Posted on 01/05/2013 8:19:28 AM PST by Vision
Lance Armstrong, who this fall was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping and barred for life from competing in all Olympic sports, has told associates and antidoping officials that he is considering publicly admitting that he used banned performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions during his cycling career, according to several people with direct knowledge of the situation. He would do this, the people said, because he wants to persuade antidoping officials to restore his eligibility so he can resume his athletic career.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Lord, I hate fake news. Either admit it or not, don’t waste precious space in my brain with trial balloons. Or if this is completely made up, don’t waste my time trying to get him to admit it, newspeople.
Would it help to know Europeans cheat too?
That’s not a perfect analogy, since there actually is a difference between a boss and an underboss, and one is more important to nab than the other, unlike fellow bike riders.
I’d rather react to news, than to fortune telling.
We have gotten way too used to taking psychic predictions as if they are things that already happened.
Earlier this week, too many people here were cheering Boehner’s “resignation”, because someone predicted it on Drudge.
Now we are discussing the meaning of an Armstrong admission that hasn’t happened yet.
I doubt deniers would be affected by this type of news. And those of us who really could care less one way or another are still waiting for something definitive.
I’m not sure I follow your logic. I understand how cancer treatment can be painful, but training to be a professional athlete at that level is painful enough. I understand how we respect cancer survivors and pretend they’re heroes, but really it’s more something you have done to your body, or that your body does to you, that you live through. It’s not like an endurance test you heap upon yourself. Not that some people aren’t too weak to face it, or that no one gives up. But it isn’t a feat of strength.
Anyway, I see no correlation between going through cancer treatment and being a world class athlete, psychologically or otherwise. It was just a story, like how so and so was homeless and his dad used to beat him before he went pro. Actually, humble beginnings and lack of prospects is common among professional athletes. But that’s in general, and doesn’t get so specific as, for instance, your brother was killed in a hangman’s shooting and you decided to leave the life, or your grandma needed heart pills so you tried harder in the weight room. Atheletes tend to come from lower socioeconomic strata, is all.
You might also assume women can stand more pain after they go through childbirth, but try punching your wife in the shoulder sometime. She won’t take it like a pal. That’s because giving birth is something she had to go through, not something she volunteered to do like the tour.
I know they do! It is the bane of endurance sports! My son runs long distance and it is not pleasant to think that, at a certain point, the choice will be to “cheat” or lose.
Armstrong was competing in professional triathlons .
One wonders why they don’t just change the rules. I realize the dangers of steroids, but is blood doping really so bad?
Or so different from training at high altitude? I don't know
“Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. “The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ “While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’
“That same hour the judgment was fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven. He lived this way until his hair was as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.” Daniel 4:33
That is the bad news.
Here is the good news.
” 34“But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever;
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
35“All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
But He does according to His will in the host of heaven
And among the inhabitants of earth;
And no one can ward off His hand
Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’
36“At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. 37“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”
It’s too late Lance, you scorched too much earth with your denials, admitting it now is just admitting you were a jerk that character assassinated people that were telling the truth.
Am I being harsh in saying I don’t give a rat’s patootie whether or not he admits to what everybody already knows?
No different that Pete Rose who has slowly but surely admitted to everything he was accused of just so he can get in the HOF. Remember Lance has had to give a lot of money back, he probably needs to cash.
I wonder how far back in the peloton you'd have to look in order to find the first clean rider?
Now we are discussing the meaning of an Armstrong admission that hasn’t happened yet.
**************
And may never happen. Armstrong has some serious consequences to consider before making an admission statement. He may work out the consequences to his liking but we’ll have to wait a while for that to be determined I’m sure.
Some include the following:
Perjury charges he’d face in some cases already litigated ie: The Sunday Times and SCA Promotions.
Also what the Justice Dept. may do should he admit guilt and the Landis case.
The only thing I was trying to get across was based on a book I read recently, by a guy who competed in one of those 100-miles-in-a-day ultramarathons. (Temperatures ranged from 38 degrees to 104 over the course of the race which went from 9000 feet to near sea level and back up.)
There came a point at which only the pure iron will to go on helped, that the race was too tough for even the world-class athletes based on athleticism along. So, if someone has experienced and endured pain even greater than the race, then one would not be facing the psychological barrier of "this race is the most painful thing I've ever felt, and more than I ever imagined."
As I say, your mileage may vary.
As far as the rest of Lance's story, it doesn't particularly inspire me except to show how he had a chip on his shoulder at the rest of the world, which is found in many overachievers.
Cheers!
Maitre Jacques had it right, after all. He refused tests. He bullied the testers. When asked about drugs he said “one can’t ride the Tour on mineral water.” And he was right. I still don’t understand how I, as an aging racer, can take all sorts of pain and recovery drugs if I so much as scratch my ankle on a crank, but the men who ride the most grueling race in the world can be crucified over eating tainted beef - or for that matter socializing with Dr Ferrari (who by the way stands by Lance.) You asked about the “deniers on this forum,” Cat, and I say that I am one. I deny the prissy authorities and their stolen god Tom Simpson the right to control the Tour. I deny the notion that Lance is “guiltiest of all,” or “guilty at all” for that matter, until I see irrefutable proof of a POSITIVE A AND B TEST. And I deny the likes of the New York Times to presume that this non-news is even a story. I think it’s time, once again, for the riders and teams to take back the Tour.
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