Lance Armstrong - commentary by Dan Wetsel

[peacebird]

"Across 90 minutes with Oprah Winfrey, Lance Armstrong did more than admit he cheated to win his seven Tour de France titles. He revealed a measure of the man that he is and this much is certain: If you never met this jerk, well, count your blessings."

"This was a glimmer of the true Lance Armstrong coming out. No Nike commercial edits. No press conference sound bites. No glowing magazine profiles. This was the guy who left scores and scores of people cursing that their paths ever crossed."

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/lance-armstrong--arrogant-and-unaware--did-little-to-repair-his-image-in-mea-culpa-with-oprah-062222144.html

As for my take:
LA was always a cold, calculating jerk. What I don't get is this.... What is in it for Lance? This "apology", now?

I hate the doping, but worse than that was the brutal systemic destruction of anyone who dared speak out. He destroyed peoples careers, & reputations. Lance needs to make serious financial restitution to those he harmed if he truly seeks forgiveness. He will need to turn into Ebeneezer after his visits from the ghosts of christmas past, present, and future.

What is your take on LA.

12 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	He confessed, let's all sing kumbaya and forgive him!
	1 (8%)
	Waiting til the second half airs to make a decision
	0 (0%)
	He's still a lying cheating arrogant SOB
	11 (92%)
	Who cares?
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Nye Bevan]

1. I think he's truly and sincerely sorry

that he got caught.

[PoliticAverse]

2. Indeed. n/t

[peacebird]

3. Me too. I also dispute his claim to have been clean in his comeback. Remember how he promised

such transparency, and made a huge deal of hiring an anti doping doc to check his blood & urine, and how they would post all his reports online? Then they kept postponing.... Wonder what his biological passport showed?

[duffyduff]

20. +1,000,000

He'd still be pulling his mafia routine if he hadn't been outed.

[peacebird]

4. CyclingNews article about LAs comeback tour biological passport blood levels

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/analysis-armstrongs-tour-blood-levels-debated

[madokie]

5. Screw Lance Armstrong

Personally I'd rather loose as to cheat to seem to win

[sweetloukillbot]

6. His "contrition" reminds me of Pete Rose

I think he's pimping for a book deal.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

12. Pete Rose? What did he do?

Did he cheat? Manipulate the game to his advantage? Did he do anything "unsportsmanlike"? Who did he hurt?

[JohnnyLib2]

16. I like that comparison. Fallen hero, holding on to $$$ and fame.

With Oprah's help.

[peacebird]

31. Movie, I believe....

[Logical]

7. Where are all the Lance fans today?

[peacebird]

8. Even on cycling forums the "true believers" seem to be laying low this morning....

[Logical]

9. Interesting! n-t

[politicaljunkie41910]

10. I think he's counting on the fact that Americans have short memories.

Look Lance is a young man, only 41. No one would have bought this man of steal doing the Jimmy Swaggart, "I have sinned" teary eyed confession. He would not have come across as sincere. The Oprah interview was just the start. I think that he is counting on the fact that we are a forgiving nation and he will do a series of additional interviews which will be more humanizing, and five years from now, this will all be passe. Yes, it may cost him some money, but the guy has a net worth in excess of $100M. He will not lose it all. He will embark on some kind of nonprofit enterprise to redeem himself in the eyes of the public and in five years no one will care about his doping. He has young kids to raise, and like Sarah Palin, most people would not insult him in the presence of his kids, so I expect that if we see him out in a public role in the near future, it will probably involve children.

Whether he ever competes again in any sport remains to be seen. According to reports the USADA has controls over a lot of sporting events and has banned him for 8 years.

[peacebird]

13. "man of STEAL" unintended spelling? Or classic slam?

[politicaljunkie41910]

15. It was a typo; no pun intended. Sorry.

[duffyduff]

22. Leave it--don't edit the post. n/t

[gabby garcia]

18. Children?

Who in their right mind would want him involved in a public role with children? What kind of role model would he purport to be? He cheated, and then lied and sued and libeled to cover up his cheating. He ruined lives and careers of former friends, employees, team mates and their families. He doped. He's a sociopath with little or no real remorse that I can detect. Children? I don't see it.

[ananda]

11. I passed only because..

.. every elite cyclist dopes. That was the only way to be competitive.

