Lance Armstrong, CBS News Engage in War of Words Over '60 Minutes

[SoCal]

Lance Armstrong, CBS News Engage in War of Words Over '60 Minutes' Expose


Bill Clinton strategist Mark Fabiani set up Facts4Lance.com Web site to deny a story set to air Sunday alleging Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs.


A war of words has erupted between Lance Armstrong and CBS News chairman Jeff Fager over a 60 Minutes piece that airs Sunday that alleges Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France seven times.

Armstrong pulled out of an interview with the news show to defend himself, telling The Daily Beast that the network "basically reneged" on promises it made to him and that "everyone would be frustrated" to be treated like that. He strongly denies the allegations, which are also the matter of a federal investigation.

Of the story producer, he says, "I would not call him a straight shooter… My version of events has never changed on this, and won’t."

But Fager, who is also the ep of 60 Minutes, tells The Daily Beast, "We have been so thorough and fair to Lance Armstrong. We have shared with them every single allegation in our story… This is a PR game. Our reporters have done a first-class job."

Armstrong has even gone as far as to have strategist Mark Fabiani, who worked with former President Bill Clinton during Whitewater and was an aide in Al Gore's presidential campaign, create a Web site to deny the allegations, www.facts4lance.com.

"We have every right to know which cyclists are going to be on camera, making allegations, and to tell the public how these new allegations completely contradict what these cyclists have said for years, how these cyclists are motivated now by the desire to get famous on 60 Minutes and maybe find publishers and make money, and how these cyclists have a long history of dissembling.” Fabiani says in a statement.

In the interview, which airs Sunday at 7 p.m., former teammate Tyler Hamilton says they both used "EPO…testosterone…a blood transfusion” while competing. Hamilton, who returned the gold medal he won in the individual time trial at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games Friday, also testified in the federal investigation.

"I saw [EPO] in his refrigerator…I saw him inject it more than one time like we all did, like I did many, many times," he tells Scott Pelley on 60 Minutes. Teammate Frankie Andreu also says: "Training alone wasn’t doing it and I think that’s how…many of the other riders during that era felt, I mean, you kind of didn’t have a choice."

Two of Armstrong’s lawyers, Robert Luskin and Ted Herman, wrote a letter to Fager, according to the Daily Beast, that said 60 Minutes had engaged in "disgraceful journalism."

Luskin says some of the allegations are 15 years old and made by "people in the Lance-hater category who have made sworn statements at odds with what they’re telling 60 Minutes now.”

Replies Fager, "It’s unfortunate they won’t do an interview with us. If he never did anything, fine, come on 60 Minutes and tell us.”

[royalfan5]

Does anybody actually believe that he wasn't doping just like all the other cyclists that race competitively?

[badger]

Does anybody actually believe that he wasn't doping just like all the other cyclists that race competitively?

I know a lot of people are saying he did it, but you'd think that there would be at least some type of proof at this point, rather than an endless stream of people that might have something against Lance or just want to keep their names in the headlines speaking up.

Some photos, videos, documents, receipts, blood tests, urine tests, hair follicle tests, any tests, ANYTHING, but not your-word-against-mine interviews.

Someone that has had the success that Lance has breeds jealousy among other athletes, namely cyclists and their families and friends. They have all of the reasons in the world to want Lance discredited, dethroned, demolished in the public eye.

I am a naive blond chick, yes, but till there is proof beyond "I saw Lance do this... I heard Lance say this... I joined Lance in the partaking of..." blah blah blah, it just isn't enough proof.

It's why he's still considered the 7-time Tour champ. People talking is NOT good enough proof.

[StoopTroup]

If they were all doing it and he won....what are they crying about?

[royalfan5]

I know a lot of people are saying he did it, but you'd think that there would be at least some type of proof at this point, rather than an endless stream of people that might have something against Lance or just want to keep their names in the headlines speaking up.

