RE: t-and-f: On the topic of drugs in sport....
Taking into account that this interview came from "TESTOSTERONE MAGAZINE" I would have to say that the interview is biased towards Francis' point of view. Although I thought Francis made some interesting points with regards to the way only lower athletes get caught while established athletes, and we all know who he's referring to here, are protected. Rumors to this effect have been circulating around the track and field community in this country (USA) for the last 20 years. With the pending litigation surrounding the resignation of Dr Wade Exum we'll just have to sit back and see where the chips fall. I'm not going to, nor do I think anyone else should, make accusation of drug cheating by current or past athletes unless I had substantiated evidence and not just hearsay. If Exum has this evidence then this country's (USA) track field governing body and Olympic committee is, in my opinion, on the same level if not worse, than East Germany's during the 70's and 80's. With regards to Ben Johnson being setup by the testing machine being primed with stanazol, are there any list members out there who can substantiate his claim that it is the only way that pure stanazol could have been found in his urine? Was pure stanazol found in his urine? -Ray Cook -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of R.T. Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2000 8:41 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: t-and-f: On the topic of drugs in sport In the interests of full and fair disclosure, it should be pointed out that R.T., while being a frequent and sometimes brilliant poster to this List, is also a USA Track and Field Official. As such, one would expect a reflexive lack of support from him for a Canadian espousing the heretical viewpoint that the sport was not clean. Actually, I would NOT go so far as to say that whatever Francis says, the opposite is true. However, there is every motivation for Francis to twist the story so that he is viewed in the best possible light. He is NOT the first person I would go to if I would want to find out the truth. By the way, make that FORMER USA Track and Field Official. I have resigned, for reasons that have nothing to do with my love for the sport, and everything to do with the need to spend more time with family... I will expect some of you young whippersnappers who are 'right out of college' and yet to have much in the way of family obligations to get involved and take my place as an on-the- field official. RT
Re: t-and-f: On the topic of drugs in sport....
Scepticism is always at the forefront of these types of artices/ interviews. Who are we to believe? What are we to believe? As a Canadian in this sport, it brings two things to mind. First, the shock and naivety of the North American people suggests there are still those of us who beleive, train and compete without these types of 'induced enhancers'. We are perhaps content with the level at which we presently compete, but we are 'clean' and will continue to profess this type of training for our track and feild athletes in clubs and univeristies. I would go so far as to suggest that the use of drugs or performance enhancing materials could define the otherwise ambiguous line between amateur and professional track and feild athletes. We are in a sport without massive television contracts or expansion teams, thus the levels of our sport could be defined by what is put into an athlete rather than what is put into a team. Furthermore, and again this is somewhat patriotic, if what Francis says is true then the efforts of Kevin Sullivan are even more astonishing. Pure, raw athleticism and fitness can get you to the big dance and can even get you to the 1100m mark in 2:36, but I guess to medal with a :54sec last lap instead of fifth with a :55sec last lap is the 'enhancing' difference. Or perhaps I am wrong. Anyways, a good read for Canadians nonetheless. Ryan Sullivan _ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.
Re: t-and-f: On the topic of drugs in sport....
In the interests of full and fair disclosure, it should be pointed out that R.T., while being a frequent and sometimes brilliant poster to this List, is also a USA Track and Field Official. As such, one would expect a reflexive lack of support from him for a Canadian espousing the heretical viewpoint that the sport was not clean. Tony Craddock _ At 07:22 PM 10/4/00 -0700, R.T. wrote: On Wed, 04 Oct 2000 13:59:40 -0400, you wrote: Does anyone have any insights concerning the Charlie Francis interview posted here? I think it had a lot of points to consider since there was a lot of list traffic regarding just those issues he raised... Anyone? It sounded to me a lot like one of those interviews where Charlie Francis asks a question and then jumps in the other chair to answer. The whole thing sounded set up, like Francis at the very least gave the interviewer 'talking points'. The guy was just a straight man feeding Francis the triggers for what he wanted to say. Certainly not a hard-hitting, challenge-him-on-every-point of credibility and facts interview. Just my take. Francis earned a well deserved reputation for dishonesty in involving himself heavily in the doping game- so why should I believe anything he says now? He already lost any credibility a long time ago. RT
Re: t-and-f: On the topic of drugs in sport....
In the interests of full and fair disclosure, it should be pointed out that R.T., while being a frequent and sometimes brilliant poster to this List, is also a USA Track and Field Official. As such, one would expect a reflexive lack of support from him for a Canadian espousing the heretical viewpoint that the sport was not clean. Actually, I would NOT go so far as to say that whatever Francis says, the opposite is true. However, there is every motivation for Francis to twist the story so that he is viewed in the best possible light. He is NOT the first person I would go to if I would want to find out the truth. By the way, make that FORMER USA Track and Field Official. I have resigned, for reasons that have nothing to do with my love for the sport, and everything to do with the need to spend more time with family... I will expect some of you young whippersnappers who are 'right out of college' and yet to have much in the way of family obligations to get involved and take my place as an on-the- field official. RT
