Nick Against the World (46 Viewers)

Respaul

Senior Member
Jul 14, 2002
4,734
++ [ originally posted by Kaiser Franco ] ++

I am not generalizing on cyclism as a whole. I am merely pointing out that it seems to be more affected by the doping industry than most other sports.
The thing is... that little word seems... It seems... Why does it seem... Surely it seems due to the number of people caught... But if other sports arent testing how can we compare ?

We cant!

I mean, these guys cover 3000 odd km in 3 weeks and rightly deserve the nickname of "forçats de la route", as the French call them.

I would say that is a more demanding effort than playing at most 3 games of 90 minutes in a week, as you are more exposed to moments of weakness and therefore proner to look for ways to enhance your resistance.
You also have to look to the point that not one single rider, races for 3000kms...
The likes of armstrong, ulle, basso only race for 6 or 7 days... the rest of the time sitting in a little bubble , expending hardly any energy as their team and the peloton pull them along....
Same for the sprinters, on the mountain days or tt's they jus sit in and judge their pace to beat the time limit within a like minded group... they use little energy

But then... are we only talking about epo? or are we talking about testosterone use, insulin use, hgh use etc etc... Different sports, different questions and different answers....

You also have to forget the tdf... the tdf is not cycling, it is but a small piece of a much bigger pie... Can that same argument be used for the single day classics.. The likes of milan san remo or paris roubaix or indeed the world championships ?

Do we not look to an entire weight lifting squad pulling out jus days before the olympics under rumours of failed internal tests...

Do we not look at the likes of the year the epo test was introduced and many of the worlds top athletes threatening to pull out of the london marathon if the test was used... Of course it was never used and they took part...

It goes on and on... the basic test failures and accusations in sports like football, tennis , athletics, baseball, swimming and skiing... What if they did proper testing ??

I am well aware that the UCI has cracked down on doping over the past few years, but after the Festina scandal, that was the least they could do imo.
I agree, but many associations (especially of a smaller sport on a world scale ) would have rode it out and forgotten about the events...

Indeed, that was far worse than, say, what Juventus is accused of, as it didn't involve only a single team's credibility, but that of a whole sport.
I dont really see that... How far this spread was not known at the time (not more than guess' anyway) ... As far as the world needed to know it was jus one team... Festina , as in your example of juve... The big difference is that cycling is a collective and rather than in football where others distanced themselves from juve with suspicious glances... Cycling embraced itself and stood up for itself...


Also, for one Dr Agricola in football, how many Willy Voet and Dr Ferrari do we have in cyclism? Not that I know the answer btw..
Well you need to remove voet from that... hes jus a soignuer a dispenser and scapegoat... not medically trained or in control... Jus doing his job

Who knows.. the only widely known ones are Ferrari and the horse doctor... Are there others ?... More than likely...

Are there others in football ?? Who knows... jus as likely as within cycling...

Is it not also true that Ferrari himself has worked with many football teams / players and participants in various other sports ??

It is indeed... are we to believe that this well known Dr of doping has only done legitimate work within other sports whilst doping cyclists ??

Sounds unlikely to me...



What scares me even more is that the law of silence among cyclists is as strong and unbreakable as it would be in a criminal organisation : the guy who speaks or who at least admits his guilt is automatically marginalised and destroyed by the pack. What conclusions must we draw from this? That they all have a hand in it?
Of course... but do you still see that today ??
No you dont... At a time when we all know the majority were guilty they stuck togeather and seperated from those that questioned... A natural reaction that we virtually never see anymore in this new cleaner era... besides a couple of incidents with lance for example...


And what about their systematic elusion of direct or even not so direct questions?
Many people have come out and spoken over the last few years... but you also have to remember... alot of the riders today are the same people and have the same friends.... They may be riding clean but They are silent out of loyalty

You also forget that unlike footballers... your average cyclist earns peanuts... Very few cyclists can afford to live off the back of their careers... Once its over thay need to find a job... So to cut your chances of continuing or improving is jus plain stupid...

