Lance Armstong on Opra

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Keith Sinclair

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I know some could care less,back in my younger yrs. was a decent climber,always liked the sport.Have all 7 Tour wins by Lance on DVD.I would not miss this thur. on Opra channel.

He always denied EPO etc. which dogged him thru out his 7 yr. run.He is not perfect(who is?)In cycling tho he is among the greats, riders like Jacques Anquetil,Eddy Merckx,who could smash riders in both the mountains & Time trails.

He dumped his wife for celeb.,would not even talk to his real Father who split on the family when Lance was very young.
 
The real question in my mind is whether or not he was doping before he got cancer. EPO would have been a fairly common drug for someone who was going through long bouts of chemo or radiation. That also raises the question of whether he would have been able to recover or more relevant, get back into cycling without these prescribed drugs that are illegal even under those circumstances in sport. I think that he was too young to have been "blood doping" with the transfusions of his own blood back when it was not illegal in the 80's. Remember that pretty much the entire 1984 US Olympic track cycling team admitted with no guilt whatsoever that they had stored their own blood and transfused it later for events. If he is admitting to transfusion "doping" then he may have dong this all along because it is my understanding that EPO and drugs like that which boost your own red cell production pretty much replaced transfusions in the cheater's little bag around 2000.
 
I'm a cycler, but don't really follow the sport. I also don't understand all the anxiety over PED...they should be legalized and monitored. Maybe have separate leagues for PED and "natural"...or just slightly adjusted rules depending on the nature of the sport in question. We won't stop it from happening, so let's make sure people have good information and proper care.

What I find a great deal more concerning about Mr. Armstrong are the allegations in this article...

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/questions-oprah-should-ask-lance-armstrong-230849439.html

If anything like true, it makes him a rather despicable person. Of course, even if completely true, it doesn't negate that he's done a lot of good through LiveStrong and his inspiring public image of someone who beat cancer.
 
Zwiefel I'm familiar wt some of what is mentioned in that Yahoo article,& other bully tactics not in it.Think about it,to win one Tour is hard,to win seven,you have to be so driven,take no prisoners,crush your rivals attitude.Like when he turned & looked Jan Ullrich(his german rival)in the face,like watch this sucka & road him off his wheel on the steep slopes in a Mountain stage.

I knew when Tyler Hamilton reluctantly came forward that Armstrong was guilty of doping.Tyler had nothing to gain by lying.

I am no Shrink,but the fact that he disowned his father who left him at a young age(no forgiveness),became a ruthless competitor,because of his physical & mental skills made history.He had to lie to keep up the Myth at any cost.Can you imagine what it must be like for him to have his titles stripped.
 
HUGE difference between on the field and off the field...furthermore, huge difference to do it with your competitors and with support staff and to take personal vengeance one someone when it will not help you win. That's an indication of character, not circumstances.

I do recognize that this kind of aggression is hard to turn off...and its one of the reasons I never got involved in team sports...lots of unhealthy BS goes on there (which doesn't mean it's ALL unhealthy)...and it's why I only watch two sports: Sumo and Tennis, both sports where there is a premium placed on decorum and sportsmanship (who knows what happens in the locker room though).

Yeah, I can't imagine how crushing it must be to be a competitor like that and have your life's work taken away with a pen. Honestly, I think it's ridiculous. Cycling (and other sports) just needs to acknowledge reality.

My $.02.
 
The flip side is those competitors who stayed clean, and then did not win on the big stage. It was also their life's work. Maybe a couple others whose names most of us don't even know would be famous champions, and would have reaped some of the financial windfall. Should they have violated the rules just to stay competitive? Not everyone had as easy access to the state-of-the-art stuff that Lance was doing, so easier to get caught/ banned.
 
I'm a cycler, but don't really follow the sport. I also don't understand all the anxiety over PED...they should be legalized and monitored. Maybe have separate leagues for PED and "natural"...or just slightly adjusted rules depending on the nature of the sport in question. We won't stop it from happening, so let's make sure people have good information and proper care.

What I find a great deal more concerning about Mr. Armstrong are the allegations in this article...

