Originally Posted by canklecat

Most sports now involve at least some trash talking and manufactured controversy to sell tickets and help participants market themselves. That's been part of boxing for years, so to me the cycling controversy seems mild. And now it's widely practiced in politics internationally, with many world leaders adopting the braggadocio and bluster of pro wrestlers, while their sins are forgiven by their constituents. It's just the whole zeitgeist, not a Lance thing. He just happened to coincide with the rising tide of that sort of personality.