Lance Armstrong

[Goldtop]

Okay, who watched the Lance/Oprah interview? Did you watch both nights? What did you think? What - if any - are your lasting impressions?

My own answers: I watched both nights. First night, I was open and accepting; maybe willing to try to forgive. After all, who among us hasn't made mistakes? Maybe not of this magnitude, but still.

Second night, he mostly blew it with me. Especially when he talked about the punishments meted out to others who had cheated compared to his own. AND about how he wanted to compete again some day on some level.

My lasting thought is that he has no concept of what troubles are ahead. For one thing, the U.S. Postal Service was a major sponsor of the cycling team for a time. If for no other reason than that, I can't imagine that the IRS won't come calling on Lance at some point. That should be enough to make him wet his sprocket!

Also, and this may sound silly to some, I am ashamed that Lance is from Texas. At one time, I was proud that he was from my state. Not now.

Goldtop Lloyd

 

[veinbuster]

I watched the first night and taped the second, which I will probably watch at some point.

I try not to judge people beyond whether or not I would choose to associate with them. I would still go on a bike ride with him. Whatever his mistakes past, present and future he did make a positive impression in several ways
- he proved that you can beat cancer even after it has spread
- he proved that you can be stronger after cheating death
- he started something that has raised over $500,000,000 to help people he will never know

I'm a bit disappointed in society's tendancy to fixate on the bad. I'm not saying that he shouldn't have to face the consequences of his actions, but in the circles of evil, there is much worse.

I would agree with him never being able to compete professionally, or at an olympic level, but to not be able to race anywhere, anytime would be harsh. I believe, for a person like him, it would effectively be the end of his life.

 

[Boogie]

I watched the first night and taped the second, which I will probably watch at some point.

I try not to judge people beyond whether or not I would choose to associate with them. I would still go on a bike ride with him. Whatever his mistakes past, present and future he did make a positive impression in several ways
- he proved that you can beat cancer even after it has spread
- he proved that you can be stronger after cheating death
- he started something that has raised over $500,000,000 to help people he will never know

I'm a bit disappointed in society's tendancy to fixate on the bad. I'm not saying that he shouldn't have to face the consequences of his actions, but in the circles of evil, there is much worse.

I would agree with him never being able to compete professionally, or at an olympic level, but to not be able to race anywhere, anytime would be harsh. I believe, for a person like him, it would effectively be the end of his life.

Well said, Pete. I don't know the man personally and would never cast a judgement based upon what I see on TV or read in an article. And having personally survived what he survived, his positive actions speak more toward his character than what was done in the face of competition (most serious competitors will do anything to win). And as you can see, he'll endure any pain - be it financial or in reputation - to be able to compete again. He's a competitive junkie...literally and figuratively.

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

The guy is low life pond scum in my book!

Ordinarily, someone who had fought a battle against cancer and generated millions for cancer charities would earn my respect. But Lance is a pathological liar. Nothing he does is for anyone else's benefit but his own.

This charade he did with Oprah was more carefully stage managed BS. He's a cheat and a bully and needs to face up to the fact he brought this upon himself.

He claimed that nobody could win the Tour De France without some 'help'. We had a great winner last year in Bradley Wiggins. I'm sure he doesn't like being tainted as a possible cheat. The Olympic Committee is considering dropping cycling from the Olympics. Sure, Lance wasn't the only one in the past, but why should other cyclists suffer because of what someone else did in the past.

Best thing for world cycling would be if this guy did the honourable thing by accepting his punishment and shut up.

 

[alantig]

I don't think I've seen him claim that you can't win without doping - the question I saw was whether it was possible to win seven in a row without doping. (I've only seen about 20 minutes plus some highlights. I recorded both parts, but have not watched the whole thing yet.)

I'm going to gloss over the competition question for now - there were so many guys doping at the time that I'm not sure anyone was really gaining an advantage by doping (and we can argue doping methods, but that's really not much different than arguing over differing training schedules). At one point, someone said if he was stripped of his seven titles, in one of those races you have to go down to 22nd place to find someone who wasn't implicated in doping. But he damaged a lot of people - financially, career-wise, psychologically - with the lawsuits and attacks while defending a lie. While defending a lie when he knew it was a lie. That's something he can never undo.

But I am not going to overlook the good he did with Livestrong. The sad thing is that the charity is going to suffer for the sins of the founder, and while I can understand it, it is disappointing. Those people do good work, and we'll never know how many people may have been helped because of what he did through Livestrong.