They havent got 100s of thousands or milions in the bank... so they can speak out and lose their career without also losing their ability to live as footballers can

I remember a cyclist interviewed by the late Adriano De Zan on the Giro a few years ago, when all the talk was about that famous 50% hematocrit rate threshold. De Zan was telling him that being near that limit can quite simply be deadly. Now what did the cyclist answer?

Here's what : "Look, I have a special machine that I bring with me everywhere and which measures my hematocrit rate. If it's over 50%, I'll just tell the team doctor and he will find a way to lower it down".

What kind of answer is that? Are you using this machine to see if you are healthy or to make sure you are cheating like a professional?
Hes cheating professionally... But again you are looking to past times... not to what we have today, what has been achieved.

If you are gonna look back to these times of trouble... there are many other lines you can look to...

How about... If in a time when as much as 90% of the peloton are doping.. If you too dope... Are you cheating ?? Or are you jus putting yourself on the same playing field and as such with everyone doing it... A fair playing ground ???

Morally wrong... but that doesnt make it untrue... Food for thought...

Though i find the idea disturbing... I know i agree to a certain extent...

Why does armstrongs alleged doping bother me whilst i adore the likes of pantani and virenque, both of whom doped...

(Also backing up the idea of the fair doped playng field... You can look to virenque... who doped to the eyeballs in the doping heyday and was succesful... then once he returned as the most monitored man in sport... a guy whose Hm level dropped from 49.9 in 98 to 43.1 for the rest of his career... in this new nearly clean sport as a clean rider... he again was succesful... Goes along way to prove the idea... )

For a few reasons... Firstly with armstrong i am bothered by the fact that unlike those before him... He doped (allegedly) in the new clean era against clean riders... Not like thjose of the past...

But mostly this persona he has built as the rising hero... Rising out of the ashes of cancer to take on the world and win... A true modern day fairy story...

All those that have been moved by him to fight their own illness' ... wher are they left now that their hero is fallen... Now he lied to then all... Again they are alone and scared and without hope...


On another note, what's your take on Cunego? I must admit that I haven't followed cyclism as much since the Pantani days, because I found that it was sorely missing a pure climber. I don't like cyclists a la Indurain, who win the "contre la montre" stage and then are content with controlling the situation in the mountains, generally thanks to their strong team. Especially when basically their whole season is planned on the Tour.
I am against the idea of a man that builds only around the tour... It annoys me so much when i hear lance described as the best ever etc... when he never competed elsewhere... Can he really be compared to eddy or hinualt or lemond etc etc or even the likes of rominger, roche or indurain... they all did more than lance

Whilst the climbs are the best sporting specatacle and a great climber is stunning to watch... I also love the time trial... There is little like the real man against the road of watching the pure power of the likes of Ulle pushing that big gear and ripping up the tar mac... The true test of cycling...

No coincidence that the hour record is the most reveared prize in cycling

Cunego... When he learns some respect and realises that the likes of simoni could of taught him so much rather than disrespecting him and argueing with him.... He will be a great rider...

Few sporting feats have the power of getting me carried away as a stage at the Alpe d'Huez or the Galibier.

The way Pantani, at the foot of the mountain, would turn to the guy on his right, stare him in the eyes, turn to his left and do the same and then wooshhhh away never to be seen again was just unique.

Unfortunately, we al know how he ended up:down:

Indeed, few things match up to those mountain days... Though for me Pantani on the mortirolo will live in my memory much longer than his scintilating ride on alp d'huez...

Its a tragic story... But does how it turned out really change how you think of him... Or make you forget how much enjoyment you got from those days ??
 

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Turdhead

Chickenegro no funny
Jan 14, 2005
3,106
++ [ originally posted by Shadowfax ] ++

Cyclists are the most tested athletes in the world... They are jus about the only sportsman to have to carry a health passport at all times....

The average cyclist sits around 50 drug tests a year plus regular full health examinations....

