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My (slightly tearful) reaction to the Armstrong news

Old 01-18-13, 09:56 AM
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Most people who aren't megalomaniacs. You have to remember for someone like lance social ostrization and removal from the spotlight is a lot like a death of sorts.
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Old 01-18-13, 10:09 AM
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He's still in the spotlight.

He will always be able to find somebody to hang out with. Many people. Somebody in every town. If he wants to get laid he will, and she won't be ugly. If he wants a drink somebody will buy it for him. And if he wants to give an interview a camera man will show up.

Think of OJ. His crimes were worse. But even after the civil suit he was still living in Brentwood, and he would be shown on tv golfing at some pretty kickass country clubs. And not alone. If he was smarter and had the personal drive of Armstrong, he still would be.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not happy about it. But it is still the reality.
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Old 01-18-13, 10:11 AM
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You said ten years from now. You can't keep moving the line.

And OJ is in prison. Not a great example all and all.
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Old 01-18-13, 10:22 AM
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Remind me again...

Did LA launch a war on false pretenses?

Did LA lie about having sex with "that" woman

Did LA hoodwink an entire nation into voting for him for higher office

Did LA send people of the "wrong" race or religion to their deaths?

Did LA steal money from orphans, widows and retired people?

Did LA slash his wife's throat?

Did LA sexually molest children?

Did LA take money from your pocket?

Did LA motivate people to get off their fat asses and get on a bike to ride

Did LA make an average bike company fabulously rich?

Did LA give hope and inspiration to million of cancer victims, cancer survivors and their families?

Why the public opprobrium?

Why do you see the speck in your brother'seyebut fail to notice the beam that is in your own eye?

Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

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Old 01-18-13, 10:25 AM
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Originally Posted by gsteinb
You said ten years from now. You can't keep moving the line.

And OJ is in prison. Not a great example all and all.
I didn't move any lines. He is today what he was yesterday and will still be tomorrow.

And you know what I meant with the OJ comparison. Go ahead and twist it any way you want. It doesn't change the way things are.
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Old 01-18-13, 10:31 AM
  #1331  
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Originally Posted by eja_ bottecchia
Remind me again...

Did LA launch a war on false pretenses?

Did LA lie about having sex with "that" woman

Did LA hoodwink an entire nation into voting for him for higher office

Did LA send people of the "wrong" race or religion to their deaths?

Did LA steal money from orphans, widows and retired people?

Did LA slash his wife's throat?

Did LA sexually molest children?

Did LA take money from your pocket?

Did LA motivate people to get off their fat asses and get on a bike to ride

Did LA make an average bike company fabulously rich?

Did LA give hope and inspiration to million of cancer victims, cancer survivors and their families?

Why the public opprobrium?



[/B]
No, but he did a pretty good job of ****ing over:

Emma O'Reilly,

Prentis Steffen,

Mike Anderson,

Davids Walsh,

Fillipo Simeoni,

Frankie Andreu,

Betsy Andreu,

Greg Lemond,

amonst others.


And in all probability he bribed the UCI. Not a mass murderer, but hardly someone to be admired, and certainly someone deserving of the public's contempt.
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Old 01-18-13, 10:35 AM
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Originally Posted by canam73
Maybe.

But think about Lance 10 years from now. What's the worse scenario?

He could always have the cancer come back. Or somebody kills him.

Outside that, his day to day existence will be something most people might give up a nut for. And if he is that calculating animal I say he is, he'll look at everyone who thought he's been "taken down" and laugh. It will still all have been worth it.
Agreed and his Hollywood and political friends who have probably done worse things than Armstrong aren't going to shun him on moral grounds.
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Old 01-18-13, 10:42 AM
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meanwhile ever doping, lying cyclists rides off into the sunset with no criticism and keep their honor.
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Old 01-18-13, 10:43 AM
  #1334  
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Originally Posted by canam73
I didn't move any lines. He is today what he was yesterday and will still be tomorrow.

And you know what I meant with the OJ comparison. Go ahead and twist it any way you want. It doesn't change the way things are.