Some photos, videos, documents, receipts, blood tests, urine tests, hair follicle tests, any tests, ANYTHING, but not your-word-against-mine interviews.

Someone that has had the success that Lance has breeds jealousy among other athletes, namely cyclists and their families and friends. They have all of the reasons in the world to want Lance discredited, dethroned, demolished in the public eye.

I am a naive blond chick, yes, but till there is proof beyond "I saw Lance do this... I heard Lance say this... I joined Lance in the partaking of..." blah blah blah, it just isn't enough proof.

It's why he's still considered the 7-time Tour champ. People talking is NOT good enough proof.

I bet you think that college athletics are mostly pure too.

[royalfan5]

If they were all doing it and he won....what are they crying about?
Because we are supposed to pretend that doping is the exception and not the rule.

[Flagstaffsooner]

Scuse me, who gives a damn?

[StoopTroup]

I bet you think that college athletics are mostly pure too.

I think that psychological training should be banned too because I didn't think to do it when I was training....:rolleyes:

Seriously....he won 7 times! If they were going to catch him....they had plenty of chances and he was in France! I mean....they were all over him every time he raced.

This BS needs to stop. If they have a bad system and can't catch cheaters....then may be they should just quit having the damned race...

[royalfan5]

I think that psychological training should be banned too because I didn't think to do it when I was training....:rolleyes:

Seriously....he won 7 times! If they were going to catch him....they had plenty of chances and he was in France! I mean....they were all over him every time he raced.

This BS needs to stop. If they have a bad system and can't catch cheaters....then may be they should just quit having the damned race...

I think they should let them take what ever the hell they want, and spare the pearl clutching over allegations later that just waste everyone time. I feel the same way about college sports too.

[Turd_Ferguson]

Scuse me, who gives a damn?No ****..some dude that rides a bikecycle around...big whoop...

[Mongo]

I think they should let them take what ever the hell they want, and spare the pearl clutching over allegations later that just waste everyone time. I feel the same way about college sports too.


http://johnnygoodtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/alldrugolympics.jpg

[yankee]

What I wanna know is why is this Hamilton dude bringing it up now, years after the fact? He sounds awfully bitter to me. I guess it was OK to do steroids years ago, but since he got caught and got banned from the sport, now he's gonna start throwing accusations around. Sounds like a real *** hole.

[Mongo]

What I wanna know is why is this Hamilton dude bringing it up now, years after the fact? He sounds awfully bitter to me. I guess it was OK to do steroids years ago, but since he got caught and got banned from the sport, now he's gonna start throwing accusations around. Sounds like a real *** hole.

Federal grand jury. Investigating the use of public funds for illegal activity

[sooner ngintunr]

:gary:

[Penguin]

Yeah, it's because of the investigation. Lying to a federal agent is a felony and can get you a 5 year prison term. Since it's all going to be made public anyway, might as well come on 60 Minutes and make a few bucks.

[bluedogok]

Federal grand jury. Investigating the use of public funds for illegal activity
I thought the US Postal Service was not true governmental entity? It is in the minds of some when convenient and not when they want it to be.

As far as I am concerned its ancient history, as is the baseball steroid stuff. It should be treated as "yeah it happened but that was then". Pretty much everyone other than the gov't and media have moved on from the steroid eras in sports. I am tired of hearing about Armstrong, which we do even moreso down here. This investigation and the Bonds trial are just massive wastes of taxpayer dollars with no real purpose other than to feed some US Attorney office egos.

[Mongo]

I thought the US Postal Service was not true governmental entity? It is in the minds of some when convenient and not when they want it to be.

you are gonna get meganegged by Dean for that one:D

[C&CDean]

I thought the US Postal Service was not true governmental entity? It is in the minds of some when convenient and not when they want it to be.

Oh. You just ****ed up.

