in our own contracts.

 

[Hocky]

If you look at everyone in the field that finished around him, they were literally all guilty of it and got caught. It is pretty likely that he is guilty, too.

 

[Irvrobinson]

If you look at everyone in the field that finished around him, they were literally all guilty of it and got caught. It is pretty likely that he is guilty, too.

You would be pretty annoyed if you were convicted on proof like that.

 

[randyb]

My experience with arbitration is much different. Can prevent a costly legal battle and if you have a fair arbitrator, I have seen success when I didn't think there was a chance in hell of getting anything.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

It stinks, Lance cheated more intelligently than the rest of them but it was always a witch-hunt against him.

EPO/doping runs rampant in cycling sports even at local BS races. I have mixed feelings about performance enhancing drugs.

On one hand, I say let ball players and cyclist do what ever they want and lets see how science can build the ultimate athlete.

On the other hand, I see how wrong this is.

Either way, the guy who cheats the best wins. I doubt that any pro cyclist is "clean" (well, maybe Evans is this year, I can't think of any other reason his performance could fall off as dramatically as it has) . They have capacities that very few humans can reach yet to stay competitive, with the other "elites", they must enhance. The methods used to disguise EPO/doping is likely more dangerous than the doping itself.

All that said, I like Lance and wish him the best. His book titled "It's not about the bike" is a good read even if you are not into biking. Give it a read.

 

[slipperybidness]

If you look at everyone in the field that finished around him, they were literally all guilty of it and got caught. It is pretty likely that he is guilty, too.

But never caught. In reality, at that level, I'm sure a lot of the competitors do it, they have the mentality of "I have to do it to be competitive with everyone else doing it".

But, LA never failed a test, never got caught. You can't use "guilt by association".

 

[jonnythan]

Did he dope?

Maybe.

But produce the samples and tests that prove he was doping and THEN strip him of the titles.

 

[jinjuku]

If you look at everyone in the field that finished around him, they were literally all guilty of it and got caught. It is pretty likely that he is guilty, too.

I'm actually more concerned with the process that they have found him guilty by. It's pretty disconcerting.

 

[Hocky]

You would be pretty annoyed if you were convicted on proof like that.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it is fair to take his titles without proof. I am just saying that it is pretty likely that it is true.

 

[slipperybidness]

Did he dope?

Maybe.

But produce the samples and tests that prove he was doping and THEN strip him of the titles.

YUP. He won. He beat the competitors and just maybe he beat the system.

I think they are gonna do more harm than good on this. There goes any credibility that the tour would hope to have. Now it's not who won, but who the tour thinks should have won. They might as well line up judges down near the finish line and score the race like gymnastics. I will officially boycott anything to do with the tour from now on!

 

[jinjuku]

YUP. He won. He beat the competitors and just maybe he beat the system.

I think they are gonna do more harm than good on this. There goes any credibility that the tour would hope to have. Now it's not who won, but who the tour thinks should have won. They might as well line up judges down near the finish line and score the race like gymnastics. I will officially boycott anything to do with the tour from now on!

Boy if that isn't spot on. It's like trying to seperate water poured into a cup from two different taps.

The Tour has lost all credibility.

If you can't catch a cheater for 14 years, over the course of 100's of drug tests, well that's on the officials then. Not withstanding the fact that they do catch cheaters but not L.A.

You can either argue that drug screening works (which in this case L.A. is still presumed innocent IMO) or you can argue that it is flawed (which in this case you have a huge problem).

 

[Matt34]

He knew it would have been for nothing if he took it all the way. The USADA is something like 54-2 in arbitration......he knew exactly the kind of impartiality he was going to get.

It was basically his last chance to tell Tygart to go pound sand.

Whether he doped or not, he was 200-0 in testing negative.

Guilty until proven innocent.