Nike has had scandals where factories that they contracted out to abused their workers and didn't pay the nominal minimum wage in South East Asia. Does anybody think after that scandal they wouldn't ignore steroid and other PED abuse by their sponsored athletes. Phil Knight has shown to be amoral at best....
Nike "investigate?" USADA needs to step in before Nike figures out how to cover this up.
In my opinion the doping of minors is a big deal in the US. This puts Rupp, potentially Mary Cain (which, as of now, we know nothing about her involvement with using PEDs), and Salazar's own son under the umbrella. Forget about Salazar being fired by NIKE, the guy can go to jail for a long time. These are serious accusations.
The sad state of affairs though is after Rupp our talent level drops off in the 5k and 10k. No realistic medal contenders (Lagat, maybe, but doubtful). Even worse for the Brits with Farah. This will set our sport back, nationally.
Nike investigate?
Nike held on until the bitter end with:
rapist Kobe
pedophile Joepa
doper Lance
doper Mary Decker
doper Gatlin
doper Gay
doper Jacobs
doper Drenth
Prostitute Suzy favor
Where were the parents? Complicit? Gullible?
Nike investigating itself would be like the Warren Commission "investigating" the JFK assassination or Project Blue Book "investigating" UFOs.
I just watched the TV program.
I thought it was really well done and would like everyone's impressions.
Even though I thought I had knew everything from the ProPublica piece the TV part has an emotional pull and a few facts not on ProPublica.
Stuff not on ProPublica:
Stuart Eagon, the former Wisco runner, tells a story how in high school he heard Alberto ask Galen "have you taken your prednisone?" That brought it full circle for me personally as I had heard Rupp used prednisone way back when he was in high school and I wonder if that allegation originally came from Eagon who knew some runners my brother coached at Cornell. Prednisone could be used out of competition for asthma I assume would be a permiissible explanation for this.
The emotional pull of seeing people on TV does not come across in the Pro Publica piece.
Kara Goucher says of the allegation Galen Rupp took testosterone in high school: "I think it's going to break his mom's heart. There is no reason to be on that..."
Adam then says, "That's almost child abuse..."
My take overall is still the same, it is time for Nike to do a major investigation of Alberto and itself. There is now multiple athletes saying Alberto Salazar wanted them to break anti-doping rules, and there are two separate instances of allegations the Nike lab was aware of or advocated testosterone injections. The ball is now in Nike's court.
Do they care about fair sport? If so they will do an investigation and try and find the truth. If not they will continue as is. If they stonewall I think it is time for people to stop purchasing their products. That is what all businesses listen to but we'll see where this goes.
If there is nothing to hide do a full investigation and show that.
I'd be fine with Craig Masback a Nike employee leading the investigation. I trust Craig.
And if a 16 year old Galen Rupp was doped, I agree with Adam.
A few things aren't on the TV program - the book of pills allegedly sent to Steve Magness isn't in there.
One more thought, assuming they are telling the truth, a big thumbs up for Magness and Goucher talking under their names on the record. I hope others who have remained anonymous will now come forward with their names. Stand for fair sport.
The Kara Goucher interview is key. If I just read a transcript, I might have some doubts about how genuine she was being. But seeing it made it very clear to me: either she fully believes what she is saying or she deserves an Academy Award. I'm gonna go with the former. FYI, a short clip of the Goicher interview is also on the ProPublica website.
wejo wrote:
I'd be fine with Craig Masback a Nike employee leading the investigation. I trust Craig.
t.
Tell me you're kidding wejo? Masback who believes Slaney is innocent? Masback who left the USATF after awarding all of the national Champs for the next decade and 3 consecutive Olympic Trials without contest to Eugene?
How do you trust Masback?
How did you watch it this evening from the US, wejo? Did you spoof a UK IP address?
self reflection wrote:
Nike held on until the bitter end with:
doper Gay
To the bitter slap on the wrist
A coach giving or encouraging a 16 year old take exogenous testosterone for non-medical performance enhancing benefits is clear cut child abuse IMO. Really that along with Salazar using his own son as a guinea pig for testosterone clearance rates was the most disappointing and galling aspect of this whole debacle. If true, this is beyond the pale and Salazar should be banned from the sport. I seem to remember Ritz's high school coach was fired and disgraced for giving him Sudafed before a race, and that obviously pales in comparison to these allegations.
I am not buying Kara's words in full. She expects us to believe she was surrounded by dopers but was clean herself while being the only nop runner to win a medal during her term there. Doesnt make sense. Why didnt she leave sooner? You would think she, Adam, or Magness would have a smoking gun. She accepted large amounts of money for years then screams to the world years after leaving. Not courageous at all and possibly an attempt by a has been to stay relevant.
Bad Wigins wrote:
self reflection wrote:Nike held on until the bitter end with:
doper Gay
To the bitter slap on the wrist
Does Nike own Adidas?? When did that happen?