THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26. 2012
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9 THE BULL
Armstrong scandal changes cycling
GEOFFREY CALVERT
gcalvert@kansan.com
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Only weeks after the International Cycling Union stripped Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles, American cycling is trying to find a way to distance itself from the blood doping era.
Adam Mills, who races for the elite Mercy Cycling Team based in Fort Smith, Ark. said Armstrong's fall from grace is rippling through amateur cycling.
"I know a couple tier three, or domestic, pro teams have folded this year," Mills said. "People just don't want to be associated with anything that might happen that's bad."
However, the teams that folded might be the exception, not the rule. Instead of turning fans away from cycling, Armstrong's punishment may have started to repair the trust between the sport and its fans. Every rider knows they will not be immune from sanctions for positive drug or doping tests.
Since the 1987 Tour de France, eight of the 12 Tour de France winner's were either sanctioned for doping or drug use or tested positive during their careers. John Lefter, a former elite cyclist and current race promoter, said Armstrong's exposure is good for cycling because it ends the driest era in the sport's history.
"I think it will affect it in a positive way because riders are going to realize there's an eye on them now," Lefler said. "I think it needed to be exposed. I think we needed to be able to wipe the slate clean and move forward."
Senior Grayson Warrior said he hopes his pain will emerge from this scandal cleaner and more popular. In fact, his livelihood might depend on it. Warrior is a sociology major and the vice president of the KU Cycling Club.
Instead of spending his summers in internships, he rides for Colavita/Parisi, a local team.
USA Cycling classifies Warrior as a level three rider. Once he is a more experienced cyclist, he will be in more races and can become
I think it needed to be exposed. I think we needed to be able to wipe the slate clean and move forward."
JOHN LEFLER Cycling race promoter
a level two rider. At that level, Warrior will begin to attract professional teams' attention.
He said although Armstrong gave cycling a face, opportunities for young riders to get into the sport wouldn't decrease just because Armstrong is gone.
"Lance had his time. He definitely helped push that, but it's not solely based on one person," Warrior said. "Nowadays, my friends, they don't really talk about Lance."
Warrior, Lefer and Mills don't race near the level of riders in the Tour de France, but they ride in USA Cycling-sanctioned races across the United States, including the Tour of Lawrence, Snake Alley and the Tulsa Tough.
Warrior said he hasn't raced
as much in the past year because his funds were short. However, he said if he struggles to raise funds early in his career, he wants to intern with cycling companies while racing on the side, because the time frame on cyclists' careers is much longer than athletes in other sports.
"The thing is with cycling, since there's almost zero impact to the body, it really doesn't damage your body that much," Warrior said. "There's an extensive amount of training that goes into it, but there are riders who race in the Tour de France that are in the high 30s."
Although domestic riders are not racing for as much prestige and money as riders in international events, they are still racing to support themselves, so Mills said some riders still dope. He said riders usually knew which riders were doping because they would make large improvements in their time during the season; instead of steady, short improvements.
For Mills, the hardest part of competing against riders who doped is not knowing how he would have done if everyone was clean.
"I don't know if I would have done any better, but the frustrating part is I'll never know." Mills said. "I can't say, 'Oh, you took this, this guy got third and you take him out, so bounce me up one spot.' No, this guy got third, but he made a pivotal move in the race that triggered this whole cascade of events."
Edited by Allison Kohn
RETAIL
Holiday shopping season off to record start
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — If you make holiday shopping convenient, Americans will come in droves.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
It's estimated that U.S. shoppers hit stores and websites at record numbers over the Thanksgiving weekend, according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation on Sunday. They were attracted by retailers' efforts to make shopping easier, including opening stores on Thanksgiving evening, updating mobile shopping applications for smartphones and tablets, and expanding shipping and layaway options.
In this Nov. 22, 2012, file photo, shoppers wait on a check-out line in the Times Square Tirs-Us store after doors were opened to the public at 8 p.m.
All told, a record 247 million shoppers visited stores and websites over the four-day weekend starting on Thanksgiving, up 9.2 percent of last year, according to a survey of 4,000 shoppers that was conducted by research firm BIGinsight for the trade group. Americans spent more too: The average holiday shopper spent $423 over the entire weekend, up from $398 last year. Total spending over the four-day weekend totaled $59.1 billion, up 12.8 percent from 2011.
Caitlyn Maguire, 21, was one of the shoppers that took advantage of all the new conveniences of shopping this year. Maguire, who lives in New York, began buying on Thanksgiving night at Target's East Harlem store. During the two-hour wait in line, she also bought items on her iPhone on Amazon.com. On Friday, she picked up a few toys at Toys-R-Us. And on Saturday she was out at the stores again.
"I'm basically done," said Maguire, who spent about $400 over the weekend.
The results for the weekend appear to show that retailers'
Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, said retailers can be encouraged by the first weekend of the holiday shopping season.
efforts to make shopping effortless for U.S. consumers during the holiday shopping season worked. Retailers upped the ante in order to give Americans more reasons to shop. Stores feared that consumers might not spend because of the weak job market and worries that tax increases and budget cuts will take effect if Congress fails to reach a budget deal by January.
"Retailers and consumers both won this weekend, especially on Thanksgiving," he said.
DISASTERS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Inspectors stand in debris, Saturday at the site of a gas explosion that caused a strip club in Springfield, Mass., on Friday evening. Investigators were trying to figure out what caused the blast where the Scooters Gentleman's Club once stood.
Utility worker pierced gas pipe before New England explosion
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A natural gas explosion that injured 18 people and damaged 42 buildings in Springfield's entertainment district was blamed Sunday on a utility worker who accidently punctured a high-pressure pipeline while looking for a leak.
State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said the Friday night blast in one of New England's largest cities was caused by "human error." He didn't name the Columbia Gas Co. worker who pierced the pipe while responding to reports of a gas leak.
The worker damaged the underground pipe while using a metal probe to locate the source of the leak. Coa said. A flood of gas then built up in a building that housed a strip club, and some kind of spark touched off the blast. officials said.
Coan said the employee was following older markings on a sidewalk that indicated the location of
A message left for a Columbia Gas spokeswoman wasn't immediately returned. Columbia Gas, a subsidiary of public company NiSource Inc., announced earlier Sunday that it planned to open a claims center for residents and businesses affected by the explosion at City Hall on Monday.
Preliminary reports showed the blast damaged 42 buildings housing 115 residential units. Three buildings were immediately condemned, and 24 others require additional inspections by structural engineers to determine whether they are safe. The building that housed the Scores Gentleman's Club was completely destroyed.
After the pipe was ruptured, authorities evacuated several buildings. Most of the people injured
were part of a group of gas workers, firefighters and police officers who ducked for cover behind a utility truck just before the blast. The truck was demolished.
Some officials said it was a miracle no one was killed. Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant praised the actions of city firefighters.
"The firefighters did an excellent job evacuating the area which certainly prevented additional civilian injuries and saved many lives," Conant said.
Columbia Gas officials have been cooperating with investigators and have determined there are no more gas leaks in the neighborhood, Mayor Domenic Sarno said.
Coan said the investigation is being turning over to the state Department of Public Utilities. It's not clear whether investigators will be able to determine what caused the spark that ignited the explosion