Digger on Twitter

RobFowl

For any cycling twitterati out there poor old digger has disappeared..
Rumours are he was served a summons for libel god know what for and here was so much to choose from).

Sad to see him go although I did find his unrelenting negativity hard to take.

Bit of a warning though that hiding behind anonymous user names on d'internet does protect you that much.....

Hope he's ok though and best wishes to him

Carawaystick

You can tell cycling hypocrisy where to go, but those runner and thrower people are soft and sensitive...

I was wondering why he wasn't showing up on my twitter feed.

Carawaystick

He's back.
Has a pic of Mark Cavendish in civvies stopping to fix a puncture for some lady

PringleDemon

In fairness he does hit the nail on the head on a regular basis. Most cycling fans only see what they want to see . Professional cycling and its management system are starting to resemble WWE . Heroes , villains but most of all entertainment.

Macy0161

PringleDemon wrote: »

In fairness he does hit the nail on the head on a regular basis. Most cycling fans only see what they want to see .

Sometimes. He kinda lost me when he and Vayer made a big issue out of a Dan Martin quote that was taken completely out of context - if there is a hint of negative point to be found, he runs with it.

PringleDemon wrote: »

Professional cycling and its management system are starting to resemble WWE . Heroes , villains but most of all entertainment.

Only starting? I look back at the late 90's and early 2000's as exactly that - and it was entertaining!

laraghrider

Macy0161 wrote: »

Only starting? I look back at the late 90's and early 2000's as exactly that - and it was entertaining!

I'd go back to the mid 80's and the great La Vie Claire days of Greg v Tapie/Hinault as a real start of the face and heel job of cycling. Others have ran with it since, Vino, Riise, Bruyneel etc...

Andalucia

thank God he's back, raises some very interesting points among the rants - spot on with his good doping bad doping bingo - i.e. Millar good, Lance bad

terrydel

I'm having a nice little spat with him on twitter now!
He's insinuating that Sonia O'Sullivan was doping, but like most of his stuff that I see, he's no evidence to back it up.
Its actually laughable that he's now crying at me for taking him to task for his insinuations that can damage the reputation of someone with an exemplary record and not an ounce of doubt against her.
Seems like the typical social media 'celeb' to me, cant take it when people don't fawn over everything he puts out, and is incapable of handling any criticism.

godtabh

He works on the assumption that if you are competing at the top level and are on top you must be a doper. There is no other explanation

TheBlaaMan

I followed him for a fair while but his unremitting negativity just got to me and I recently unfollowed him. There may be some good in his messages, but the overwhelming volumn of bile ensures that it is lost.....

DirkVoodoo

I like his posts. I think it's the unfortunate reality that is professional sport. We get told that the tests are getting better, athletes more honest...

Then we get Sharapova and the Russian athletics scandal. It's hard not to remain skeptical.

terrydel

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

I followed him for a fair while but his unremitting negativity just got to me and I recently unfollowed him. There may be some good in his messages, but the overwhelming volumn of bile ensures that it is lost.....

I'm a very infrequent twitter user and have only recently started to follow him.
the issues he opines on are ones that interest me and I'm sure a great many others who are interested in cycling and/or sport in general.
I'm very cynical about all forms of modern sport, cycling being just one. For that reason I tend to have no interest in teams or individuals (aside from my long-time passion for Everton FC) and just follow the sport itself, if that makes sense. I like soccer, bike racing etc, so I watch and enjoy them. I don't care who is in the jerseys or what the jerseys have written on them.
But I do take umbrage when I see someone insinuating about a person who has a remarkable reputation, well above and beyond what is normal, amongst her peers and fans of her sport, one who has never been linked in the slightest way to ped's. I hate the style these people take, talking in riddles and double speak, portraying themselves as in the know and somehow party to information and knowledge the rest of us mere mortals couldn't hope to gain.
They have huge egos and their twitter 'celebrity' feeds that.
If you are gonna attack a person, do it properly and clearly say what you mean, not speaking in tongues the way the likes of digger and his ilk do. If you cant back it up, don't say it publically.
These guys seem to want to have their cake and eat it, rant away on a massively public forum like twitter with complete impunity.
His crying today showed him up for what he is imho. Complete fraud.

velo.2010

Watching/listening to Off The Ball last night on Eir. I think this guy messaged the show saying how if the Russians were doping then what about the teams that finished above them in the medal table - as in, are they not worthy of similar inquiry? Fair point!

