# Asshat Commentator: Armstrong Not An Athlete **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 26, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974 "2002-07-26T18:06:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/1 "2002-07-26T18:06:10Z")
I have never heard of ROn Borges, but apparently someone at [MSNBC.com](http://MSNBC.com) thinks enough of him to let him put his idiotic thoughts on their website. [Great feat, but not a great athlete](http://www.msnbc.com/news/785267.asp) Armstrong winning Tour impressive, but it’s not athletic Look, I am not really a big follower of the TdF. I don’t know much about it, and to be honest I personally don’t care. But one thing I can appreciate is how unbelievably grueling the event, how much strategy is actually involved, and how it is more than just “pumping your legs up and down”. And fgor Lance Armstrong to dominate this event certainly qualifies him as an athlete and arguably the best athlete on the planet right now. But this blowhard barely manages to rub two brain cells together to create a spark or opinion that Armstrong is not an athlete? I wonder what kind of “athlete” this jock sniffer is? He uses Chipper Jones, a fantastic baseball player to be sure, as a counterpoint? A baseball player? Seriously, John Kruk himself admitted he wasn’t an athlete, he was a baseball player. This guy seriously puts the ‘completely clueless moron’ in ‘jackass’. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/2 "2002-07-26T18:20:21Z")
I love this nugget: > [@](#): > > If Armstrong is a great athlete, so are marathon runners. Um, _yeah_. A fucking marathoner _is_ an athlete, dipshit. :wally: ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/3 "2002-07-26T18:23:34Z")
Ooh wait, there’s more… > [@](#): > > For my money, being the greatest athlete in the world involves strength, speed, agility, hand-eye coordination, mental toughness and the ability to make your body do things that defy description. Chief among them is not pumping your legs up and down while your feet are strapped to bicycle pedals. I’d say cycling your ass up a frickin’ mountain is something that requires strength. Not giving up on a 21 stage race (or whatever it is) demands mental toughness. Not crashing in the peloton must involve _some_ sort of agility, wouldn’t you think? arhghghghghghg! Now I’m incensed. 😠 ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/4 "2002-07-26T18:23:36Z")
Don’t worry, he’s getting it with both barrels on Fark. He’s even got a Photoshop thread in his dishonor. This reads kinda like Something Awful’s “Truth Media” reviews–trolling. I mean come on. Everyone knows if you are gonna go after Lance, try and link him to doping (har!) again, not make some bogus claim that he isn’t really an athlete. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/5 "2002-07-26T19:00:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Ron Borges writes regularly for [NBCSports.com](http://NBCSports.com) and covers boxing and the NFL for the Boston Globe. > \* He’s a friggin’ boxing commentator?!? If _boxing_ is a sport, than so is betting on horses. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/6 "2002-07-26T19:01:14Z")
Yeesh. What an idiot. > [@](#): > > He can pedal a bike better than anyone. He probably didn’t even need training wheels. But could he do it if someone was playing defense? Now _there’s_ a man who has never seen a bike race in his entire life. The comparisons with baseball players et cetera are laughable. When it comes to sheer determination and stamina, no ball game in the world comes close to cycling, especially when we’re talking about the Tour de France. There’s a saying in Dutch: _de beste stuurlui staan aan wal_. It means: the best boatsmen stand ashore. Yeah, it’s meant sarcastically, and it certainly applies to this idiot. ---
**Author:** ![BF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5ac83/32.png) [@BF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BF)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/7 "2002-07-26T19:01:18Z")
I can’t help but think that this is some sort of troll type thing. I mean, who is Ron Borges, and from what rock did he crawl out from under? Now they’re getting all kinds of email, etc., from a significant number of outraged people, and not just cyclists and cycling fans. ---
**Author:** ![sir\_viks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@sir\_viks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sir_viks)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/8 "2002-07-26T19:21:21Z")
I’ve heard Borges on the radio locally here in Boston, and he’s always come off as a pompous ass. A know-it-all sportswriter who knows “everything” about sports whilst always sitting on the sidelines. Reading his article, I noticed that there was an informal poll shown on the same MSNBC page. It shows 96% of the 33,859 people polled (at 3:06PM) do NOT agree with Ron Borges’ opinion of Lance Armstrong NOT being an athlete. Borges is just a fucking troll, pure and simple. I’ve been cycling for 6 years now and I’m still amazed that every so often there is a person who doesn’t consider cycling to be an athletic endeavor. Sometimes I’ll go biking with these people, only to find after 4-5 miles they’re absolutely winded!! Lance Armstrong rides 100+ miles per day during the TdF – tantamount to running a marathon every day for THREE WEEKS – not to mention the months of training Lance must endure. What a truly stupid and ignorant article. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/9 "2002-07-26T19:21:40Z")
