{"id":928,"date":"2012-08-25T13:23:54","date_gmt":"2012-08-25T19:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theloungeisback.wordpress.com\/?p=928"},"modified":"2012-08-25T13:23:54","modified_gmt":"2012-08-25T19:23:54","slug":"the-case-against-lance-armstrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=928","title":{"rendered":"The case against Lance Armstrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s my view on Lance being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. It was a witch hunt. Absolutely. There were people who have been determined to nail him for 12-13 years.<\/p>\n

And … he was almost assuredly a doper.<\/p>\n

What’s the most damning evidence against him? EVERYONE doped 10-12 years ago. EVERYONE. Almost every single elite rider from that decade has been busted.<\/p>\n

I was one of Lance’s biggest supporters for years, but after a while, his defence of “I’ve never tested positive…” answers starting ringing hollow. I felt like he might as well have been saying, “I’ve never been caught…”<\/p>\n

I believe Lance essentially pled “no contest” to the U.S. Anti-Doping Association because they had a whole bunch of his ex-teammates lined up to testify against him. They not only had Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis (a pair of dopers and chronic liars), but they also had George Hincapie and Levi Leipheimer and six other former teammates. All these former teammates were going to testify at Lance’s arbitration hearing that they had seen him dope. I think Lance knew he was going to be smeared through the mud and simply didn’t want anything to do with the spectacle.<\/p>\n

From a Washington Post article<\/a>:<\/p>\n

USADA, which announced its investigation in June, said its evidence came from more than a dozen witnesses \u201cwho agreed to testify and provide evidence about their first-hand experience and\/or knowledge of the doping activity of those involved in the USPS conspiracy,\u201d a reference to Armstrong\u2019s former U.S. Postal Service cycling team.<\/p>\n

The unidentified witnesses said they knew or had been told by Armstrong himself that he had \u201cused EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone and cortisone\u201d from before 1998 through 2005, and that he had previously used EPO, testosterone and Human Growth Hormone through 1996, USADA said. Armstrong also allegedly handed out doping products and encouraged banned methods \u2014 and even used \u201cblood manipulation including EPO or blood transfusions\u201d during his 2009 comeback race on the Tour.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It became harder for me to believe Lance had been clean when so many cyclists from his era were busted.<\/p>\n

Damning was how many of his former teammates got busted for doping — Hamilton, Landis, Alberto Contador and Roberto Heras among them.<\/p>\n

More damning evidence: Lance just didn’t win the Tour de France. He shredded it; he dominated it, for most of those seven tours. And look at his main rivals during that era — Marco Pantini, Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso, Francisco Mancebo, Alexandre Vinokourov, Allesandro Valverde, Michael Rasmussen, Iban Mayo, and Heras and Hamilton. ALL OF THEM were busted for doping, either by testing positive or their names coming up in the Operacion Puerto case (or in the case of Rasmussen, vanishing for months so he couldn’t be tested). These were all the elite riders of the early 2000s, and all guys that Lance just didn’t beat, but destroy.<\/p>\n

And after a while, I felt like, “you expect me to believe Lance beat all these dirty riders while clean himself?”<\/p>\n

No, that’s stretching the suspension of disbelief too far for me. He could not have beat all these dirty riders clean. I don’t believe that’s possible.<\/p>\n

To me a better question was did Lance have an unfair advantage over the other riders? No, I don’t think he did, because they were all dirty. They were all riding on a level playing field.<\/p>\n

I don’t blame the USADA for wiping out his tour wins. In fact, the entire decade of 2000-2010 should probably be expunged from the cycling record books.<\/p>\n

I think Lance took a calculated risk that his fans have “steroids fatigue” and don’t care anymore, which I think to a large degree is true. So many athletes have been busted for doping during the last 15 years that people can’t work up any outrage about it anymore.<\/p>\n

