Lance Armstrong / Cheating in Sports / Cheating in Life

[kdawg]

 

[Kimchi Papi]

More trouble on the horizon for Armstrong...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323596204578242250517426858.html

Justice Department Takes Aim at Armstrong
By REED ALBERGOTTI and VANESSA O'CONNELL

Justice Department officials have recommended joining a federal whistleblower lawsuit aimed at clawing back sponsorship money from former professional cyclistLance Armstrong, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Justice Department has been weighing the matter since 2010, when the suit was filed by Armstrong's former teammate Floyd Landis.
All whistleblower suits are kept under seal, and neither the Justice Department nor Landis have acknowledged the suit's existence or the allegations. However, according to a person who has seen the lawsuit, Landis alleged that Armstrong and team managers defrauded the U.S. government when they accepted money from the U.S. Postal Service.

The Justice Department and Landis declined to comment.

The contract with the Postal Service required that the team refrain from using performance-enhancing drugs. Landis and, more recently, several other former teammates, said in affidavits that Armstrong was at the center of a sophisticated doping ring and knowingly flouted the contract.

The deadline for the Justice Department to join the suit is Thursday, the day Armstrong's much anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey is scheduled to air. On the show, which was taped Monday afternoon, Armstrong admitted to his own use of performance-enhancing drugs, according to the Associated Press.
Landis sued on behalf of the government under the Federal False Claims Act, which allows citizens to sue for alleged fraud against the government, according to people familiar with the matter.

Under the law, the government can intervene in Landis's suit, essentially pursuing the case on its own behalf. If it doesn't, Landis is free to carry on the action on his own. As a whistleblower, Landis could collect 30% of any money the government recovers.

The Postal Service paid a total of $30.6 million to the team's management company to sponsor the team from 2001 through 2004, according to a sponsorship agreement reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The contract said "negative publicity" due to "alleged possession, use or sale of banned substances" by riders or team personnel would constitute an "event of default," as would a failure to take "action" if a rider violates a morals or drug clause.

Under the False Claims Act, if Armstrong and others are found to have violated the act, they could be on the hook for triple the amount of the total paid under the contract. That could mean damages of roughly $100 million.

Recently, Armstrong's legal team has been in negotiations with the Justice Department in an attempt to settle the suit, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The person said the negotiations between Armstrong's team and the Justice Department are far from being settled, with the two sides nowhere near an agreement.
Other defendants in the suit, according to the person who has seen it, include Thom Weisel, the former chairman of the management company that owned Armstrong's cycling team, and Johan Bruyneel, his longtime team director. A lawyer for Weisel said he couldn't comment. Bruyneel didn't return calls seeking comment.

The case has been investigated by the Justice Department's commercial litigation branch, according to several people familiar with the matter. Robert Chandler, a Justice Department attorney, has been interviewing potential witnesses in the case, according to people familiar with the matter. The case isn't related to a criminal lawsuit that was dropped in February.

Whistleblower attorneys say that to win, the Justice Department wouldn't have to prove that the Postal Service lost money—only that the defendants in the suit knowingly misrepresented themselves in the contract with the Postal Service.

 

[kdawg]

^ that whistleblower stuff is all interesting but I don't know anyone who has seen the contract. You would assume that if the government had they would join to get their money (and then some) back. Maybe Floyd knows but maybe he's just trying to sucker Lance into paying him off.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

This a****** is also reportedly going to testify against his doping enablers & officials from the International Cycling Union...This guy's a piece of work...


http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/50465038/ns/sports-cycling/

 

[Kimchi Papi]

This was a great article on Livestrong... The foreword read -

If Lance Armstrong went to jail and Livestrong went away, that would be a huge setback in our war against cancer, right? Not exactly, because the famous nonprofit donates almost ­nothing to scientific research. BILL GIFFORD looks at where the money goes and finds a mix of fine ideas, millions of dollars aimed at “awareness,” and a few very blurry lines.

It's a long read but very comprehensive & eye opening...

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoo...strong/Its-Not-About-the-Lab-Rats.html?page=1

 

[RyGuy45]

Remembering the people that Team Armstrong buried...

The only remaining official American winner of the Tour de France - Greg LeMond (1986, 1989, 1990) has been an outspoken critic of his sport, PEDs, and particular the legitimacy of Lance.

Lance's team did not appreciate LeMond's opinions on the matter so they acted accordingly.