I'm not twisting it. OJ is in jail and is a pariah. He's not getting endorsements again in this life time. He's not getting on big brother XXII or the new MTV series about celebrity dirt bags. So, no I don't get what you mean by the OJ comparison. If what you meant is that ex celebrities can still find folks to have sex with them...the focus of my life has the bar a bit higher. Armstrong isn't bouncing back from this. The ship sailed when he thought he could manipulate what folks saw and felt. If he admitted to what he really did, how the UCI was involved in it, maybe at some point he'd get some sort of good will from the public. But he came off arrogant and less than truthful.
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Old 01-18-13, 10:52 AM
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Originally Posted by gsteinb
Armstrong isn't bouncing back from this.
Sure he will. You're underestimating his desire to bounce back from this, and - barring a few exceptions - the ultimately forgiving nature of our society when it comes to celebrities. You'll see.
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Old 01-18-13, 10:52 AM
  #1336  
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Is Greg LeMond a total tool or just another disgruntled has been...

In all of the back and forth in the sorry media circus that has become the Armstrong Affair, one of the sorriest sideshows has to be Greg LeMond.

I used to be a big, a HUGE Greg LeMond fan. As the first American to win the TdF he was a source of inspiration for me and for thousands of bike riders of my age. His thrilling victory over Fignon is seared in my mind as one of the greatest moments in sports history. Initially, I felt bad about a bike champion that through bad luck and bad decisions had been relegated to a footnote in Lance's Tour story.

But the more that Greg opens his mouth, the more I am convinced that he is just a tool.

Here are some of Greg's recent pronouncements following LA's Oprah interview:

“Armstrong has destroyed anyone who has been successful in cycling,” LeMond told Cyclingnews.

Really Greg? No TdF winner ever used dugs? Not Coppi? Not Anquetil? Not Hinault? None of those champions ever used drugs? Really Greg?

LeMond believes that Armstrong’s natural talent was ‘average’ and that he couldn’t have won the Tour De France clean because he wasn’t the super-talented athlete he made himself out to be.

More sour grapes from a racer who won the Tour but was never truly dominant like Hinault or the other champions from his era. Incidentally, was the aero bar that Greg used to beat Fignon legal? And if not legal, didn't Greg then use an illegal piece of equipment to win? If Fignon had not been so typically stubborn (in his own French way) and shaved off that pony tail, would Greg have been able to beat him?


“If Armstrong had given Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton the same stuff he was taking, he would never have won – they would have beaten him,” he said.

More BS from a disgruntled has-been. Not even Tyler or Floyd have ever claimed that they could have beaten LA, drugs or no drugs.

Greg should do everyone a favor and just shut his mouth. As the ancient Chinese proverb says, "It is better to have everyone think that you are a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

Greg will serve his cause better if he remains the elder, and circumspect, bike statesman rather than just a guy who can't keep his mouth shut.
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Old 01-18-13, 10:59 AM
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Originally Posted by merlinextraligh
No, but he did a pretty good job of ****ing over:

Emma O'Reilly,

Prentis Steffen,

Mike Anderson,

Davids Walsh,

Fillipo Simeoni,

Frankie Andreu,

Betsy Andreu,

Greg Lemond,

amonst others.


And in all probability he bribed the UCI. Not a mass murderer, but hardly someone to be admired, and certainly someone deserving of the public's contempt.
All the people that you listed above are still alive, none of them are pushing daisies.

They all had a chance to fight LA in court, yet they chose not to.

Whether he bribed the UCI is just that, speculation.

Do any of the holier-than-thou posters here have a perfect record?

Posters here remind me of a bunch of vultures feasting on the corpse of the man who, for millions of riders and cancer victims, was the inspiration to get off the couch and start doing something positive.
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Old 01-18-13, 10:59 AM
  #1338  
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ok
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Old 01-18-13, 11:00 AM
  #1339  
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Originally Posted by eja_ bottecchia

Do any of the holier-than-thou posters here have a perfect record?

awesomely irrelevant and yes, I do.
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Old 01-18-13, 11:00 AM
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Microphones may not be his best friend, but he's still The Only American to Have Ever Won the Tour.

Edit: just saw your other posts herein:

Hark! The majestic song of the bitterly crestfallen Lancefan!

