TCTI: Too Crazy Too Ignore
 Dave Ross
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Is it time to just make cheating part of the sport of cycling after the latest revelations about Lance Armstrong? (AP image)

Lying on steroids

BY Dave Ross  on October 11, 2012 @ 7:15 am (Updated: 1:10 pm - 10/11/12 )

Last August when it came out Lance Armstrong had been doping, I figured the reaction from most people would be "well, whatever he took, it didn't make hair grow out of his fingernails, and he did win all those races, and his resting heart rate is 34, so I'll have what he's having."

But now the US anti-doping agency has released the dossier, where we read about Armstrong arranging for a motorcyclist dubbed "Motoman" to make drug deliveries during the Tour; Armstrong spreading out his pills on the bed and explaining how he had pills for 50 kilometers from the end, pills for 30 kilometers from the end, and on and on for 200 pages. And that's just the summary.

It shows Armstrong to be a user, a trafficker, an habitual liar and just plain nasty. At one point he e-mails a friend: "You don't know who you are dealing with, you don't want to mess with me...I'll make you pay."

Author Malcolm Gladwell, who likes to write about the science behind human performance, took a charitable view of all this, telling ESPN there's no reliable way to beat the cheaters any more, so just make it part of the sport:

If you're always going to be one step behind the cheaters, maybe it's just better off to incorporate cheating into your definition of the sport.

Make it like a Formula One Race. I can see it! Cyclists taking pit stops. The pit crew pokes a needle in each butt cheek, shoots pills down the throat, and refills the EPO thermos, and they're back on the road in 30 seconds. Yuck.

Lance Armstrong is in his "I did not have sex with that woman" moment.

Whether he finally faces the truth and makes his 60 Minutes confession depends on whether his remaining supporters and the donors to his foundation can continue pretending there's nothing wrong.

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
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Comments (15)


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  • Lonestar wrote...
    Lance Armstrong
    October 11, 2012 8:18 am
    Still has more balls than the US Dopey Committee.
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  • ldinlove wrote...
    Or what's left of them..those balls.
    October 13, 2012 12:29 am
    Imagine shriveled up medicated cahonies. Don't know if I spelled that right.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    According to the old Jewish mystics....
    October 11, 2012 8:21 am
    One of the recurring themes of Kabbalah is that the id, or ego, is the foundation upon which sin, human weakness, and negative realities are nearly always erected.

    "You don't know who you're dealing with! I'll make you pay!"? Sounds like a bit of id on steroids, for sure.

    We see this principle often demonstrated as athletes, politicians, entertainers and others who have risen to public prominence morph into negative and nasty personalities. Once you begin buying into your own schtick, you're fairly screwed. "The bigger they are, the harder and farther they (often) fall." Sometimes, being in hell is the price you pay for your sins- long before you die.

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  • ldinlove wrote...
    According to the old Jewish mystics....
    October 13, 2012 12:31 am
    I agree.
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  • mobeta wrote...
    Who cares?
    October 11, 2012 8:29 am
    They all did it and probably all still do. If cycling went away, who would miss it? Not me!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rick (4) wrote...
    I agree
    October 11, 2012 8:46 am
    This story is just a waste of space. Much better news Dave could use.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ron prevost wrote...
    But, hey. ..... It was Luke's turn for the topic.
    October 11, 2012 8:54 am
    Good thing Dave can do his Saturday blog all by himself.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Citizen of Krazy Town wrote...
    I don't believe anything the USADA says. A government agency led by a schmuck with an agenda
    October 11, 2012 8:58 am
    No wonder Luke is falling over himself to believe it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • The Chuckster wrote...
    Dave, like when you lied
    October 11, 2012 9:03 am
    About being in the kingdome, tears running down your face, watching the Griffeys go back to back? Too bad it happened in Anaheim, Ca
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • drawgers wrote...
    If You Tell A Lie Often Enough ... Even Dave Ross Will Believe It
    October 11, 2012 9:08 am
    With the same evidence a court of law said was insufficient to make a case against Lance Armsstrong, the USADA continues to pound their questionable accusations into the American media and public. Armstrong failed NO drug tests - ever. Armstrong's accusers are for the most part themselves caught cheaters, perjured testifiers, jealous bitter rivals with book deals and paid appearances on tv. But apparently if you tell a lie often enough you can get a gullible and suspicious public to buy in to the lie - even Dave Ross who I would have thought was smarter than this.
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  • Str8Thinking wrote...
    Most interesting is anyone is surprised
    October 11, 2012 1:27 pm
    10 years ago when I got into cycling I was told 90% of riders in Europe were on something. Armstrong took the European "rules" and applied American organization and systematic approach that allowed him to win. His methods changed how everyone races the big tours today. That doesn't make him less of cheater it just makes the whole deal sort of a joke since all people using drugs before are now managing "clean" teams, and people still wanting to believe Armstrong or their hero is clean is naive.
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  • dori monson fan wrote...
    yea no matter what he took
    October 11, 2012 1:49 pm
    he still showed serious ball climbing the pyranese. dude has a huge cahone.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Snout wrote...
    The bottom line is that peddled a bike.
    October 11, 2012 2:43 pm
    Who cares if he peddled faster than a bunch of Europeans? He didn't hit home runs, score touchdowns, throw down against some Hoser on the ice or slam a basketball home. We don't care. Ride your bike, kick around a ball on the "pitch" which used to be called a soccer field until hipsters got a hold of it and let us watch actual sports.
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