I completely agree with you. The gods decided that it was time for him to live like the rest. It's only fair and I respect very much how he's handled it. It really contradicts some of the harsh opinions of the guy. Now with that said, don't be surprised if he has a change of heart about this being his last tour. My good friend is married to one of Lance's travel partners (part of Livestrong) and it's already come up so time will tell. This is not something I can back up unfortunately but I can see it.
I was just back in Dallas this past weekend and got to see friends from long long ago. During the process of going through some photo albums I found these. These were taken somewhere around 87-88. These were apparently taken in my backyard but I don't know for sure.
http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2011/03/08/sporting-kansas-city-stadium-livestrong.html Sporting Kansas City's new stadium is "Livestrong Park"
Outside article, looking at the Livestrong foundation. http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoo...nce-armstrong/Its-Not-About-the-Lab-Rats.html
Outside article, looking at the Livestrong foundation. http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoo...nce-armstrong/Its-Not-About-the-Lab-Rats.html
He will not be charged. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...ce-armstrong/2012/02/03/gIQA9dYhnQ_story.html
Serious WTF? Drag him through the mud and no charges? Just shut up until you actually charge someone next time.
I at the least expected a trial before he walked. Do we the taxpayers get a refund for this waste of money? I'm going to go check out a couple other bikey forums and see some meltdowns
LemondFanForeve an 18Hockey are beating each other to bloody pulps in BikeFroums.net. It's like arguing about faith/religion.
18Hockey I'm not familiar with but LemondFanForever........well that's one guy with some problems. I've accused LFF of being Bellweatherman's sock, it's almost rehearsed how they back-up each others vitriol.
Some epic meltdowns all over the place. I never really get all the hate LA gets. Even assuming he doped (which i think he did), it wasn't as if he was doing anything different to the rest of the peloton and his major rivals in Ulrich, Basso & co.
I've gone from being a Lance fanboy to not being one, although I can't say I hate him. I'm more or less neutral on him, but I respect what he did to raise the profile of cycling in the U.S. A lot of it reminds me of this kind of thing where people are into a band and once the band makes it big, they accuse the band of selling out (see also: U2, Dave Matthews, REM, Arcade Fire, etc). I think that a lot of old school cycling fans resent fans who get into cycling just because of Lance, and the way that Lance tends to dominate the media as far as cycling is concerned in the U.S.
This is wonderful news for Lance and for cycling. I know this won't put to rest the obsessives who say "I know better! I can just tell he's guilty", but hopefully it will end mainstream media speculation and innuendo.
Sadly I kind of doubt it. Shit slinging is pretty much the old norm in cycling coverage. From the perspective of the American media, it just may tail off a little bit but ultimately he'll always have the asterisk.
Eh, I think most of the cycling world has moved on, as has the general public. After the Barry Bonds/Balco affair, I think people are a lot less idealistic about doping than they used to be. Besides, there is a lot more than just gut feelings involved. There is a pretty good amount of evidence (circumstantial and other) that indicates he doped. And if he did dope, who would be surprised? Nobody at this point. And who would care? Very few people.
How the investigation was shut down without any charges is a bit suspicious in my eyes. AND http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/con...al-investigation-into-armstrong-and-us-postal According the NPR, sources indicated that charges were close to being brought against a number of individuals, which included fraud, witness tampering, mail fraud, and drug distribution. One source, NPR says, said there were ‘no weaknesses in the case’. However, NPR also adds that a person with knowledge of the decision said that US Attorney didn’t agree that there was sufficient evidence of crimes. Cyclingnews spoke to a source who had co-operated with the federal investigation. The source indicated that the NPR reports held weight. “I talked to someone within the investigation but the reason why the case was shut down was due to a one-man decision. The evidence against those involved was absolutely overwhelming. They were going to be charged with a slew of crimes but for reasons unexplained he closed the case saying it wasn't open for discussion,” the source said.
No there isn't. That is entirely the point. A lot of people would be surprised. A lot more would care
Complete shot in the dark but I'll throw one out. Perhaps a certain Texas Republican mountain biking buddy called in a favor. Seems like he would have the juice to kill it.
Ha. I don't want to go too conspiratorial, but the lack of reasons they gave for shutting down the investigation is, well, I'm not buying it. Also, when Pat McQuaid is happy about a ruling, well..."DANGER WILL ROBINSON!"
He did have the one sample come back dirty which is at the least circumstantial isn't it? Besides this investigation wasn't really about whether or not he doped but mainly about fraud. I'm a huge fan but I'm not ignorant to the reality of cycling either, if guys he was crushing were dopers then it stands to reason that he probably did as well. Really doubt that. He was a cyclist for g-ds sake. Doubt that too. You really think W has that much clout still? Hell, he may even make Ford like a good President when historians look back in time The whole "favor to make it go away" scenario is almost too obvious which is why it probably didn't workout that way. Maybe it came down to his doping being about the only thing they could really prove while the conspiracy to commit fraud was too wishy washy. Imagine the backlash on an investigation that cost this much only to bust him for something that could amount to nothing more than a low level felony drug charge at best? Who knows, it's not like secrets are easy to keep anymore.
As far as circumstantial and other evidence goes, I would direct you here for the wiki page detailing specific allegations against Armstrong (including under oath testimony) or here for a very daming article by Dr Michael Ashenden regarding the 1999 positive tests. I'm not saying all of it is accurate, but to say that there is no evidence of any kind (circumstantial or otherwise) linking Armstrong to doping is going a bit far. Whether or not people would care is a subjective issue, I suppose. I tend to think that after all these athletes in baseball and other sports have been found guilty of using illegal substances, the public's shock about things like this is likely to be pretty muted. Obviously, your mileage may vary.
