Matt DiCanio termination on ebay

[cinelli]

As a follow-up to the thread on Matt DeCanio's termaination, he has listed his termination letter from Sierra Nevada on eBay. Search auction number: 51060760211 and you will find it. Very strange.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . comes up as an auction cancelled by eBay. Maybe Ofoto/SN complained? No matter . . . I'm sure we will hear about it all on his web site! ;)

BBDave

[Richard]

I glanced at the letter earlier and I remember a paragraph notifying DeCanio that the letter was confidential and not to be made public. Since this was ignored, maybe ebay thought it better not to participate in the circus.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . <<the letter was confidential and not to be made public.>>

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! :rolleyes:

BBDave

[Big Dan]

Well it got your attention... :p
How about some Tyler updates?... :D

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . in an e-mail to VeloNews several days ago. All I heard was that the hearing was supposed to be "in January." Well, here it is almost the end of January and we have not heard a word.

I'm sure Wilcockson and Co. will drop everything and get right on it after getting my note! :rolleyes:

BBDave

[Bill Bove]

Heck, I blow 20 bucks on all kinds of useless crap all the time. I would have bid on it just get a laugh at OF/SN. I have ordered some t-shirts from Matt, his style may be odd but his messege is true. And unless there was some money involved, a termination bonus, why would a termination letter be confidential? You're fired, but don't tell anybody why. If he says anything about them that is untrue they can take him to court, I don't think he can afford a good lawyer. But I would contribute.

[madbiker]

I may be in the minority here...but I don't blame them for getting rid of him. What a nightmare for a company spending advertising money, to be associated with the kind of bad publicity he generates. It makes me wonder why they signed him in the first place....

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . wondering the same thing. Perhaps he was owed a favor from the past by someone in team management. Perhaps he just really made a good presentation in the interview. Or perhaps one of the team directors was in search of a “project.” Whatever the reason, I imagine the person who hired him is being asked some rather pointed questions . . .

BBDave

[e-RICHIE]

http://www.velonews.com/phorum3/read.php?f=2&i=77884&t=77884#reply_77884

[BumbleBeeDave]

I admire your strong feelings on this issue and I deplore any use of drugs in any area of cycling. BUT . . . I must politely disagree. In the letter your link leads to, DeCanio libels the following individuals or organizations either directly or by association without presenting ANY kind of concrete evidence that supports his accusations:

• The former Italian national coach.
• Mario Cipollini
• Decanio’s former general manager
• Ben Brooks
• Trent Klasna
• The US Postal Service team
• Rick Crawford
• Kurt Stockton

I’m no lawyer, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck . . . any one of these individuals or organization’s could probably sue him for libel and win easily if they cared to go to the trouble.

I do agree with one of DeCanio’s contentions--there DOES need to be immunity for riders who come forward to give information that would help to catch drug cheats. But it needs to be shared in confidence with enforcement authorities who can then use the information to build solid, legally defensible cases against those who are cheating. It should NOT be posted in public without any corroborating evidence in such a way as to be libelous.

BBDave

[e-RICHIE]

snipped:
"It should NOT be posted in public..."


these forums and lists are a breeding ground for misinformation
and the like. how many times a week does someone here or on
usenet call someone out?

how different is it when matt sends out his experiences in text
form to appear on his site? some of it may be true. some of it
may be white lies. some of it may be false.

i need to know; is the internet considered "public", and do
the laws of libel extend to someone's private website? i have
a blog on which i'm sure i've voiced strong opinions about
something or somebody. can i get sued for that?

[BumbleBeeDave]

The sad fact is that ANYBODY can sue ANYBODY for ANYTHING--and all too frequently in today’s America, they do! That doesn’t mean they will win, But in the meantime whoever gets sued has to spend money and time defending themselves.

I don’t think people like Cipollini or the Italian coach would bother. But what about somebody like Klasna? If I am remembering right, he just retired, didn’t he? What if his reputation has been hurt enough by DeCanio’s pretty straightforward accusations so that he can’t get a job in any facet of the cycling industry and he can prove the connection? He would probably have a good case, in my strictly uninformed opinion.

