Friday, December 24, 2010

Team Canada to play in Lanarkshire International Jan 18-19.

Canadian national team coach Joe Rea will be taking his gold medal winning Paralympics team; Jim Armstrong, Darryl Neighbour, Ina Forrest, Sonja Gaudet and Bruno Yizek, to Scotland in January for a pre-Worlds warm-up.

Wendy Morgan confirmed today that despite apparently uninformed speculation, Jim Armstrong has both his passport and a ticket. The team will leave for Edinburgh January 16, returning January 20.

They will be playing in the Lanarkshire International, January 18-19, in Hamilton, organized by the South Lanarkshire Wheelchair Curling Club.

Teams competing include two each from Scotland, Germany and Russia as well as Canada, Czech Republic and Sweden.

Sweden will be coached by their long-time skip Jalle Jungnell, who retired from international competition as a player after wining bronze at the Vancouver Paralympics.

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

How can that be?

Anonymous said...

This is BS. He gave up his Passport, and he is not finished in Seattle.

Anonymous said...

Seems there has been a lot more happening than meets the untrained eye......

Anonymous said...

Certainly appears that the whole Armstrong saga has not been completed.

NO ONE AWAITING sentence is allowed to travel.

Anonymous said...

well, he wakls like an AB, broke the law south of the border.....for sevral years...several times a week.....as he admitted......he surrendered the passport to the US not here in Canada.......he probably just asked Canada for a duplicate and who cares of rules....laws.... whatever.......the end justifies the means it looks like.......go around here Canada and ask the wheelchair users what they think

Anonymous said...

IF Jim, or the CCA requested a new passport, his problems have just begun.

Anonymous said...

And that is why Jim, or the CCA did not request a new passport.

BUT Jim has his passport. More story to follow?

I think so, and always thought so.

Anonymous said...

I agree that there is something well out of the norm happening. It HAS to be highly unlikely, that given circumstances as we know them, that Jim could have his old passport, and certainly could not get a new one.

Has anyone talked to Jim, or the CCA for that matter?

Anonymous said...

did he ever turn in passport? so if he is innocent.....did he lied back then or is he lying now? it seemed he knew what was inside the box.....sold his son asap.......they knew him at post office because he used to go several times a week etc...... he may get away with it.....but please dont insult our intelligence saying he didnt do anything.....come on even jim workshippers got to see this.....he was going to the US for illegal activities and bringing that stuff inside Canada....illegal and selling it as real stuff......liar pattern....but oh well lets just let him break the law because it can help us with a medal.....as i said the end justifies the means it seems

Anonymous said...

You are simply stringing a lot of half-truths and innuendo into your story, as well as outright conjecture. Get it right, or quit ranting.

Anonymous said...

Read the documents from the court.......he is guilty.....he admitted it .....he got caught......wht else do you need as proof........... Or was he forced to pick up the illegal packages and also force to sign the affidavit admitting guilt.... Come on
Maybe he was stopping the shipments to protect the public
Give me a break
There is no worse blind that the one who doesnt want to see......

Anonymous said...

The FDA agent's statement as yet to be challenged, among MANY other things. Why don't you wait to hear what comes out next month, and then give it a rip.

He may have also said that he intercepted Jim as he was escaping in his spaceship, but as absurd as it sounds, no challenge as yet, and i am sure you would have jim as a space alien as well. Why don't you just ang him? I imagine your disappointmant in no death penalty.

Anonymous said...

Hahaha. I thought he was sent to guantanamo......and waterboarded lol
I guess what he signed was coarced....you are right this never happened....lol

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't be surprised to HEAR EXACTLY THAT. But what do I know, since you have all the answers.

Anonymous said...

We dont. You do it seems

Anonymous said...

No, but I reek of common sense and reasonableness.

Anonymous said...

I am sure.....everything on the affidavit with made up and mispelled......they really said.....he was just minding his own business and they planted evidence and force him to sign.....there were no pills.....they were gummy bears.....
I guess i cant read an affidavit.......my apologies......
I Cant read a guilty plea either or that he admitted right away what he was doing.....just minoe details.......by the way man kind never made it to the moon....just a conspiracy like this whole deal.....