I can't see the Olympics lasting much longer in their current form. Nobody wants to hold them bar maybe the French. Most who tune in every four years to watch the spectacle of the 100m, swimming, gymnastics etc. believe that they're all doping and simply watch it for the crack of seeing somebody do things with their body that us mere mortals can only imagine.

I reckon that in 10-12 years time the IOC will split off the various events and host them in different cities to maintain interest ( and therefore income) that is beginning to wane recently.

Also, he really doesn't like Team Shy, does he?

Fr D Maugire

Digger is a bit of a joke really. Sad I would say. To invest that much time into non-stop moaning about doping in professional sport. Clearly he sees himself as some kind of insider and he lives for the attention he gets from the type of idiots who populate the Cyclingnews forums. Thats not to say he isn't right on certain things but still why the attention whoring?

Guys who believe everyone dopes but still feel the need to dissect every little thing that happens to try and prove doping and where every thing is a sign of doping, even when riders are performing badly(bad bloodbag:rolleyes:).

I would think if that is how people feel, they should either accept it for what it is or move on. There are 10 million things more worthwhile for people to get irate about and invest their time in rather than getting on their moral highground over pro sports people doping. I do understand someone like Kimmage though as they lived it and it is their career as a journalist.

Lets not forget, Digger worships at the altar of St Floyd Landis. What a joke.

morana

Fr D Maugire wrote: »

Digger is a bit of a joke really. Sad I would say. To invest that much time into non-stop moaning about doping in professional sport. Clearly he sees himself as some kind of insider and he lives for the attention he gets from the type of idiots who populate the Cyclingnews forums. Thats not to say he isn't right on certain things but still why the attention whoring?

Guys who believe everyone dopes but still feel the need to dissect every little thing that happens to try and prove doping and where every thing is a sign of doping, even when riders are performing badly(bad bloodbag:rolleyes:).

I would think if that is how people feel, they should either accept it for what it is or move on. There are 10 million things more worthwhile for people to get irate about and invest their time in rather than getting on their moral highground over pro sports people doping. I do understand someone like Kimmage though as they lived it and it is their career as a journalist.

Lets not forget, Digger worships at the altar of St Floyd Landis. What a joke.

sure you dont have to read or follow his tweets

Fr D Maugire

morana wrote: »

sure you dont have to read or follow his tweets

I dont do twitter at all so I dont read his stuff. I used to browse the cyclingnews forums and Digger posted there and was worshipped by the idiot crowd whowould quote his twitter, so I know the general gist.

I just don't see the point investing that much time or energy into the pro side of sport and doping. I would admit to getting dragged into forums before but once I got involved with my local club, I kinda lost interest in the pro side of the sport. Far more fun with the club scene here.

Maybe Digger is involved with CI, I doubt it but imagine someone with that energy working for CI/Club instead ot attention seeking on twitter. Look at his twitter name or whatever F the Hypocrisy and then realise he worships Floyd Lanids. Irony much.

Maybe ask Digger did Floyd really finish on the podium in the Dauphine riding totally clean to see what response you get.

1bryan

Fr D Maugire wrote: »

I dont do twitter at all so I dont read his stuff. I used to browse the cyclingnews forums and Digger posted there and was worshipped by the idiot crowd whowould quote his twitter, so I know the general gist.

I just don't see the point investing that much time or energy into the pro side of sport and doping. I would admit to getting dragged into forums before but once I got involved with my local club, I kinda lost interest in the pro side of the sport. Far more fun with the club scene here.

Maybe Digger is involved with CI, I doubt it but imagine someone with that energy working for CI/Club instead ot attention seeking on twitter. Look at his twitter name or whatever F the Hypocrisy and then realise he worships Floyd Lanids. Irony much.

Maybe ask Digger did Floyd really finish on the podium in the Dauphine riding totally clean to see what response you get.

why do you want to know what response you get?

if you don't care what he says?

why would you complain about 'Digger on Twitter', if you're not on twitter?

Pidae.m

Where's digger gone now?

RacoonQueen

Pretty sure I saw him tweet the other day that he was taking a break.

CramCycle

He's still tweeting away

Glass Prison 1214

CramCycle wrote: »

He's still tweeting away

His twitter account is gone.

CramCycle

Glass Prison 1214 wrote: »

His twitter account is gone.

Well damn it, he was there yesterday. Wonder what happened. I didn't agree with all his rants but he was typically on the money. This said, it's like trying to hit the wide side of a bus. You only miss if you want too.

ANXIOUS

Is it fine to name him here?

