Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Lance Armstrong Stripped of his Titles
What is it with all
of this weeping and gnashing of teeth for Lance Armstrong? He cheated, he got
caught.
After years of
denial, he has finally agreed to go along with the decision of the United
States Anti-Doping Agency. “Today I will turn the page. I will no longer
address this issue regardless of the circumstance”.
I have listened to
talk show hosts on the radio. I have heard the commentators on television. I am
saddened by most of their comments, and those of the people who call into their
shows.
Many observers are
condemning the USDA for what they refer to as a “witch hunt”. They feel that
the employees at the agency went after Armstrong mercilessly, just to exonerate
themselves. They have stripped Armstrong of many of his titles, and have given
him a lifetime ban. He won the prestigious Tour de France seven times; those
victories have been removed from his record.
Armstrong will now be
considered in the same category as Ben Johnson, the Canadian sprinter who was
stripped of his gold medal at the Olympics in 1988. It was the lowest point in Canadian
sport history, that day when they removed his gold medal because of his use of
a banned substance. A documentary entitled “9.79” is being shown for the first
time at the Toronto
An American female
sprinter, Marion Jones also lost three gold medals following the 2000 Games in Sydney
Almost a dozen athletes
were either sent home from the recent Games in London
Despite the best
efforts of the drug detection devices and systems, it appears that the bad guys
are keeping a step ahead of the good guys. Those who wish to enhance their performances
through the use of prohibited drugs and blood doping systems have learned
sophisticated methods to avoid detection. They use “masking agents”, and they
time their cycles to appear clean.
Baseball put another
player on the shelf recently, for fifty games. Bartolo Colon was having an
exceptional year, compared to previous seasons. He was a key reliever in the Oakland Montreal
There was a team in Quebec
Lance Armstrong’s
association with cancer agencies has raised significant amounts of money for
the cause. For that he is to be commended. But he has lived his life with that
little white lie always hovering in the background, and now he must face the
music. Don’t expect to have to support a tag day for Mr. Armstrong. I am
certain he is a millionaire, several times over.
But those gains were
ill-gotten, says I. And I don’t like it, one damn bit. You now have what you
deserve, Lance.
James Hurst
Sportslices.blogspot.com
August 26, 2012.
# posted by James Hurst @ 7:05 AM 