[StoopTroup]

lol

mp22ay-gjNU&feature=related

[bluedogok]

Oh. You just ****ed up.
Isn't that what some politicians claim? Just like Amtrak? They are both entities that politicians desire to be "privatized" but for all intents and purposes they can't operate as their own profit centers because of requirements and constraints.

When it comes time for the US Attorneys office to trump up some charges and waste a massive amount of taxpayer dollars then the USPS is a "governmental entity" but when it comes to funding the USPS the politicians want to treat it like a private sector business. They just need to make up their mind what it really is supposed to be and quit acting like it is whatever they want it to be on a whim.

Most of the anti-doping agencies are always playing catch up and the athletes are always ahead of them. The gov't just needs to give up on steroid fights from things that happened years ago, THAT is all I am saying. It serves no legitimate purpose years after the fact, especially for things that may or may not have been against the rules or whatever sport were in place at the time.

[AlboSooner]

Doesn't Lance root for the Horns? In that case I believe he is a dopey dope-head.

[fadada1]

tough call with armstrong. cycling might be the most corrupt sport with regards to performance enhancement. easy to see both sides of this argument.

my take - armstrong always says, "well, i've never tested positive." true, but still doesn't mean you didn't do it.

still.... he's never tested positive.

so.... i got nuthin'

[picasso]

Greg Lemond sure has a woody for his being guilty.

[StoopTroup]

Thats right...

Gotta catch him or STFU...

Now he's retired and just like Cali and the Unions....

You better have some proof or STFU....

[bluedogok]

Greg Lemond sure has a woody for his being guilty.
That's because Armstrong made his feats an afterthought, massive egos have a way of being *******s and BOTH of them have massive egos according to some people that I know who have dealt with him but that isn't much of a shock. Quite frankly I have been tired of hearing about Armstrong and wish he would just retire quietly to the Hill Country....or somewhere else. He should have stayed retired after he won the seventh.

[diverdog]

tough call with armstrong. cycling might be the most corrupt sport with regards to performance enhancement. easy to see both sides of this argument.

my take - armstrong always says, "well, i've never tested positive." true, but still doesn't mean you didn't do it.

still.... he's never tested positive.

so.... i got nuthin'

I stated in another thread that I raced bicycles at the amateur level for 7 years in the late 70's and early 80's. Even then everyone did some sort of drugs. The drug of choice in my day was cortisone or amphetamines. Prosecution for drug use in professional cycling goes all the way back to 1886. Cycling has always been a dirty sport.

Armstrong is toast. When 60 Minutes revealed that George Hincapie had testified I knew that was the nail in Armstrong's coffin. Hamilton, Andreau and Landis have all said Lance doped and I believe he did. But I have to say to myself "so what". As far as I know every 2nd and 3rd place finisher to LA in the TDF tested positive for drugs at one time or another. What are they going to do vacate the title and give it to the 5 or 6 or 104th place finisher?

Professional cycling is not like football or baseball. It is a far more brutal sport. People die every year racing. A top level cyclist was killed in the Tour of Italy this year and others will die. The punishment that these guys take is off the charts. It is not a question of will you crash but how often you will crash. I read somewhere that the energy expended by a pro in the TDF is equal to the energy expended in 25 super bowls. The TDF is only one of dozens of races these men race in a year. By the end of the year they will have logged 25000 miles on a bike. For most the only way to get through the season is to dope. The only solution is to make the racing less brutal and force more rest time between races.

[King Crimson]

while the accusations get a little tedious, more tedious still are the "Lance can do no wrong" crowd. we have a lot of this in the Boulder cycling community.

i like Lemond better, anyway.

[diverdog]

while the accusations get a little tedious, more tedious still are the "Lance can do no wrong" crowd. we have a lot of this in the Boulder cycling community.

i like Lemond better, anyway.

Greg should have had at least 5 titles. Hinault screwed him out of one and he could have won others during the two years he was recovering from his gunshot wounds. I think Greg's list of victories is more impressive than LA's and LA will never hold the title of greatest cyclist.....that goes to Merkx.