In an interview with Global Cycling Network (GCN), Irish journalist David Walsh said that American Tour de France champion Greg LeMond had been “vilified” by Lance Armstrong for years for speaking out against Armstrong’s involvement with Italian doping doctor Michele Ferrari.

It was a public stance that ultimately cost LeMond his bicycle business, and pitted him against a legion of Armstrong supporters, many of whom painted the three-time Tour winner as bitter, or jealous.

“[LeMond] said, ‘If Lance’s story is true, it’s the greatest comeback in the history of sport, if it’s not, it’s the greatest fraud,’ and of course that was just raising the question that it might be a fraud,” Walsh told GCN’s Daniel Lloyd. “Armstrong, of course, went insane with anger, and Greg then was vilified by Armstrong, [he] was put under unbelievable pressure.”

Armstrong’s influence led to his bike sponsor, Trek, dropping its support of the LeMond brand it had licensed for 13 years from the three-time Tour winner.

In 2008, Trek president John Burke told the trade magazine Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, “Had all the stars aligned with Lance and Greg, if [LeMond] had kept a positive relationship, [the LeMond brand] would have ended up a $30 [million] to $35 million brand.”

Instead, it wound up a memory.

“Armstrong could exercise unbelievable influence if he wanted to — to damage your business interests, or destroy your character,” Walsh said. “He was a formidable and very dangerous enemy, Lance, and he didn’t mind using his power to destroy other people.”

Especially significant was LeMond's appearance as a USADA witness in the 2007 Floyd Landis doping case. There, on the eve of LeMond's testimony in May 2007, Landis' business manager called LeMond and threatened to disclose that he was a victim of childhood sexual abuse should LeMond appear in court as scheduled. Undeterred, LeMond took the stand the following day, testified, and also admitted to the world that he had been molested.

Several weeks later, LeMond and his wife Kathy gave an extensive interview to Paul Kimmage of The Sunday Times. LeMond provided additional details concerning the circumstances of his 2001 apology to Armstrong, stating that Trek, the longtime manufacturer and distributor of LeMond Racing Cycles, had threatened to end the relationship at the behest of Armstrong. He described the two years following the forced apology as the worst in his life, marked by self-destructive behavior that ultimately led him to disclose his sexual abuse to his wife and seek help.

 

[do work son]

LieStrong.

 

[mr marcus]

wow......never knew lemond lost his business over armstrong.....lemond's were solid road bikes.....lance is the scumbag of all scumbags 

 

[kdawg]

Yeah, I found an internal Trek powerpoint presentation once talking about that - and how Lemond was damaging the brand and stuff. Really terrible stuff - at the time, and especially now.

I can't find it now though. If I can I'll post it.

 

[bigmike23]

so he is going to bring down everyone that helped him cheat to save face now?

 

[JD617]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324734904578241801441261928.html

 

[RustyShackleford]

Damn, just remembered, Johan Bruyneel is gonna be done for after this

 

[daprescription]

"Dupree: You leave Lance out of this! He's doing more with one testicle than you and I could do with three!"

 

[5am6oody72]

His arrogance dominates all. He threatened, bullied and tried to bribe his way to staying innocent. He is a douchebag. Wonderful that he created his foundation, but he deserves everything that is coming to him.

This. I know he inspired a lot of people and raised crazy money via livestrong, but he's also gone out of his way to ruin people's names and lives, called then every name in the book all because they were telling the truth about him. He freaking sued people for libel when he was the one who was lying!

Its one thing to maintain your innocence, its another to hurt people to cover up the lie. I couldn't care less about him doping because everyone else was doing it; it was impossible to compete without doing it. But the way he's gone about denying everything has made me lose all respect for him.

You look at Barry Bonds, he never admitted to using steroids knowingly, everyone assumes he's lying. But much like Lance, most of his competition was juicing as well and he was still crushing them, and he was a HOF caliber player before he ever touched a PED. That's indisputable IMO. He also never went out of his way to destroy the lives of people who were trying to catch him like Lance did. And yet everyone overlooks that because of Lance's story and foundation. Trust, Armstrong is just as big of an ******* as Bonds was, if not worse. And yet I'd bet about 100x more people will give Lance a free pass after he admits to doping than they would Barry.