I guess my attitude is everyone did it, in multiple sports and it doesn’t do a lot of good to dwell on who cheated 10 or 15 years ago, but that being said, records from that era shouldn’t count. So perhaps the Tour de France titles should simply be vacated from that decade, while Bonds and others don’t get to keep their records. Henry Aaron should be the home run champion — until Pujols breaks it (… and Pujols has never been 100 percent in the clear in my mind as far as doping, but I admit there is no proof), and Maris should be the single-season record holder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s my view on Lance being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. It was a witch hunt. Absolutely. There were people who have been determined to nail him for 12-13 years. And … he was almost assuredly a doper. What’s the most damning evidence against him? EVERYONE doped 10-12 years ago. EVERYONE. Almost … Continue reading The case against Lance Armstrong<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[33],"tags":[115,119,146],"class_list":["post-928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lance-armstrong-2","tag-cycling","tag-doping","tag-lance-armstrong"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/lance-armstrong.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4hpEa-eY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":429,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=429","url_meta":{"origin":928,"position":0},"title":"Lance Armstrong campaigns for higher cigarette tax","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"March 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Anti-smoking and anti-cancer advocate Lance Armstrong now appears to be moving full-time into cancer advocacy. A couple of years ago, Lance campaigned pretty strongly for a smoking ban in Texas. He didn't win that round, but since he started speaking out, several large cities in Texas have imposed smoking bans,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anti-tobacco campaign"","block_context":{"text":"Anti-tobacco campaign","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/theloungeisback.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/03\/lance_armstrong1.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":442,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=442","url_meta":{"origin":928,"position":1},"title":"Texas smoking ban being attempted again","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"March 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This has been attempted many times before and so far no dice. Two bills introduced in the Texas State Legislature would impose a statewide smoking ban. Texas remains the largest state in the union with no statewide smoking ban, however, a ban there has a chance. First of all, Livestrong\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anti-tobacco campaign"","block_context":{"text":"Anti-tobacco campaign","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/theloungeisback.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/03\/tobacco_texas_given_tobacco_boot.gif?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3745,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3745","url_meta":{"origin":928,"position":2},"title":"Utah Senate votes to keep airport smoking rooms because of concerns over state’s “image”","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"February 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"OK, initially, I thought this was a bit of a humourous story until I actually read it, and now I'm left feeling like, \"WTF?\" The Utah State Senate voted 15-14 last week to keep smoking rooms in the Salt Lake City Airport. Two of the reasons cited were personal freedom\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Salt Lake City"","block_context":{"text":"Salt Lake City","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=768"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/25807852.jpg?fit=614%2C342&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/25807852.jpg?fit=614%2C342&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/25807852.jpg?fit=614%2C342&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3236,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3236","url_meta":{"origin":928,"position":3},"title":"“Mad Men” and the smoking culture of the ’60s — killing off one of its characters through lung cancer","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"May 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the things that the show \"Mad Men\" has gained notoriety for is its depiction of the hedonistic culture of the establishment of the 1960s -- from three martini lunches to infidelity and most obviously, smoking. Main character Don Draper smokes heavily and has been in charge of advertising\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Betty Draper"","block_context":{"text":"Betty Draper","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=511"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/betty-draper.png?fit=1152%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/betty-draper.png?fit=1152%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/betty-draper.png?fit=1152%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/betty-draper.png?fit=1152%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/betty-draper.png?fit=1152%2C720&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3313,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3313","url_meta":{"origin":928,"position":4},"title":"The Merchants of Doubt: A Review … and the curious case of Michael Siegel","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"June 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\"The Merchants of Doubt\" is a fascinating book by science historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway. I had an interest in the book because it explored how industry forces have used scientists to create doubt about their products and\/or initiatives ... and that all began with the tobacco industry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Merchants of Doubt"","block_context":{"text":"Merchants of Doubt","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=474"},"img":{"alt_text":"Merchants_of_DOUBT","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Merchants_of_DOUBT.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3719,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3719","url_meta":{"origin":928,"position":5},"title":"Federal judge tells Big Tobacco, “quit wasting my damn time”","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"February 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a great story. I've posted earlier stories about as part of a Justice Department RICO (a federal racketeering law usually used against organized crime) lawsuit, Big Tobacco was ordered some time ago to come up with \"corrective statements,\" ie, full-age newspaper ads admitting that tobacco companies have lied\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Tobacco"","block_context":{"text":"Big Tobacco","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/jp-tobacco-articleLarge.jpg?fit=600%2C274&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/jp-tobacco-articleLarge.jpg?fit=600%2C274&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/jp-tobacco-articleLarge.jpg?fit=600%2C274&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}