Irregular Report 43

Have a great "turkey day" everyone!

Here and There
Racejumkie wishes us all a Happy Thanksgiving too, and throws in a youtube gem and a "photo shopped" tidbit to boot.

Velo Vortmax "debates" the problems and concerns many have with WADA, the UCI, and the new "bio passport" program.

Bikerumor reviews recent activity in "busy" Floyd Landis' career.

The New Common Sense refers to the Schumacher case and feels Floyd Landis should keep pushing with his federal law suit, even though he has nothing to lose by doing so and Floyd might.

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Irregular Report 42

Here and There
CyclingNews reports on a Thursday filing in federal court by lawyers representing Floyd Landis with this reaction from WADA head David Howman:

David Howman, the WADA General Director, told AFP, "There will be no compromise made," in the fight against doping, even though the agency has nearly used up the allotted $1.8 million to litigate the Landis case.

There's one on Velonews too. Both of these seem to be caught in some kind of time loop, because there isn't anything new in the docket, and there hasn't been for quite a while, since we last reported on 9-Nov. Maybe someone's RSS reader did the "month old" trick, and it was taken as a new story. VN also got a late mention of Landis and OUCH, formerly Healthnet/Maxxis. Flash -- Landis had his hip replaced.

VN also carries word that Kohl has gotten 2 years for his TdF infraction, bouncing him from third on the podium and taking away his polka dots. Pez says Kohl wasn't exactly cooperative during the hearing.

The Telegraph reports Rugby player Scott MacLeod has succeeded in skating on a T/E violation by using an alcohol defense.

Rant "rants" about the Cycling Weekly op-ed piece being discussed lately on TBV which admonishes "cheaters" like Floyd Landis for defending themselves against doping allegations. Rant them goes on to discuss some comments made ysterday in the blog Steroid Nation.

I ride, I write tells Landis to shut up and ride the bike; comments disagree.

Ron blurbs us while talking about the Floyd Landis piece in the VN . Thanks!

Velo Vortmax writes about the differing reactions to different "dopers" in cycling and wonders if Floyd shouldn't have taken Pat McQuaids's "sage" advice after all.

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Irregular Report 41

Here and There
The VeloNews notes that Floyd Landis' lawyers filed a motion Thursday, originally filed in September, in which Landis claimed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles that the three arbitrators in his CAS case had undisclosed conflicts of interest that may have affected the outcome of the appeal of his USADA arbitration ruling:

In the motion filed on Thursday, Landis’ attorneys claimed that evidence of arbitrators’ conflicts of interest on recently came to light after CAS recently posted information about past cases on its Web site.

Steroid Nation feels it's getting "obsessive" and "ridiculous" for Floyd Landis to continue his fight against doping allegations and the subsequent rulings therein.

Racejunkie has some "interesting" comments on cycling stalwart Bijarne Riis as well as "patron saint" of ex-dopers Michael Ball. She wonders who the heck will be a "domestique" for OUCH "bionic man" Floyd Landis. Who indeed? And, is there really a vast French wing conspiracy?

VeloNews makes note of the Landis to OUCH signing and mentions the wind tunnel testing in NC last week as well as the ongoing recomposition of the team.

WADAwatch ponders the recent proclamation by the wife of OP's infamous Dr. Fuentes that she will "spill the beans" , as it were.

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Irregular Report 40

FloydLandis.com is back, sort of, as a redirect to the OUCH Sports Medicine site. We learned this via email from Rant, himself.

NY Daily News ITeam Blog snidely comments on Armstrong, and does a Landis drive-by en-route.

Cycling Weekly raps cyclists for offering any defense to doping charges, saying in a round-about way, "if you've been wronged, too bad, and shut up."

Is there anything more nauseating than the pathetic protestations of innocence and accusations of wrong-doing from a rider who has tested positive?

Tyler Hamilton started all this, with his lengthy 'Believe Tyler' campaign, which roped in his pet dogs as unwitting cheerleaders. Floyd Landis went down the academic route with a PowerPoint presentation stating his case.

...

If you believe you have been wronged, sue the laboratories for screwing up. Sue WADA for drafting illegal laws. Sue the sport's governing body and your national federations. See how far you get with that kind of action.

But do us all a favour and stop whining to favourable sections of the press, who are only too happy to help make your apologies for you and prove your case.

Otherwise, shut up, serve your ban and stop bleating, because it will only make you even more unpopular than you already are, which is jolly unpopular indeed.

Competitor Nor Cal is calling for forgiveness on Landis' return to racing.

Frank had some Floyd company on a training ride in North Carolina, and held on with some automotive assistance.

Racejunkie is very impressed with Jan Ullrich's current legal team, which now takes top spot in RJ's "cycling legal eagles" from Ivan Basso's crew.

Jan quite precisely testified that he never took then-banned performance-enhancing substances during the moments he was riding on his bicycle with Coast at the start of 2003. Well, that's the sort of beautiful barn-burning weaselry to make a lovelorn litigator's heart thump!

And they said Jan was not coachable.

