Jan

21

I suspect that Lance Armstrong's confession on TV had to do with last Thursday's deadline for the US Federal Government to file a Qui-Tam (whistleblower lawsuit) action against him, based on information revealed by Floyd Landis (another doping Tour de France winner who denied doping for years after testing positive).

Qui-Tam lawsuits reportedly date back to the war between the North and South of the US, when the US Federal Government (North) offered a 10% share of money recovered from anyone who squealed on anyone defrauding the government. All the whistleblower has to do is talk, and the feds have a certain time to decide to pursue the case or drop it. If they pursue it, their likelihood of winning is very high, as they have infinite resources and many other advantages, such as the courtroom procedure where they plead their case, then the defendant rebuts, but then instead of the decision being made, the feds get another chance to rebut. This and other advantages, combined with the threat of criminal prosecution, lead many defendants to give up. In Lance's case, I suspect it could cost him more than all the money he has, or would likely be left with after the other people expected to get money from him get what is coming to them.

Press articles while he was still denying doping were in two categories - the ones that mentioned that he had tested positive for doping, and those that did not. He tested positive for steroids in I think his first Tour de France, and afterword produced a doctor's letter saying he had been taking a prescription saddle sore cream containing steroids. A doctor's note after a positive test is no defense, and the rules are clear on that - and printed on the back of every racer's license. But, he was let off the hook because he was a big shot by then, and it was not in the interest of anyone involved with the sport, including sponsors, to have him banned. Much later six of his blood samples tested positive for synthetic EPO.

EPO is a chemical produced naturally in the human body, which stimulates production of red blood cells. The fake stuff does the same thing, and was at one time the most commonly prescribed drug in the world. For an athlete, extra red blood cells mean increased Oxygen carrying capacity, which means riding a bicycle up a mountain without getting out of breath. And in training it means stressing the muscles all that much more than a person with normal aerobic capacity could do.

 There are a least four ways to increase red blood cell count, two of which are legal in bike racing, two of which are not. The two legal ones are training at a high altitude, and sleeping in a tent at night with reduced Oxygen levels, both of which champions have done. The two illegal ways are taking synthetic EPO and blood doping, which is removing a pint of blood a month before a race, refrigerating the blood, and then putting it back in the night before the race, leaving the body with extra red blood cells.

In the early 2000s there was no test for synthetic EPO, but a few years ago, when the test came out, samples of Lance Armstrong's blood which was taken in early tours and kept frozen over the years was tested, and all six samples came up positive. That makes 7 positive tests that were widely known to the public during his years of denial. The rest is history.

-Henry Gifford (Former NY State champion bike racer who has never taken any drugs or drank any alcohol).

Russ Sears writes: 

People could forgive the drugs and cheating, but they will not forgive the bullying and using LiveStrong as a front to further this bullying.

I have seen it more than once, when a rational guy starts taking steroids he starts having a g_d complex.

With the new sudden success, and the mangled brain, it leaves him thinking they are above justice, everyone else is blind. The changes seems so obvious to him that he is on juice. The accolades so addicting.

The justification that everyone else is doing it and getting away with it convinces him that fate has singled him out for greatness and he cannot be stopped. He is the only one capable of understanding the truth.

This was true from the kids on each stage level from the c level HS basketball team to the Olympians winning medals. It was sad and pathetic seeing the HS coach confront a juicer, it was an epic tragedy at the elite levels.

Ralph Vince adds: 

Reading Russell's post made me think "Does he mean Armstrong… or Obama?"

Drinking my morning coffee, listening to the what was Florida wilderness out back being churned and converted into housing. Local strip malls, parking space unavailable. I watched Reagan's tax cuts met with a rolling market by August of 82, then watched the largest tax hike in history, announced at the SOTU of 93, met the same interval of time later with another rolling market.

America is so big, it's economy so massive and with a mind of it's own, policy bounces off of the mammoth like the arrows of pathetic, little men. Rome rumbles on. It occurs to me that the president, in all his rockstardom and oprahglamour, is as relevant as Armstrong.


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3 Comments so far

  1. Ed on January 20, 2013 6:11 pm

    I wonder if any of these banned substances or technologies could have wide medical or practical value for more average people. For example, counteracting the effects of aging.

  2. astro the family dog:) on January 21, 2013 11:25 pm

    Actually they were brought 1st into society for burn patients, what it does is to hold nitrogen in the cells, which is the waste. So doing allows faster restoration time to allow the patient to rebuild faster.

    The 1st user was Bill Pearl about 1962 Mr. Universe and a very good friend of mine over the years. It lead to other sports almost overnight because it work so well, in athletes that train on nation and world levels in all sports.

    Anyone on a national or world level from about 1970 and after more than likely was in use of it, the sports world was open up to it and doping was then a bad thing but not look at so much.

    You will notice a spike in breaking records at that time, and latter, everyone uses it, woman started about in the early 1980’s, all sports not just weight lifting/ bodybuilding and such, golf pros, tennis, even I recall at 1 gym a know tennis table player//LOL… you name it…it in the game or the games….because it works so well.

    Baseball,football-basketball, if the doping companies were not payoff so well, well you just would not have any sports to watch..on the TV you learn hate so much///:)

    And, would suggest its not going away, in ancient times it was a problem also if you study Olympian history of the Greeks, herbs and such animal parts etc.. were all used…to get that edge….

    as far as aging…well check out a friend of mine..Frank Zane…bodybuilder on the 1960/70/80’s…and you get your answer on that..of course it has also negative effects to…just look at Arnold S…but then again that could be just from making Cailf go from bad to worst…..politics! ..is aging stuff…LOL

    –:)

  3. astro the family dog:) on January 21, 2013 11:38 pm

    Lets see..Lance was dieing.

    needed his sport to have something to live for.

    Choose to continue and realizes that those he was competing against were using as much as he was.

    He just hid it and did it better then they did,… like I believe the Rolling Stones that push blood before a concert.

    Hmmm you gotta think this over, as all the hurt to take 1 guy down the toilet?

    ———Lets see, you have techno that can scan a ‘vin number on a car’ going at 65/85 miles per hour, but you have to need a TSA agent at an airport to pat you down for over kill!

    Think with such scanning technology today you can open the airport entry door and have all your body parts lay all over the place, or even a 1000 miles away for a once over.

    LOL

    Or it may be just to ‘reinforce’ ‘government rule’ in aiding the feared public…as always….

    Lance was on equal playing field with all others he was competing against..no doubt….the news..as Richard Ney would always suggest..is not just what is important but more so the ‘timing’ of it…

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