Opinion. To me, that seems to be the core of where DeCanio is shooting himself in the foot. At the paper where I work we publish opnions on the “Opinion” page for a reason. That’s far different from presenting them in a news story as established facts. That’s what DeCanio is doing--he’s presenting this stuff as facts. He’s not saying “In my OPINION, Trent Klasna took drugs.” He’s saying straight out that “Trent Klasna took drugs.” That’s an accusation he better have some evidence to back up! And IMHO, it’s probably only his burgeoning reputation as a world class wack job that’s keeping people from going ahead and socking it to him in court. That and by this time he probably doesn’t have enough assets to be worth suing . . .

I am pretty sure--once again in my strictly legally UN-educated opinion--that publishing on the Internet HAS been established as legal publication. But maybe one of the lawyers here on the forum can say for sure. But I’m also pretty sure that if you have a disclaimer on your blog site that clearly says everything you say is your opinion--or if you always preface controversial statements with “It’s my opinion that . . . “--then you’re probably pretty safe.

But then again, if you want to be paranoid, I guess you could just refer back to the first sentence of this post! :rolleyes:

BBDave

[WickedWheels]

he wrote:

"After being asked to help with an injection for my teammate Trent Klasna my heart was broken a 3rd time."

I don't think that counts as an opinion. This is his first-hand account.

However...

" My friend David Clinger told me stories of the drug use on US Postal Service and I finally decided to cave in."

There is no reason to mention that. I think it would be considered "Hear-say" as it relates to USPS.

He's got some valid things to say, but he's not doing himself any favors. He needs a lawyer to help him out with these letters. At 27-years-old he should know better than to publish these rants without a legal aide.

[chrisroph]

One person defames another when they publish a false statement which causes damage. Truth is a defense. If someone who actually used drugs were to sue DeCanio, DeCanio would have the opportunity to prove that what he said was true. Thus, it is highly unlikely that a user would file a lawsuit.

Richie, making a statement on the internet certainly constitutes publication and I believe that a private web site that people are given access to also constitutes publication.

Lets assume that what DeCanio is saying is true. What has coming forward gotten him? The loss of several jobs and a lot of ridicule including much on this board. Hmmm, maybe he would be much better off if he had just kept his mouth shut.

So what is the incentive for people to come forward? Getting treated like DeCanio? Like Simeoni? The fact of the matter is that there is little incentive for people to come forward and report drug use. By doing so, they are fighting the power, always a difficult thing to do. Typically, the first people to fight the power go down in flames.

DeCanio's methods are a bit over the top. His websites contains a lot of rambling semi-coherent missives. He certainly is not in the mainstream. Is that why he has the temerity to do what he has done, which has been to his own great detriment? Will he some day be looked at as one of the first to spring the true story. Time will tell.

[OldDog]

In his letter, the kid is an admitted pothead and boozer. He won't take drugs to assist his riding skills but will smoke pot and get beered up to ease his emotional pain? He will not take EPO as it is harmful but he will get high and(presumably) drive and risk killing someone else?

Matt's cause may be noble but he sure is not the messanger that is needed. I would not want my business associated with him.

You want a clean sport? Drug test everyone that makes podium and their entire team. It would be very costly, but every war is.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . is up for auction again on eBay . . . BBDave

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=52&item=5160760211&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

[e-RICHIE]

it was on "all along".

[Big Dan]

Why do they want the shoes back for?? That letter is just pathetic and I'm glad to see it.... :crap: Private? why ? something to hide? not proud of your actions??? :no:

[GoJavs]

Give us back our Endurance Supplements and fruit juices..... ;)

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . he's already used them? I guess he could--Uh, no, never mind . . .

BBDave

[e-RICHIE]

here is a good article from a mainstream site:
http://bicycling.com/article/0,3253,s1-11161,00.html?category_id=441

[Big Dan]

Incentive to come out against doping? ZERO , NADA, ZILCH...
They should all go back to the juice.... :help:

[BumbleBeeDave]

It's up to $500 and there's still 3 days left!

I wonder if dbrk knew that if he wrote a letter "officially" resigning from the forum that he could have sold it for enough to almost buy another bike?

I wonder if The Jerk will auction off his e-mail from Serotta James? ;)

BBDave