CramCycle

ANXIOUS wrote: »

Is it fine to name him here?

Personally I think its a bit ****ty. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure it out but the behaviour of.some people on twitter towards him in the past has been sh1t, abusing him and his family. I wouldn't do it.

ANXIOUS

CramCycle wrote: »

Personally I think its a bit ****ty. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure it out but the behaviour of.some people on twitter towards him in the past has been sh1t, abusing him and his family. I wouldn't do it.

Yeah, you're right. Just thought people on this forum might be able to explain what makes him such a guru on all things gambling cycling. Like he doesn't appear to have had an incredible under age career.

guanciale

Digger Forum represents all that is desparate about twitter. I think it is mostly irrelevant that he/she calls out dopers. He is an angry troll.
There is a big difference between suspecting something and accusing someone.
Better off without following people like him/her - whoever it is.

xxyyzz

I think he had focussed his sights on Ronaldo and his physique lately, but we all know socer is clean.

terrydel

Dont know a great deal about him, tho imho he was a bit of a twat, when I questioned his comments about someone (ah, I looked back on this thread and I'd actually mentioned this before, it was Sonia O'Sullivan!), condemning that person with no evidence to back it up, he just blocked me rather than debate the point. That seemed to be his general approach in my limited experience.
Doesnt say much about him in my view.

velo.2010

He was a decent source for gathering the various pieces of information regarding the Fancy Bears fallout and pointing out the differing accounts of Mo Farah's whereabouts, training with Jama Aden, and when the testers came knocking etc.

However, he was also plain wrong in certain cases and prone to making outrageously libelous remarks. Recently, he has fallen into the 'fake natty' debate and effectively said anyone who trains in a gym and is in decent shape must be taking gear. Ridiculous stuff.

coco0981

Unfollowed him a while back, he's probably not too far off with a lot of the stuff he says but just found the incessant negativity too much.

Also think it's a bit cowardly of him to be publicly accusing riders of doping from the comfort of an anonymous Twitter account (although tbf most regular followers know who he supposedly is)

gmacww

coco0981 wrote: »

Unfollowed him a while back, he's probably not too far off with a lot of the stuff he says but just found the incessant negativity too much.

This. While I think accounts like Digger do and can serve a purpose they really should be controlled. Parallel him with Ross Tucker for example. When fancy bears came out or a statement from Mo Farrah they both are great sources for highlighting the inconsistencies and particular points of interest. The difference is that Tucker puts his identity on it and actively engages. I've had some great discussions with him specifically around dehydration myths etc...

With digger it's different. If you engage in any of his posts he calls you an idiot unless you're telling him how amazing his post was. No engagement, no discussion. I know more than you = you're an idiot. His tweets are a trump esque stream of consciousness where I find his complete unwavering negativity just draining. I had to stop following him.

When I watch top level sport of course I know the undercurrent to it all but I have to put that aside. Cycling holds so much drama. 4 guys going head to head up a mountain wondering who cracks first. You have to put the reality of it all to one side otherwise you just couldn't watch it.

Welshkev

ANXIOUS wrote: »

Is it fine to name him here?

Give us a clue!

Macy0161

Didn't unfollow or block, but pretty much ignore him the last while after him and Vayer took a line from a Dan Martin interview totally out of context and didn't like being pulled up on it.

gmacww wrote: »

When I watch top level sport of course I know the undercurrent to it all but I have to put that aside. Cycling holds so much drama. 4 guys going head to head up a mountain wondering who cracks first. You have to put the reality of it all to one side otherwise you just couldn't watch it.

Yeah, that's it for all sport for me. Just drives me nuts that so little focus on other sports, particularly football. Too many media companies making too much money from it I guess. Not just in this state, but they're happy to (only) cover cycling and athletics for doping, passing mention in US sports and the great euphemism of medicalisation of rugby, but won't go near football (or gaa)...

CramCycle

I have disagreed with him before and he hasn't had the reaction described here. To be fair, many of his posts are probably close to the truth, if a little poetic in the license they take.

I can ignore most of it though because most of the stuff he gives out about I don't really care. I understand that doping is rife in rugby, soccer and has definitely infiltrated GAA to a point. It doesn't bother me because I treat rugby like wresting and enjoy it for the show that it is. Soccer bores the hell out of me, and the likes of Sky channels have made it worse, by over analysing a simple game to make it seem more interesting than it really is. Soccer can only be watched by me in a MOTD format where someone has taken the interesting parts and condensed them into one show. GAA, I really only watch the club matches and those matches without Dublin in them because there is a chance they will be interesting. It is not Dublins fault, but they have made it a business, and it is no longer amateur when you play against them and similar teams.

