Penn State, perhaps?
Penn State, perhaps?
YAmaha wrote:
Penn State, perhaps?
I would argue that OJ was bigger than Penn State. But both was not directly about the sport. Also, Penn State was a US only issue, hardly talked about abroad.
When it comes to the sport, you would have to compare it to Ben Johnson and Ayrton Senna's death. All three probably rank about the same.
Only last week. Armstrong is old news now.
The USADA is looking for the next "big" thing, no need to worry.
No, because anybody who is interested enough about cycle racing to give a damn, knows that all the top cyclists of his era were also on something or other and few bother about cycling as a sport anyway.
Now if Bolt was caught cheating - it’d be the end of athletics as we know it today.
1919 World Series, 1950s college basketball point shaving were bigger. At least Armstrong was trying to win.
Yeah, the 1919 World Series was the first thing that popped in my head. The other one that I thought of was the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding thing.
King Kong wrote: Now if Bolt was caught cheating - it’d be the end of athletics as we know it today.
Add Phelps and it is the end of normal sports. The only survivors would be football, baseball and basketball.
Kong King wrote:
King Kong wrote: Now if Bolt was caught cheating - it’d be the end of athletics as we know it today.Add Phelps and it is the end of normal sports. The only survivors would be football, baseball and basketball.
+1
How could the sporting world survive without track & field and swimming?
Ummm . . . ever heard of Tiger Woods?
Sandusky was worse.
SMU football program in the 80s and the death penalty sanctions were about as bad. SMU was a top team and a frequent winner of the then stacked SWAC. The team was totally dirty, paying students to sign and play with the team. Administrators knew everything and covered it up.
East German doping program is pretty bad too. Most of the athletes were drugged without their knowledge and have suffered serious health consequences later in life.
Black Sox are probably the worst of all time, save and except child molesters.
1919 World Series was a much bigger scandal than Lance or Penn State, even though it took much longer for the news to spread back then.
I think any point-shaving scandal is worse because in that case athletes are DELIBERATELY throwing games for personal gain. When that happens the entire integrity of the sport is called into question. Armstrong alone could not do that. Even on PEDs Armstrong still had to compete against other athletes on PEDs. Although with the revelations of widespead PED use, the Armstrong situation has blown up into an integrity question for the entire sport.
How about Barry Bonds. Break a legendary record in the midst of his cheating scandal becoming exposed.
No
No, and maybe not even in cycling. Festina affair and Operation Puerto were equally as damning for cycling with regards to doping. The soon to be released Padua investigation implicating 20+ professional cycling teams in an international doping and money laundering conspiracy could be seen as equal. And 5 time winner Jacques Anquetil's romantic affairs with his step-daughter, his step-son's wife, his ménage à trois with his wife and step-daughter, etc. is quite bizarre.
King Kong wrote:
No, because anybody who is interested enough about cycle racing to give a damn, knows that all the top cyclists of his era were also on something or other and few bother about cycling as a sport anyway.
Now if Bolt was caught cheating - it’d be the end of athletics as we know it today.
You are right about the first part, but wrong about the second. In Italy and Belgium cycling is like a religion and it is a major sport with lots fans. It is likely the most popular sport there.
In France, Spain, and Germany it is a major sport but not followed with the same fervor as the first two.
In Holland, Denmark and many other European countries (even ones with VERY few pro riders - like Ireland and England) it is also a keenly followed sport.
When he asked about the "history of sport" did you think he meant in the USA in the last 10 years?
Also, if Bolt was pursued like they set up Armstrong, he would be caught. Same with THOUSANDS of others. All it takes is a Landis or a Conte who is forced to spill the beans.
nope wrote:
And 5 time winner Jacques Anquetil's romantic affairs with his step-daughter, his step-son's wife, his ménage à trois with his wife and step-daughter, etc. is quite bizarre.
bizarre?? I think the word you meant was awesome
King Kong wrote: The only survivors would be football, baseball and basketball.
Most of the world don't care about these sports.
Tiger Woods wasn't really a sports scandal, it was a personal scandal. The same can be said for OJ. Neither of these scandals involved or implicated any organization or other individuals in the sport.
Penn State, for example, involved cover ups by the AD and negligence on the part of the coach. The L.A. scandal is about systematic cover up that is pervasive in cycling at the highest levels.
it's cycling. by definition it can not be the biggest anything in the history of anything.