Not the usual weather , i had come to enjoy in past years , in fact , had i decided to go to the Paris-Nice , i would have enjoyed better weather than previous years . Italy , this year , reminded me of my visit to the 1999 Paris-Nice Tour , when the Gloomy Sunday at Null degrees and Monday , mixing Snow , sleet & Rain , in the morning , eased up and became spring Weather on subsequent days .
Today it is cold , snowy & wet outside , for the first time in over a week . This is Austria and the first days of Spring , so no surprise really ? This time last week , i had covered 75+km on the bike in the morning , sat out on the balcony for Lunch , and then moved to the garden , to grab a couple of hours of sun on the bare torso , in a sheltered spot . Why wouldn't you , with the skin feeling warm , sit and read a novel in a sheltered spot ? Certainly a great way to relax and enjoy the scenery .
So here i am today , spinning on a bike in the house , reflecting on the events of the past couple of weeks . With the TV providing coverage of a variety of Cycling events , i am also reading the commentaries from a variety of Cycling Blogs and other News sources . One thing that i am finding this year , is more TV coverage of Cycle Racing where " Team SKY " are involved . Not only are SKY News Network relaying details , but the other Major News Networks have joined in , giving minimal coverage , particularly where an English Racer is involved .
As it has become my custom , i am following the " Clinic " on CyclingNews . The exercises of the imagination that these people put themselves through defy belief . Adding into the equation are the antics of the people at the top of the pyramid of Power . What with relevations , of goings on , in the IOC , WADA , USADA , AUSADA , and of course UCI , there is plenty of fodder for the rumour mill !Not every item i will add below , will create the amusement , that i have enjoyed , when i first found them and i have linked some items so as to continue the ongoing story , but i hope that they are as entertaining as the " Jay Leno Show " or " Piers Morgan Live " ?
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" Froome will lose some 6kg more from now to July. "
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" Have they even publicly discussed their relationship with suspicious staff like Geert Leinders?
My disillusionment is mostly due to the amount of circumstancial evidence that is piling up these years to indicate if not directly proof that the peloton is far from being even remotely clean.
The sooner a scandal breaks, the better. We don't need another 7 years of a Supertrain doing super things."
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" Anyone who watches cycling and believes it is any cleaner than it was in the 90's or early 2000's is ignorant to the point of stupidity. "
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" if you can't add 1 + 1 then i can't help you "
ullrich
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" I think it works the other way too, people can't see past Brits being the new kings of cycling.??
In that case, why hate Sky? Not exactly an all British team, is it. "
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" Another one two finish and complete domination by Sky. I'm having a lot of trouble believing this is credible when the entire team seems to be consistently riding at a higher level than the rest of the peloton.
This, thanks to JV, is my new most favorite reference:
http://www.phys.washington.edu/users...eData/AIC.html "
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" When they won the TdF, both Evans and Wiggins were older and, on average, faster than Indurain in any of his 5 victories.
That is all I need to know. Obviously, Indurain was clean. "
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" The only hope I have left, is that some riders will call the UCI hotline, and make it public. Very unlikely though.
UCI will tell Sky to tone it down a bit, instead of rigorous tests for the riders.Fool proof BP after all.
Sickening.
Ah, the hotline, reminds me of the cartoon take on it from that online cycling site
Ricco: hello, is this doping hotline, i want to win grand fondo but Di Luca enter too
Mcquaid: hello, is that you Ricco. Hang up the phone you gob****e this is a UCI publicity stunt "
sounds like crank yankers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KLEBYSsB-Q
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Omfg. I'm laughing, I'm laughing. From Mr. Marx, a king of reality-think, to Bush the 2nd, another king of reality-think - but of a completely different stripe. What a long way that one went! And to top it off, an admittance of sarcasm? Wow, I found this an entertaining read!
But, yeah, guys, I can't follow all the snark, but we are getting complaints.
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" I don't know about disillusioned, but I'm mystified. Why do you guys bother watching cycling? As far as I can see you're either hopelessly idealistic or masochistic. I'm not sure either is particularly healthy
You are missing what these guys are saying. They don't and won't want to watch cycling. There are zillions of us who are so disillusioned that a sport we thought we once knew and loved has degenerated into the primordial ooze of artificial entertainment!
