Discovery team is gone

Citing fractious leadership in the sport, constant doping allegations and the struggles of finding a new sponsor, Armstrong and the owners of his former Discovery Channel team said Friday the squad will disband after this season.

Although the team and Armstrong have long been suspected of doping - doubts that have dogged its most recent Tour winner, Alberto Contador - its riders have never failed a drug test while in the jerseys of Discovery Channel or its predecessor, U.S. Postal Service. A handful of its alumni, including stars like Tyler Hamilton, Roberto Heras and Floyd Landis, have failed the tests with their next teams.

Armstrong said it was the perfect time to go out on top: Discovery's Alberto Contador of Spain won the team's eighth Tour de France title in nine years last month. "It's a sad day for cycling. Certainly a sad day for American cycling," he said. "We're proud of our record."

I would be proud too if my team won that many titles and never got caught on drugs until after they left the team. That is so Davey Johnson 1986 Mets. Only with more needles. And less testes.