L_I_R said:Hi guys, I am 6th form student currently conducting research for my extended project and I was wondering if you guys could give me your views on cycling and how you see it as a sport after all the latest doping scandals in recent years.
Cheers L_I_R
limerickman said:The sports reputation is in the toilet right now and has been in the total for the past decade since Festina 1998 (Tour de France 1998).
swampy1970 said:How 'bout the PDM Intralipid, *cough* EPO *cough* debacle... in 91.
Even back in the 60s, 70s and 80s, due to a greater number of tests cycling was always the sport where people 'cheated' the most...
limerickman said:Good lad.
You have the uncanny ability to miss the point - well done.
Obviously you didn't read my post stating "Rumours of abuse of drugs was widely reported for decades and some notable cases were brought to light".
The question L.I.R asked "I was wondering if you guys could give me your views on cycling and how you see it as a sport after all the latest doping scandals in recent years"
The media barely picked up on scandals pre Festina, with the honourable exception of the British rider Tommy Simpson dying on Ventoux.
Festina however received worldwide coverage.
It should have been the turning point for the authorities to take affirmative action.
swampy1970 said:If you want to be that pedantic - he said recent and you jumped back a decade...
swampy1970 said:That just about covers most of the classic and grand Tour winners through the late 60's and 70's.
swampy1970 said:You've been jaded too much by the hacks on here harping on about The Disco boys. That was never a 'scandal' more a rumour mill, stirred up by a gossiping bunch of wannabe old ladies...
limerickman said:eh?
Re-read, again, the first line of my reply
The sports reputation is in the toilet right now and has been in the total for the past decade since Festina 1998 (Tour de France 1998).
Thats a matter of opinion.
alienator said:It's only in the toilet for rumor wives such as yourself. If you paid any attention at all and didn't look at cycling like a child midst tantrum, you'd see that the image is improving. Reality. Try it.
alienator said:Yes, and yours is opinion only. You have zero facts to back up any of your claims or the limp pawed imaginings in your sig. Really, grow up, fella. It really is the whinings and rumor mongering of your ilk--and by ilk I mean the sort of people that can't conjure an ounce of objectivity or find a fact in their ass, even though their heads are firmly planted there--that is hobbling cycling.
alienator said:You whine.....and you whine. You employ zero mental effort to view things in anything other than your fantasy vision, and that, sir, is a damning sign of a lack of critical thought. In all of your doping bleatings, you have exercised zero critical thought. That makes just about anything you say, on any matter, immediately suspect.
alienator said:You prance about and put yourself on as some died in the wool cycling fan, but really you come off as nothing more than some sad sod unable to manage life in the real world, instead choosing to live it under mom's protective wing. What sad little man you are.
limerickman said:I disagree......blah.....blah.....blah
alienator said:You've gone on at various intervals about doping as if you had some intimate knowledge, which of course, you don't. You just guess and go on, pissing rumor everywhere. You pull a book off a shelf, and you quote and use quips from it as if it were fact, when you couldn't identify a fact if it was hanging from your trousers.
alienator said:I like best what a friend overseas said: doping rumor mongers "are just insecure circle jerks." I believe that's likely the case. You mongers are desperate to feel important about something. Who's doping to you is likely who you don't like at a given time.
alienator said:Again, you have ZERO facts in your pocket. Your sig is laughable. Only an idiot would want rumor spray as their signature.
.
alienator said:That doping goes on, doesn't mean that things are worse. There are always people, in all sports, that cheat. I'm sure you've been guilty of cheating on something at some point in your life.
alienator said:That you engage in the rumor mongering...and display it in your sig....is absolute evidence that you don 't engage in or aren't capable of using critical thought. If you were, you'd think more about your comments on the subject.
alienator said:I don't really care what your "palmares" are. That means absolutely nothing. When someone references their "palmares" or asks someone what "their palmares" are, it just painfully displays how self important that person is. In this case, that person is you. After all, you could be one of those doping encouraging coaches. After all, there has been a doper or too that admitted they doped after first lying and saying they didn't. All of your protestations....well it is the intenet isn't, Limmerick? You can say anything, and some poor sod will believe it.
alienator said:People have died doping. Sure. What the hell does that have to do with anything? Are there currently masses of cyclists dying? Was that in the paper somewhere? Christ, you can't even present a cogent argument.
limerickman said:The fact of the matter is that I haven't commented about doping in more recent times because the facts speak for themselves.
The list of riders found to have cheated is huge.
That isn't a rumour - it is a fact.
You seem a tad confused.
Incidentally, my signature is a verbatim quotation.
I am well aware that people in all walks of life cheat.
However it is the case that in this sport, there seems to a significantly higher precentage of participants who cheat relative to other sports.
Futhermore and more importantly, by doping riders endanger their own health.
Doping is ethically wrong.
Doping is playing medical-roulette with a riders health both in the short term and the long term
If you insist on burying your head on this issue - so be it.
Once again, my signature is a direct quotation.
And as for critical thought, your uncritical thought is certainly an issue.
self important?
I asked you what your palmares was - how does that make me self-important?
I asked you a question, that's all.
Why the defensiveness?
Do you have a palmares?
have you ever raced?
At what level have you raced?
Legitimate questions, nator.
And I find your suggestion that I would ever ask a rider, under my charge to dope, pathetic.
I know people who went down the doping route and have seen their problems as a result.
Doping is playing roulette with your health.
Period.
I would never encourage/condone/tolerate any rider under my charge doping.
If I found any of them with illegal substances, I'd report them to the civil authorities in fact.
