Armstronglivs wrote:
Despite the nonsense spewed endlessly by the doping apologists on this thread Houlihan remains banned from the sport. Nothing they can say will change that outcome.
Does that bring you comfort and security? Apparently it doesn’t, as you want to rephrase the 4-year ban in other terms you wish to be true, and furthermore you seek acceptance from others wishing they would repeat your understanding in your words.
I can’t speak for any of these alleged doping apologists, but speaking for myself, the 4-year ban, and any chance of reversing the decision, was never my question.
For me these questions are important questions arising from the process:
- Is the current process fair to all athletes in cases of possible no-fault, non-negligent, non-intentional, or no knowledge of ingestion? Recall the case of Simon Getzmann, whose price of innonence still cost him a 1 year suspension, and related income loss, plus 10,000 Euros, and would have been similarly impossible to prove had he not had one painkiller tablet left.
- Was Houlihan railroaded into a 4-year ban by a process which is not fair, as frequently described by USADA chief Travis Tygart? Were it USADA instead of AIU, would the outcome be the same, and would USADA have achieved no ban while navigating within the WADA rules? What does that say about the objectivity of the WADA rules?
- Can we intellectually use terms like “liar” and “cheat” if these things were not decided by a process that does not require deciding them? Why do some feel the need to? Is it rational?