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/questions-oprah-should-ask-lance-armstrong-230849439.html

If anything like true, it makes him a rather despicable person. Of course, even if completely true, it doesn't negate that he's done a lot of good through LiveStrong and his inspiring public image of someone who beat cancer.

I am also a cyclist who doesn't really follow the sport and I agree about legalizing it, that is just how the game is played now.
 
Sumo? The unhealthiest sport on the planet? "Decorum and tradition" say that you get fat and die young. :lol2:
HUGE difference between on the field and off the field...furthermore, huge difference to do it with your competitors and with support staff and to take personal vengeance one someone when it will not help you win. That's an indication of character, not circumstances.

I do recognize that this kind of aggression is hard to turn off...and its one of the reasons I never got involved in team sports...lots of unhealthy BS goes on there (which doesn't mean it's ALL unhealthy)...and it's why I only watch two sports: Sumo and Tennis, both sports where there is a premium placed on decorum and sportsmanship (who knows what happens in the locker room though).

Yeah, I can't imagine how crushing it must be to be a competitor like that and have your life's work taken away with a pen. Honestly, I think it's ridiculous. Cycling (and other sports) just needs to acknowledge reality.

My $.02.
 
The only way that the "clean guys" could have won if everyone was clean was if Armstrong had not been able to recover from cancer without the doping. What percentage of the top guys were NOT doping in some way? Few, I suspect. If you read the Wiki entry for Greg Lemond, here is an entry that says that Lemond possibly attributes some of his succes in the 1989 Giro d'Italia, whihc was his first major race after he was shot in 1987, so "two anti-anemia treatments" that he received during the race. Was that a mispsornt, becaus4 it would probably be illegal today!
The flip side is those competitors who stayed clean, and then did not win on the big stage. It was also their life's work. Maybe a couple others whose names most of us don't even know would be famous champions, and would have reaped some of the financial windfall. Should they have violated the rules just to stay competitive? Not everyone had as easy access to the state-of-the-art stuff that Lance was doing, so easier to get caught/ banned.
 
Sumo? The unhealthiest sport on the planet? "Decorum and tradition" say that you get fat and die young. :lol2:

yeah...sadly true. Sumo wrestlers only live to 60-65yo...about 10-15 years earlier than the average Japanese man. :(
 
The baseball thing was all about Congress getting their mugs on TV. But realistically, since the government long ago gave baseball an real antitrust exemption, you could argue that they should have some oversight.
I don't understand the fascination with him, or Congress's fascination with baseball doping.
 
The baseball thing was all about Congress getting their mugs on TV. But realistically, since the government long ago gave baseball an real antitrust exemption, you could argue that they should have some oversight.

I'll even expand further. I don't understand the fascination with idolizing sports. I live near Denver and would never pay to see a game, let alone go to one. Millionaires doing what? Playing a game while LEO, firefighters, teachers, and other blue collars make jack. Sports is the opiate for the masses. I hate my life, job, and spouse, but there is always the game on Sunday to look forward to!

ETA: I don't hate sports, just the business and politics of it. I grew up in a sports loving household, but looking back my dad didn't really have any hobbies, interests, or passions besides watch sports on TV. Live life, get outside, and create something!
 
+1. I guess we have nothing more pressing to deal with as a nation.
:scratchhead:

It is endless to decide want is important.Shoots when I hear that over many thousands of yrs,the Earth moves in an eliptical orbit around the Sun when it is farther away & a wobble in the axis causes Ice Ages.Who knows?Maybe we have less control than we think.

As a nation many are obsessed wt. sports & celebrity.Through out history cultures have had Hero figures.We have become a little jaded with Hero's,after all they are only human.Lance seemed to have an amazing story,almost dying fr. cancer,going on to do what no other cyclist has done win seven tours.Then all he did for Cancer survivors.With or without drugs one of a handfull of the best ever.Now the Fallen Hero.

