ictchris

I think one reason why people continued to stick up for him is a lack of understanding of doping and the way doping is used in cycling. Drug tests are pretty meaningless when you are using substances that occur naturally in the body and thus are very difficult to test for and the complicity of the UCI in setting limits that could only be achieved by doping. Apparently there are up to 100 versions of EPO that don't have drug tests out there and other substances that don't have tests are always being developed, obviously because these are drugs that are developed to treat blood diseases and kidney failure. The system of biological passport (where a rider has his blood values measured throughout the season and cyclists can be penalised for having unexplained variations. Also, the cyclists who display suspicious values can be targeted for testing. A couple of years ago the suspicion list from the 2010 Tour De France was leaked - http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/05/news/lequipe-publishes-list-of-ucis-doping-suspicions-from-2010-tour-de-france_172784 The riders marked at a risk of 9 or 10 were convicted or effectively caught doping.

Apparently he's going to try and take down people in the UCI who knew about his doping. A few twitchy bottoms tonight!

[ Anyone know where the Under 20s game game with Hearts is going to be played next week and if I can get in to watch?

[ Good to see him back. Our best back four is Raven, Meekings, Warren and Shinnie but he's excellent cover.

Gavin Rae and Stephen Hughes are both central midfielders, Aaron Doran certainly isn't. If Aberdeen are going to replace either with Doran they've either seen something no-one else has or Paw Broon is finally losing it.

If you've got a bit of spare time, here's a link to an article in which Michael Ashenden, a doping expert, discusses the 1999 Tour samples and why they indicate EPO use http://nyvelocity.com/content/interviews/2009/michael-ashenden

No idea about the Canadian and Greek players but Sproule has been on the wane for a few years. He's far from the player who scored hat-tricks at Ibrox and all that. He could be a decent signing though, he offers them something a bit different in midfield.

The testimony was given under oath to a Federal Grand Jury, if they are lying then they will go to prison. They don't mess around when it comes to lying to a Grand Jury in the US - Marion Jones was given a prison sentence for lying about doping to one in a similar case. As far as I know, the only person who gave testimony against Armstrong who has written a book was Tyler Hamilton, and he wrote the book after giving his testimony. Not all of thosre who gave testimony were 'proven liats and cheats' - his former masseuse gave testimony, she told the truth about Armstrong and he insinuated she had mental problems and was a 'whore'. Also, if you are prosecuting dopers, you are going to take testimony from dopers. If the testimony was suspect or they were making it up, then Armstrong had the opportunity to challenge them in arbitration and he chose not to do that. Regarding the tests, I don't think Michele Ferrari is in line for a Nobel prize. Up until 2000/01 there wasn't a reliable test for EPO so it was essentially free reign - Armstrong's frozen samples from this time tested positive for EPO in 2005 but he managed to slap down this in court, by disputing the state they were held in. Upon the introduction of the test, Tyler Hamilton told how Dr Ferrari beat the test - previously EPO was taken subcutanously to be released into the body over a period of time, following the test it was used in 'micro' doses intravenously, thus clearing the body faster. Also, there were few tests that could pick up blood transfusions, if done professionally. Armstrong also used his influence over the sport and the UCI to get positive tests torn up (he failed tests for cortisone as well, and produced a back-dated doctors note).

He looks a bit like a mafia hitman.

It's being streamed on her website, I assume it's Oprah.com or something like that. It's a cowardly move. He'll get a soft focus, teary eyed chat about how he had cancer and he's sorry and he loves his kids and he had to do it. He could've held a presser where cycling or at least sports journalists could question him. I doubt Oprah will call him out. When Marion Jones appeared to confess being a juicer, she effectively said she accidentally took steroids and then lied under oath about it, all OW did was wipe her tears.

Yep. He could be due David Walsh/Sunday Times £1m.

I picture Dougal as like Ted from Airplane, people probably start topping themselves as soon as he starts up on his merger chat. I know I consider it when reading his posts.

Armstrong will be interviewed by Oprah next week. Word is, he's going to 'fess up as he wants to come back to triathlons or marathons. However, a confession could cause him to be charged with perjury as he has stated under oath in previous court actions that he has never doped. He is also being sued for $10m+ by a prize insurance fund and could face further federal charges.

Pretty surprising to see him stay but encouraging. Hopefully the likes of Tudor-Jones and Shinnie see this as a sign to renew their contracts, although younger, more ambitious players are likely to want to move on more than a relatively settled older manager.

Someone told you that the 18 year old Arsenal have put out on loan to the SPL and then extended the loan isn't going to get kept on? You must have amazing contacts.

For people saying we should get our out of contract players on 2-3 year deals, you need to remember that these guys might not want to sign a long term deal. It limits them in terms of their opportunities. If someone signs a three year deal and then has a tremendous season, scoring 20 goals etc then they are going to be less attractive to bigger teams because they'll require a fee to move. There's a reason that most players are on one or at the most two year deals, that's what is best for them. It also reduces potential costs for clubs like us - if we offer someone a three year deal and then they are crap for the rest of the time we are stuck with them.

Typical of the anti-merger flat earthers that they get a Facebook page three years after it was good. Look out for them moving to MySpace soon.

You can't complain about people celebrating in front of us after we've given them a shedload of abuse. When Imrie scored against us some of the people shouting at him were going mental, I remember thinking "you've just called the guy a paedo for an hour, what do you think he's going to do?" All good fun and part of the game.

Section E should get a 'Welcome to Hell' banner and unveil it at a midweek league cup tie against Alloa.

Italian football has an ID card system meaning you need to be in possession of a photo-ID card to travel away to watch your team. Colin Moynihan proposed similar in England during the hooligan years of the 1980s. A lot of Ultras/supporters groups don't agree with this. A poster on another forum said that other Udinese fans actually tried to get in at this game but weren't allowed because they didn't have an ID card. Away supports are low in a lot of continental leagues, including Italy. Distances between grounds are often huge meaning a 10+ bus journey. Violence around grounds is far more common than in Scotland or England also discouraging away fans. It's only really Ultras groups that go to long distance away games, which might put off less hardcore fans. Tim Parks book 'A Season With Verona' is about his season going to every Hellas Verona match, home and away. The first match is away to Bari, a 12 hour bus journey the length of Italy with a load of completely headcases, high on drugs and completely steaming. Not everyones idea of a great day out.

I'll be going.

Exclusive photo of Ross Tokely during this interview

More time to spend at home with his First Division winners medal. Oh wait...

If we don't win the league it's because Foran bullies the team and Butcher is a crap manager. Sack the board.

Apparently demand is so high that the Ross County admin staff were finding it difficult to get through it all However, they called in help from Elgin City's ticket office and all 12,000 tickets have now been sold.