Re: FLandis Redux

In the end, it's a lot like telling kids they shouldn't smoke. The
evidence
is clear that it will give them grief, maybe kill them. And yet they do it
anyway, partly out of spite. I think that might be part of what's going on
with the younger guys in the peloton. They feel they're immortal, that
rules
don't apply to them.

(excuse me) That's a very poor analogy because no one is paying kids
millions of dollars to make a career out of smoking.

Are you serious?

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA


<dustoyevsky@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:03ba8f32-f805-4e38-b2b1-b6627331a54f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Aug 7, 6:09 pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <Mi...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I don't recall reading anyone claiming the test labs were infallible. I
certainly don't think they are. The Landis testing was a complete
disgrace.

As was the "appeals" "process".

But unfortunately, the riders have screwed up repeatedly.

By getting caught-- or, accused via positive test? Or even by
possession (which does not prove use)?

We wouldn't be
having these issues if there wasn't a culture of doping.

Excuse me, but backing up a good healthy step or two here, "We
wouldn't be having these issues", or might not be, anyhow, if the
rules and the enforcement, were different. Which they most certainly
could be.

A case can be made, IRT "rider health", that careful dosages of some
"doping products" might not only _not_ be injurious to "rider health",
but in fact might be beneficial.

(I can hear the howls even from way over here in Austin. Google "blood
pathology endurance athlete" or such. Same for steroids;
<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1214580768278932315> for
one.)

A culture that
shockingly has carried through to the youngest in the peloton. The Ricco
and
Sella cases should have been an eye-opener.

(excuse me) "Intimidation (including the incredibly bad Floyd affair)
doesn't work".

The problem is, as even The Testers admit, testing is imperfect. False
positives, and "false negatives" as well. Leaky as an old sieve, not a
Golden Protector of Health and Fairness in Sport.

In the end, it's a lot like telling kids they shouldn't smoke. The
evidence
is clear that it will give them grief, maybe kill them. And yet they do it
anyway, partly out of spite. I think that might be part of what's going on
with the younger guys in the peloton. They feel they're immortal, that
rules
don't apply to them.

(excuse me) That's a very poor analogy because no one is paying kids
millions of dollars to make a career out of smoking.

Drug (doping) testing is inaccurate. Only some are "rightfully"
caught, while doping is rampant. And if you don't dope, you're a step
behind-- meaning, you don't reap the financial and other rewards.
Hardly "kid stuff".

I think there's an unfortunate choice to be made. Clean things up in a
drastic way, catching a few good guys in the 'net because there's no way
to
catch enough of the bad guys otherwise, or give up on the idea of
competitive cycling as a fair competition. It's there for entertainment
value only.

Fair? "Sport" is not "fair". Can a short guy guard Michael Jordan? Can
Shaq go to a second career as a jockey?

You don't think the Floyd affair was "drastic"?

Many of the riders are IDIOTS. There, I said it. They know better, but
they
just can't resist temptation. Make the likelihood of getting caught
stronger
and they might get the message. And give hope to those who do manage to
resist.

Again, "the message" is that it's imperative to dope intelligently and
not get caught. --D-y


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: FLandis Redux
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