Most times when I open a thread where someone’s complaining about this or that, I just think “huh” and move on. Tretiak, you’ve got a real point here and I’m glad I know about this fucking idiot. That’s the most irresponsible, stupid thing I’ve yet seen a sportscaster say, and God knows that’s saying a lot. Unfrikkenbelivable. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/10 "2002-07-26T19:24:03Z")
This guy knows nothing NOTHING **NOTHING** about cycling! Does he even know the difference between a time trial and a road race? Because a road race is far far more than just going fast on a bike. Damn, I’m fuming so much I can’t hardly describe it. FWIW, I used to race when I was in college. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/11 "2002-07-26T19:49:48Z")
Let me join the pile-on, this jackass “commentator” is clearly acting like a troll for attention. CNBC boxing commentator indeed. . . :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/12 "2002-07-26T19:56:16Z")
The guy’s a sports announcer? Then there is a fair chance that he is an idiot anyway, no matter what he says or thinks. Remember, friends, the mission of commercial television is to alarm and titillate, or failing that, stir up some sort of controversy. If you want reasoned opinion, go read a news paper, listen to public radio. By all means, don’t go to the freak show that is commercial television. My brain hurts just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/13 "2002-07-26T20:38:39Z")
Bill Gallo and Bert Sugar must not be proud that they share the same profession as this Borges guy. And Wallace Mathews must be thinking, “They fired me and kept this guy?? Now i know I’m right.” ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/14 "2002-07-26T20:46:44Z")
> [@](#): > > How fast is he when they take the bike away? Is he as fast as Marion Jones? Is he as fast as Chipper Jones? > [@](#): > > If Armstrong is a great athlete, so are marathon runners. So sprinters are athletes, but not marathon runners? My head hurts. ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/15 "2002-07-27T01:50:11Z")
Did anyone check out the little poll they’re running as to whether readers agree with the columnist? More than 36,000 votes and only 4 percent agreed Armstrong was not an athlete. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/16 "2002-07-27T04:23:36Z")
This fella is being bashed in a number of Fora–which is as it should be. Whatta maroon, trolling or not. > [@](#): > > mental toughness and the ability to make your body do things that defy description. Puts me in mind of Tyler Hamilton in the Giro d’Italia this year: breaks his shoulder in a horrendous crash in the 5th stage, rides hard-fought stages for _two more weeks,_ and _ **comes in second!!** _ According to the Maroon, “skinny” guys like Tyler just don’t measure up as athletes. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/17 "2002-07-27T13:02:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\*The comparisons with baseball players et cetera are laughable. When it comes to sheer determination and stamina, no ball game in the world comes close to cycling, especially when we’re talking about the Tour de France. > > There’s a saying in Dutch: _de beste stuurlui staan aan wal_. > > It means: the best boatsmen stand ashore. Yeah, it’s meant sarcastically, and it certainly applies to this idiot. \*\* Preach it, brother **Coldie**. Let’s look at this bozo’s list. > [@](#): > > For my money, being the greatest athlete in the world involves strength, speed, agility, hand-eye coordination, mental toughness and the ability to make your body do things that defy description. Chief among them is not pumping your legs up and down while your feet are strapped to bicycle pedals. **Strength:** if it doesn’t take strength to pedal your way through the Pyrenees, I don’t know what does. **Speed:** I expect bicycle racers go about as fast as a man can go under his own power. **Agility** : if there’s no agility involved in the handling of a bicycle at high speed on twisty mountain roads, I’m confused as to what the term means. And I don’t know about **hand-eye coordination** , but plenty of coordination in a more general sense is involved in that too. **Mental toughness:** none of that’s involved. I’m sure Armstrong never has to suck it up to push himself a little harder than his body really wants to be pushed. Sheesh. Ditto for **the ability to make your body do things that defy description**. A weekend cyclist like me knows Armstrong and his competitors are _all_ doing things to their bodies that are way, way out there compared to what most of us ever do. Yeah, this guy’s just a troll with a column. And why anybody bothers publishing lame stuff like this is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/18 "2002-07-27T19:00:26Z")
That ‘not an athelete’ just won another stage, his third in this year’s TdF, his fifteenth overall, and has extended his lead to 7:17. He finished the stage with an average speed of 30 miles and hour, despite hills, attacks from competing riders, and the need to work his way through the peloton to the lead. This commentator is a simple jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/19 "2002-07-27T19:42:52Z")
“Work his way to through the peloton”?? Today was a time trial. 🙂 Riders start at 30 second intervals, individually. Armstrong won impressively, and he passed a few guys underway. But he didn’t have to manoeuver through a tight pack of 150 cyclists. ---
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974/20 "2002-07-27T20:54:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Munch \* > \*\*He’s a friggin’ boxing commentator?!? If _boxing_ is a sport, than so is betting on horses. \*\* That’s as dumb a comment as Borges’. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat-commentator-armstrong-not-an-athlete/120974.md?page=2)