As long as the UCI is run by the Pat McQuaids and Heine Verbruggen's of the world, and riders refuse to become transparent about their training programs, doping test results, hematocrit levels etc., cycling will always carry the taint of cheating. And who wants to watch any so-called "competition" where the starting point is that the race is probably full of dopers, cheats and liars.
If you don't find that disillusioning, I am mystified! "
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" Everything about Landis that was mentioned in the Clinic was shown to be true. The lies and acting were called out. Floyd admitted it.
Meanwhile the Clinic talked non stop about the greater issue. Lance. What he'd done. In depth and rehashed again and again. The court cases, the bullying, the drug supplies, the sycophantic personality, the doping before the comeback and subsequently after it. Then came the talk about the rest. Plenty of riders fell to the way side, found to have been doping. All were called out.
Then USADA finally got the ball rolling when Floyd talked. He didn't hold back. Fast forward to last year and despite LA's pleas and lies stating he was a good boy, USADA banned him. Then they released their Reasoned Decision. Everything was filled in. We knew the general framework, all that was missing was specifics. Who he bullied and threatened on the side in the past and further more to that day. Only an idiot couldn't join the dots. USADA confirmed all of it. Then LA sensing his image needed to be buffered did the same, albeit after every personal sponsor abandoned him.
All that talk about Lance since the Clinic's inception up to August when USADA charged him and banned him was proven. The Clinic wasn't wrong on that. It's about human nature. Human weakness. Psychological behavioural tells. Cues that can be deciphered from simple pattern recognition. All you need is a functioning brain and some solid questioning and decent memory for recalling what happened. Not cynics. Realists first and foremost. People who couldn't give a rats rear end about upholding some lofty BS fairy tale status quo about riders rights. The Clinic see's what is going on. The obvious. Why? Because we've seen every trick and con that cycling has thought up and boy have they managed to concoct some doozies.
So if the Clinic was right about LA and all their hangers on. Right about doping for over a decade. Why now, all of a sudden, when a new US Postal has emerged, mirroring the play book LA and Bruyneel fashioned, even calling themselves the same thing and with their team leader praising LA no less in the same year he is proven to be a doping lying sycophant, are the Clinic wrong? What percentage chance do you think the Clinic has this wrong about Sky? Or any big name rider who is winning lots? Face it, historically numbers are against them being clean.You're facing the greatest beast of all...the times. Because time is the great equaliser. If LA couldn't escape, Sky won't. It will come out. In Time. They will be judged by the times. By what they've done. By the idiot fans who aren't realists. Just like LA their facade will fade. Can't escape the great beast known as time. The only thing that trumps Time is the Truth.
Armstrong had the foundation as deflection. "
" Sky go one better. They own the media.
Your not going to get a Walsh type or Kimmage writing those articles on Sky.
Not going to happen.
It's really only social media laughing their pants off at the performances. Main steam media are still buying it and writing a out it if super super clean.
The only way Sky will get caught is customs. But I still can't see it happening. They've moved on from Motoman.
Logistics has changed. Transport of dope is your biggest risk. 2009 dropping into Spain is much easer. "
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" You've been watching too many films.
You are kidding yourself if you think that people didn't talk to each other at the time. You, and everyone else on the outside may have had to wait years to find out some of the details, but you can be sure that the reason Walsh went after Armstrong with such certainty was not based on a hunch.
You appear to have very little understanding of the reality of life within the bubble that was pro racing in that era.
I'm not the one who claimed to be Floyd Landis. You can sit on your rock and deflect back and forth with pointless garbage about people in the Clinic supposedly not being aware that people talk behind closed doors (basic assumption...so try harder) but all you're doing is attempting to hide your own ignorance.
If you knew what you were talking about you'd have known the 3 men I referred to were Floyd Landis (had the photos) and he was mentioned during an Instant Messenger Chat between Jonathan Vaughters and Frankie Andreu. "
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" Armstrong had the foundation as deflection. "
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" Sky go one better. They own the media.
Your not going to get a Walsh type or Kimmage writing those articles on Sky.
Not going to happen.
It's really only social media laughing their pants off at the performances. Main steam media are still buying it and writing a out it if super super clean.
The only way Sky will get caught is customs. But I still can't see it happening. They've moved on from Motoman.
Logistics has changed. Transport of dope is your biggest risk. 2009 dropping into Spain is much easer.
