Originally Posted by
JohnJ80
Sorry, I wasn't clear.
Anyone who had gotten themselves into that position would have done the same thing. Lance, or any other athlete or anyone caught doing a crime, would not fail to use the available laws to their maximum advantage knowingly. He didn't come clean because he wanted to, he did it because he had to. So, of course, he's going to do it in a way that is most advantageous. So would any of us if we were in the same situation. I don't see that as a problem. Would probably been nice to force him into a different time line, but that didn't happen and he got to choose some of the timing to his advantage. So what?
So I guess it's pretty easy to sit here and be righteous about thinking he - Armstrong - should come clean in a way that causes him maximum pain. But that's naive and foolish. Few among us would have accepted the punishment any differently if push came to shove, I'm sure. It's like when my attorney tells me when I want to go after someone "on principle." He'll push his yellow pad across the table to me and tell me to write that down so that when he sends me the invoice for his time chasing that down, he'll have that to remind me of what I wanted to be done. I'm sure Lance's attorneys told him exactly the same thing - "If you are going to go public with this, then do it according to this schedule because it's beneficial to you." And he took that advice just like pretty much every rational person in his situation would.
Is Lance a good guy? No. And he's going to take it right in the cheeks no matter what. At this point, the question of him getting away with a doping fraud is answered. He didn't, it's hurt him deeply and the hurt isn't done. He did make some moves to cover himself at some level tactically, but overall he got whacked.
He was/is a great cyclist. Sociopath? Not my area of expertise. I'll just leave it with him being a complete world class jerk.
J.
No. First, probably nobody on the entire forum would do so much to cover their tracks, in spite of his level of indiscretion. In fact, its pretty unprecedented in all of sport I believe. I will stand corrected if you can site another example as viscous. And there has been rampant cheating in sport with drug use to perform better. So we disagree there. For one thing its stupid. Anybody with an IQ above 80 would know that that tactic was doomed to fail. That level of corruption is bound to implode. You can't threaten and destroy others lives leaving them with nowhere to go without retaliation because that is what hard working men left with nothing will do. Lemond's indignance was he knew Armstrong raced dirty because he knew it wasn't possible to ride like that without. He would know. So lesson learned is....ruining lives has consequences.
You say not your area of expertise to determine sociopathic behavior.
This might help...definition:
A person with antisocial personality disorder. Probably the most widely recognized personality disorder. A sociopath is often well liked because of their charm and high charisma, but they do not usually care about other people. They think mainly of themselves and often blame others for the things that they do. They have a complete disregard for rules and lie constantly. They seldom feel guilt or learn from punishments. Though some sociopaths have become murders, most reveal their sociopathy through less deadly and sensational means.