Last edited by calamarichris; 01-18-13 at 11:03 AM.
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Old 01-18-13, 11:01 AM
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Originally Posted by Angio Graham
meanwhile ever doping, lying cyclists rides off into the sunset with no criticism and keep their honor.
Yes...
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Old 01-18-13, 11:02 AM
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Originally Posted by calamarichris

Microphones may not be his best friend, but he's still The Only American to Have Ever Won the Tour.
That is why I wrote: Greg will serve his cause better if he remains the elder, and circumspect, bike statesman rather than just a guy who can't keep his mouth shut
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Old 01-18-13, 11:04 AM
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Originally Posted by gsteinb
I'm not twisting it. OJ is in jail and is a pariah. He's not getting endorsements again in this life time. He's not getting on big brother XXII or the new MTV series about celebrity dirt bags. So, no I don't get what you mean by the OJ comparison. If what you meant is that ex celebrities can still find folks to have sex with them...the focus of my life has the bar a bit higher. Armstrong isn't bouncing back from this. The ship sailed when he thought he could manipulate what folks saw and felt. If he admitted to what he really did, how the UCI was involved in it, maybe at some point he'd get some sort of good will from the public. But he came off arrogant and less than truthful.
Maybe you really didn't understand my OJ comparison. What I'm saying is that after being branded a murderer and having a multi-million dollar civil judgement against him he was still living well. He threw that away by making more mistakes, but Armstrong won't be that foolish.

Lance is arrogant and less than truthful. And yet even on this forums there are people defending him. "Level playing field", "Cycling has a history of doping", "Look at all the people he helped" and all that. That will never completely stop. Even if it was reduced to 1% of the public (and it won't) that's still a crap load of people.

He isn't naming names right now because his current goal is to have his ban reduced and offending those in power won't help there. He'll save that for later. And when he does decide it's time, people will get in line to hear from him again.

I'm sure Lances bar is set higher than having sex with groupies, too. But those things are still there for him. Maybe it will never get as high, but his ball is still bouncing.
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Old 01-18-13, 11:04 AM
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Originally Posted by RTDub
I am quite certain that the sports' character was in jeopardy well before Lance.

My daughter gave me a coffee table book on Lance in 2009. I cannot destroy it for that reason, but it is a nice little time capsule.
I still wear the yellow wrist band not for Lance, but in honor of my mother. She passed away in 2004 and she is burried with one on here wrist.

In the interview Lance proved that he is an a-hole.
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Old 01-18-13, 11:06 AM
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Greg Lemond. True American Cycling Champion.

DopeStrong still has some Believers on the Titanic, it seems.
It's sinking, bro. Best bail.
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Old 01-18-13, 11:10 AM
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Originally Posted by sleepy
Greg Lemond. True American Cycling Champion.

DopeStrong still has some Believers on the Titanic, it seems.
It's sinking, bro. Best bail.
We live in a bubble in this country and it affords us the luxury of opting for the truth, or not.
Check out his comments on the Lance/Oprah thread. He's like one of those old Japanese soldiers stuck on an island who still thought WWII was going on.
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Old 01-18-13, 11:13 AM
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wasn't it an even playing field? didn't and don't they still all do it?
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Old 01-18-13, 11:14 AM
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why is no one going after football players?
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Old 01-18-13, 11:14 AM
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Originally Posted by canam73
Maybe you really didn't understand my OJ comparison. What I'm saying is that after being branded a murderer and having a multi-million dollar civil judgement against him he was still living well. He threw that away by making more mistakes, but Armstrong won't be that foolish.

Lance is arrogant and less than truthful. And yet even on this forums there are people defending him. "Level playing field", "Cycling has a history of doping", "Look at all the people he helped" and all that. That will never completely stop. Even if it was reduced to 1% of the public (and it won't) that's still a crap load of people.

He isn't naming names right now because his current goal is to have his ban reduced and offending those in power won't help there. He'll save that for later. And when he does decide it's time, people will get in line to hear from him again.

I'm sure Lances bar is set higher than having sex with groupies, too. Those things are still there for him. Maybe it will never get as high, but his ball is still bouncing.
You pointed out something that I find disturbing. That is the people who jusify his actions because everybody else does it. That attitude has become prevelant in our society and it is just totally wrong.
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Old 01-18-13, 11:15 AM
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It is my fervent hope that Trek or some other company starts manufacturing Steel Lemond bikes again. Those Trek cornflake bikes that Thugstrong rode eat monkey pooh.
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