Thursday Roundup

News
The VeloNews says President George W. Bush has asked the U.S. Senate to ratify an international treaty that would add further muscle to the anti-doping effort in sport:

“The United States supported the development of the International Convention Against Doping in Sport as a means to ensure equitable and effective application and promotion of anti-doping controls in international competition,” Bush wrote. “The Convention will help to advance international cooperation on and promotion of international doping control efforts, and will help to protect the integrity and spirit of sport by supporting efforts to ensure a fair and doping-free environment for athletes.”

Work on the Convention began in 2003 after the second World Conference on Doping in Sport in Copenhagen, Denmark. At the time, analysts determined that the World Anti-Doping Code required the additional legal authority of an international treaty since a majority of governments around the world – including the United States - could not be bound by agreements drafted by non-governmental organizations, such as the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The NY Times reports today that former trainer Brian MacNamee has turned over to authorities physical evidence which he says proves that Roger Clemens was injected with steroids and HGH, an accusation which Clemens has vigorously denied:

But McNamee, a former police officer, decided to save the evidence rather than discard it, the lawyer said. “He was always concerned that if he ever got caught, he would be the most vulnerable and people would throw him under the bus,” the lawyer said.

[...]

The anonymous lawyer said McNamee kept quiet about the physical evidence out of lingering loyalty to Clemens, the winner of seven Cy Young awards, even though McNamee, by then, had created tremendous problems for Clemens. He had done so by telling federal authorities and Mitchell’s investigators that he repeatedly injected Clemens with steroids and H.G.H. from 1998 to 2001.

MSNBC posts an opinion piece on "cognitive dissonance", or in this case the arrogant protestations of denial in the face of reality professed by many athletes caught doping. The article was written largely in reaction to the revelatory claim this morning that Roger Clemen's trainer, Brian MacNamee, has physical evidence that Clemens was injected with steroids and HGH, even though Clemens still denies he ever did anything wrong.

The CyclingNews reports on a proposed meeting between the owners of the three Grand Tours and IPCT,the International Professional Cycling Teams, to discuss recent issues concerning the exclusion of a number of pro tour teams from the Giro. And RCS Events Director Angelo Zomegnan thinks Pat McQuaid may need a history lesson. In an update CN notes the sorry state of German cycing in the wake of many recent doping scandals.

Blogs
Racejukie tackles a number of subjects this morning ranging from "UCI gadfly" Pat McQuaid's muddying of the waters with his opinion that the best pro teams should be in the Giro, to the lesson cyclists should learn from Roger Clemens' present dilemma:

Never share your cheating with someone who'll later rat on you.

RJ phrases it more colorfully.

Rant feels the specters of sins past should be exorcised, at least in the case of Astana, and that Pat McQuaid may just be right for once.

Publisher's Marketplace is shopping a manuscript:

Code of Injustice			Feb. 6, 2008
		Author:		Dr. Erik Seedhouse and Doina Nugent
		Category:		Non-fiction: Sports
		Description:		Code of Injustice is a powerful indictment of all that is wrong with Dick Pound's WADA. Based on comprehensive and meticulous research, it attacks, blow by blow, the inner workings of a morally corrupt agency that implements antiquated science, utilizes flawed protocols and applies a draconian legislative process. The book examines the most conspicuous examples of incompetence such as writing incorrect sample numbers on laboratory documents, mislabeling samples, allowing samples to be contaminated and WADA's continued reliance on testing equipment and software that has long been rendered obsolete. Code of Injustice also investigates documented cases of incompetence such as lab technicians who operated highly complex testing machines without considering it necessary to look at the user's manual! But Code of Injustice is more than just an indictment of WADA. This book also explores the impact upon the lives of high-profile athletes who have had their reputations and careers destroyed by false accusations of positive drug tests. Code of Injustice also scrutinizes the role of the mass media in their role as character assassins and the illegality of collusion that exists between the media and WADA. Finally, the book provides, through the eyes of an experienced international lawyer, recommendations for remedying the process by which athletes are tested, and lays out a legal roadmap for the future of drug testing.

(Tip from SteroidReport)