Armstrong Drops Fight Against Doping Charges

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NJC

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After more than a decade of outrunning accusations that he had doped during his celebrated cycling career, Lance Armstrong, one of the best known and most accomplished athletes in recent history, surrendered on Thursday, ending his fight against charges that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/sports...?pagewanted=all

Will his feat of 7 consecutive Tour De France wins ever be repeated? It seemed like a witch hunt indeed, and his guilt is obvious - but was it really a unfair advantage considering doping use in cycling?
 
IMO it got to the point that he lost the court of public option the cycling body has determined that he was guiltily without a single failed test or a trial. So why try and fight this? Lawyers do not work for free along with the time that would need to be invested by Armstrong to prove his innocence after the governing body has determined his guilt without due process seems not to worth it to him.
 
Is it really an unfair advantage?

Sort of like when you are competing to build a major construction project in another country and a contractor approaches you and says you should use them because they have superior bribing skills - and its all legal. Right.

Do we want to honor the athlete that has superior doping or cheating skills and marginalize those that don't?
 
I could care less about cycling or Lance Armstrong, but I will make a statement.

Lance Armstrong went from CANCER survivor to champion.Since these wins, Lance has provided support and has raised millions of dollars for research and support of cancer victims and families. Somewhere out there, there is a person riding a bike who sat in chemotherapy in 2005 and said "I can do that" because of Lance.

Meanwhile, every single Tour champion has been accused of doping since Lance's last win in 2005.

I think Lance has done an outstanding job expanding the sport of cycling, and has done an incredible job of spreading hope for cancer victims.

Going after a guy whose last win was in 2005 is ridiculous regardless of if he doped or not.

What could have been a way to expand a sports popularity ended up bringing it down.
 
I mostly agree with Jocephus, except that once you tolerate and relax doping rule, then athletes and future athletes (i.e. students who play sports) would try to keep up by doping. That can cause serious problem to their health and safety, and is not something that our society should encourage or tolerate.

I'm not saying Lance is doping or the approach the governing body use to "prove" him guilty is good, or the other way around. I'm just stressing the importance of keeping doping away from sport.
 
Originally Posted By: NJC

Will his feat of 7 consecutive Tour De France wins ever be repeated? It seemed like a witch hunt indeed, and his guilt is obvious - but was it really a unfair advantage considering doping use in cycling?


You've bought into the PR myth he's been perpetuating for years. It's hardly a witch hunt. Note how many of his contemporaries HAVE been sanctioned. He's hardly been singled out as he seems to claim.

And yes, it was an unfair advantage, for several reasons. No one else had the governing body of the sport in his pocket to that degree, so he DID have a significant advantage. Better dope, preferential treatment, covering up multiple positive tests... That's why he went from a decent one-day racer to dominating grand tours. The playing field wasn't level, not even close.

As far as the cancer thing, wrapping himself in the cancer flag to deflect criticism is the worst of it in my book. If people want to worship false idols, that's great. I'll pass.

Over the next few months, the full extent of his fraud will become more public.
 
Originally Posted By: Jocephus


Meanwhile, every single Tour champion has been accused of doping since Lance's last win in 2005.


That's not true.

Originally Posted By: Jocephus
I think Lance has done an outstanding job expanding the sport of cycling


That's not true, either...

Originally Posted By: Jocephus
and has done an incredible job of spreading hope for cancer victims.


In many cases, that IS true, but the fact is it was done under fraudulent conditions, and used as a shield to protect himself from criticism. Again, I don't see any good from worshiping false idols.


Originally Posted By: Jocephus
Going after a guy whose last win was in 2005 is ridiculous regardless of if he doped or not.


He was racing 2 years ago. And he was winning races. And he was still doping 2 years ago.

Originally Posted By: Jocephus
What could have been a way to expand a sports popularity ended up bringing it down.


By ignoring reality?
 
Originally Posted By: JOD
Originally Posted By: NJC

Will his feat of 7 consecutive Tour De France wins ever be repeated? It seemed like a witch hunt indeed, and his guilt is obvious - but was it really a unfair advantage considering doping use in cycling?


