Wejo: A Critique of Your Story on Dr. Galea is in Order

No, Wejo is not in the same company just because he saw the same doctor. Wejo was an injured elite athlete looking for the best treatment to keep dreaming.

In much the same way you cannot, for the sake of argument, say Wejo is adulterous just because he is male.

What i am trying to say is that to "defend" (that was the word used) Tiger Woods simply because "you" went to the same doctor, and "you" are clean, is weak.

My arguement is that Tiger Woods should be defended, objectively, on this board, because Tiger Woods is a "dreamer" come true.

Tiger Woods turned Dream into Reality. That why this board should defend him.

Rather than, as simply negative people are doing and will do, crucifying him for doing something most men "dream" of, it would be much fairer to find a suitable way for him to channel his talent - and resources - to worthy, noble, needy causes. He made, makes enough money to save starving populations for heaven's sake. He himself is showing regret, and is likely truly at odds with himself.

Would it not be a "dream" to redirect the material results of his talent in some very worthy cause, rather than crucifying him for something entirely human, with the only result of making him recoil into oblivion?

Defending without a "project", without a goal, is weak.

This is my argument.

Oh, I thought these 2 sentences were particularly funny:

"I have no idea whether Tiger Woods has used performance enhancing drugs just as I don't know whether anyone besides myself has ever used them. "

Gee, but that hasn't stopped you from calling TONS of athletes drug cheats, and insinuating drug use on the parts of tons of other athletes. If you "don't know whether anyone besides (your)self has ever used " PED's, why do you usually call out athletes with such certainty?

And....

"But because Tiger saw Dr. Galea, one of the top doctors in the world, before Galea was linked to any suspicious activities, does not mean Tiger should be crucified. "

Again, that is your attitude now. But in the past, you were quick to make insinuations of drug use based on athletes connections to certain doctors. I remember you finding some obscure article that mentioned that a few of Hermens athletes had some distant/brief connection to one of the Italian doctors being investigated in a cycling doping scandal, and publishing that article on your front page. The insinuation was clear: maybe a bunch of Hermens' east african runners are on drugs....?? You didn't mind pushing that line of thinking when it wasn't you involved.

the point could be wrote:

Rather than, as simply negative people are doing and will do, crucifying him for doing something most men "dream" of,

What "something" are you referring to, kicking-ass at golf or nailing 14 (or more) women while still married?

i am referring to:

DREAMING about being excellent at any sport

and

DREAMING about having an active sex life

Both quite common DREAMS, both for men and women i would imagine.

Have you ever DREAMT about either one?

[/quote]

What "something" are you referring to, kicking-ass at golf or nailing 14 (or more) women while still married?[/quote]

track shark wrote:

It's Anthony Galea, not Michael Galea

Yes. I know the founders don't think of themselves as journalists (if they DO they should stop), but the "article" was ridiculous.

It lacked capital letters and punctuation in some places. Writing style is largely subjective, but it looked like it was written by a HS kid.

It had joke in the middle that was really a dumb mistake to put in there. The only thing that WASN'T largely subjective that was included in the article was Tiger's name and Galea's name ... everything else was Weldon's vague recollection of something that happened three years ago (is your memeory that bad? Mine isn't.).

In short, The Brothers take a lot of criticism for their terrible writing (and typing) on the home page, but a lot of people give them a break because it is "just" the home page or "just" a website. But this article is more significant than that. The errors in there and getting the doctor's name wrong is too lax for this type of thing.

Also, how do you travel to Canada and see two specialists three years ago and not remember their names? What they did to you? Strange.

Not sure about the motivation for this article either. Weldon seems like a well-meaning individual, but did he really think that ALL of the Galea patients that were athletes would be exposed at some point? A la' Operacion Puerto? It just seems odd that he thought it was worth exposing, and he said that people were painting he and Tiger Woods as drug cheats already? They didn't even know he went there.

Lastly, and several have said this much already, WHY highlight all the current world-class runners who have gone to Galea for treatment if you are aware that YOU are being looked upon as suspicious for your (alleged) single visit to this doctor? The other athletes that you mentioned DON'T have their own forum (as visible as Letsrun) to explain why they were going there.

And what is it with the "HGH is legal in Canada" BS? We all know this.

Either Weldon is MUCH more naive and stupid than I have given him credit for or he is just a REALLY poor writer. I am not sure which is worse.

Glad you guys liked the joke about the vitamins.

The main point I was trying to make with the article is a lot of people regardless of what happens with this investigation went to see Galea with good intentions. I posted "who is the best guy to go see in the world" and I was led to Galea. I think most people would acknowledge there is a huge difference between seeing him before and investigation and afterwards (if the investigation proves anything).

Plus I figured people would find it interesting that I had actually seen the guy.

As for me "exposing" other athletes who say Lindsay or Galea, all I did was google search Lindsay's name and letsrun and write about some of the names that I found. They were already "exposed".

And we're not going to apologize for calling someone like Thanou a drug cheat or someone who has tested positive. If you can't distinguish between going to see a doctor who is regarded as one of the best in the world and having a positive drug test then I don't think there is much point in having a discussion.

Thanks for pointing out his first name is Anthony not Michael. We corrected that.

As for Tiger, I was reading the LA Times article on the homepage. The guy comments how Tiger looks huge. I've thought the same thing as well. I've always laughed when people said golfers don't use drugs. But I have no idea what Tiger Woods has or has not done. But Tiger like myself could have very legitimate reasons for seeing one of the bets doctors in the world.

If something comes of this story then it will be just one more thing that still pushes for more stricter drug testing. There still is not an effective test for HGH nearly 15 years after we were lead to believe there would be one.

I do take issue with the author saying this:

"You know what's really recklessly irresponsible? Dealing with a doctor who has a history of using and prescribing the banned HGH substance, that's what."

