by Larry EderStatement From USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart Regarding Today’s Deadline
Colorado Springs, Colo. (February 6, 2013)
“We have been in communication with Mr. Armstrong and his representatives and we understand that he does want to be part of the solution and assist in the effort to clean up the sport of cycling. We have agreed to his request for an additional two weeks to work on details to hopefully allow for this to happen.”
USADA is responsible for the testing and results management process for athletes in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement, and is equally dedicated to preserving the integrity of sport through research initiatives and educational programs.
CONTACT:
Annie Skinner, Media Relations Manager
Phone: (719) 785-2046
E-mail: askinner@usada.org
Lance Armstrong, 2006 ING NYCM, photo by www.PhotoRun.net
RBR Comments: Read this, savor this, breathe deep, repeat. You are looking at what will become sports porn. Lance & Travis are becoming like the a greek tragedy, but with better looking people. This will be a story you will tell your grandkids, the day sports got cleaned up. Well, sort of.
You thought OJ Trial was voyeuristic, just wait until Lance gets in front USADA. I wish Gore Vidal was still alive, as he is one of the few writers who could do this justice.
My concern? Travis Tygert, like the G-men of old, will get his man. But, I am not sure what is there “to get”. Lance will, mark my word, become the sympathetic person in this voyeuristic sports-drug porn circus.
With the money they have spent on turning Lance Armstrong into a modern rendition of the Trials of Job, how much research could have been done on EPO, or on the real issue, gene doping, and how close are we to being able to manipulate DNA? My contacts say less than five years.
But, there is reason to scourge Lance Armstrong in public.
What the public scourging of Lance Armstrong will do is scare the living hell out of 98 percent of humans, meaning most coaches and athletes, who know it is wrong, and won’t do it. But the same two percent we should be focusing testing on during all training cycles will be the ones who gain the most from cheating, hence, will try and cheat. Nothing will stop them, as they see the gain as worth all of the risk. And of course, they think, they never will get caught. Well, Lance Armstrong thought that until a few months ago.
What is lost in the process? That Lance Armstrong was and is a great athlete. That he could run a 2:40 marathon, and could have, more than likely, won three of those seven Tour de France’s clean. But, like Marion Jones, he did not believe in himself and the others around him did not believe in him.
The difference with Lance Armstrong? He could manipulate the system and scare the living hell out of athletes, officials, the sport, and some of his sponsors. Lance hurt many people, screwing up their careers.
Travis Tygart has the faith. He believes in the goodness of what he is doing. He is our Timothy Olyphant (Justified, watch it, great show), a man who will do everything for justice, no matter how much collateral damage is done.
Mr. Tygart is not someone to screw with. That was Lance’s first mistake. No, correct myself, that was his second mistake. Lance’s first mistake? Making a comeback. After that, the bullseye was so large on his back, he was going to go down, down, down.
C’est dommage.
I want Mr. Armstrong to truly understand the repercussions of his actions.
The beauty of the guillotine and public executions during the French Revolution was that the people had some public entertainment. They also saw the people that they believed, had wronged them, beheaded. Think a few mistakes were made? Mais non.
We no longer need the guillotine, as we have cable television. Consider the ESPN 2, ESPN, perhaps an ESPN all Lance testifying channel?
I am getting my microwavable popcorn, and a few cases of Modelo Especial in stock.
Stay tuned.