I'm not forgiving Armstrong, but the whole sport needs correcting.

[burnsei sensei]

14. I don't think anyone can do the kind of things

Armstrong has done to his body with hormones and not pay a high physical price.
He faces either an early death or severe disability in the future.
I think he should face some criminal and civil charges.
The last thing he should be thinking about is competing again.
Forgive him? I don't know.
Nature itself will punish him. Severely.

[duffyduff]

21. I believe he can still be in a world of legal trouble

Perhaps he should enlist the help of Mitt Romney for tips on offshore accounts, etc.

[Javaman]

17. Tour de Martyr. nt

[frylock]

19. can overlook the cheating; can't do the same for the lying, slanderous remarks

[peacebird]

32. Exactly, he ruined a lot of folks careers ans sued them on top of that

[whistler162]

23. What a waste.....

of electronic paper!

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. I don't get all this focus on sports.

[GoneOffShore]

25. I made a comment about this the other day -

It's here - http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2205510

But if you don't want to click here's the rant -

I could care less if these guys juice.

Not saying it's right, but it has been going on since the first rock throwing games.

As someone in professional sports said, If you're not cheating, you're not winning.

And guess what? It's really not about "how you played the game". It's about whether you win or lose. That whole meme of "how you played the game" was probably made up by the guy who came in second.

Pro athletes juice/drug/enhance/cheat and if you think differently, Michael Jackson didn't have plastic surgery, Lindsay Lohan doesn't do coke, and Elvis is still alive somewhere. Plus I've got some really great land to sell you in Florida and a bridge in Brooklyn.

And the next thing I hear will be: Well, what about the children?

What about them? Tell them the truth. If you want to be a pro athlete you need to be talented, you need to train hard and you're going to have to take drugs. And if you don't, be an athlete for fun. Don't go pro.

[peacebird]

33. It's not about the doping as much as the collateral damage. The number of people who lost their

careers, reputations, and savinings. Emma was just a team masseuse. She was upset at the changes in the " lads" after they were forced into the dark side. She was called a whore and an alcoholic and sued for telling the truth. "Prepare" or get kicked off the team. Frankie got kicked off the team. His wife was villified for well over a decade. There are many many cases - and I hope all sue the everloving s**t out of Lance. His endorsements made him a multimillionaire. His condemnation cost them their jobs.

[GoneOffShore]

36. You make a good point. This didn't happen in isolation, as you say.

Of course, if no actually cared about doping, there wouldn't be that kind of collateral damage.

Lance is a douchebag, but then having heard stories over the years about what a schmuck he is, the doping revelation just highlights those.
I know a couple of film directors and producers who've worked with him and tell me he is a nightmare. It's "All about Lance. All the time."

[graham4anything]

26. I don't know why anyone would have sympathy for him after what he did to Sheryl Crow

in her time of need


Lance to me is like a stereotypical cold blooded villian in any action movie
He is the type that looks you straight in the eye and lies

does he even know he is lying?

everything for the lance.

and then the pity routine.
and he justifies it in his mind that he is being persecuted

[Whisp]

27. despicable slime shit

unfortunately, the climate is juuuuuust right for these things to grow as large as they do. Instead of people looking to their family or neighbours for their heroes, they get into this stupidity - heroing up some dumbass cheating fuckshit. Look closer to home, people.

[riverbendviewgal]

28. my son idolized Armstrong

He is so disappointed. But all sports seem to be accepting of cheating. Imagine what this teaches children.

[GoneOffShore]

29. It teaches children the truth about professional athletes and professional sports.

Has there ever not been a time when sports didn't involve cheating?

And that's a rhetorical question to which my answer would be - No.

[kwassa]

30. Many, if not most of Lance's competitors were juicing, too.

That was the playing field of bike racing. It is not entirely clean yet.

The same with baseball. Nobody got into the Hall of Fame this year. The extent of juicing there is still not entirely clear.

[peacebird]

34. But did any of the others destroy the lives of those who called them out as dopers? See above, that

is what Lance did routinely.

[Earth_First]

35. This is 100% about reversing the USADA ban on triathlon competition.

This isn't about saving the graces or public image of a sport that Armstrong destroyed.

This is all about Lance.

Armstrong is a grifter who is in it for his own self-satisfaction.