This whole investigation is Stupid. I will continue to say it is stupid until they show me the evidence they have on Armstrong and since they dont have any this will be Stupid forever.

__________________
Derek Reese - Future Hall of Famer
Studs N Duds - Sunday's

12 Team NHL Salary Cap Dynasty
H2H, Salary Cap 82mil, Player actual salaries
G,A,PTS,GWG,PIM,SOG,STP,HT,BL,+/-,W,GAA,SV,SO
Starters: 12 Forwards, 6 Defense, 2 Goalies

F - Stamkos, Perry, E.Staal, Voracek, J.Staal, Simmonds, Ott, Downie, J.Jokinen, Eller, Nielson, Prust
D - Martin, Faulk, Brodie, Ellerby, M.Weber, Stone
G - Bobrovsky, Halak
Bench - Brunner, Brodie, Strachan, Khudobin, Lindback, Neuvirth, Ramo

Prospects - Calvert, Forsberg, Etem, Namestinikov, Kreider, Cundari

Correct me if I am wrong but didn't he forgo arbitration? He gave up.
Now while it may have been not worth it in his eyes, others may see differently and witnesses who saw him do it.

If thats me its all about my reputation. i am fighting to the end. Atleast then you can say i did everything i could to show i am innocent. Or might the threat of witnesses testifying or other possibilities made him think?

Atleast by doing what hes doing he still garners some support as some still believe him. No one will no for sure.

But hell Ive given up on most athetes and these big nations that cover up so much.

Stick to fantasy brothers. With the first pick in the fantasy olympics Sparrowtrini selects:

Lance says he's not guilty.
He's just giving up because he is "tired" of fighting the allegations.

Hmmm...

Giving up when you are tired sounds like something someone who won the Tour De France seven times would do...

Generally, in cases involving human nature, when something seems too good to be true... it isn't.

Take this for what its worth but I know someone fairly close to this whole situation who has some inside knowledge and to be honest this has been coming for a while. I have been hearing from this person for the last 2 years that it was only a matter of time before all of it came out. I cant say much more than that but from what I've been told (I havent seen any evidence but I trust this person completely) there is apparently little doubt that he did in fact dope through all those tour wins.

__________________
ASKL - 10 Team dynasty,G/A=1,PIM=.1,+/- =.2 SOG=.05 (W=2,SO=3) Keep 12F 6D 2G 8BN + farm
F-Perry,Ryan,Giroux,Stastny,Ribeiro,Krejci,Plekanec, JvR,Bergeron,Fleischmann,Grabovski,Cammalleri
D-Letang,Chara,Edler,Boyle,Giordano,Gardiner,
G-Rinne,Crawford
Bench-Bernier,Reimer,Parenteau,Callahan,Downie,Kulemin, Meszaros,Nikitin
Farm- Namestnikov,Khoklachev,Rundblad,Despres,Jensen, L.Adam,Barberio,Galiev,Telegin,Hertl,Aberg

I wouldn't doubt that he did dope at some point. Most of the athletes do something that they're not supposed to do. But the process of trying to get him convicted is beyond absurd. It's more about gaining an important victory than it is about finding the truth. They could find the "truth" about many other cyclists if they wanted to. But Armstrong is a big enough name that they keep going after him for publicity reasons.

__________________
UHL Calgary Flames
24-team H2H (roto G, A, GWG, SHP, PPP, PIM, +/, SOG, Hits, Blks, FOW, W, SV, SV%, GAA, SO)

Capped article archive

Montreal Canadiens coverage

Twitter:@DH_EricDaoust.

Not saying he is guilty, but if we are talking about straight up doping (bumping red blood cell counts) then it is entirely plausible that he could have doped every race and still never failed a test.

Wiki has this on doping:
At present there is no accepted method for detecting autologous transfusions (that is, using the athlete’s own red blood cells)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_doping

That said, I read one article that said people are suspicious simply because he was able to win in a sport rife with doping... ergo if *everyone* cheats to win then anyone who wins must cheat.

Doesn't take away from his battle with cancer and I don't know that he is any more guilty than his rivals of anything... kinda sad really.

__________________
Okay, so maybe nobody likes a cynic, but everybody f**king hates those perky optimists!

... and anyway, I make a damn good cynic.

This reminds me of the episode of Family Guy where the Griffins are censored by the FCC in all aspects of their life. They can't even breathe without someone being on their case.

__________________
UHL Calgary Flames
24-team H2H (roto G, A, GWG, SHP, PPP, PIM, +/, SOG, Hits, Blks, FOW, W, SV, SV%, GAA, SO)

Capped article archive

Montreal Canadiens coverage

Twitter:@DH_EricDaoust.

This should have read "I don't know that it would make him any more guilty than his rivals" in reference to doping... the original phrasing made it seem as though I was saying he was guilty when frankly I don't know...

__________________
Okay, so maybe nobody likes a cynic, but everybody f**king hates those perky optimists!

... and anyway, I make a damn good cynic.

I could not care less about cycling. Most North Americans feel the same way. This guy put the Tour de France on the map in the US and actually made people give a damn.

I have no idea if he cheated. Considering what I have read out of France and teh USADA -- EVERYONE IN CYCLING CHEATS. Only a few get caught. Those who get caught are generally the ones who are singled out and targetted by someone who has a vendetta to go after them.

The Armstrong foundation is so much more and means so much more than any doping trial or bike race. That is not a cop out just a fact.

The bottom line is that the man won 7 times, he competed and was tested for years. He was accused and defended his name through it all, through Cancer and through his retirement.

At what point is enough enough? Will he have to fight this until he is dead? My guess is that these people will still continue to trash him regardless of what has or has not been found.

Baseball went through a dark time due to steroids, but at some point you have to let it go or you will forever be stuck in the past. Bonds is free, Clemens is free... I am not sayng they are innocent but they were never proven guilty of steroid use. Sometimes you have to let bygones be bygones and call it a day.

The other option is to go back and test every rider from every race that ever happened and go through the record book assuming that everyone cheated and force them to prove otherwise.

I feel for the guy. I really do, because he has moved on for the better.

Maybe they just can the whole Tour de France because no one knows who the hell cheated and who did not.... That would make me happy so I can just see cycling in the Olympics every four years like every other person I have ever known.

The whole situation is too bad.
It's like "judging" a political situation. None of us have all the information.

Sure, somebody can point a finger at Lance and say "Bad Lance"... but how far is it down really until we say "THAT guy was clean, he shall be declared the winner."

20 people have won the Tour de France multiple times.
18 Euros, 2 Americans.
Strip the top guy (Armstrong) of his titles and the Euros reclaim their "rightful" place as the best cyclists in cycling history.

I think of it this way, if Barry Bonds is/was found to have used steroids, I think MLB should strip him of his title of HR King...
...but let him keep his yearly HR records... because everybody else was mostly doing it too.

That's all I have to say about that. {said with Forrest Gump voice}.


As a side story:
My most prized sports memoribilia possession is actually Tour de France related.
My grandmother (meme) grew up in Brussels and married a very renowned butcher.
Famous cyclist, the Belgian Eddy Merckx used to visit her shop and one day gave them one of his cycling jerseys.
No idea what it's worth... but it's authentic. (Dude was skinny).
Even has his name stitched in the rear collar.
Picture of the jersey. The word "Molteni" does not appear on the jersey I own.