The Snowball Effect

I feel that a large snowball started to roll down a particularly long mountainous slope a few days ago. The USADA report on the doping practices of Lance Armstrong and the US Postal and Discovery Channel cycling teams hasn't totally surprised me with its content on doping practices or indeed the professionalism by which the doping ring was organised. If you could graduate from the Dave Brailsfords School of 'the aggregation of marginal gains' and apply the lessons to planning, running and succeeding (up to last week anyway) in the implementation of a doping ring then Lance, Johan and friends would be top of the class. Their moral compass was largely bearing in the direction of 'The Darkside', with the exception of the Livestrong cancer charity, the whole aura of the US Postal Cycle Team and Lance now seems to be reminiscent of the Rebel Alliance. I half expect Johan Bruneel to be Lance Armstrong's father. Stranger things have happened. 

The snowball has already started to engulf others in the pro cycling world that sat on the periphery of the USADA report and more and more will come I am sure. The current Olympic gold medalist is shown to have paid more than $50,000 to Dr Ferrari. As far as I know new Ferrari's cost a good deal more than $50k so there must be something untoward going on there. How much is an Olympic gold medal worth? I expect you could trade one in for a Ferrari in Kazakhstan, simples.

Further a field, on a rectangular one specifically in Marseilles, not known for its snow, a controversial footballer has implied that 'all you have to do is look'. Not that this surprises me, there has been smoke around football before with Operation Puerto, much like there has always been smoke surrounding Lance in France most July's since 1999. I recall several Dutch footballers pointing the finger at Italian pigs for positive Nandrolone tests. I always thought the Dutch had a drugs problem. 

Maybe this is where the snowball escalates or stops. I have little faith in FIFA and The FA, probably even less than I do in the UCI, so I doubt that the USADA report snowball will transcend into football. But I am sure that there must be illicit training regimes at the highest level around the world. I propose this; If you are a 16 or 17 year old skillful football player in a Barcelona/ Ajax/ Manchester United/ AC Milan youth setup and your coach says to you that they will probably let you go at the end of the season because you are not physically gifted enough. Where would you go maximise your chances of being paid circa £20,000+ a week when you have already dedicated your adolescent life to achieve that very goal . You have already prioritised your life around dedicated training regimes and meticulous attention to your nutrition and not on schooling and socialising in a 'normal' teenage way. At what point does the risk/ reward balance overcome your moral obligation? 

What about the biggest game in football, the Championship play-off final? The very last game of a long football season with a potential for hundreds of millions of pounds to be gained by winning. As a coach you worry about the fitness of your team that has battled away at Norwich in the snow in January to get to this final. What could you possibly do to maximse your chances of making the big time? 

The snowball effect is just gaining its momentum, where will it stop?

Doesn't Lance have a place in Aspen, Colorado? I hear it gets pretty snowy around this time of year.