We'll see....
Porte spoke to Ashenden and look at the path he chose. I hope he doesn't regret it one day.
Social media is sadly well ahead of the press. I don't expect a Kimmage or Walsh type to emerge suddenly. Too many leeches and hangers on in all the cycling press. Those who do have leg room to move about are often restrained by their employer.
When and why did Porte speak to Ashenden? I've never heard that one before.
As for the minor pieces hitting the social media about words Froome is saying. His ego is out of control. Cut from the same cloth as the Uniballer. He's definitely not gonna hold back this year. Will make for some great viewing of doped up riders. "
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" All this talk of doping is fine, but we really do need to actually know more about what it is the current Sky team is actually taking to give them the performances they are achieving. Blood bags? Great, most likely, but that's nothing that large numbers of the peloton aren't doing as well. AICAR? GW1516? Maybe. Some new form of EPO? Who knows. I think more discussion really does need to go into this than what does. Or is it just that in reality, we have absolutely NO idea.
Start trawling the body building forums. Buried in among the muscle geeks are endurance dopers. There's quite a few forums and they are busy so it will take time. My problem is I haven't learned their language, so even if I understood the biology, which I don't, it's hard to figure out what they are saying sometimes.
You need an education institution pass so you too can read research and get out ahead of the dopers. It all takes time though... "
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" My basic understanding is the peptide doping is a revolution. "
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" Sky/News Corp don't own the media, they own some of the media.The part of the media that they don't own would like nothing more than to **** on their firworks.
BBC,Telegraph,Independent,Guardian,Daily Mail,Daily Mirror etc.
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" ...and back in the real world, Team Sky won a race.
also sprach ZaratBrailsford:
"If people want the entertainment value of riders attacking each other, stopping, attacking each other again and again, then go back to 'old cycling', which will give you the capability to do that," he said.
"If you want clean sport and clean cycling, then it's going to be different. You can't have it both ways. There's an element of reality about what were doing."
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" Brentford is hillarious. Attacking and agressive riding is only possible with doping, thus in this new era of clean cycling he has his riders just ride at the front all day long instead, preventing everyone from attacking.
Now that Dawg and Porte are able to attack like in the good old days as well, the cycling philosopher must be busy coming up with some new explanation on how this is also a sign of clean cycling. "
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" Froome looked really bad. He was pushing 105-110 cadence by the looks of it . Lower gear ratios, pulling some fine wattages....... But it had nothing on Porte. When he went, he dropped everyone with such ease it was ridiculous. Van Garderen had nothing. He did it by simply pushing a bigger gear. Same cadence as before, big gear. Richie Porte was the shocking one from what I saw. No way he ever had that kind of power riding for Riis and Saxo. "
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" The thing that should concern all the Sky fans and the team is that it was very obvious both riders could have massacred the entire squad. I mean Porte's after race story was he didn't have the legs to go with Froome. Blatant lie. He put more power down on his attack than Froome had done with his. You could tell by how quickly he gapped everyone when he went with 2km to go. .
Amazing what you can discern just from looking at TV pictures, or do you have access to the SRM files of both riders?
As to Porte not having the legs to go with Froome, I haven't seen any interview where Porte states that, so unless you have a link?
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" So whatever Porte states is gonna be the truth? When did pro cyclists start telling the truth? "
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" So whatever Porte states is gonna be the truth? When did pro cyclists start telling the truth?
So basically we can't trust anything that pro cyclists say? Ok got it.
Just to clarify, what GalicHo says Porte said "I mean Porte's after race story was he didn't have the legs to go with Froome. Blatant lie"
(This may be true, but I haven't seen anywhere it says that) what I've read is the following
Having no qualms about sacrificing his overnight lead for the good of the team, Porte added: “Tactically we were spot on today. The team were absolutely incredible and it’s just a shame you don’t get to see all the work guys like Joe [Dombrowski], Jon [Tiernan-Locke], Xabi [Zandio], Kosta [Siutsou] and Vasil [Kiryienka] do to get us to that point where Froomey and I can attack at the end.
“Froomey set a hard tempo after Kiryienka’s mammoth turn and I thought I’d let a small gap go to see what happened, and that was the last we saw of Froomey, he was gone (laughs).
