New Blog
Friday, May 25th, 2007It used to be that every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings.
Now every time a bell rings some asshole starts a blog.
(sent wireless via Treo 650)
Archive for May 25th, 2007
Bill Evans
Friday, May 25th, 2007Come Rain or Come Shine, one of my favorite tunes.
If you like jazz and you don’t have anything by Bill Evans you should do yourself a favor and pick this one up.
Super Rookie Blackout
Friday, May 25th, 2007He’s getting a bit overexposed on this site.
No Super Rookie posts - 1 month.
Hold your applause.
Riis, no more sorta
Friday, May 25th, 2007“The time has come to put the cards on the table,” said Riis. “I have done things which I now regret and which I wouldn’t do again. I have doped. I have taken EPO. For awhile it was part if my life.”
When a journalist questioned Riis about what else he took besides EPO, he responded that he also took hormones and cortisone.
OK. Bravo Riis. A bit late but better late than never.
Are things changing? Finally? Is the revolution under way?
Riis admits…sorta
Friday, May 25th, 2007
T3 quotes the CSC press release in the comments section.
When I was a rider in the 1990s, I worked extremely hard to get my results. I worked extremely hard, day in day out and I sacrificed a lot just even to be part of the best. In that time, the perspective on doping and preparation was wrong and misguided.
That also means that I did things that I shouldn’t have and I have regretted that ever since. Those were mistakes that I take the full responsibility for and I don’t have anyone to blame but myself. We all make mistakes and I think my biggest mistake was to let my ambition get the better of me. That I have had to deal with a long time ago and I am glad to say that I am a lot wiser now. Both in my personal and in my professional life.
Without going into much detail I think Riis went a lot farther than many expected.
Telekom
Friday, May 25th, 2007Bert Dietz, Christian Henn, Udo Bölts, Rolf Aldag, Erik Zabel, all members of the German Telekom cycling team during the 1990’s, have confessed this week to doping during their time with the team.
I can’t recall where I read it, but someone made the point earlier that it may be a “cool fad” to admit guilt for doping.
Maybe it’s just a passing thing, or maybe it’s the start of a real revolution in professional cycling.
CSC team director, 1996 Tour de France winner, and former Telekom team member, Bjarne Riis had called a press conference for today to comment on the situation. Is Riis going to join the fad?
I have said previously that this situation will never change unless the “top-down” pressure for race results is replaced with pressure to race clean. It’s the teams that are responsible for doping as well as the elimination of doping. It’s the teams that should be punished for doping offenses and it’s the teams that should be assuring that they are creating the conditions that do not cause riders to resort to drugs.
Riis, a rider who is rumored to have used EPO to the extent that it generated a 60% red blood cell level (thus the nickname “Mr. 60%”), has an opportunity to push this potential revolution forward. Doing so could certainly put him at great risk professionally. His Tour de France win would be tainted, his directorship at CSC would be in jeopardy. However, the riders listed above were in no less jeopardy when they made their confessions. Bölts has lost his job with the Gerolsteiner team and Zabel’s status as a rider with the Milram team is in question.
Will Riis make a bold statement that past actions are no longer acceptable in the world of professional cycling? Or will he defend the “old way” and try and protect himself? Today will show if Riis wants to be an agent of, or an obstacle to change.
