Lance Armstrong to be charged with doping?

[pylon]

Jeebus, just read the re-cap on CNN.

Spoiler!

Not only did he cheat, he ultra-mega-super cheated. This guy will go down as sports biggest fraud, ever.

[Minnie]

The IOC stripped him of his Olympic bronze medal today, the one he won at the 2000 games in Sydney.

[pylon]

Well, he certainly didn't hold anything back.

Even though the guy is a dirtbag, and has now given everyone he bullied ammo to sue him into the stratosphere...... you have to give him one thing. He wouldn't drag anyone else down, or make accusations about anyone else. He kept the crosshairs on himself, and owned it.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by pylon

Well, he certainly didn't hold anything back.

Even though the guy is a dirtbag, and has now given everyone he bullied ammo to sue him into the stratosphere...... you have to give him one thing. He wouldn't drag anyone else down, or make accusations about anyone else. He kept the crosshairs on himself, and owned it.

The cynic in me says that he's holding back on turning in anyone else until he sits down with the USADA to negotiate an agreement on eventually getting his ban lifted, while at the same time playing the 'I don't blame anyone for testifying against me, they had no choice,' card because he knows he's going to go down that road eventually too.

[Cortez]

anyone have a "Coles notes" on the interview?

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Cortez

anyone have a "Coles notes" on the interview?

Just take the exact opposite of what he has been saying all these years, and that is pretty much it. His entire life, and every accomplishment was a complete lie. And everything his accusers have said is true.

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by Cortez

anyone have a "Coles notes" on the interview?

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/lanc...062222144.html

He revealed a measure of the man that he is and this much is certain: If you never met this jerk, well, count your blessings. Defiant, distant, difficult.
Arrogant, unaware, flippant.
Oh, Lance had a plan to try to look open and honest, and that was what was so obvious: It was a plan. It sounded rehearsed. But when he went off script, well, that's when he went off the rails.
He apologized, and that's worth something, worth a lot to those of us who aren't outraged anymore over doping in sports. But in doing so, in tuning into the Oprah Winfrey Network, you could only marvel at that personality on display, the same one that while we celebrated his victories was, behind the scenes, leaving a path of personal destruction in its wake.
This was a glimmer of the true Lance Armstrong coming out. No Nike commercial edits. No press conference sound bites. No glowing magazine profiles. This was the guy who left scores and scores of people cursing that their paths ever crossed.
It's not about the bike, indeed. This was about Lance's sociopathic spectacle.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/lanc...4282--spt.html

Top-ranked tennis player Novak Djokovic was even more succinct in his judgment, saying at the Australian Open that Armstrong "should suffer for his lies all these years."
Veteran cycling commentator Phil Liggett hopes Armstrong divulges more detail of his doping operation in the second instalment of Winfrey's two-part interview.
"He's gone halfway, he's told us he took drugs, he's told us how long he took drugs. He swears categorically he's never taken drugs since '05, since his comeback period. But that's all behind us now," Liggett told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
"Where did he get the drugs from? Where did all the big money go to pay for those drugs? Because it's very, very expensive to buy EPO. Who gave him the knowhow, the wherewithal to do it?"
Journalist David Walsh, whose articles and books had detailed the American cyclist's use of banned substances, agreed the interview did not go far enough in revealing details of his actions.
"He has to name names ... he is probably the biggest cheat sport has ever known," Walsh said on the BBC.

[Cheese]

http://www.tsn.ca/cycling/story/?id=413848

I expected to hear Armstrong deny he took banned substances within the past five years, and specifically when he unretired in 2009 for two years. Armstrong made that denial, and for his legal team, this was probably one of the most important parts of the interview.
Here's the reason. The time limit to criminally prosecute someone for possession and distribution of steroids and banned substances (which is unlawful) is five years. So that means that Armstrong could admit to using banned substances back in 1999 and the early 2000s since he's comfortably outside the statute of limitations.
However, since the five-year limitation period has not expired in connection with his alleged drug use in 2009 and 2010, he could not admit to that. Effectively, Armstrong could admit to drug use, but he had to be careful associating it with a recent timeframe.
So, when Oprah asked him if he had used performance enhancing drugs in 2009 and 2010, he adamantly denied it, saying it was "not true" and that the last time, "I crossed the line…was 2005". This is despite USADA, the U.S. federal anti-doping agency, finding that it was not only likely that Armstrong used banned substances in 2009-10, but highly probable. In the view of USADA, Armstrong's test results provided a "compelling argument consistent with blood doping".
Overall, while Armstrong is not immune from criminal prosecution, his Oprah interview did not make things appreciably worse for him.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by pylon

Well, he certainly didn't hold anything back.

Even though the guy is a dirtbag, and has now given everyone he bullied ammo to sue him into the stratosphere...... you have to give him one thing. He wouldn't drag anyone else down, or make accusations about anyone else. He kept the crosshairs on himself, and owned it.

yeah he really owned up to it.....

Admitted to everything over 5 years ago because it's too late to prosecute him, but clearly denied he was on anything in 2009!?? yeah right. all those years of doping and you come back clean? LIAR!

