For doping, cheating, lying, intimidating and destroying other people’s lives in his selfish and sociopathic need to win several Tour de France tournaments.
Fuck Lance and all of the mofo apologists of his that overlook his transgressions.
Are there a lot of people who, currently, “overlook his transgressions?” I think this is one of the least controversial pit subjects in recent memory.
If only he was a staunch Republican voter. I’d love to see this thread go on for over a hundred pages. The other thread (you know, the paper towel tube one) has been getting a bit boring recently.
You know who ELSE only had one testicle??
Godwinized in less than an hour! 
It might be a strawman that I conjured up after having read this piece in Grantland written by Chuck Klosterman and Malcolm Gladwell in which Klosterman says
To which Gladwell comments
So that, plus I had read an article this morning, it was an interview with Kathy LeMond, wife of 3 (should’ve been 4!) time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond, offering her version of LA’s and GL’s very public falling out; a handful of the reader comments below the article were prime examples of the above quotes.
Maybe I’m just tilting at windmills.
I personally didn’t care when this story first broke. I figured, whatever, so he cheated, it happens. But the more I thought about it the more I felt that this is another case of people not being held accountable for their actions. I understand they pulled all his victories but, what about financial winnings? Furthermore, what about a congressional hearing? I want to see him stand in front of the people of America and explain himself. I think we need to make an example out of people like this.
What does Congress have to do with the rules of a sporting competition?
I’d love to know what Lance thinks of his ardent supporters. Surely as they spout all their justifications for his behaviour, somewhere in the recesses of his mind he must be thinking, “What a bunch of idiots.”
I think lance thinks we are all idiots.
Hey they got involved when steroids was an issue in baseball!
He really had ball to be lying like that for so long.
Pro athletes have tortured dogs, raped and murdered people and they are still active in their prospective sports.
I’m not getting worked up over a guy who raised millions to fight cancer and cheated in bicycle races. Not a fan either but I just can’t bring the hate on him.
Really?
You can’t put yourself in the shoes of the guys who wanted to win the Tour de France without taking drugs? The guy who would have won, if it hadn’t been for the junkies breaking all the rules?
I don’t think what he did was the worst thing in the world either (the destroying people’s reputations thing are much much worse than the cheating, IMHO). But he could have at least pretended to feel remorse and given a less self-centered explanation for coming clean. He whined about how everyone else got a slap on a hand while he got a death penalty. Boo-freakin’-hoo. Was he complaining about how unfair it was when he got all the fame and glory, while his team got none?
The average couple, per person.
I’m surprised to see that some people are still spouting the “He never had one positive test!” nonsense. I can only guess these people would also say a confessed bank robber couldn’t have done it since if there were no clear photographs or fingerprints as evidence.
No one is ever going to win the TDF clean. There needs to be a better system for testing. Of course that’s true with any major sport.
That said, I have been pretty meh about LA until the interview. I could give a shit about his personal decisions but the bullying of his teammates is inexcusable.
The man is a sociopath. No doubt about that. As a fan of pro cycling, I’ve been an admirer of his for a long time. But it was clear for a very long time that the guy was an incredible jerk and narcissist. I did give him much of the credit for putting professional cycling on the map in North America. Whether or not that was a service or dis-service depends on which cycling enthusiast you ask. Some would have preferred it stay out of the sunlight and the prices of equipment remain much more within reach of those who can’t afford a $7,000 bike or $150 clipless pedals, etc.
I still enjoy the hihglight moments like his backwards look into the eyes of Jan Urlich (also a doper), “You comin’?”, before dropping him on L’Alp D’Huez in 2001. Lance brought back drama to the tours in a way that hasn’t happened since Jacques Anquetil, Eddie Merxx, Greg Lemond and Miguel “dancing” Indurain. For that, I think he will also be remembered.
Sponsors and teams also benefited from his victories. You can’t say Team Postal and Discovery were not given credit. Hincapie, a great rider in his own right, hitched his wagon to Lance and owes much of his success and fortune to him. He too doped.
That said, Armstrong deserves everything that’s coming to him. He has a lot to answer for and I doubt he’ll ever be forgiven by many he’s personally set out to destroy in the process. None of that is excusable.
But America loves its heroes and I get the sense that given half the chance, Armstrong will resurect himself in some fashion. Whether it’s through a good PR effort, with time, with some nominal good deeds and profound public apologies (see Oprah). He’ll fall on his sword and say all the right words and eventually he’ll be back because he needs to feed that ego within. He’ll use this to stay in the public eye and he’ll be used by USADA in turn to restore the reputation of professional cycling. It’ll be symbiotic because they both desperately need the PR. In a few years, look for lance to lead the TDF commentary. That’s my prediction.
But he’ll still be a sociopath.
Well, the United States Postal Service spent over $30 million sponsoring his cycling team.