AUSTIN, Texas -- Lance Armstrong talked for several hours with cycling investigators about doping in the sports past, said an attorney for the American who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping. Armstrong attorney Elliot Peters told The Associated Press that Armstrong set up the meeting and sat for questions for seven hours on May 22, and described the session at a hotel outside Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., as a "very good meeting." "They asked him about everything. ... If you made a list of all the questions people would want to ask about Lance and his activities in cycling and everything else, those were the questions that were asked and answered," Peters said. The probe has been expected to centre on the International Cycling Unions handling of doping in the late 1990s and early 2000s, especially its links with Armstrong. Armstrongs willingness to meet with investigators has been seen as crucial to their efforts to determine whether former officials with the sports governing body aided his doping as the Texan became cyclings biggest star. Armstrong won the Tour every year from 1999-2005. Those titles were stripped after a massive report by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency detailed doping by Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service teammates. Peters declined to detail exactly who was in the room or what Armstrong told them, but said Armstrong met with three people "running" the Cycling Independent Reform Commission and their attorney. A spokesman for the group did not immediately return a call or text message seeking comment on Thursday. The commission is chaired by Dick Marty, a Swiss politician and former Swiss state prosecutor. The other members are German anti-doping expert Ulrich Haas and Peter Nicholson, a former Australian military officer and war crimes investigator. Armstrong had previously said hed be willing to talk to the panel, and Peters said Armstrong had him contact the commission to set up the meeting. UCI President Brian Cookson has said in the past that Armstrongs lifetime ban for doping could be reduced if he provides information which assists other doping investigations. The panel has the authority to cut deals with cheaters who provide valuable information. But Peters said Armstrong did not ask for, and was not offered such a deal in exchange for meeting with the group. "There is no agreement and that was never discussed. We never asked for one," Peters said. "We do think the ban was unfairly harsh and should be reduced. ... Hes talking in the spirit of not trying to benefit by getting somebody else in trouble, but in the spirit of lets tell the truth." Armstrongs meeting with the CRIC was voluntary but he has been forced to testify under oath in lawsuits in Texas. Last month, Armstrong was questioned in a private arbitration dispute with a Dallas company seeking repayment of $12 million in bonuses it paid him during his career. In late 2013, Armstrong provided sworn written testimony in another lawsuit seeking repayment of other bonus awards. In that testimony, Armstrong named several people he says knew about his performance-enhancing drug use, but also insisted he didnt pay anyone or any organization to keep his doping secret. Armstrong also is facing a federal whistleblower lawsuit filed by former teammate Floyd Landis. The government joined Landis lawsuit and is seeking to recover about $40 million in U.S. Postal Service sponsorship money paid to Armstrong and his teams. Under the False Claims Act, penalties in the case could run as high as $100 million. Armstrong has so far refused to provide sworn testimony to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. USADA has questioned whether Armstrong paid officials at the UCI to keep his doping secret. Armstrong has said in interviews that former UCI president Hein Verbruggen helped him cover up doping at the 1999 Tour, a charge Verbruggen has denied. But Armstrong has denied he paid anyone or any organization to hide his doping.