I think the funny thing is how many higher level people he seems to bug, it is like they have no idea how social media works. If they just ignored him, or laughed him off, that would be that. Instead they make the most amateur of mistakes and get involved. Surely they have PR people who can help them.

LCD

"Yeah, that's it for all sport for me. Just drives me nuts that so little focus on other sports, particularly football. Too many media companies making too much money from it I guess. Not just in this state, but they're happy to (only) cover cycling and athletics for doping, passing mention in US sports and the great euphemism of medicalisation of rugby, but won't go near football (or gaa)...[/QUOTE]

I do believe that cycling is essentially the scapegoat for doping in all sports. Head of FIFA asked "Is there a doping problem in football?", they can reply "No, we are members of WADA & they caught a guy in cycling last week, therefore WADA is doing it's job, we are members of WADA, then we are clean"

Change football for any other sport

terrydel

LCD wrote: »

"Yeah, that's it for all sport for me. Just drives me nuts that so little focus on other sports, particularly football. Too many media companies making too much money from it I guess. Not just in this state, but they're happy to (only) cover cycling and athletics for doping, passing mention in US sports and the great euphemism of medicalisation of rugby, but won't go near football (or gaa)...

I do believe that cycling is essentially the scapegoat for doping in all sports. Head of FIFA asked "Is there a doping problem in football?", they can reply "No, we are members of WADA & they caught a guy in cycling last week, therefore WADA is doing it's job, we are members of WADA, then we are clean"

Change football for any other sport[/QUOTE]

Maybe cycling is the scapegoat but I dont think it can have any complaints.
Its made its own bed in that regard. There is a simply astonishing level of incontrovertible proof against the vast majority of its blue ribbon winners over the last few decades, and thats long before it started actively trying to deal with the problem.
Its premier event, the tdf, has hardly a single winner in the last 20 years that isnt bangs to rights or as good as. Thats incredible, and the argument that other sports dont try to find the cheats doesnt hold water in my view, because cycling wasnt trying to find a lot of those cheats either.
When the champions league has half a dozen confirmed cheats in the winning team every year for a decade, I'll treat it as I do pro cycling, with zero credibility and disdain. Until then I'll give it benefit of the doubt.

DonegalBay

terrydel wrote: »

I do believe that cycling is essentially the scapegoat for doping in all sports. Head of FIFA asked "Is there a doping problem in football?", they can reply "No, we are members of WADA & they caught a guy in cycling last week, therefore WADA is doing it's job, we are members of WADA, then we are clean"

Change football for any other sport

Maybe cycling is the scapegoat but I dont think it can have any complaints.
Its made its own bed in that regard. There is a simply astonishing level of incontrovertible proof against the vast majority of its blue ribbon winners over the last few decades, and thats long before it started actively trying to deal with the problem.
Its premier event, the tdf, has hardly a single winner in the last 20 years that isnt bangs to rights or as good as. Thats incredible, and the argument that other sports dont try to find the cheats doesnt hold water in my view, because cycling wasnt trying to find a lot of those cheats either.
When the champions league has half a dozen confirmed cheats in the winning team every year for a decade, I'll treat it as I do pro cycling, with zero credibility and disdain. Until then I'll give it benefit of the doubt.[/quote]

Macy0161

That'd be a fair comparison if football did the same level of in and out of competition testing. How many champions league finalists teams are tested, after every match? Meanwhile, the style of football has evolved to be massively about aerobic capacity, and so many matches won by big teams in the dying minutes/ injury time...

I draw my own conclusions and have more faith in cycling when it comes to doping to be honest! Stuff that'd be a two year ban doesn't even warrant comment in football, except for players being committed for taking injections to play through injury.

Hurrache

DonegalBay wrote: »

When the champions league has half a dozen confirmed cheats in the winning team every year for a decade, I'll treat it as I do pro cycling, with zero credibility and disdain. Until then I'll give it benefit of the doubt.

If certain documents, ordered to remain sealed by a judge for some reason, ever get made public you may get your wish, covering a few years anyway, granted. Wenger has publicly stated it happens too.

xxyyzz

I read somewhere that around 2015 about 1500 drug tests were carried out across the top 3 soccer divisions in the UK over one season. When you factor in the size of the squads, there is close to zero chance of being caught.