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Fed case pushed back

There's some docket action, and the first hearing is pushed back from Nov 24 to maybe Dec 22d. Los Angeles attorney Timothy Martin has put an appearance for USADA, so no connection yet to HRO. Opposition papers are due Dec 8th, and reply on Dec 15.

We'll update the archive a little later with copies, but there's nothing really to see.

11/10/2008	22	STIPULATION to Continue Hearing Of, And Briefing For, Petitioner's Amended Motion To Vacate Arbitration Award from November 24, 2008 to December 22, 2008 filed by Respondent United States Anti-Doping Agency. (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Order Continuing Hearing Of, And Briefing For, Petitioner's Amended Motion To Vacate Arbitration Award)(Martin, Timothy) (Entered: 11/10/2008)
11/10/2008	23	NOTICE of Appearance filed by attorney Timothy J. Martin on behalf of Respondent United States Anti-Doping Agency (Martin, Timothy) (Entered: 11/10/2008)
11/10/2008	24	CERTIFICATION AND NOTICE of Interested Parties filed by Respondent United States Anti-Doping Agency, identifying Floyd Landis, United States Anti-Doping Agency. (Martin, Timothy) (Entered: 11/10/2008)

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Haywood

We're pointed to the case of Susan Haywood by a comment:

Anyone able to comment on Sue Hayward's recent award of damages?

This is the first I've heard of the case, but it looks like there was an arbitration overturned along the way, and then a jury award of damages by a US Federal Court. I'm guessing the contractual basis for dispute resolution was the same USAC racing license application Floyd agreed to.

Stare Decisis?

Probably not...

[MORE]


Said CyclingNews,

American mountain bike racer Susan Haywood was awarded over $300,000 in damages by a US Federal Judge on Thursday for being unfairly being removed from the USA Olympic team in 2004.

We've gotten the relevant documents from the case and put them in the archive:

• Complaint
• Memo of supporting law
• Answer
• Response to Memo of supporting law
• Ruling

Stare decisis being the principle of following precedent of prior decisions, the question is always whether this case can be distinguished from that case, so the precedent of that case doesn't apply.

It doesn't look like USACycling fought this very hard, and the facts seem very different from Landis, so it's hard to say it sets any relevant precedent for the Landis federal case.

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Irregular Report 39

Here and There
The LA Times reports Catlin may be close to a urine test for HgH

On 13-Nov, Velonews notices ACE has folded shop.

Rant ponders, after reading a NY Times piece, the possibility that Floyd Landis might have gotten a fairer shake in a regular courtroom.

Racejunkie wonders why, if he's so afraid of French cycling fans, Lance A. would poke them with a stick. And hey Tom, slow down!!

Life on Two Wheels says Floyd has been training lots lately, and behind an BMW motorcycle no less.

Floyd was looking really smooth and good. I am stoked to see him back out training, and can't wait to see him race this next season. The bad news for the big teams in the country is that, if they hope to win any stage races this year they better sign some better racers. I can tell you right now Floyd is going to destroy people next year domestically. I would pick him to win just about any stage race in the country. Time to really start training.

The USADA reply in the Landis Federal case ought to arrive this week, so watch the docket and give us a holler if you see it before we do. (A copy would be nice too!) Yes, you need a PACER login to see the docket.

Answering an unrelated question, TBV is mending slowly, still with sore ribs that ruffle sleep and revealed elbow tenderness. Starting stationary training, and sans good bike while lawyers start settlement talk. It left lots of time for election fretting.

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Irregular Report 38

ESPN/Bonnie Ford confirm that ACE is folding, leaving Garmin, Columbia, and BMC hung out to dry. One partial cause may have been the exit of Paul Scott from ACE, following his help with the Landis defense. We guess Scott Analytics, used by Rock, is still operating -- but if Scott was blacklisted for helping Landis, then he might still not be acceptable for these teams.

Racejunkie catches us up on all the latest from the world of cycling including a few choice words on Bijarne Riis, and a mention on Floyd Landis' new team.

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Irregular Report 37

Cycling Fans Anonymous has interesting news. In a 30-Oct post, it suggests ACE may be folding.

On 1-Nov, CFA points us to a forthcoming book, "The Ethics of Doping and Anti-Doping". This is supposed to be out in May, at 185 pages for $38.00 (paperback) and $140[!!!] (hardcover).


US Citizens,

Don't forget to vote tomorrow!

Rant also exhorts us all to vote today. It's a right many have fought and died for in the past. Using this privilege is the least we can do to honor those many and participate in the present.

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Irregular Report 36

Here and There
BikingBis notes the return of Floyd Landis to the pro peloton on the OUCH (Occupational Urgent Care and Health Sports Medical Center) Team and wonders if he will suffer the same way Tyler Hamilton did when he first made his comeback.

EuroPeloton writes about the "comebacks" of Floyd Landis, Ivan Basso, and Lance Armstrong noting, among other things, that at the very least there will be an increase in publicity for cycling.

BikeWorldNews notes Landis' OUCH comeback.

ServiceCourse notes the comeback too, with a snarky picture.

Liz brought back the ever popular Phonak kit this Halloween.

Critical Section had quite a blogging year, and in this entry welcomes Floyd Landis back to the peloton.

CyclingNews has some letters about life bans on first offenses.

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