“It wasn’t planned but it worked out perfectly. We ride together every day so we know each other so well, and when he went nobody reacted so he had to continue.
"As I said yesterday, the only important thing was that Team Sky won today. It’s always special to get a one-two on the podium, especially given the strength of the field we had here, and we’re super happy.”
Doh, but then he's lying about all that isn't he? Sorry Trust know one......what was that? "
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" Richie Porte, the new miracle in modern cycling. All I know about him is that he rode for Contador in Saxobank and did basically nothing. And all of a sudden, lo and behold, he becomes an uphill sprinter who's even winning time trials.
I also know that today he's riding for another team, Sky, whose revolutionary training methods have allowed guys like Froome and Wiggings, who otherwise would still be fairly unknown, to develop their true cycling potential for the whole world to see.
richie was a triathlete before he became a cyclist.
did well in timetrials at aus nationals as a rider for a tasmanian amateur team. "
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" yeah ok fair enough i guess my original comments needed to be a bit more detailed. obviously it depends on the quality of the opposition.
Whhhhaaaaatttttt?????
The cool thing about 1. knowing what you're talking about and 2. telling the truth is NEVER HAVING TO REMEMBER WHAT YOU WROTE / SAID.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xcleigh
"As I said yesterday, the only important thing was that Team Sky won today. It’s always special to get a one-two on the podium, especially given the strength of the field we had here, and we’re super happy.”
Doh, but then he's lying about all that isn't he? Sorry Trust know one......what was that?
Please. Can a Sky defender:
1. tell us Sky did not kick the living snot out of that race
2. tell us the field was weak?
Porte thinks the field was strong. Is he lying? Or is he being sarcastic, and saying, "Great to win 1-2 when the field are so weak?". Coz that second version doesn't make a lot of sense to me, ya know? "
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" Before I say anything, I want to make it clear I believe Porte is doping.
I have been a massive fan of Porte's for about 3 or 4 years now. Being from Australia I have got to see a lot more of his riding than what much of Europe has, and when I first saw him I remember thinking to myself that he would make it. So, it's no real surprise to me that he's doing what he's doing (although, as I said earlier, I still believe him to be doping).
If you want to see a performance by him before he was riding for Saxo, then here was his win at 23 years of age at the Tour of Tasmania - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_ZgobjFM0c , riding for Australian team Praties. In Richie's defense, you can't tell me that he didn't show any form at a young age like has been mentioned on these forums on multiple occasions. Sure, it isn't at World Tour level, but make no mistake there was some tough competition in that tour with riders such as Bernard Sulzberger, Jack Bobridge, Leigh Howard and Kristian House.
Please note that this is in no way me trying to justify Porte's current performances, it's quite clear that he is doping. Considering I have always admired him, and been a massive fan, if I can see that, everyone should be able to. "
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" I haven't seen any interview where Porte states that, so unless you have a link?
There isn't a direct quote where he said he didn't have the legs (as far as I could find). Here is as close as it gets:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/oth...hie-Porte.html
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" Paris-Nice is all you need to look at. He dopes, it's simple. There is literally nothing else to say.
And my last few posts in here show I am as big a Porte fan as anyone.
Sad times are ahead in cycling, very sad.
It is sad.
Because in the real world he's a talent.
But he's turned into not normal. He, Froome, Wiggins and going to break the Tour apart. They'll win the TTT by 3 minutes. Maybe more. "
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" Given I'm new to these forums my overall forum view on Froome is not 100% clear. But please tell me that 95% people on here think his performances since the vuelta in 2011 is the most dodgy thing in cycling since ... well, ever.
(I realise this is completely un-Porte related, but he seems to get brought into discussion here regularly)
I think people are pretty satisfied that he's legit, but you could check here to see what was actually said:
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=17756
There might have been one or two who thought it a bit snaily.
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=15100
The original is always the best. "
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" Can I catch Bilharzia from someone infected?
No - unless you are a snail !
Schistosomes must alternate between humans and snails to complete their life cycle. This means that Bilharzia can only caught from snails.
Uh-oh. With Froome at the Tour, every member of the French population is at risk of becoming the newest cycling sensation. Expect to see crusty old codgers on rusty bikes with baguettes sticking out of rucksacks powering up climbs at just slightly less than six Watts per kilogram, leaving plodders like Evans gasping in their wake. "
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" The worst part of the current situation is the deja vu. It is watching the low bandwidth types turn dogsh!t in to diamonds as they repeat the latest excuses for obvious doping with an earnestness that would give Captain Picard a headache from the resulting facepalm.
