No Mas

Many years ago during a boxing match between Roberto Duran and 'Sugar' Ray Leonard, a frustrated Duran who was getting embarrassed in the ring, had had enough. In the middle of a round, he threw up his hands and told the ref "No Mas," or "No More."

With the USADA holding all the cards and Lance Armstrong running out of options, other than arbitration in the USADA's kangaroo court, Lance Armstrong finally said "No Mas." The man who steadfastly denied ever having doped, continually reminding everyone that he had never failed a dope test, gave up the fight.

Now just because Armstrong refused to go to arbitration with the USADA, it doesn't mean he's saying he's guilty of the charges leveled against him. What he's saying is that the USADA, who is 58-2 in arbitration hearings, has already made up it's mind about Armstrong's guilt, and there is no way that he could win. More importantly, Armstrong knew that if he went to arbitration, witness testimony from former teammates, doctors, team directors, would all testify to either witnessing Armstrong dope, or even participated with Armstrong in doping. Instead of going the route that guaranteed his losing and sealing the deal on whether he doped or not, he refused to play the game, and left the whole world wondering.

Well, the evidence while mostly circumstantial, was overwhelming. Former teammates, most notably George Hincapie were going to testify against Lance. Forget Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis, both disgraced dopers who had an ax to grind, this was Big George Hincapie, super domestique, the lieutenant who protected Lance in every tour he ever won. I always said that I would doubt the doping allegations unless Hincapie came clean, well he did. Well, he sort of did. The USADA offered George a deal he couldn't refuse. The USADA as part of their investigation, had information that Hincapie had doped too. They didn't want George though, the wanted Big Tex.

The whole deal stinks. The USADA is about as corrupt as the NCAA. They offered a deal to a rider who doped, to not strip him of any of his race wins, offered to let him and other riders who were going to testify, ride in this years Tour de France, and not ban any of them, in exchange for the goods on Armstrong. That was a deal to good to pass up, Armstrong knew it, and in the end all he had left was "No Mas."