First of all, as the article says the author can legally prescribe HGH to his patients (non athletes) in Canada. Secondly, as my case shows there are a ton of athletes who went to Galea and had no idea he prescribed HGH. He was known as one of the top sports doctor's in the world. Are we guilty for visiting him?

And I'm trying to think if I sat down and Galea said, "I just want you to know I prescribe HGH to my older patients to help them heal. I also take it myself. I know it's banned for athletes but just wanted you to know. It's perfectly legal in Canada." I'm pretty sure I would have said, "Thanks for alerting me. I have no problem seeing you."

If it turns out Galea was doping people illegally then an athlete will face a lot of criticism for seeing him after this point or beforehand if he knew about it and did nothing about it. If Galea had tried to dope me then I would have alerted WADA and there would be a record of that.

wejo wrote:

If you can't distinguish between going to see a doctor who is regarded as one of the best in the world and having a positive drug test then I don't think there is much point in having a discussion.

Just curious how you think it distinguishes anything when you have a doctor who has not only been found to have substances banned by sports in his possession, but also raves about the personal benefits he's experienced by taking them?

Is there not the slightest insinuation that one of the reasons he might be "regarded as one of the best in the world" be because he is administering things other doctors won't?

Remember Charlie Francis and Trevor Graham have also been regarded as "one of the best in the world". How much was due to their training knowledge and how much was due to their athletes doping to the gills?

Of course none of this proves anything about anyone taking anything they shouldn't, but to pretend this isn't a plausible idea is just naive.

The LA Times article wasn't in the homepage but here:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke16-2009dec16,0,2923714.column

his assistant threw him under the bus. under questioning, she has said that he told her to lie if questioned when crossing the border. that breaks his credibility for me.

Well I mainly went to see Lindsay the physio/chiropractor. But Lindsay is not known for giving you stuff you can't get anywhere else. He's known for knowing how the body works and how everything is interconnected. Guys from Canada, who were associated with him from the University of Texas, all raved about him. He understood how the body worked. So did Dan Pfaff.

Lindsay worked on my with his hands not a needle.

My 5th year at UT where Pfaff was an assistant coach Pfaff put me on a table and fixed a groin problem I had had for a month. He put me in tremendous pain to do it and was working on the leg that didn't hurt but I was amazed. I said, "what the hell are you doing your working on the wrong leg". He said, "I know that one hurts because of an imbalance" the next day I was totally cured. No needles, no nothing. These guys understand the body and how it is interconnected better than a orthopedic.

Donovan's Bailey's groin injury was the best story I heard. Bailey pulled his groin right before the Olympics. (It's not family friendly so I didn't go into detail) They healed it by working on it 24x7. Let's just say part of the recovery it included working on his groin by going through a body cavity most people don't want someone sticking a hand through. But that is how good Lindsay was. He knew "that part of the body needs to be manipulated" even if it meant sticking his hand up another man's ass.

Rebuttal to Wejos article:

The problem with your oversimplification of Galea is the fact that you seem to think its fine if he practises good medicine along with bad, so some of his clients are nice guys. I would have a hard time calling him a "great doctor" if he mixes good with bad medicine.At what point did he cross over to become a doper?

The problem with that argument is that its called a front business. No one is going to advertise themselves as a doper. He would certainly do normal work with some people and illegal work with others.

Are you convinced that Dara Torres is as clean as you or Tiger? I'm one of those who was always skeptical of her accomplishments as a masters athlete,and this confirms my suspicions. I'm not as certain about Tiger, tho he clearly has got bigger in size.

Once again we are left to conclude for ourselves as these crooks are good at covering their tracks...maybe the computer will help.

I know an athlete who was doped by Galea and went to him specifically because he knew that Galea dopes athletes. It's not a secret in the Canadian sport community.

o.k. Nietzsche --

Celebrities tend to go to the same people because they demand anonymity and professioanlism. Of course, they could get HGH from others. But the same applies for high priced call girls, etc. You wouldn't see Tiger or Marion Jones on the street corner in the hood looking for drugs.

You would wish to be responsible for everything except your dreams! What miserable weakness, what lack of logical courage! Nothing contains more of your own work than your dreams! Nothing belongs to you so much! Substance, form, duration, actor, spectator -- in these comedies you acts as your complete selves.

Many will conclude that Wejo is no more or no less guilty than any other of the Elite athletes, Woods, Torres or anyone else. How desperate are these athletes to get an injury healed before the world passes them by? Of course none of these athletes are going to talk. Have they ever?

I believe Wejo but it is a bit disturbing that he chose to front this story before it broke in order to declare his innocence. Otherwise why even bother? No one would even know unless he knew there was a huge scandal brewing and he wanted to get in front of it.

Such is the brush that all elite athletes are tainted with. Guilty first and innocent later. Now we will never know on these athletes. But again I believe Wejo. If he doped up there, I believe that cross and distance running would be destroyed. It certainly would be for me.

Many will conclude that Wejo is no more or no less guilty than any other of the Elite athletes, Woods, Torres or anyone else. How desperate are these athletes to get an injury healed before the world passes them by? Of course none of these athletes are going to talk. Have they ever?

I believe Wejo but it is a bit disturbing that he chose to front this story before it broke in order to declare his innocence. Otherwise why even bother? No one would even know unless he knew there was a huge scandal brewing and he wanted to get in front of it.

Such is the brush that all elite athletes are tainted with. Guilty first and innocent later. Now we will never know on these athletes. But again I believe Wejo. If he doped up there, I believe that cross and distance running would be destroyed. It certainly would be for me.

This certainly is an awful Christmas and pre-wedding gift for Weldon. Let's hope all turns out well. I believe it will. fs

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