[Table 5]

Meh, the guy is a master manipulator who's been perfecting the art of lying his entire career. Whether he meant any of it or not, you just can't believe the guy whatsoever.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Meh, the guy is a master manipulator who's been perfecting the art of lying his entire career. Whether he meant any of it or not, you just can't believe the guy whatsoever.

The entire thing seemed so insincere.

[polak]

Hard to be sincere when apologizing for cheating in a sport where every single person cheats.

[Flamenspiel]

^^Well he has to apologize for being the Best Cheater! By his own admission, second only to the East German program. I don't buy that this is the whole truth, he protected the UCI by lying(at least contradicting sworn testimony) about the 2001 coverup and denied using in 2009 and 2010 when his BIO Passport shows there was a 1 in 7 million chance that he was clean.

Clearly he is being disingenuous to avoid burning his last bridge(UCI) and avoid criminal prosecution, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[CaptainCrunch]

Maybe once the lawsuits and legal expenses ravage his fortune a bunch of celebs can get together and do a song to raise money for him

There comes a time when we heed a certain edge
When my docs must come together as one
I just live for cheating
And its time to take a shot
The greatest gift of all

We can't go on pretending day by day
That someone,will run a honest race
We are all part of cheaters great big family
And the truth, you never know
EPO is all he needs

[Chorus]
He is a cheat, he is a d$$$$he bage
He is the one that will berate his team
So lets start giving
There's a choice he's making
He's cheating and he lies
Its true he's a uberman
Don't ask him to pee

etc

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

yeah he really owned up to it.....

Admitted to everything over 5 years ago because it's too late to prosecute him, but clearly denied he was on anything in 2009!?? yeah right. all those years of doping and you come back clean? LIAR!

Unfortunately I do not have the expert lawyer analysis of the interview to fall back on when I posted last night, so I could pretend I knew all along that is why he claimed not to have doped in the last 5 years. I had no clue that 5 year loophole existed. I did however raise my eyebrow when he said he was clean in 09-10. I guess that explains it. Didn't seem to make sense at the time.

As far as him being insincere? The guy was painted into a corner, and his only regret is being caught. When he said "If I hadn't come back in 09-10, we wouldn't be sitting here." Pretty much validated it. He pretty much has no choice but to confront this with the overwhelming evidence. Try seeming sincere when you are airing your dirty laundry to the entire world. If this guy has any chance of redeeming any shred of a some sort of career, he had to do this. I will predict he will start up some sort of anti-drug/doping foundation now.

[Skootenbeeten]

I think it is all so ridiculous and not worth a fraction of the attention it is getting.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by pylon

As far as him being insincere? The guy was painted into a corner, and his only regret is being caught. When he said "If I hadn't come back in 09-10, we wouldn't be sitting here." Pretty much validated it. He pretty much has no choice but to confront this with the overwhelming evidence. Try seeming sincere when you are airing your dirty laundry to the entire world. If this guy has any chance of redeeming any shred of a some sort of career, he had to do this. I will predict he will start up some sort of anti-drug/doping foundation now.

Yeah that's fine, we basically both agree he was insincere then, you just gave reasons why. Thanks.

[GGG]

I still don't understand what the big deal is that he doped. Of course he doped. We all knew he doped. Everyone in cycling dopes and likely still dopes.

The purpose of testing in my opinion isn't to catch dopers it is to limit doping. You want to keep doping to a level where people aren't dying to win. You will never eliminiate it.

I dont quite understand the villification from strangers. He is a jerk, and a doper, all things we have known for 10 years. This interview in my mind changed nothing.

[Devils'Advocate]

Oi.. this thread goes around in circles.

Rather than re-write what has been said a thousand times, I'll just copy transplant99's which is one of the better posts on the subject:

I dont think the problem with Armstrong is that he cheated....its that he lied about it over and over and over again and still hasnt come clean and owned up to it. his denials were so impassioned and his ability to make people think they were horrible for even thinking he could have done something so preposterous and devious are what this boils down too. No matter how great he has been in raising boh awareness and funding for research through livestrong, his alter ego side has been nothing short of douchbaggery to the very people who aided him in becoming such a force in the rest of his endevours.

On the issue of losing a testicle not being material for jokes, I think Tom Green would disagree with you:
http://www.usrf.org/tomgreen.shtml

[chemgear]

He destroyed people who called him out during his mountain of lies. And made a lot of money off them in the process.

Still lying as well apparently.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/lance-armst...ry?id=18245484

"You did not do a blood transfusion in 2009?" Winfrey asked.

"No, 2009 and 2010 absolutely not," Armstrong said.

Investigators familiar with the case disagree. They said today that Armstrong's blood values at the 2009 race showed clear blood manipulation consistent with two transfusions. Armstrong's red blood cell count suddenly went up at these points, even though the number of baby red blood cells did not.
Investigators said this was proof that he received a transfusion of mature red blood cells.

If Armstrong lied about the 2009 race, it could be to protect himself criminally, investigators said.