0
Chuck Norris has the greatest Poker-Face of all time. He won the 1983 World Series of Poker, despite holding only a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoly card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game Uno.
What a sad day for sportsmen and women. A true champ hounded by the tall poppy syndrome. over 1000 tests most of which were random and not a skeric of proof. Its another Salem witch hunt by the bloody Sepos.
A friend of mine had cancer and Armstrong took the time to visit with him whilst he was in the US. Nice touch and not one of a conceited arse that the USDA paints him as.
__________________________________________________
'Rugby and sex are the only things you can enjoy without being good at them.' -anonymous
he's the biggest drug cheat on the planet who hides behind cancer fundraising - he's disgraceful!
Chuck Norris has the greatest Poker-Face of all time. He won the 1983 World Series of Poker, despite holding only a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoly card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game Uno.
As legit as the Barings bank collapse. He is the biggest druggie known to mankind.
Chuck Norris has the greatest Poker-Face of all time. He won the 1983 World Series of Poker, despite holding only a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoly card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game Uno.
Lance Armstong's Statement of August 23, 2012
AUSTIN, Texas - August 23rd, 2012 - There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, "Enough is enough." For me, that time is now. I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt. The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today – finished with this nonsense.
I had hoped that a federal court would stop USADA’s charade. Although the court was sympathetic to my concerns and recognized the many improprieties and deficiencies in USADA’s motives, its conduct, and its process, the court ultimately decided that it could not intervene.
If I thought for one moment that by participating in USADA’s process, I could confront these allegations in a fair setting and – once and for all – put these charges to rest, I would jump at the chance. But I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair. Regardless of what Travis Tygart says, there is zero physical evidence to support his outlandish and heinous claims. The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colors. I made myself available around the clock and around the world. In-competition. Out of competition. Blood. Urine. Whatever they asked for I provided. What is the point of all this testing if, in the end, USADA will not stand by it?
From the beginning, however, this investigation has not been about learning the truth or cleaning up cycling, but about punishing me at all costs. I am a retired cyclist, yet USADA has lodged charges over 17 years old despite its own 8-year limitation. As respected organizations such as UCI and USA Cycling have made clear, USADA lacks jurisdiction even to bring these charges. The international bodies governing cycling have ordered USADA to stop, have given notice that no one should participate in USADA’s improper proceedings, and have made it clear the pronouncements by USADA that it has banned people for life or stripped them of their accomplishments are made without authority. And as many others, including USADA’s own arbitrators, have found, there is nothing even remotely fair about its process. USADA has broken the law, turned its back on its own rules, and stiff-armed those who have tried to persuade USADA to honor its obligations. At every turn, USADA has played the role of a bully, threatening everyone in its way and challenging the good faith of anyone who questions its motives or its methods, all at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. For the last two months, USADA has endlessly repeated the mantra that there should be a single set of rules, applicable to all, but they have arrogantly refused to practice what they preach. On top of all that, USADA has allegedly made deals with other riders that circumvent their own rules as long as they said I cheated. Many of those riders continue to race today.
The bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place by the UCI, WADA and USADA when I raced. The idea that athletes can be convicted today without positive A and B samples, under the same rules and procedures that apply to athletes with positive tests, perverts the system and creates a process where any begrudged ex-teammate can open a USADA case out of spite or for personal gain or a cheating cyclist can cut a sweetheart deal for themselves. It’s an unfair approach, applied selectively, in opposition to all the rules. It’s just not right.
USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles. I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours. We all raced together. For three weeks over the same roads, the same mountains, and against all the weather and elements that we had to confront. There were no shortcuts, there was no special treatment. The same courses, the same rules. The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. Especially not Travis Tygart.
Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances. I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities. This October, my Foundation will celebrate 15 years of service to cancer survivors and the milestone of raising nearly $500 million. We have a lot of work to do and I'm looking forward to an end to this pointless distraction. I have a responsibility to all those who have stepped forward to devote their time and energy to the cancer cause. I will not stop fighting for that mission. Going forward, I am going to devote myself to raising my five beautiful (and energetic) kids, fighting cancer, and attempting to be the fittest 40-year old on the planet.
http://lancearmstrong.com/news-event...august-23-2012[COLOR="Silver"]
---------- Post added at 15:52 ---------- Previous post was at 15:44 ----------
Question: Would a man who is innocent just one day give up the fight and stop trying to clear his name and allow someone to tarnish and take away all that he work hard for in this world, because that’s the easy thing to do and he doesn’t want to deal with the issue anymore?
Last edited by GAFFA; 24-08-12 at 15:52.
“Everyone knows whether it’s rugby, politics or whatever, front-rowers should rule the world, so to have a hooker at the helm makes sense,” Nathan Charles Western Force & Wallabies Hooker.
That depends on the amount of shit he's been hurled by USADA.
Armstrong is totally correct in saying that USADA have no jurisdiction to strip him of the Tour de France wins, or to ban him for life from cycling. It is a total witch-hunt by USADA and if I'd been subject to a fraction of the amount of abuse Armstrong's been subject to, I'd want to do anything to stop it or hide from it.
Of course, none of the above makes any judgement on his guilt - I've no idea whether he's guilty of cheating or not. He could be the world's best athlete or the world's biggest cheat and hypocrite - the USADA have broken their rules and overstepped their jurisdiction in their witch-hunt.
Sorry sheikh, you are wrong on all counts.
Lance injunction was just thrown out of court by federal Judge Sparks (in Austin lol) who agreed USADA has jurisdiction. The WADA code (signed by UCI in 2004 to remain part of the Olympics) gives exactly that authourity to USADA through USAC and UCI to USOC then IOC. There is nothing unusual about it, it happens in every drug case. To suggest otherwise is complete and utter PR bull from Lance.
UCI, despite a few drunken ramblings from Fat Pat, has before and after Lances escapade in court agreed this is the case. They will comply with the USADA decision or they will be flung out of the Olympics, which would destroy them politically as the national federations scrambled and then financially as they lose $3.5m per annum in funding.
The ASO will look stupid if they refuse to comply, as they will lose public confidence and subsequently commercial backing.
As to the witch hunt, it sounds like a Lance broken record of PR spin. What witch hunt? USADA has in the past 5 years busted some 50 athletes including Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Kelli White, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens...which of these tested positive? Lance has
And precisely which rules have USADA broken. The funniest thing is his own manager drafted the USADA rules . Would it be those ones? They have done everything above board to the letter. Again, Judge Sparks just thre Lance out of court. If there was the slightest thing wrong with USADA performance they would have lost.
The long sobs of autumn's violins wound my heart with a monotonous languor
the plot thins!.....................
I'm not so sure he's guilty. How many tests did he pas while he was racing? Apparently all of them! Surely this can be resolved by testing his stored blood samles with todays tech?
There is nothing concrete against him, but there is a LOT of circumstantial evidence. So much so that you really have to question his innocence. He failed tests, but his team faked prescriptions which let him off the hook. When he had cancer he had to tell the medical team that he had been doping so they could modify his treatment accordingly. There is no record of this though. There are probably 20+ separate pieces of circumstantial evidence that point to his guilt, and dozens of witnesses, most who admittedly have a hidden agenda and motive for giving evidence against him, who confirm he was doping. I've read his autobiography and think the guy is a legend, but you read all the evidence against him and it's hard to believe in his innocence. Maybe he is just really, really unlucky...
---------- Post added at 19:40 ---------- Previous post was at 19:38 ----------
Yes exactly.
I met him in Hawaii. I found him to be a courageous humble man! It's taken this long to bring charges! A disgrace! IMHO he will always be a champion, and great human being!
I also had the privilege of speaking to Cadel Evans who said he didn't think for one moment Lance was a cheat and he regarded him as a true champion!
Last edited by hertryk; 24-08-12 at 20:33.
Interesting analyses here:
http://www.brettluelling.com/post/34...-tdf-victories
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/...over-the-years
If he was completely clean and yet still managed to beat everyone around him who wasn't, then he really is superhuman.