Your average football player gets one test a year....

All the important tests... the first epo test, the improved epo test, the epo blood test, the new human growth hormone test, the new blood manipulation tests , all the latest tests for synthetic aids etc etc were all developed by and with the uci....

No other sport has made such an effort and continues todo so...

Why is it that football still uses the original urine epo test that cycling dropped years ago ???

Why is that even that test is only used prior to certain major events... not as the norm...

Why is it that athletics, tennis etc do not use these proven and unquestionable tests ???

Its straight forward... They are all scared todo so for they all know full well that one helluva lot of people would get caught and they themselves would then be subject to these same questions you ask of cycling...

Not too mention the amount of money involved in football.... Its far too bigger risk....

If you think the majority of sports arent the same , then you my friend are dellusional...

Cycling should be commended for the stance it has taken not condemned..
Cycling is an endurance sport not a skill. Drug use in cycling would be everything. So it makes sense.
 

Respaul

Senior Member
Jul 14, 2002
4,734
++ [ originally posted by Blandest ] ++


Cycling is an endurance sport not a skill. Drug use in cycling would be everything. So it makes sense.
That again as mentioned in my last post... only counters the use of epo... Not hormones etc... Different sports... diferent needs... different drugs
 

Martin

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2000
56,913
++ [ originally posted by IncuboRossonero ] ++
I don't buy it...I'm not the authority on Seinfeld but like most fans I have seen most if not all the shows as they have been in syndication since 1997 or whatever...
I remember the episode..I don't remember seeing David Letterman on screen....let me ask around.
Martin...you remember this one?
In my defence, I never had NBC and I don't know these people as well as some of you. When I saw this episode I had no idea it's Letterman on the show. But yeah, he's in a conversation with Jerry on the phone, talking about how Jerry got bumped from his gig at his old junior high.
 

Dan

Back & Quack
Mar 9, 2004
9,290
Seinfeld is great. I havent watched that many episodes but the ones my friend showed me were great.

Who in here knows Father Ted? Its a great britcom.
 

Martin

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2000
56,913
It's not great. It's okay but the acting is quite appaling at times, the stories aren't very good either. I like the concept a lot but with good writing they could have taken it so much further. Case in point, Father Jack's "feck drink" routine, that just screams of desperation.
 

Dan

Back & Quack
Mar 9, 2004
9,290
++ [ originally posted by Martin ] ++
It's not great. It's okay but the acting is quite appaling at times, the stories aren't very good either. I like the concept a lot but with good writing they could have taken it so much further.
On the contrary, I think the casting (sub roles) is fantastic. In fairness it was never a show that had a huge budget to start with. The stories arent great but some of the gags (father larry duff for one) are genious.
 
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IncuboRossonero

IncuboRossonero

Inferiority complex
Nov 16, 2003
7,039
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #25,211
    Ok Erik you were right....as a result so was Martin though I think he guessed and didn't really remember the episode.

    THere is ONE Seinfeld episode I have yet to see and could never catch it on re-runs..the one that starts from the END (credits roll, etc) and ends with the beginning format...anyone follow?
     

    Bjerknes

    "Top Economist"
    Mar 16, 2004
    111,684
    GOOD friggin job Lions, well done. 21-6 Rams at halftime. Harrington cannot even make two completions in a row, the defensive unit cannot read any single play the Rams are going to make, and to top it all off, Bulger scores the opening touchdown by walking past our defensive line. Brilliant.

    Another long shitty season is ahead of us. My team fvcking sucks.
     
    Apr 12, 2004
    77,165
    ++ [ originally posted by Andy ] ++
    GOOD friggin job Lions, well done. 21-6 Rams at halftime. Harrington cannot even make two completions in a row, the defensive unit cannot read any single play the Rams are going to make, and to top it all off, Bulger scores the opening touchdown by walking past our defensive line. Brilliant.

    Another long shitty season is ahead of us. My team fvcking sucks.
    And where did Bulger go to school?
     

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