EPO was around through the 1990's,1998 tour was almost shut down because of drug scandle.Drug use in cycling was rampant before Lance won his first Tour.Also most all of the elite cyclist of Lances time were using drugs these European team doctors knew how to play the game.It is nieve to think other riders were clean & Lance dirty.That's why the European Cycling Federation stripping him of all his titles saying he is not worth mention,has alot of Bull&*% attached to it.A taxpayer paid Goverment agency to bring him down years after his victories.
 
Lance Armstrong is dead to me (not that I ever cared much about him or competitive cycling to begin with). All dirty cyclists (which it sounds like the majority of the winners are) are, at best, frauds.
 
drugs have always been around in cycling, dexedrine and the like were hugely common back in the day.

I kind of miss steel frames, swigging champagne from the saddle and steak for breakfast cycling. It's all getting too damn clean cut.
 
This is interesting because in the history of sports, cheating is a time honored tradition. With media coverage and ease of communication through technology, we have information almost instantly. Cheaters throughout history are in halls of fame, record books, and revered by sports fans. We just didn't have the technology then we do now to know about it. I'll pony up a bit of dirt about me. Mark McGwire was my hero growing up. I loved watching him and collecting everything I could. When the Congressional hearing came out, and he admitted to taking Andro, the public outrage towards him was immense. Forget anything good he ever did, the positive he instilled in the game, how he brought the game back from a broken state, and the fans he brought to the game. He was now a villian. A cheater who was the worst possible thing to happen to the game. I am even sure Andro was not against the rules then (I'm too lazy to research this late). Forget the entertainment value and the records he set. This is a game of honor folks! BS. It's always been about gaining an upper advantage on the next guy, no matter how it's done. Some are more deviant than others.

I've decided since sports enthusiasts abandoned McGwires honesty for some kind of personal vendetta against everything good he has done, that I hate, yes hate, everything pro sports stands for. Might I add I work at a Division I college were I oversee Division I athletes. The level of corruption among them is disheartening. They are good kids, but the coachs and athletic department staff make me sick to the stomach. They run the college because they bring in the $$. Screw sports, and anything associated with it.
 
Screw sports, and anything associated with it.

+1

I am an alumnus of the University of North Carolina and I was always proud that we were able to maintain academic integrity and still be highly competitive in many Division 1 sports. Man was I naive; in the past couple of years our athletic department has shamed the school to no end. I could now care less...

Back on topic, I love to ride my bike...so screw Lance Armstong and the rest of the cheaters. :2cents:
 
Instead of going on Oprah, he should have just stayed home and be ashemed of all lives he ruined.
He has had plenty of chances to come clean over the years, but instead he chose to use his power and money to destroy the people who told the truth..

Lars
 
By most expert accounts Armstrong had the perfect physiology and psychology to win all those TdF on an even playing field -everyone doping or not doping. The same clever and brutal competitiveness on the road is what's behind him being the "mastermind of the biggest doping ring in cycling history" and lying about it.

Oprah said he wasn't contrite about the cheating and I'm not surprised. His brain doesn't work that way. Any doubt about anything he does to get ahead never enters his mind to begin with.
 
Excellent point. Couldn't one argue that if he hadn't doped, we wouldn't be talking about him because the 90% of the guys who HAD doped would have beaten him? :lol2:
By most expert accounts Armstrong had the perfect physiology and psychology to win all those TdF on an even playing field -everyone doping or not doping. The same clever and brutal competitiveness on the road is what's behind him being the "mastermind of the biggest doping ring in cycling history" and lying about it.

Oprah said he wasn't contrite about the cheating and I'm not surprised. His brain doesn't work that way. Any doubt about anything he does to get ahead never enters his mind to begin with.
 
By most expert accounts Armstrong had the perfect physiology and psychology to win all those TdF on an even playing field.

I think this is a myth created by Lance. His pre-cancer results shows no potentiel for winning 3-week grand tours.

Greg Lemond on the other hand fits that description perfectly. A great naturel talent.

Lars
 
I remember reading a lot of stats like that about Indurain..calf to thigh length ratios, VO2 capacity, etc. Supposedly he was practically engineered for cycling. Of course, I take most of that with a grain of salt...when they start predicting such performance YEARS ahead of them winning big races, I'll start believing it...the power of science is prediction.
 
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