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Steve Johnson has to go.
Last Post 03/24/2014 09:10 PM by Frederick Jones. 7 Replies.
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Inferno7
Posts:344
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| 03/20/2014 08:32 AM |
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http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/03/news/usac-chief-denies-knowledge-postal-doping_320736 |
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bobswire
Posts:304
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| 03/20/2014 09:50 AM |
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This will be a never ending story,even after the last guy from that era is out the door. Today every win is now suspect and will continue to do so. Cycling has become its own worst enemy by being the one and only pro sport that has tried to clean up it's act but in the process has thrown out the baby with the bath water. Doping has become synonymous with cycling as these forums testify to this fact, part and parcel why fewer participate IMO. Sometimes the zealot anti dopers become as much of a pain in the ass as the dopers. See: Spanish inquisition of the middle ages.
I have become less of a fan of cycling on the whole but not because of the dopers,in fact I find cycling has become rather boring but for a few like Sagan and a "re energized" Berto... et al.
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jrt1045
Posts:363
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| 03/20/2014 10:19 AM |
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| What else would you expect him say, he was cashing a check from Thom Weasel |
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thinline
Posts:323
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| 03/20/2014 11:06 AM |
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| Sagan and AC actually sem to . . . well . . . race. Instead of following a preprogrammed script regardless of what develops on the road. I know they have plans for each day on the road, but they are two examples of riders who will react on the fly, see an opportunity and take it, where others seem to stick with the game plan regardless of what develops. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 03/20/2014 11:09 AM |
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I understand your point bobn, and agree with it as it pertains to riders. As I have said many times, certify all the results (including LA's), mark the period from the early 90's to 2010 as the "Blood Doping Era" and move on.
Johnson, however, is a different story. If these allegations are true (and I believe them 100%) then you have an individual running the national governing body who willingly turned a blind eye to systemic doping during his tenure. He is therefore no better than Verbruggen or McQuaid and deserves to be tossed out on his assos. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 03/20/2014 12:47 PM |
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Cosmic, we have a governing body that was incompetent for many years. Several name changes but same ineptitude. Thom Weisel comes into the scene as someone who appears to have it together, with money (his and others like AmGen, a team (US Postal) and a rising star. Offers to revamp US Cycling into a much larger, more powerful presence and has just the man to make it happen. An A1 first class puppet is installed. Now this puppet isn't entirely stupid. It/he does get that there is one thing he can never do: utter one word suggesting that he knows anything about possible collusion between Weisel, Amgen, US Postal anybody and EPO. And since one of those partners is deep into EPO (Amgen), he better not admit to knowing EPO exists anywhere.
None of this is secret. I have zero inside information sources, but I have known all of this quite a while. That US Cycling is still willing to let this puppet, Steve Johnson, run the ship says a lot about US Cycling. There's an old expression "you are judged by the company you keep". They have kept that man for a decade and a half. I will give US Cycling credit for one thing. They have placed their trust in a man who has pledged (probably not where there is any record of it) to never spill the beans. And to Steve Johnson's credit, he hasn't.
There is an organization where that attribute is next to sainthood. The Mafia.
Ben |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 03/24/2014 01:40 PM |
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Pretty damning CyclingWorld article about Steve Johnson this morning:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/what-did-usa-cycling-know-of-doping-before-armstrong-investigation
In the middle of the article the author, Daniel Benson, talks of trying to reach Johnson to get his take on this. His attempts were not answered with anything more than a "no comment" until the US Cycling spokesperson said that all with information (Dave Zabriskie in this case) would have been referred to the USADA, but that in fact, the conversation between DZ and Johnson never happened. Now, this is the same USADA that US Cycling tried to argue in court had no authority in such cases when they argued that only UCI had authority over the LA case.
The idea that Johnson believes these conversations never happen I find plausible. DZ talks of of Johnson brushing off DZ's words with no change of expression. The idea that Johnson could splice the tape of his memory after deleting that section fits with everything I have read about that man. It would not surprise me if he could pass a lie detector on it.
I was wrong in my post above about how Johnson got to be CEO of US Cycling; that in fact US Cycling recruited him in 1998 and he worked his way up the ranks. I do not know, nor does the article state at what point he became a tool for Thom Weisel. But I will stick to my last paragraph above. I see nothing in that CyclingNews article to change that opinion.
Ben |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 03/24/2014 09:10 PM |
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| The crusaders must be soooo bored. This just can't be as much fun as going after Armstrong. |
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