So, banned? Yes. BTW, he's only banned from events overseen by USADA/WADA. He's free to compete in events that they don't oversee. But that's not what he wants - he wants to compete in the bigger things. Which is showing that it's still about him - if he didn't need to do this to try to compete, I don't think he would have done the interview.

 

[captdg]

Jon Stewart did a funny skit on him on him using "Lie Enhancing Drugs"..

 

[RedGuitars]

He's been a bit of a low life for a long time. Get his book, It's Not About The Bike, My Journey Back To Life... flip it open to p.87. He was uninsured when he was diagnosed, he was between teams/contracts. And he was mostly worried about losing his Porsche or his Austin mansion...

He played the Don't You Know Who I Am? card and was somehow miraculously insured. Try that at home boys and girls...

He also talks about riding and training throughout his cancer treatment. I've been through most of the exact same treatments he went through (not the surgical procedures), and there is no way I was doing any bike riding, so I don't know if he was blowing smoke, or if he was in such great athletic shape, or maybe it was the PED's....

Anyway - he didn't do himself any PR favors in the demo (that should have been one night - no need to drag that crap over two days...), and his lawyers are gonna be REAL busy real quick if you ask me.

 

[SuperFly53]

I think you would be hard-pressed to find anyone from that era of professional cycling who wasn't doping. It was such a part of the culture, and probably still is, just like it still is in collegiate and professional football, baseball, etc.

On some level, we are all guilty, since we all tuned in to watch Lance win his T d' Fs. His winning did more for cycling and bringing into the mainstream than anyone or anything else. The same goes for Mark Maguire and Barry Bonds. No one was watching baseball until these guys came around and made it more exciting.

If everyone is doing it, is it really cheating? I mean, in professional body building, is it cheating to use drugs?

 

[slowro]

I used to think he was a genuine role model to be inspired by, I couldn't even watch most of that joke of a program. He has no cycling legacy, he has raised a lot for charity but he should face the fact that he was a cheat and gained a fortune from it. Its just plain fraud.
Look at Bradley Wiggins or Sir Chris Hoy for real cycling heros

 

[alantig]

Sadly for Wiggins and Hoy, it seems like success only bring increased scrutiny and people will be looking for any slip-up. Not that there's any particular reason to suspect either one, I just think it goes with the territory. And in some factions, the fact that Wiggins won pretty much proves he must be doping. It's a hole that cycling has dug for itself.

The sad thing about that is that Wiggins has worked long and hard and overcome obstacles to reach the heights he's attained. There was an IMAX film out a few years ago that focused on the nervous system, and they used Wiggins in the Tour de France as one of the examples. Sadly, he didn't finish that tour - but the photography was spectacular.

 

[docbennett]

I just wish Lance would go away and never return to the public eye again. In my eyes, he is a lying scumbag who tormented, threatened and strong-armed anyone who had the audacity to attempt to let the world know what he was doing.

He is a liar and a cheater. How can you believe a single word he says? And, to further the audacity, he is hoping to be allowed (or be eligible) to compete in other events.

He is a disgrace to the human race. He turned a heroic story into that of an anti-hero and in my opinion he deserves all that is going to be coming down the pike. Repayment of lawsuits. Taxes owed. Perjury. I believe that he thought that he was immune to criminal charges or he would not have disclosed "the truth". I have no idea whether he has the teflon coating against criminal charges that he thought he had...but, in the final analysis, I just wish he would shut up and slink away.

 

[vchizzle]

I didn't watch any of it, I was mildly interested but not enough to spend that much time on it.

I could give a sh!t less about his doping or his personality. If he was my friend, I would care(about the personality end of it). He's not, so?? Really, the only thing I have a problem with is the people's lives he damaged and threw under the bus. I didn't look far into that though.

There are few people in sports, that if you told me they doped, I'd be surprised. If people aren't smart enough to know that "heroes" are only people just like everyone else, well... Children should be taught that right away. Heroes - some lie, cheat and steal. Everyone screws up. Some are the biggest a$$holes alive. Get used to it son.
To me, he brought cycling to mainstream public audience - no one cared before that(besides cycling enthusiasts). So good for the cycling world.
He raised millions for cancer and maybe more importantly....gave people hope, gave people a reason to fight harder, believe more...not sure you can put a price on that.