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your insightful views. It seems the CCA, Sport Canada, etc., see something else, but I am sure you know it all.

Sorry, I can't seem to get jaundiced enough to enjoy your views.

Anonymous said...

Just reading the court papers.....

Anonymous said...

Are you opened minded enough to accept, what I truly believe, is the FULL story, or will you simply rely on what you accept as ALL the facts, AS THEY ARE WRITTEN to date?

I am sure that other people, with more knowledge, are expecting a mitigating response from Jim, as he can.

He is, as I read the reports, NOT prepared to issue any type of statement before January 28, 2011.

Is your distaste for him so severe that you cannot wait until then? Has the CCA, in their apparent support for Jim knocked you so far offside? Is it the CCA you so abhor?

Remember, for once, that there is also a wonderful family behind Jim, and they are having to deal with this as well. Your off the wall, "I believe anything in print" mentality tires very quickly. Your ranting smacks of someone with their own issues., If Jim spent his life completely in a wheelchair, would you support him, as a victim of his disability, rather than simply take your vehemous shots?

Once again, many questions, and NO answeres. if and when Jim chooses to deal with the media, I certainly elieve their is another side.

Remember, as well......the now present need to deal with media is a direct result of Jim's presence to garner maainstream interest in the Sport. Do you think there would be this much media pressure if it were YOU under the microscope?

Just some thoughts, my friend.

Anonymous said...

AND US COURT PAPERS SAY IT ALL? I CANNOT IMAGINE THE AMERICANS OVER-REACTING, OR EVEN GETTING IT WRONG?

COME ON, MAN. THIS GUY HAS TAKEN US TO A NEW LEVEL OF INTEREST, BEYOND THIS MESS. DO YOU THINK THAT IF THIS WAS YOU THERE WOULD BE ANY INTEREST? OBVIOUSLY NOT. JIM HAS SPENT THE MAJORITY OF HIS LIFE IN A MEDIA FISHBOWL, AND YOUR ONGOING SHOTS SIMPLY DISCREDIT YOU, TO THE BENEFIT ON NO ONE

Anonymous said...

I just said what i read on report. Period.......didnt say he did more or less just what he admitted to period.
I never called anyone names.....thank you for your open mind......there are families too who bought the fakes....think about it.......think about wheelchair userss......all i said....never made it personal and have nothing against him personally........so dont put words i didnt say........i could respond you would defend him even if he was to sell the the city of Toronto to a tourist......i am just tlling you whay the affidavit says.....if he admitted guilt and admitted to cops rigjt away?.....where there is smoke there is usually fire.....but who am i or you for that case i guess....i still believe on inncent until proven guilty but he already admitted guilt....Please Read It

Anonymous said...

This blogger has it right. It is so easy to break things down, and so difficult to rebuild.

The blog followers in wheelchairs understand the difficulty im working the "positive" spin, while our present persona is the reverse.

I am not suggesting we embrace the Armstrong issue, but perhaps a quiet and pragmatic attitude at this point does not burn bridges.

If there is no appropriate response from Armstrong after January, then, perhaps we should revisit ho he represents us in the media. In the meantime, at least be respectful of the media he brings, and the leverage that has to be considered.

A bad decision now will be difficult to overcome, and we will be back to where we were five years ago.

. said...

I think a previous poster has put his finger on the point of difference between those still squabbling about Jim's behaviour and its aftermath.

Mitigation.

There are those who read the public record and see that Jim has admitted to certain acts for which he has agreed to accept defined punishment.

There are others who feel that there are mitigating circumstances, not presently revealed, that will cast the whole affair in a light more favourable to Jim.

Jim of course cannot speak publicly in a way that may prejudice his position when the judge decides how to dispose of the case. Though there is a signed agreement, the judge is not bound by it in either direction.

So, not for the first time in this blog's comments, proponents of two diametrically opposed viewpoints, talk across each other.

(Remember the eligibility debate was cast as either "legally settled" or "wrong whether or not it was legally settled" with neither side accepting the validity of the other's viewpoint.)

Anonymous said...

Very well stated, Eric.