 

[jordanhead718212]

Guy is such a tool

 

[mr marcus]

His arrogance dominates all. He threatened, bullied and tried to bribe his way to staying innocent. He is a douchebag. Wonderful that he created his foundation, but he deserves everything that is coming to him.

This. I know he inspired a lot of people and raised crazy money via livestrong, but he's also gone out of his way to ruin people's names and lives, called then every name in the book all because they were telling the truth about him. He freaking sued people for libel when he was the one who was lying!

Its one thing to maintain your innocence, its another to hurt people to cover up the lie. I couldn't care less about him doping because everyone else was doing it; it was impossible to compete without doing it. But the way he's gone about denying everything has made me lose all respect for him.

You look at Barry Bonds, he never admitted to using steroids knowingly, everyone assumes he's lying. But much like Lance, most of his competition was juicing as well and he was still crushing them, and he was a HOF caliber player before he ever touched a PED. That's indisputable IMO. He also never went out of his way to destroy the lives of people who were trying to catch him like Lance did. And yet everyone overlooks that because of Lance's story and foundation. Trust, Armstrong is just as big of an ******* as Bonds was, if not worse. And yet I'd bet about 100x more people will give Lance a free pass after he admits to doping than they would Barry.

sad but true.....and if they do ima just assume it's cause of race....have no choice but too

lance is the scumbags of all scumbags that have ever cheated in any sport

 

[Kimchi Papi]

I didn't know Landis' company went under because of Lance...I wonder Landis will sue Trek & Lance for libel?

 

[kdawg]

^ Do you mean Lemond?

Trek were making his bikes but because of things that he was saying (which were true it turns out) they canned him. Hard to know how to fix that. I always hoped that Trek would do something - probably hard though - not personally, but hard to build that business after all the bad PR.

 

[scotthallwithapick]

he's probably going to make a lot of money off his admittance too. aint eem mad.

Ding ding ding

 

[Kimchi Papi]

^ Do you mean Lemond?

Trek were making his bikes but because of things that he was saying (which were true it turns out) they canned him. Hard to know how to fix that. I always hoped that Trek would do something - probably hard though - not personally, but hard to build that business after all the bad PR.

Stupid me, yes I meant Lemond.

Looks like he already had a law suit that was settled back in 2010, but it doesn't stop him from going after Lance for libel...If this isn't a case of libel (& slander), I don't know what is.


http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/cycling/2010-02-02-lemond-trek-suit_N.htm

LeMond, Trek bicycles settle lawsuit after two-year fight
Posted 2/2/2010 6:56 PM | Comment | Recommend E-mail | Print |

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (AP) — Trek Bicycle Corp. and three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond have settled their nearly two-year court battle.
Trek general counsel Robert Burns tells the Wisconsin State Journal that the deal includes two $100,000 payments by Trek to 1in6.org, a charity with which LeMond is involved.

Also, Burns says Monday that a licensing deal that began in 1995 was terminated on Jan. 30, so LeMond now has the rights to the LeMond bicycle brand.

Trek stopped making LeMond bikes in April 2008, when the Waterloo, Wis., bicycle manufacturer sued in federal court to end the collaboration.

In a statement, LeMond says he's pleased the issue has been resolved so he can move forward.

LeMond complained Trek didn't promote his brand. Trek claimed that LeMond's criticism of Lance Armstrong damaged the company.

 

[dland24]

But the thing was, Lance was crazy hard working. That's the main reason he own all those Tours. All his major competition was juicy too and his main rival Jan Ulrich was more talent than Lance but was lazy an undisciplined.

Lance didn't take a short cut to success.

Couldnt agree more with that

People completely overlook this. I am not condoning PED use, but taking steroids/PEDs wont do someone a bit of good if they take the drug and walk right past the weight room. People who took these PEDs are the hardest working people in all of sports.

 

[roorswervin]

 

[leclutchjames]

Shout out to lance. He's still the best. Everybody cheats in cycling.

 

[al audi]

I was never naive to it.........even your b ball and football players take em guys.

 

[dajoka004]

Lance wasn't the best though. He just had the best doping regimen of arguably any athlete in the world. He wasn't **** before he started doping. It's not like Bonds who would have had a GOAT worthy career even without PEDs.

I LOVE that stories are coming out that Lance had inside help.

And those who think he's going to make money off this, you're dead wrong. He's getting sued by everyone now. All those libel suits, all that prize money, all that sponsorship money from the Postal Service. Gone. All of it. He's done.