You've bought into the PR myth he's been perpetuating for years. It's hardly a witch hunt. Note how many of his contemporaries HAVE been sanctioned. He's hardly been singled out as he seems to claim.

And yes, it was an unfair advantage, for several reasons. No one else had the governing body of the sport in his pocket to that degree, so he DID have a significant advantage. Better dope, preferential treatment, covering up multiple positive tests... That's why he went from a decent one-day racer to dominating grand tours. The playing field wasn't level, not even close.

As far as the cancer thing, wrapping himself in the cancer flag to deflect criticism is the worst of it in my book. If people want to worship false idols, that's great. I'll pass.

Over the next few months, the full extent of his fraud will become more public.


With such a visceral hatred of Armstrong you must be French. I think it's scummy and low on your part to accuse him of "wrapping himself in the cancer flag". He has done a lot of good for a lot of people.
 
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Originally Posted By: dave1251
IMO it got to the point that he lost the court of public option the cycling body has determined that he was guiltily without a single failed test or a trial. So why try and fight this? Lawyers do not work for free along with the time that would need to be invested by Armstrong to prove his innocence after the governing body has determined his guilt without due process seems not to worth it to him.

This ^!!!
 
Funniest thread ever.

Man up boys and get on your bikes!

You can easily drug up and beat lance right?
 
You do realize of course that steroids are routinely given as part of chemotherapy? They are still the best anti-inflammatory drugs known to man and are required in order for cancer patients to tolerate ever higher doses of chemo. Of course the chemo suppresses (a nice way of saying "destroys" the immune system (that would be blood cells) and that blood boosters such as EPO are a godsend to patients undergoing various types of cancer treatments.

There is no doubt that his cancer treatment introduced Lance to a new world of blood altering drugs. What he did with them after his cancer treatment will apparently remain a mystery.
 
Doped or not, he still put in the effort to win. And although it does look mighty suspicious, he was the most tested athlete in history. Genetic variation will occasionally put forth a mutation that happens to fit a specific circumstance. Maybe Lance is that one-in-a-billion chance. Look at Micheal Phelps - the story is he barely trained and still took medals and records. What could he have accomplished if he had really tried?

My point is perseverance and effort is not valued in todays society. I think we need fewer quick fixes and better decision making in general. What could we do if these efforts were put forth in business? Ok scratch that - that's what happened with the banks...

On the other hand, if we continue to choose only the easy way, were will we end up?

After all these years, who would continue to pay to fight a situation that seems unresolvable? Hasn't Lance had enough? Or is this going to turn into a Kennedy assassination situation?
 
He's saying "technically" he passed them all. The doping agencies claimed no. What we know is the he dropped the fight shortly before his team mates were set to testify against him. One could conclude there was something definitive coming. Roger Clemens never gave up and he was eventually cleared so when somebody quits shortly before trial there's always a reason
 
I have grown so weary of this story. back when Lance started, there were tests done on him and he DID have 'superhuman' ability; I forget the technical terms, but his VO max whatever it was was off the charts. he does have a naturally superior athletic ability.
what bothers me is the same thing that bothered me w/ barry bonds and the rest- I don't see why the gov't has the right to get involved in SPORTS. seriously? aren't athletes basically salesmen and entertainers? it seems it should be the sponsors and the sanctioning bodies looking into this stuff, not the gov't.

lastly, the USADA doesn't have the right to strip him of his TdF titles! that's up to the UCI!
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
He's saying "technically" he passed them all. The doping agencies claimed no. What we know is the he dropped the fight shortly before his team mates were set to testify against him. One could conclude there was something definitive coming. Roger Clemens never gave up and he was eventually cleared so when somebody quits shortly before trial there's always a reason
There is school of thought that says All World Class Teams dope. Some are better at it.
There is a heck of a lot of Glory & Cash involved.
Only those involved know for sure, the rest of us can only speculate.

I'm gonna ride my bike today.
 
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Originally Posted By: robshelton
Doped or not, he still put in the effort to win.
So did Barry Bonds, how do you view him?

I personally feel if they are pro's and were good enough at what they do to get there, let 'em dope. Who cares really? It sure made baseball actually watchable for once. My go-to sport is NBA hoops where this problem is non-existant anyways.
 
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