Arch Stanton wrote:
Alvin Tostig wrote:
Cycling was (is?) a dirty sport and there are plenty of people to share the blame. However, in your analogy you left out the bits about how the smartest student in the class was apparently the only one giving money to the folks in charge of the school.No proof of that. Given that the principal and school administration is totally corrupt, you would have to be a hater with an agenda to think that other students were not doing the same.
Alvin Tostig wrote:
The student with the best scores happens to be more of a public figure than any of the other guilty parties, and goodness knows there are a lot of other guilty parties.Yes, that is exactly how we should keep the school clean: Pick out a scapegoat based on popularity then let the rest of the guilty skate free.
Among other things, Armstrong did give the UCI $125,000.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/mcquaid-reveals-armstrong-made-two-donations-to-the-uci
If another cyclist or team made such payments, I'm not aware of them.
There have been plenty of cyclists including Merckx, Hamilton, Landis, and Contador who were caught doping and received punishment. They didn't skate free. If you think that some cyclists (e.g., Hincapie) were treated leniently, I would agree with you. But I don't have a problem with what has happened with respect to Armstrong, and we'll simply have to disagree on that.
"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.