badgerx16

A few random points : Lance Armstrong can be a very difficult person to get on with, he is driven, focussed, and self-centered. None of this in any way counts against him, but I think somewhere in the past he really p!$$ed somebody off and as a consequence the USADA have conducted a witch hunt, and they have finally worn their target down. The USADA have several former team mates willing to testify - as far as I can work out ALL of them have plea-bargained their 'convictions' for failed dope tests and given their statements as a result. Currently the USADA refuses to name them, but it certainly includes Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton. ( the latter of which coincidentally has a book coming out soon - no such thing as bad publicity ), and apparently George Hincapie may also be on the list. None of the evidence has been publicly presented, and the process seems to have been conducted on the basis of 'guilty until proven innocent'. Because LA has now stopped trying to fight them, they announce that this 'proves' his guilt. The USADA apparently have 8 B samples that have tested positive for EPO, but they haven't, as far as I am aware, been independently verified. One line of argument against him is that he beat a doped peloton and therefore MUST have been doping himself, he couldn't have done it any other way. ( A similar line has been trotted out by some French media about Bradley Wiggins this year ). If they strip him of his titles, what do the UCI do ? ( The USADA have absolutely no authority to do this ). In each of his 7 Tours de France wins, if you look at the top 10 in the GC, almost all of them have served some form of drugs related suspension. ( I saw a quote on a cycling forum pleading with the USADA to ensure they didn't also strip him of his cameo appearance in Dodgeball ). Personally, my 'heart' says he's clean - the best TdF rider ever, my 'head' is unsure, but without being openly presented in a legitimate public court, the evidence will remain circumstantial, but as is stated above, even IF he did it, all it did was level the field of battle - he still put in the hours of graft, went through pain barriers we can't even imagine, and some of his stage wins were simply epic. Roger Hammond, a team-mate of LA for 2 years and who has taken a very firm stance against doping, said on ITV4 last night said he believed Lance was clean, and that he ( Hammond ) only joined Lance's team because they were clean. Most of the USADA's allegations were subject to a 2 year federal investigation, which closed with no further action being taken.

87% of statistics are made up, funnily enough that's exactly the same proportion as the fictional ITK and Twit(ter) posts on this thread.

Yes.

Sorry Bearsy you are wrong, there is also the Pompey way - ignore them.

As far as I can recall there are 3 key points : 1) They have to apply to the courts to extend the admin process beyond 12 months - early February 2013. 2) They cannot be in admin for more than 18 months - FL, rule and so they must exit before August 10th ( or thereabouts ) or be expelled from the FL. 3) If they come out of admin after the end of the season the -10 will be applied next season - the FL's published condition states it is applied once they exit the process.

Is there any way to apply an 'ignore' filter on a thread to remove anything that doesn't actually relate to the subject ? ( I reckon if there was, this thread would only run to 4 pages ).

But would they have got away with it ?

Whether he has up until now is a matter for debate.

http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/9766563.Pressure_mounts_on_Watford_FC_owner_Laurence_Bassini/ "While Bassini confirmed this incident had taken place, he rubbished suggestions HM Revenue and Customs is currently investigating the club for unpaid taxes and national insurance contributions." Sound familiar ?

And how would the other 23 teams in L1 view the FL reneging on their openly published conditions ?

"In 2011, he was quoted in a newspaper in Watford as admitting that he changed his surname from Bazini after being declared bankrupt five years ago." Sounds perfect !

So the one horseman of the apocalypse is cantering back over the hill, and likely to be passing Appy's bunch of monthly mercenaries going in the opposite direction. At least they've still got that group of 18 year olds that turned out at Plymouth.

Vicky Carruthers ‏@vmjcarruthers Is Chanrai a #saintsfc fan? #pompey

OK chaps, I have a message for you from an all powerful being that will deliver eternal salvation to your souls. It was written by a mysterious group of people a very long time ago, in an ancient script that nobody but I could read, on golden plates that were buried and whose location was revealed exclusively to me by an angel. Once I had read the plates the angel took the plates away. So now you all believe me, let's make a new religion and spread the word. ( This might be an original idea ).

Would this one player really make £18m worth of difference to our season ? ( Mind you, this is the club that paid £4m for Rory Delap ! ).

"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people." Karl Marx - Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right

An awful lot of scientists believe in God, ( in whatever form their adopted religion presents Him/Her/Them ).

Well, maybe one of them. The rest read like POL.

This

Did you get a yellow card ?

We are premier league !

Rickieeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was always going to be damage limitation - I thought we started brightly but after the Higeuro injury City started to play like champions. Possibly a bit lucky for it to only be 1-0 but we arent being disgraced. If we can have a tidy 2nd hlf and manage to keep the ball just a little longer we can take some positives from the game, even if it ends in defeat..

Makes no difference who's in goal if we can't get a shot on target.

Here you go Alps, just don't let the missus catch you looking : http://tunc.biz/victoria_pendleton_nude.jpg http://emma-ostilly-2012.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/victoria-pendleton-hot-photosimages.html