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Adidas Erik Haula Jersey . -- Canadian Erik Bedard pitched into the fifth inning in his bid to win a spot in Tampa Bays rotation, helping the Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 on Saturday. To this day, in his mind, his side were the best team. "We knew we were much better than them, we were not afraid at all." Johan Cruyff shakes his head when thinking back to the day his Dutch side lost in the 1974 World Cup final to hosts West Germany. The shake, however, is not full of bitterness, bewilderness or even disappointment. Cruyff didnt need a trophy to tell him his team was the best. After all, for the next 40 years, all he and the rest of us have heard is how good that team was. It speaks volumes about Cruyff, and indeed the Dutch philosophy, that they were happy to be the Peoples Champions, rather than the World Champions. Greatness, instead, is used to describe the team that came from behind to beat them that day, a team featuring stars like Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller and Paul Breitner. Sixteen years later, in Rome, West Germany became World Champions once again. Great players like Lothar Matthaus, Andreas Brehme and Jurgen Klinsmann helped to dispose of an extremely average Argentina team. It was only one game of football. The same length of a match that can happen at your local park. Yet, despite it being an awful match, it accomplished something so important. It was able to separate greatness and mediocrity, ensuring the chronicles of football history were told the way they should. Since then five other teams would go on to win the World Cup in their own different ways. Some were better than others, but all of them deserved to win it and were better than their opponents. In Brazil we are now down to the final four. It has been a great World Cup, full of great moments, many of them coming from great players. However, where greatness has yet to be sprinkled is upon any of the teams. Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Netherlands is a wonderful final group to have in the semi-finals. Indeed, it is the first time ever that the two South American powerhouses have been at this stage in the same World Cup. All four are true giants in the game, without question, but so far the 2014 versions have been far from great. They all head into the final two laps of this World Cup knowing one of them will become the champions when they cross the line for the final time next Sunday inside the famous Maracana. All four have shown glimpses of individual greatness. Netherlands, who had to come from behind against Spain, Australia and Mexico, are inexperienced in defence and have significant weaknesses in midfield but they have lethal, clinical, great finishers who have helped them get this far although Robin Van Persie has gotten progressively worse as the tournament has gone on. Argentina saved their best performance for their latest victory, a 1-0 quarter-final defeat of Belgium. However, it was far from an outstanding performance. Coach Alejandro Sabella will be glad some players stepped up in key areas that badly needed to be improved but they remain a team that is very vulnerable in defence and the collective balance of the side is still nowhere near complete. Lionel Messi has been great at this World Cup, scoring or assisting on five of their eight goals so far, but Argentina have benefitted from a very kind draw and, other than at Messi, it would be wrong to place any kind of greatness on anyone else at tthe moment.dddddddddddd In fact, it has been a clinic in countering the argument that Messi himself must carry Argentina to glory, showing glaring examples of how average the team really is. The same can be said for Brazil, whose two truly great players will not feature for them in the semi-finals. Thiago Silva (suspension) and Neymar (back injury) will be a huge loss for the hosts against Germany. However, what this allows us all to do is to sit back and see if greatness can be found by others. It will be up to the other eleven players for Brazil to see if they can reach the final in front of an expectant home crowd. The Brazilian public often demands to see winners, while being entertained at the same time, and so far the team has only managed to, barely, win. With two games to go to win an historic World Cup on home soil it appears, based on the quarter-final crowd, that the winning ugly method is fine as long as they keep jumping the hurdles towards greatness. However, more often than not, winning ugly and losing usually meet at the same point. Eventually. Luiz Felipe Scolaris side have not been anywhere close to great at this World Cup but have two games left to save their reputation and cast aside any labels that have been thrown at them so far. Standing in their way is a Germany team who has also showed some significant flaws getting to the last four. Their captain Philipp Lahm hasnt been at his best, in either position he has been played at, while Mesut Ozil and Mario Gotze have been dubbed the invisible duo by the German press while coach Joachin Low remains undecided on who plays up front. However, their latest victory, a narrow 1-0 win over France in the quarter-finals, did give us a glimpse into what could be a victorious German team going forward. The balance of the midfield is better with the outstanding Sami Khedira in it, Bastian Schweinsteiger is starting to look more and more fit and influential, while Mats Hummels returned from the flu and ensured the back four were excellent for the first time. Make no mistake, this is not a great team. Yet. However, of the final four, they look the closest to such a label at the moment. It is a team that relies heavily on the influence of its Bayern Munich players, winners who have succeeded at the highest level of the game. It is a team that has learned how to lose at the international level and modeled themselves on past victors, Spain. Spain are on their holidays now but they have played an enormous part of what is happening in Brazil. Four years ago, at this stage, they were preparing for a game against the aforementioned Germans, after finally getting over the hump of the World Cup quarter-finals, a hurdle that had knocked them out so many times before. Their run to the trophy in South Africa showed us all what greatness was. This time we have had to wait much longer for it to show up. With one week left to go at this World Cup we still need to be patient. Four teams in a knock-out stage tournament where only one will reign supreme. Thankfully, we know from past years that at least the World Cup will hand us a deserved winner. There is still time for a Peoples Champion to be crowned but there is no time for more than one team to become great. It has taken some time but it is coming.
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