Armstrong Steroids Case

[SayOw]

The Tour de France will have no official winner for the seven races from 1999-2005 if Lance Armstrong is stripped of his victories by the International Cycling Union.

...

Tour officials are still waiting on the UCI's decision on whether to go along with USADA's decision to ban Armstrong for life and erase his racing results. A spokesman for the sport's governing body, Enrico Carpani, said it was "too early to say" what would happen. The UCI must decide by the end of the month whether to appeal USADA's ruling.

Story here.

[ProneEisenrott]

Lance beat everyone he faced. He passed all drug tests leading up to the races and immediately after the races. Now, some eye-witness accusations are going to cancel it all out?

I'm not that gullible.

It's like finding out today that Jackie Robinson gambled on baseball and now he is no longer the first black MLB player in the modern era.

You just can't erase greatness with some petty delayed accusations.

[SiteWolf]

Clemens and Bonds are not likeable personalities. Lance is.
People will remember them how they want to, when all is said and done.
Some will believe they cheated and deserve no recognition
Some will believe they may have cheated, but not so much to not be recognized.
Some will believe that whatever they did and however they did it, they still had the accomplishments they had.

PEDs or no PEDS, Lance did overcome cancer and rode all those miles in all those Tours to win all those titles. How YOU decide to process it all is up to you.

[TheWinman]

Overwhelming evidence that he cheated. I always liked Lance and admire the hell out of him for beating cancer, but he cheated and lied his --- off about it. We can sit here and say that just about everyone in cycling cheated during those years, but lying about it all is terrible in my book. I don't know if he should have been stripped of the TDF titles, but by them being left vacant tht tells me they have no clue on who would be the rightful winners of those races. IMO
I hope he tells the truth in the ner future

[SayOw]

Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life on Monday after the International Cycling Union (UCI) ratified the United States Anti-Doping Agency's (USADA) sanctions against the American.

The long-awaited decision has left cycling facing its "greatest crisis" according to UCI president Pat McQuaid and has destroyed Armstrong's last hope of clearing his name.

"Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling. Lance Armstrong deserves to be forgotten in cycling," McQuaid told a news conference as he outlined how cycling, long battered by doping problems for decades, would have to start all over again.

Story here.

[SiteWolf]

ok, so they know doping has been rampant and they're sure he did more than his share...and are stripping titles....fine

but for the president of the union to say he deserves to be forgotten in cycling is a bit over the top.....if he feels that way, then basically everyone in cycling in recent years should be forgotten........only that never really happens anyway, so why bother saying it

we all know he still won those titles, we just now know they've been taken away and each have our own thoughts about his accomplishments

different thing other than something being stripped, but do any of us think noone got the Heisman in Reggie Bush's last year in college?

[SayOw]

What has happened, imo, is similar to baseball...although MLB isn't stripping Bonds', McGwire's, Clemen's etc. records from the books, everyone realizes that these "accomplishments" (like Lance's) were done during the steroid era, a time in the sport's history where PED's were used by many of the competitors.

Those that hold the records and accolades during the "steroid era" are simply recognized as being the best cheaters because everyone else was cheating, imo.

[TheWinman]

Oakley also dropped Armstrong after this latest news.

I think cycling is forgetting about all of the cyclists during this era by not awarding a winner in those 7 Tour de Frances. IMO

Much like baseball, many of us will assume that most cheated. I personally have little regard to stats or records during that era.

[TheWinman]

Some Livestrong donors want their money back

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...,6983383.story


This is a tough call. Since some of this money donated to this charity went indirectly to paying Lance's legal bills, I can see why some would want their money back, but I'm sure a great deal of this money went to the intended cause.

I do get both sides. I have two livestrong shirts that I was using for my workout attire but have not worn since all of this came out. I just don't want people thinking I support Armstrong.

[SayOw]

Lance Armstrong reportedly is weighing confessing to using banned performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions during his run of seven Tour de France titles.

Armstrong, who was stripped in October of his Tour titles and banned for life from competition by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, is pursuing the admission as a route to regain his eligibility to compete, the New York Times first reported Friday.

Story here.

So after all these years he is simply going to come out, confess, say he is sorry and hope everything is alright from there? I'm guessing it has to be a move to save his "empire".

[TheWinman]

Confess? He didn't do anything wrong as he has told us countless times over and over.

[SayOw]

Originally Posted by TheWinman

Confess? He didn't do anything wrong as he has told us countless times over and over.

I'm sure this "confession" is going to be worded very "strategically" and I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to make himself out to be the "victim" in all of this and not necessarily admit to anything but essentially just come out and say "I'm sorry."

[yon Beast]

Originally Posted by TheWinman

Confess? He didn't do anything wrong as he has told us countless times over and over.

I don't recall him actually saying he did not do PED.

I understand he only said tests were wrong and he had "never been caught" in hundreds of tests.

His guilt is assured in my mind.

SayOw is right, I think...it will be phrased in such a way to show little shame or wrongdoing.

[SayOw]

Oprah Winfrey will interview cyclist Lance Armstrong for "Oprah's Next Chapter" on Jan. 17, her network said Tuesday.

The 90-minute interview at his home in Austin, Texas, will be his first since officials stripped him of his world cycling titles in response to doping allegations.

"Oprah Winfrey will speak exclusively with Lance Armstrong in his first no-holds-barred interview," a news release reads. "Armstrong will address the alleged doping scandal, years of accusations of cheating, and charges of lying about the use of performance-enhancing drugs throughout his storied cycling career."

Story here.

This will be like softball practice for Lance.

[TheWinman]

What do we think he is going to say? He is actually going to fess up, maybe a partial confession to smaller stuff or continue is flat out denial. Obviously, this is about damage control, so we will wait and see. Weird thing is that I can't remember if ever i wanted to watch an episode of Oprah's show, but I do want to watch this one. I want to see his facial expressions and such when answering the questions.