You can thank my wife for coining that term.
USADA sent a letter to Lance
Armstrong, alleging that there is new evidence to re-open the doping
charges against him. The WTC (World Triathlon Corporation, owners of the
Ironman brand -- a "brand" that used to be a race, but that's another
soap-box) reacted by sanctioning him from competing in any WTC event
(which includes Ironman France in 9 days), which on the surface is
according to their rules.
There's a lot of talking, speculation, and hoopla around this, and it's becoming a bit of a circus. But I see some problems...
(1) Lance has passed all the drug tests. Why is there any further discussion?
(2) The Department of Justice
withdrew their case against Lance two years ago, stating that they
didn't have the evidence to convict.
(3) Many statements have been made
that the USADA and WTC are corporations, and thus don't abide by the
rules of "innocent until proven guilty" and "prohibition of double
jeopardy" (being tried twice for the same crimes).
Many have termed this entire case
as a witch hunt. And I agree. Even if Lance DID dope in winning 7 Tours
de France, what does that have to do with his participation in
triathlon, the sport from which he is now being sanctioned? In addition,
the WTC rules state that no professional may compete who is under an
active investigation. But the USADA letter is NOT an open investigation.
I do find it troubling that two corporations, one of which receives a SIGNIFICANT amount of money from a US Government grant (our taxes at work), are deemed to be completely acceptable to work outside the US Constitution. Those phrases "innocent until proven guilty" and "no double jeopardy" aren't just nice platitudes -- they're part of the law upon which this country was built. How is it that we can allow this?
Lance is a physical freak of
nature. The highest VO2max ever recorded. Beating the world's best
triathletes at the age of 16. Becoming the youngest-ever World Cycling
Champion at 21 years old. Overcoming cancer to become the best Tour
cyclist ever (and it can be said that the cancer and treatment was key
to his upper-body weight loss that allowed his rise to mountain-climbing
prowess).
Oh, but yeah, those victories were
because he doped. You think he was doping at the age of 16 as a
high-school athlete in an obscure sport while he and his mom were
scraping by? He proved his mettle at a young age, and it is my belief
that he continued that physical climb to become the best.
But regardless of my belief, even
if he did dope as a cyclist, he passed a random WTC blood test as
recently as a few weeks ago. It has no bearing on his participation as a
professional triathlete.
It's time for the witch hunt to end.
2 comments:
Nicely put!I agree 100%.
Nicely put! I agree 100%!
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