I have mixed feelings.On the one hand, I have seen a lot of disappointing behaviour in the Tour de France riders of late - the doping, the getting caught, the repeated doping, etc.
I know also that as disappointing as this behaviour is, it's not exclusive to the cycling domain. It exists in Baseball, in Track, in all our favourite sports.
I believe it may happen in most competitive sports. Except maybe Curling. Or Petanque.
Does that make it OK? Absolutely not.
Should we strive to achieve integrity in sports? Absolutely.
On the other hand, banning a team from competing in the Tour because "we can't trust them" seems a bit autocratic. I'm no more a fan of knee-jerk despotism than I am of doping.
Maybe it's the American side of me who objects deeply. I know it's different in many places than it is here, we take for granted the idea that you're innocent until proven guilty. Oh boy do we ever, don't get me started...
Supposedly, this is also true in French law, but when it's private enterprise (as the Tour is), I suppose all bets are off. Why pick on Astana, and none of the other teams? Why assume they are guilty, and none of the other riders are?
Does banning Team Astana from the tour make any headway toward achieving integrity in sports? I don't think so. It's a dictatorial decision with no supporting evidence. I'm not saying Astana are guilty, nor would I presume they are innocent - I have no evidence either way. I have, however, seen some of the fresh young faces of the team in person. I know that they're young and they want to do their best, as all athletes do.
I don't think this decision is fair. If you think it's unfair, you can sign a petition or two:
Let Levi Ride, Let Contador Ride.
9 comments:
I really have to ask - what's the point of this? To make an example of them? HA! They might as well cancel the whole tour if they want to make an example of how you pay for your doping sins.
The Tour is not implying that the riders are guilty, they did aknowledge that Astana is the same team as last year in name only, and they also took the position that Contador and Levi can ride if they switch teams. Basically their position, as unfair as it is, is that they cannot let a team with a two-year history of doping
take the start in ASO events. I also wonder if allegations against Armstrong while he rode for Bruneel has anything to do with this. Oh, and remember, last year Unibet wasn't allowed to start ASO events after the organizer dug up a never enforced 18th century anti-gambling law as a pretext. Of course this was nothing but a power struggle between ASO and the UCI who set the participation standards, but sadly the sponsors of that team, Unibet and Canyon Cycles, left professional cycling. Perhaps this is also the same type of a dynamic after UCI told ASO that all 18 Pro-Tour teams had to take start in the Tour.
Exactly...
Wow T - thanks for the info.
I'm reading articles in VeloNews, it's totally a pissing match between UCI and ASO.
Weird.
i wouldn't say that americans feel that way and i wouldn't leave out the media's role in it all.
as a teacher, i always knew that any child could ruin my life if i graded him or her too harshly. all a child has to do (or a parent) is say that a teacher/priest/camp counselor did was diddle. that's it. the trial is over and the life is gone. it wouldn't be a private matter either. media would make sure that a case in podunk gets all the attention from la to nyc.
americans watch gossip news and judge on that all the time.
i'd like to know who is policing the firms. are they cheating on their taxes? are big wigs getting rises during years when there isn't enough money for the regular workers?
i'd like to see someone scrutinise the firms.
I have mixed feelings too. However, my brother pointed out that everyone does it (everyone in every sport) - not that this makes it right, but that just means the baseline is higher anyway, so the winner is still the winner. There is always too much money involved for people not to cheat (again, not a good excuse).
I like to watch Curling! I hope they don't dope!
I guess each person should be judged individually.
I agree with 21stcenturymom!
Have you not heard drug taking in petanque is rife.. normally its the alcohol though that impedes everyones playing!
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