Even Tom Terrific knew that sometimes you have to bed with the devil. :o Believe me, those were two tough words to type out. Yeeuck!

What he said.

That's great Bartolo.

Very good news!

:thumb:

Correct

Bleah. I came down sick starting Sunday night and spent yesterday in bed. Then couldn't get back to sleep and was up until 0200. I feel like dog#2.

I finished Nate Silver's book and started reading David Millar's - I'm about halfway through. So far it mirrors Tylers book pretty closely. But man alive is he ever emo - lots of bellyaching about how he wanted to be clean and how guilty it made him feel, yadda yadda yadda.

I'm not sure I buy that; it's a little too "I was really a good boy inside but the dirty dirty sport made me do it!"

Not that it matters. I'm still unable to raise any outrage about doping in cycling. They were pros doing what they had to do to make their living - what's the big deal?

DG

Also...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pk9_H1U3qe...-excuse-me.jpg

Ethical boundaries, or lack thereof, or not thinking twice about crossing lines. Same with baseball - doping wasn't 'illegal' per se (at the time), but when someone tries to hide behavior they know is wrong aside from rules the sport has established, I have no sympathy.

If you can't make it in that sport being clean, go sell insurance or start a blog or franchise a Chipotle.

The sport will always have doping. I've lost faith in professional cycling. None of it matters.

Thanks again everyone. I am still concerned about his breathing problems, but at least it isn't cancer.

Then on the flip side of things, I have been suffering from a tooth ache since Saturday, and she thinks she has the flu. The good news is my health, dental, and vision insurance kicked in today. My dentist had a cancellation at 2pm today, so I am going in today. I hate going to the dentist, but this crap is terrible. My entire head is throbbing.

Ride in and compare bikes with him. That should cheer up the proceedings.

If it was one or two guys seeking an unfair advantage, with the rest of the peleton and their team managers being hyper-vigilant for dopers, you'd have a case for "cheating".

What is very, very clear to me though is that everybody was doing it. It was an established part of the sport, and everybody involved - the sanctioning body, the teams, and the cyclists themselves - were all in on it. It was an essential part of the profession.

There is no question inn my mind that, had I been a pro in this era, that I would have doped. Of course I would! The people paying my salary expect results for their investment, and purposely handicapping myself over some nebulous "principle" when all the people I am competing against are making use of the option is unprofessional and unfair to the sponsor.

And hanging the guy who gets caught, calling him names and making him out to be the dregs of the earth, is unfair and unprincipled.

Is pulling the drugs out of the sport (I reject the term "cleaning up") a good thing? Probably - although I note that the line between "doping" and "therapy" is VERY blurry. Would I consider a doper in an otherwise clean peleton a "cheat" and worth of scorn? Yes. But that's not the case during this era, and it is ridiculous to pretend otherwise.

I am shocked - shocked! - to find gambling going on here!

DG

Very well said, couldn't agree more.

His Serotta is at the LBS. It has a flat.

Have faith in a Higher Power and people you know and respect and admire.

Who the hell ever had 'faith' in pro cycling? That's like having faith in Pcad. Don't waste the Kj's. It's entertainment.

Faith in Pcad?

Now that's funny.

Yay! Somebody got the reference!

DG

there are enough of us old farts here to get that one.

I did. I watched it and rooted for certain riders. You say it's entertainment now, but you were getting up to watch live racing. In case you forgot, you have a Lance poster in your office. Even I didn't go that far.

It's all a farce. No matter what the sport claims, there will always be doping. Every win is marred by the possibility and the likelihood. I feel bad for guys like Gary. If you're fast and you win, now on any level, there will be doubters.

Ditto. At least I used to. The whole Lance fallout ruined it for me. I was believer to the bitter end. <sigh>

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/t...t?oid=15337239

Interesting article. One could extrapolate to certain triathletes.

That's a little extreme, isn't it?

DG

That is good news. Was your future in-law a smoker?