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"Upton on Sports" Blog by Larry Upton

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Recent articles...

Lance - Sports "DUMBEST" ......................
05/19/2013 @ 09:28 AM
Which pro sports has the "DUMBEST" athletes? That the question I wanted n answer to......

Lance - OZZIE'S "MISTAKE"....................
05/17/2013 @ 08:48 PM
Former Marlin manager Ozzie Guillen said it was a "BIG MISTAKE"taking the Miami managers job.....he wants a job back in baseball.....

Lance - MLB - "JERK OF THE YEAR"..................
05/13/2013 @ 05:19 AM
Second rate New York Yankee pitcher takes offense at Mariano Rivera for being asked to tone the noise down while the star reliever was being interviewed in the dugout.....

Lance - "OUT OF SIGHT - OUT OF MIND"................
05/10/2013 @ 05:47 AM
An out of work NFL quarterback topped Forbes' list of America's Most Influential Athletes in 2013......weird.....

Lance - "THE CLOCK'S RUNNING OUT"...........................
05/09/2013 @ 02:49 PM
Police made it official...soccer in Europe and around the world's in serious trouble...the sports been corrupted with match-fixing....

Lance - Youth Sports - "HIJACKED" forever........
05/07/2013 @ 08:33 AM
Youth sports leagues across the country have been "hijacked" by grown-ups and it's time to throw them out of our parks and playing fields.....but with billions involved it can never happen.

Lance - "DEADLY CALL" ........................
05/06/2013 @ 09:52 AM
A ref in a recreational league soccer game in Utah is dead today because a 17-year old he called a foul on punched him in the head...

Lance - "BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?"..........
05/05/2013 @ 08:33 AM
Florida politicians on Friday said "NO" when the Dolphins asked for tax-payer money to refurbish their stadium......

Lance - "FORE" - on tax-payers dime......................
05/04/2013 @ 08:44 AM
Did you know the Pentagon runs a staggering 234 golf-courses with your tax dollars? They also run a ski lodge in the Bavarian Alps for non-golfers. Did you know that?

Lance - "MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME".................
05/02/2013 @ 05:47 AM
Racing's "main event" of the year, the Kentucky Derby, if off and running at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 3rd.......it's the 139th running of the Derby - 20 horses will head for the starting gate, but who will win the $1,439.800 purse?


Lance - "THEY WANT YOUR MEDALS!"................

Posted on 06/15/2012 @ 07:05 AM


After years of battling Federal officials trying to hang criminal charges against him for alleged drug use, famous biker Lance Armstrong tried switching sports only to be stopped in his tracks from competing in the grandaddy of all Ironman competitions - the Ironman World Championships held each fall in Hawaii. Another sports agency is ready to lodge "blood-doping" charges against him. The only way that will change is if the charges against him are dropped before the October 13th race.

Doping accusations have followed Armstrong for more than a decade. No world known athlete has been investigated more for using drugs, steroids than Lance Armstrong. Every investigated body known to man has had a go at him since winning his first Tour de France Title years ago. He's won the Tour de France seven times. After a two-year criminal investigation into doping-related criminal charges, Federal investigators dropped their search for evidence four months ago. This time the accuser is the "United States Anti-Doping Agency." This agency does not have the power to bring criminal charges but does have the power to strip Armstrong of the accolades (medals) that made him a world famous athlete. If they find Armstrong guilty of drug use they could also levy a lifetime ban on him that would cover cycling and any other sports that are signatories to the World Anti-Doping Code. Just the announcement that the agency is set to bring doping charges against Armstrong was enough to stop the famous cyclist from competing in triathlons organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. Armstrong's been focused on triathlons since retiring from cycling last year.

Let's face it. Lance Armstrong is playing against a "stacked deck." Nothing will satisfy his critics, his enemies, until Lance Armstrong is stripped of his seven Tour de France medals and he's held up to ridicule to the world's sport fans. Along the way to his many sport triumphs Lance Armstrong has made enemies. He hasn't always been the most gracious of Champions. He's been arrogant, unyielding to his many critics. Even members of his own cycling teams have spoken out against him but one could chalk those remarks up to envy, jealousy, or being poor sports for not receiving the glory Armstrong has. Armstrong from day one has always denied using drugs calling drug charges "baseless" - motivated by spite and paid for by promises of anonymity and immunity. He now charges that the United States Anti-Doping Agency has a "vendetta" against him fueled by "malice." I don't think he's wrong. If the Fed's with all their resources and time (two years) couldn't come up with evidence Armstrong used drugs what's the United States Anti-Doping Agency stepping in for? Is this another "big-name" athlete witch hunt like the Roger Clemens case? When is enough..enough?

Armstrong's 40 years old. He's more than paid his dues in his quest to be the world's greatest cyclist. If you want his medals just say so. If you want him humbled, just say so. If you want him held up to the world to be a fraud, and the only way he won events was to be "juiced"...just say so. Stop the "charade" of investigations. All of these "anti-doping bodies" lost their credibility long time ago as test after test were found to be flawed. None of these agencies are "protecting" our sports, our athletes. They're only protecting their jobs, positions. Lance Armstrong is correct when he says, it's all a 'witch hunt!" Lance- "THEY WANT YOUR MEDALS!"
I'll go further, it's all bull shit. Travis Tygart, chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency needs to follow the actions of Federal investigators and end this "sham." It's disheartening to see so many of our sports heroes humiliated, investigated for years, than find on page 39 of local papers charges have been "quietly" dropped and "investigations" ended.

The bigger question to be answered is "why the courts or sporting associations should pursue these cases? If Armstrong and Clemens were competing against athletes who were doped up, what difference does it make if they too were riding the needle?. We're living in a dog-eat-dog world where "winning" is "everything" - isn't that the American way?.........................

Larry Upton
"Upton on Sports"-source: LAtimes/NYtimes/