USADA: Please Stop Persecuting Lance Armstrong. It's Time To Fire Bobby Valentine

Hello,

Yesterday ESPN led it's article about Lance Armstrong with how he was going to have his 7 Tour De France's stripped and be given a lifetime ban. The way ESPN worded that article I thought that someone had some inconclusive proof that he doped. (The USADA seems to think that they do, but they don't seem to be impartial at all.) Either that or Armstong finally came out and admitted that he had doped all that time. But digging into the article it seems that the USADA is convinced Armstrong is guilty because he announced that he'll no longer fight these charges. Since when is reading the writing on the wall and giving up on situation that seems unfair to Armstrong an admission of guilt? Since when is hating bureaucracy and wanting to protect one's family an admission of anything?

Honestly I'm not sure why he has been fighting these charges for this long. At this point I really don't care if he doped or not. Even if he did, I know that he wasn't the only one. So this whole situation is under much question already. Armstrong, a man that overcame testicular cancer, still won those races. All the things he has done since claiming those 7 titles has been amazing. Armstrong's charity has raised over $470 million dollars in the last 15 years and had a surge in donations today yesterday's news.

I just have a few questions. Why is the USADA so intent on carrying on this case? In the last several years, there has only been one Tour De France winner that wasn't under some suspicion. Isn't there some kind of statute of limitations on these charges? What is USADA hoping to accomplish with dragging this "investigation" on? (I agree with Armstrong when he calls this an "unconstitutional witch hunt".) I also don't understand why does the USADA think they can strip Armstrong of his 7 hard earned Tour De France's? They don't run the Tour De France, do they?

Of course they don't run the Tour De France. The Tour De France is run by the UCI, cycling's international body. So why does the USADA think they have any authority over something they don't even run? If I were the UCI I would tell the USADA to piss off.

Lonny a commenter on my blog had this to say, "As ridiculous as it is, the way that the USADA extends authority is that they have an anti doping agreement with the ICU such that a ban from the USADA automatically extends to ICU run events."

And if you read the comments of the CEO of the USADA, Travis Tygart, you can see that he has it out for Armstrong. And I know that he has probably seen all the evidence. But he has clearly made up his mind. It seems this has become a personal vendetta for him. This is what Tygart said "It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and athletes," Tygart said. "It's a heartbreaking example of win at all costs overtaking the fair and safe option. There's no success in cheating to win."

Travis Tygart I suggest you read "The Crucible" to get an idea of what happens on witch hunts. This whole thing comes off as little man syndrome by Tygart.

Calling into USADA's contention that they are partial is what the judge said who threw out the suit Armstrong filed against the USADA. ""USADA's conduct raises serious questions about whether its real interest in charging Armstrong is to combat doping, or if it is acting according to less noble motives," such as politics or publicity, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks wrote."

Update: it appears there may be a trade that's in the works where Adrian Gonzalez (who seems he'd fit perfectly in LA), Carl Crawford, Nick Punto and Josh Beckett may be on their way to the Dodgers. The Red Sox would get back James Loney and some prospects. I would love to see Gonzalez in LA, but I'm not sure about Crawford or Beckett. Obviously the Dodgers in their first year in the McCourt era are trying to make a big splash. If they add Gonzalez, they would have a pretty stellar lineup. It would be nice to have Beckett if the Dodgers make the playoffs. He's always been a big game pitcher, for both the Marlins and Red Sox. But it also sound like he's a bit of a cancer in the clubhouse.

I laughed when an espn.com article on this potential trade referred to this season's Red Sox pitching as "underperforming". Um, do ya think? I would have written either woefully underperforming or just that they suck. I love how nonchalant Bobby Valentine seems to be about this potential trade. Either he's being disingenuous or he hasn't figured out he's gone at the end of the season. How can the Red Sox bring him back?

I had the misfortune of watching a bit of last night's Red Sox-Angels game. The Angels eventually won 14-13 in an offensive explosion. Of course, the other way to look at that is two teams with pitching issues. The Red Sox is in desperate need to upgrade their pitching in the off season. And what does it say for the Red Sox when Alfredo Aceves and his 4.60 ERA is your closer? What does it say about Red Sox pitching when Clay Buchholz leads the pitching staff with a .447 ERA?

Last night seemed to be a microcosm of Boston's pitching struggles. Franklin Morales started out the game, but only pitched 2.2 weak innings. In that time he gave up 6 hits and 6 runs. That appears to be consistent with his 3.77 season ERA. The next pitcher for Boston was Clayton Mortensen. He pitched to four batters, gave up 3 hits and recorded no outs. He has a season ERA of 2.30, which his performance didn't show last night. Next up was Junichi Tawaza, he pitched a very impressive 1.1 innings. He gave up no hits, seemingly the only pitcher on Boston who was able to do that last night. He has a season ERA of 1.37. Mark Melancon also had a nice outing, pitching two innings and only gave up 1 hit. Too bad on the season he has a 6.48 ERA. Skipping to Aceves. In one inning of work, he gave up 6 hits, 5 runs. He was able to record three outs in the 9th, but he pitched to 2 hitters in the 10th inning without getting an out. I know that Valentine didn't have many pitchers left. But if Aceves is doing so poorly, why keep him in the game?

Firing the pitching coach was obviously a smoke screen, what the Red Sox need to go is do a massive upgrade of their pitching staff. Is it time for Josh Beckett to go, a 5-11 record and. 523 era would say yes. But yes, I know they have signed him to a long term contract. Beckett at one time was one of the best big game pitchers, but hasn't been nearly as good in the regular season. (I wrote this before the above potential trade news broke, it seems I'm not the only one who questions how much gas Beckett has left in the tank.)

Originally I thought that the Red Sox had given up, but now I'm starting to think maybe they are just that bad. Especially their pitching as noted above. If the Red Sox didn't score so many runs, how bad would the Red Sox pitchers stats be? The Red Sox need to improve their player development program. The overpaying too many mediocre players program hasn't worked out so well.

Anyway as I write this David Ortiz has been activated for their game against the Royals. Jon Lester is pitching for the Red Sox tonight. Lester is yet another pitcher that is playing below average baseball. He's 7-10 and has a .499 ERA.

themusicaddict