At least the Armstrong homers can say they were unaware of how dirty the sport is.
History repeats itself. The first time as tragedy and the second time as farce. (Karl Marx)
we need a new aphorism MJM.
We have hit the fourth time.
what is third time? what is fourth time. some eloquence from George W Bush perhaps, would be felicitous."
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" The amount of rubbish around Leinders is enough to toss Brailsford out of the sport (and yes, Wiggins once was very focally agreeing with that notion).
We could also look at the blatant breaking of his own "zero-policy" mantra. The firing that happened is just ridiculous. Anyone maintaining that Mr. Knaven and Mr. Arvesen never had anything to do with doping is either clinically insane or just telling lies.
This sport doesn't need a guy like Dave Brailsford. The damage has been big enough already.
but Dave, Froome and Richie are gourmands. They luv their escargot in a cote d'azur three michelin star restaurant.
escargot, tastes like mussels, but with bilharzia. "
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" If it's like that, how hard is it to pull another someone out of Canberra and put them on 80k a year to deliver better-than-doping gains?
BMC even have a high performance division under Peiper, maybe one day they will find someone with the talent of Kerrison to make the expense worthwhile.
As soon as Alan learns to swim, look for BMC dominance. "
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" We'll see....
Porte spoke to Ashenden and look at the path he chose. I hope he doesn't regret it one day. "
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" In the pro section there is talk that Sky are getting ready to move into cycling broadcasting, and take over it like they did with football. Dont know if its true but backed up by the fact that they are now giving out tasters - highlights of the classics and TA, something they have never shown before.
Quite some coincidence that their move into cycling just happens to come as Britain become, as was put earlier today - the kings of cycling.
BskyB and Rupert Murdoch cant believe their luck.
If that is true of course, which considering they will charge 50 squid a month to watch, we still hold out hope it is not.
At least Festina and CSC were only running the clocks, not the coverage. Perhaps this will be interrupted when or if the big Skyfall happens.
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" They have shown the awesome and fantastic Tour Down Under for a few years.
I think ITV held the rights for the classics for several years, maybe they still do. But they've never shown them until this year, I think they're showing a 9pm highlights show of Paris-Roubaix, must be hoping for a 'home team' win.
Last night ITV4 showed highlights of the Criterium International. I don't think they showed that before either. Must of been very confident that Froome was going to do the business and decided to go for it. "
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" The worst thing about Sky is that, for me, they are almost single-handedly destroying what little credibility cycling had regained in the last 5 years. They've made everything suspect and tainted, like it was in the worst days of the EPO era. Whether I like it or not, they've changed the way I look at cycling and made it a lot more cynical - and it wasn't exactly all sugar and spice to begin with.
This.
The BP is fool proof, yeah, good one Pat, when the Sky riders have been tested once at training camps.
F*cked up "
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" I'm not sure i see the connection here, Ferminal. Kerrison's personal rep in Australian swimming was pretty stellar before he ever went near a bike. "
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" How on earth does a lawyer in Ireland know anything about a swimming coach from antipodes, when there is NOTHING (or close enough) published about his ability or results, (I've looked) other than a brief mention in a chapter from a book on Australian swimming stories, where Jodie Henry is stronger in 2004 than she's ever been, since 1998, and Kerrison is there as part of the coaching team. "
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" He is also labeled "former sports scientist" in the Swim coach bible. "
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" Please, if you care, humour us with your sources on his skills, palmares or "personal rep" "
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" Well, i know for starters, he's not a coach as such."
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"
Aus Swimming = NOT normal.
Couldn't agree more. Just makes me laugh when people post utter drivel with no source or citation. Personal rep. That's not professional rep, is it? It's the personal rep. He is a nice person. Interviews very poorly. Probably never see him interviewed again, unless reading from a teleprompter on a BSkyB special, ala Brad "I never raced with him, he's my hero" Wiggins. "
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" your utter bull$hit wont work on me Smear Wiggo "
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" OK you two (you know who you are), stop snarking at each other. Concentrate on the message not the messenger. "
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Paul Kimmage 
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David
Walsh 
