The new improved Lance Armstrong discussion thread.*

[Andrew_P]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/20009741 Legend that is Geoff Thomas.

 

[BJH]

I'm still not drinking Budweiser, except when I buy it by mistake.

And because it's crap and because of those stupid adverts

 

[BJH]

That's a noble motive. Judge Sparks indicated he thought they were acting under "less noble motives".

I wonder what Judge Sparks would say now since everything else has come out of the bottle with the genie?

 

[BJH]

So Guantanamo is right - every American knows they were guilty and the end justifies the means? Thank God we have people who don't believe that and hold us all to account on having fair and proper processes.

Pity Lance didn't leave racing to fair and proper processes instead of being number one, eighteen carat gold, fur lined king of cheating bast4rds

 

[PpPete]

RL
So is the SoL thing your last remaining argument?
Would you give him back his titles if that could, hypothetically speaking of course, be shown still to be valid ?

No, its just another on top of using disbarred evidence (the 1999 retests), missing evidence where its in favour of the defendant (e.g. the Betsy Andreu incident), the ignoring of Article 17, the use of sweetheart deals for testimony, the process allowing USADA to be investigator, prosecutor, judge and jury. I would take the attitude that has been taken elsewhere when the process is faulty and against basic Human Rights (Article 6 if he had been based in Europe). And that is to throw the case out even if it means a guilty man walking free. Otherwise you are condoning the slippery slope to where the end justifies the means. And history tells us that every time that happens, we later regret it.

All of which points have been dealt with ad nauseam above. On to my second question.

So - let's just be clear about this.... are you saying you want him to have his titles back ? - or indeed as you may prefer to have it, to keep them since you don't accept the validity of the process by which they were removed from him.

 

[BJH]

Actually it does get examined by the Court in a no-contest plea or a guilty plea. They don't just take the prosecutors word for it, the judge looks at the prosecutors case to see if there is a proper case and if appropriate determine the sentence that should be applied.

Guantanamo ? Now that sounds like a great idea for where he can bug out to

 

[Smokin Joe]

Red Light, what do you actually want?

100 pages.

 

[BJH]

Well catching up on this after a couple of days has been great fun as it took up all the time that Coronation Street and Eastenders were on!!!

Absolutely lovin the one man protest against the whole of the world ( wonder if it's a religious thing) thing we have going on.

Do I give a damn on WADA Policy 245.7 and did this give them the right to take him down - no ( made that code up by the way, just decided to cheat to help win the ongoing debate)

We keep hearing about legal process and whether it's all strictly by the rules. Reality here is that in a court of law faced with he amount of eye witness testimony we have in this case he would be guilty. He chose not to fight because he knew the outcome.

 

[BJH]

On a different note sad to see Rabobank leave, but great to see them point the finger at the UCI.

Luckily Sky have a really good company bank rolling them who have a worse track record than the UCI.

 

[BJH]

100 pages.

When do we want it? Now !

 

[Bollo]

With the no-contest, Lance isn't admitting defeat but using the same tactic employed by the Tea Party. Don't engage with the opposition. Don't argue on the issues. Instead, create an alternative reality through compliant media outlets. Gather as many supporters as possible into the bubble and discredit and vilify anything that comes from outside. Try to blow the bubble out as big as possible.

 

[mickle]

With the no-contest, Lance isn't admitting defeat but using the same tactic employed by the Tea Party. Don't engage with the opposition. Don't argue on the issues. Instead, create an alternative reality through compliant media outlets. Gather as many supporters as possible into the bubble and discredit and vilify anything that comes from outside. Try to blow the bubble out as big as possible.

Very insightful.

 

[Bollo]

Very insightful.

Wait until you hear my plans for reforming the UCI under Sharia law. Vote Bollo!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

With the no-contest, Lance isn't admitting defeat but using the same tactic employed by the Tea Party. Don't engage with the opposition. Don't argue on the issues. Instead, create an alternative reality through compliant media outlets. Gather as many supporters as possible into the bubble and discredit and vilify anything that comes from outside. Try to blow the bubble out as big as possible.

though the creation of an alternative reality is really, for LA and Tea Party alike, an admission of defeat in the real world. But the analysis is spot on in every other regard.

 

[johnr]

With the latest reports on the potentially criminal tax evasion/money laundering activities of LA's good doctor (see UCI thread), I find myself wondering whether the US tax authorities might start sniffing around. If hollywood movies/USTV sitcoms are anything to go by they are not likely to be as easily cowed as the FBI were.

Any international accountants on the thread?