Barcelona have openly said they have treated players with HGH. To be honest when you compare the financial benefits of soccer vs cycling you would be very naive to think soccer is a clean sport.

morana

xxyyzz wrote: »

I read somewhere that around 2015 about 1500 drug tests were carried out across the top 3 soccer divisions in the UK over one season. When you factor in the size of the squads, there is close to zero chance of being caught.

Barcelona have openly said they have treated players with HGH. To be honest when you compare the financial benefits of soccer vs cycling you would be very naive to think soccer is a clean sport.

that was messi when he was very young. i assume it was to make him grow. I am sure there are tests after every game from both sides but i would think there is drug use. sure wasnt conte and guardiola implicated in drug trials/match fixing as well as all the puerto stuff.

Taxuser1

ANXIOUS wrote: »

Yeah, you're right. Just thought people on this forum might be able to explain what makes him such a guru on all things gambling cycling. Like he doesn't appear to have had an incredible under age career.

Did you confuse 2 different Twitter accounts ? Were you thinking of someone else?

xxyyzz

morana wrote: »

xxyyzz wrote: »

I read somewhere that around 2015 about 1500 drug tests were carried out across the top 3 soccer divisions in the UK over one season. When you factor in the size of the squads, there is close to zero chance of being caught.

Barcelona have openly said they have treated players with HGH. To be honest when you compare the financial benefits of soccer vs cycling you would be very naive to think soccer is a clean sport.

that was messi when he was very young. i assume it was to make him grow. I am sure there are tests after every game from both sides but i would think there is drug use. sure wasnt conte and guardiola implicated in drug trials/match fixing as well as all the puerto stuff.

No, it wasn't. It was Xavi in this case to recover from an injury quicker https://youtu.be/b-CW4UeOdDc

1bryan

ANXIOUS wrote: »

Is it fine to name him here?

why does it matter? His name isn't going to mean anything to anyone.

It was Michelle Froome that outed him afaik, and in fairness to him, it didn't phase him one bit.

I don't get what motivates him. I hate the idea that many of the top names in sport have cheated to get there, but I wouldn't invite the kind of crap he gets, on myself.

To suggest he represents the worst of what twitter is, is a ridiculous comment, given the free reign right-wing hate merchants have on there. You can take or leave Digger. If you take him, you'll get the odd nugget that will interest, if not directly from him, then from some of those that interact with him.

Completely agree with whoever made the comment that people he comments on should just ignore him. But it's quite telling that some don't. Case in point, Jonathan Vaughters. When JV engaged him, he was relentless. Now JV doesn't engage him, he barely gets a mention.

I am impressed by just how many feathers he's managed to ruffle, and the extent to which he's ruffled them. And I'd have little enough sympathy for those whose skin he gets under.

As someone else mentioned before, you always have the option to unfollow. The last time his account disappeared someone threatened him with legal action. Not a stretch to imagine something similar may have happened again.

gmacww

morana wrote: »

that was messi when he was very young.

They also kept up Messi's HGH treatment for a full 2 years after they were supposed to stop.

xxyyzz

Pep has sent some injured city players back to Barcelona for some miracle cures also, Jesus was supposed to be out for 7 weeks in January - he was back playing in 2 after a trip to Spain.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jul/31/drug-testing-fa-premier-league-players
According to this there were 3250 tests in 2016, you would want to be very very unlucky to be caught if you were being smart about it.

Macy0161

The real elephant in the room regarding spanish football is the Fuentes/ Puerto stuff that was buried. Then we have the 90's Juve team. Football has become a lot more about aerobic capacity in the meantime, with a lax (compared to cycling) testing regime and massively disproportionate potential money gains... Like I say, I draw my own conclusions, and prefer the place cycling is in terms of anti-doping, if not the publicity side.

Djoucer

Started off as an interesting account to follow. Then it just became a scatter gun approach to everything where it arrived at point of "prove they're clean" and unrelenting negativity. It became a backslapping exercise.

ford2600

Macy0161 wrote: »

Meanwhile, the style of football has evolved to be massively about aerobic capacity, and so many matches won by big teams in the dying minutes/ injury time...
.

What data set are you using to correlate injury time winners with a increase in drug taking in association football? Your memory?

Macy0161

ford2600 wrote: »

What data set are you using to correlate injury time winners with a increase in drug taking in association football? Your memory?

Not linking it to doping, more the increase in fitness that the top teams display. The standard rebuttal to doping in football v cycling is "football is a game of skill", which is bs on two counts. One that cycling isn't skillful, and two that football isn't a game where fitness counts.