[King Crimson]

Greg should have had at least 5 titles. Hinault screwed him out of one and he could have won others during the two years he was recovering from his gunshot wounds. I think Greg's list of victories is more impressive than LA's and LA will never hold the title of greatest cyclist.....that goes to Merkx.

Hinault comes across as a real jerkoff in the 89 TDF. anyway, one of these days, i'm going to haul off and buy a Lemond road bike off Craig's List. screw Trek.

i see this guy around town from time to time riding an Eddy Merckx track bike....sweet ride. orange with purple lettering.

[Bourbon St Sooner]

I thought the US Postal Service was not true governmental entity? It is in the minds of some when convenient and not when they want it to be.


We're self funded. That $7 billion we lose every year comes out of my paycheck:D





(ducks)

[texaspokieokie]

I think that psychological training should be banned too because I didn't think to do it when I was training....:rolleyes:

Seriously....he won 7 times! If they were going to catch him....they had plenty of chances and he was in France! I mean....they were all over him every time he raced.

This BS needs to stop. If they have a bad system and can't catch cheaters....then may be they should just quit having the damned race...

This ^^^^^^^

[jk the sooner fan]

he's a horn, of course he cheated

[OutlandTrophy]

has anyone figured out why the USPS was sponsoring Lance's bicycle team to begin with? That's the real crime.

[jk the sooner fan]

has anyone figured out why the USPS was sponsoring Lance's bicycle team to begin with? That's the real crime.

dude, if you're gonna advertise "mailing letters' - there is no better place to do it on the back of some dudes riding a bicycle thru the mountains of France

the coverage on that one obscure cable channel is THE BOMB diggity

[3rdgensooner]

Biker Fox would rule them all.

[jk the sooner fan]

i've always believed he was doping....and just really good at doing it without being detected

kind of like the baseball players who were obviously on the roids - its just hard for me to imagine that a huge part of the cycling world was doping - and Lance was pwning them all for 7 years without doing it himself

[Sooner Tri]

What I wanna know is why is this Hamilton dude bringing it up now, years after the fact? He sounds awfully bitter to me. I guess it was OK to do steroids years ago, but since he got caught and got banned from the sport, now he's gonna start throwing accusations around. Sounds like a real *** hole.

The 60 Minutes story said he was about to come out with a book, so that kind of explains his timing, if not his veracity.

Also, Eddy Merckx tested positive three times when he was racing, and was expelled from the 16th stage of the 69' Giro d'Italia, after a positive test for a stimulant.
Even though he doped, is Merckx still the greatest cyclist of the 20th century? Yep.
And even if he doped, is Armstrong (so far) the greatest cyclist of the 21st century? Yep.

[badger]

I bet you think that college athletics are mostly pure too.

Nope, because the Packers drafted another guy who coyly said "I've never failed a drug test" when asked by teams looking to draft him in the first round if he roided. I'm referring to epic blunder of a pick himself, Tony Mandarich.

http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/1004/nfl.draft.busts.modern.era/images/tony-mandarich-001291872.jpg

It still irks me that we took that roided guy. :mad:

So, I am not so naive as to think that just because people pass tests or don't get caught that they're clean. Tony later said that he circumvented the tests simply by knowing that they'd never test him during the season and during the bowl game, would use a toy to fake his way through the test since they weren't very good testers at the time. Then, upon arriving in the Neffel, he knew the testing was a lot more severe, so he just stopped taking steroids and his play suffered for it... at the Packers expense :mad:

In Lance's case, however, there was no circumventing of the tests. They had every opportunity to catch him during his 7-year reign as Tour king. Some kind of evidence other than people blabbing should have appeared by now. Some kind of evidence should have appeared then.

[NormanPride]

They tested that dude every way they could and all he did was win and win convincingly. He's a freak and deserves every accolade he got, dope or not.