The percentage of early deaths among cyclists/former cyclists, at the professional level, is higher in relative terms than participants in other sports/professions.
Any other sport which has the casualty rate of this sport, would take the remedial action required.
Whether you accept that the sport has problems or not, is of no consequence.
The facts speak for themselves.
However, people on this site are free to discuss or not discuss doping as they see fit.
Understood?
alienator said:Oh, how your lame argument persists, oh Master of the Palmares.
alienator said:Golly. No kidding? You state the obvious. That is not the point discussed here, between me and you of the oh so decorated palmares that are so apparently so important............to you.
alienator said:Not in the slightest, oh Master. Rumor mongering, though, isn't discussion. Rumor mongering is what weak minds do at the gossip fence.
alienator said:No, you need to be exact. Your sig isn't entirely a quote. Nope. The end "...morelike hypocrisy" comes from you. It's not in quotation marks as the rest is. It is the hallmark of your idiocy
alienator said:Seems? Based on what: the lack of facts at hand? Do you have some facts that account for cheating in other sports, or have you just had too much of the kool aid that yellow journalism has given you? Pray tell, list for me the facts you have re: cheating in other sports. Please give numbers and verifiable, factual statistics so that an objective comparison can be made between cycling and those other chaste sports. Oh, don't forget to account for undetected cheating, unreported violations, and the like.
alienator said:And please, leave off with the danger to the cyclists health. Are you truly concerned with the health of the rider in your sig? My, aren't you the saint.
alienator said:You assume that I've buried my head. However, I choose only to discuss fact and solutions. Gossiping about suspicions is a waste of time and of mental effort. I must say, however, that despite your celebrated palmares, you display a surprising lack of mental effort .
alienator said:I'm not defensive. I'm just not so stupid as to engage in internet penis length measurments. I'm not the one wearing the azzhat. You are.
alienator said:Oh, golly. Does what I've done have bearing on this? Pray tell, glorious guardian of the palmares, exactly how that bears on the matter of doping? Hmmm? Do you think you have some grand insight? Sorry. None of that follows logic. The questions are pointless, although I'm sure they serve well to prop up your ego.
alienator said:But by the logic of you rumor mongers, protests of innocence are damming statements of guilt. Uhm, thou dost protest too much.
alienator said:Oh how easy it is to make claims on the internet. You protest so much that you must clearly be guilty of encouraging young riders to dope. Moreoever, since you've got "palmares", you've obviously doped. Guilty you are.
alienator said:Besides deaths that have been scientifically confirmed to have been the result of doping, where do you get your facts? Do you a study in hand? Hmmmm? If you're going to use trends, as such, you better have a few studies, done in the best tradition of the Scientific Method, in hand. There could be other reasons for the "trends" you cite, or have you empirically ruled the others out? Hmm?
limerickman said:eh?
Re-read, again, the first line of my reply
The sports reputation is in the toilet right now and has been in the total for the past decade since Festina 1998 (Tour de France 1998).
These cases barely registered on the sports pages, never mind the broader media pages.
In terms of reputational impact on the sport - the cases you cite don't register with the general public.
Thats a matter of opinion.
swampy1970 said:Which is worse - perception or the reality?
Just like everything else, with the advent of the 'interweb' we get even last detail about every single thing that's going on. Give it a couple of more years and we'll be reading about what the guy who finally beat Contador in a Grand Tour eats for breakfast and techniques used to push out that last bit of poo for extra weight savings.
Here's a little 'factoid' to think of and a bit of a comparison. The Festina Affair seemed shocking but go back pre-Festina Affair and look at how many Tours have been won by people who have 'failed' a drugs test. I only went back to 1957 because info is a little harder to get and well, I can't be bothered putting that much 'effort' into it....
So... from 1957 to 1998 of the 41 Tours ridden, 21 have been won by people failing dope tests (or in a couple of case implicated beyond doubt) during their career. Over half. Doesn't that seem a little more shocking? Technically you could say it should be 18, as Delgado was tested positive for probinicid which was still a few weeks away from making the UCI list, despite being known for years as being a great masking agent and Gaul was 'only' implicated because a bunch of pills with his name on them were found and Roche was later found to be be using, rather than caught in the act... Still 18 isn't great is it?
That doesn't take into account the 'belief' that Indurain was on EPO or blood doping and your running 26 out of 41, pre Festina Affair. Looks rather sh1t doesn't it. If you add "Mr miracle recovery 1989" Lemond add another 3 to that. 29 out of 41.
You could run a similar trail of destruction through pretty much any aspect of cyclings greatest events - Tours, hour record, The Classics....
Now, which is worse - the perception or the reality? Personally, given the choice about 'what people believe' since the Festina Affair and the reality of what has gone on in the past, I'd rather Joe Public go on believe that cycling only turned to sh1t since Festina...
If you go post Festina Affair tack on the 'belief' that Armstrong and Contador were 'doing something' not within the spirit of the rules and add Landis that's another 10 to add.
Looks an effing lovely sport to send your child into doesn't it. LOL
limerickman said:Rumour is the correct spelling.
limerickman said:Points well made, swampy.
I answered the initial post on the basis that the poster was asking the question about the sports current reputation.
It is my view that Festina would have brought the doping aspect in to the general publics consciousness.
That was the only point that I was attempting to make.
Doping or what went on in the sport would not have impacted to the extent that festina did, in terms of the general public.
In making the Festina point, I wasn't for a moment trying to suggest that pre 1998 was clean and wonderful.
swampy1970 said:Fair enough...
... but imagine what the perception of the sport would be if 'all that' info was general knowledge to the public.
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