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Lordandmaster -> RE: The Wheel Sucker Gets Worked Over (7/27/2007 11:39:52 PM)
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Come on happypervert, take out all the emotion from what you just wrote and you're not left with much that holds water.
I didn't say there was no cheating in baseball. On the contrary, I said that baseball has had more than its fair share of cheating, and I agreed that cycling has much stricter testing. And I said this: Baseball hasn't yet reached the point where I simply assume that any professional baseball player is cheating. But cycling? That's a tough one. I'm pretty sure many, if not most, sports fans are going to wonder whether this year's Tour champion won because of his true ability, or because he managed not to get caught cheating.
As for Rasmussen: his crime wasn't failing to report his whereabouts. His crime was MISreporting his whereabouts. There's a difference, and you know it. One could be chalked up to absent-mindedness; the other is deliberate deception. In baseball, as weak as their testing regimen is, a player cannot avoid a drug test simply by lying about where he is. By the same token, if you lie about your legal issues to the Commissioner's Office in football, you'll get your ass suspended. Ask Pacman Jones.
And here's the most damaging thing about what you said: you've tacitly admitted that cheating is rampant in cycling; your whole defense is that it must be rampant in other sports too, and I must be an idiot for not realizing it. So is that truly what you believe, or is that merely the convenient rhetorical tactic you decided to use on me?
Because if I truly believed cheating were rampant in any professional sport, I couldn't watch it anymore.
Edited to add: I guess this is the issue I'm really interested in, and why I'm persisting with this even though it's apparent that I'm just pissing everyone off. Are fans of cycling still interested in the Tour because they believe the sport has not been completely corrupted by cheating, or are they interested even though they believe the sport has been completely corrupted by cheating? So far I see one clear answer to this question: sublimelysensual said she doesn't think most of the top riders dope. What about the rest of y'all?
quote:
ORIGINAL: happypervert
In other words, what baseball needs is more testing to expose the cheaters so that geniuses like you will finally be able to say "AHA! They really are cheating! I finally get it!"
Your arguments just seem ridiculous to me. Rasmussen's "crime" was not reporting his whereabouts so he could be subject to random testing during the off season; this isn't just pee in a cup testing, but they also search the rider's belongings and that is how guys like David Millar got busted. Imagine if they did that to baseball or football players . . . well, don't strain yourself too hard on that because I'm sure you'll just come up with some more half thought out arguments.
Rasmussen getting sacked for nothing more than lying is extraordinary -- perhaps if the Giants were to fire Barry Bonds then they would reach this so called tipping point you speak of. Instead, fans are lining up to watch him make history. So go stick your head in the sand and enjoy the game!
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