The rantings of the "anti-Armstrong" has no traction at this point. The CCA and others would not leave this situation open if it were simply "cut and Dried".

Jim has, to date, simply embraced our sport and called it his own, to our benefit. As only irony would dictate, he now finds himself in this sitation, with way more than simply his presence in our sport at risk........look beyond, a deceased wife of thirty years, a high profile daughter, and a family that loves him dearly. And we are going to rip him apart, despite what he has brought to our sport?

And he has suggested already that there is more to this sad story than we already know. And we want to listen to the off-side ranter that pops up here? I, for one, think not, and I would hope and pray for all of us, and where our sport can go, that Jim's influence is not over.

Perhaps we should at least give him the opportunity to explain or recant.

Anonymous said...

Well, Eric;

This is, to my knowledge, the first time you have shown a modicum of objectivity regarding Jim and his circumstance. I often wonder if Jim had simply acknowledged his indiscretion (if that were the end of it) for whatever reason, this would already be long behind him, since he has had some nine months of pain already. My mother did not pack me any longer.

I reluctantly agree that, in spite of the obvious, there are so many other factors; including his ability to hsve a psssport, his ability to travel next month, and his apparent stalwart position that there is more to the story.

Rather than beat on a guy that obviously cannot defend himself at this point in time, let's at least give him his requested time and review, with te rest of the world, the outcome of January 28?

Anonymous said...

I think thats fair enough.....just telling what he admitted to....

Anonymous said...

And here we go again......let's accept everything at its face, forgetting what others (CCA, SportCanada, etc.), who certainly seem to have made decisions with more information than already out there, have committed their own reputation.

You, my little friend, are so lost in tearing down an icon you cannot see straight.

Get over it, wit a month, and if you still believed justified, have a go then.

Anonymous said...

You are absolutely right,
Your little friend here

. said...

I am really curious what people like the last poster are going to say if come January 28th, the published plea agreement goes into force, and there is nothing else said.

We'll see whether what on the surface appears to be a lenient CCA response to the publicly known facts was because they were in possession of mitigating information, as the previous poster suggests, or whether they just did not feel Jim's offence worthy greater sanction.

Anonymous said...

I doubt, without extenuating circumstances, Jim would even be bothered continuing down this path. Why would he? To continue this abuse\?

Anonymous said...

I truly believe that Jim's response will be a direct function of his, and more importantly, Greg's sentence.

If the Judge shows a more lenient position, then I would think that this entire thing has been overblown by the District Attorney's Office, and perhaps Jim will simply let it die quietly. In my heart, though, and hearing many of his friends kick this around, I sense that regardless, he will try to get the last say.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but yet another thought to the last comment. I have followed Jim's career since he really broke into competitive play in the early 70's.

He has always been a straight forward guy, accepting a tough loss on his shoulders....many times simply protecting his players. I have seen him do the same in Wheelchair Curling.

The point is, that IF there were no more story, he simply would have "manned up", admitted his mistake, and pushed it all behind him as quickly as possible for his benefit, as well as his Family's.
No, I truly think there is more, and probably at least fairly significant. He is man enough, and smart enough, with ample media savvy, to "know when to hold them, and know when to fold them"

Anonymous said...

I have to agree. What benefit could he get from suggesting there would be no comment until post-sentencing?

If there were nothing, any reasonable person would either make a statement in October, or simply decline comment and bury it immediately.

Anonymous said...

We haven't heard anything, positive or negative from the rest of Team Canada. Are they muzzled by CCA, comfortable as possible with the circumstance, or ready to toss Jim and get on with things?

Remember, as a team, PRIOR to what does or doesn't occur January 28, they will be on the international firing line in Scotland in a few short weeks.


What is their opinion, or are they allowed one?

Any comments to you, Eric, that you can share?

Anonymous said...

You know, this poster has a valid point. How does the rest of Team Canada feel? They spend a lot of time together, and, I would think, know each other pretty well.

Any comments??????

Anonymous said...

I am sure they hve been kept up to speed as much as possible by Jim, the CCA, or both. Let's face it, it has been a difficult time for the whole team.

Anonymous said...

Further to te above, have you discussed tings with any of the team, Eric?