Lance Armstrong admits to doping

It isn't so much that he cheated and stole, but the scale on which he did it. Throw in the bullying, corruption and intimidation and the guy stands out from the rest. Personally, I don't give two hoots who "won" any of these professional events (or any other sporting contest for that matter), but the effect that this psychopath's behaviour has had on the lives of others is inexcusable.

The more I think about this the more I change my mind.

I initially wanted him to confess, explain what he did as part of a degree of 'truth and reconciliation' process that might make the sport move on but going on Oprah just makes me think he is doing what he always has done; managing his own story.

Honesty would be to subject himself to independent scrutiny and questions. A true apology would not just be about cheating but about his bullying, lying and apparent scheming. Maybe he will prove me wrong but I suspect we will get a flimsy apology of sorts and a degree of self justification (' jeez they were all doing it') and the episode will still leave many with unanswered questions. 

As for the question about advantage, the answer is yes, it did and it does. Why else do they do it? Would he win without-who knows but that escapes the basic point. He cheated deliberately systematically and repeatedly of his own volition, appears to have involved others and has aggressively attacked verbally, in the courts and by personal vendetta those who have stood to question him. I believe he was as much guilty of creating the doping culture as 'responding' to it. He refined it to a systematic process. He then sold himself to the world on the back of these false achievements as great sporting survivor. The sad truth is we will never know how great a rider he was, because he cheated. That is in some ways the worst for him. He might actually be the greatest but his record is now zero wins and that is absolutely correct.

He has much to apologise for.  I just cannot see Oprah being the place for it unless it is the start of a process.

As for your question, I get the feeling that some in the US see this as a Euro conspiracy against a great US champion. Am I right?

Bruce

A Question for Lance. If you could compete now and had worked out a way of doping that was almost guranteed to make you win and was also impossible to detect, would you do it? If the answer is no, what has changed then?

Whilst I'm planning to watch, I have grave reservations as to whether I can actually stand these two titanic egos nattering on and exchanging fake emotions for that length of time. They're both egotistical, selfish  and irrelevant attention-whores. I actually wish they'd both just go away forever. 

Winky

Totally agree with your last sentence. Lance should quietly hide, and cycling should get on without him.

Bruce

This sums it up for me:

Nicole Cooke on the BBC Sport website:

"When Lance cries on Oprah later this week and she passes him the tissue, spare a thought for all those genuine people who walked away with no rewards - just shattered dreams. Each one of them is worth a thousand Lances."

---

First of all, if you didn't think he was on the juice, which rock were you living under ?

Secondly, if you need to have a hero like Armstrong to compete, either in sport or in a health battle, you can find another hero to follow, Mr Beckham perhaps ?

And who is Nicole Cooke ?

So do we even want to ask if Big Mig was on anything ?  You can guess what I think.

With a less of a whiny tone ...

There are bigger and better heroes in each of our own lives.  Please don't invest so much in a 'personality' and then lambast the guy when he falls from grace.

Being a successful sports person gives one no particular rights to be considered a "role model". Our heroes should be those that sacrifice themselves for others, not those simply in pursuit of their own fame and fortune. Only from those who put others first do we truly learn what it is to be "great".

(Nicole Cook is one of the all-time best cyclists in the world.)

Lance?  On the juice?  Well knock me over with a feather!

Not.

Winky - love your commentary on Lance & Oprah - perfectly encapsulates the whole thing.

1. I agree that to do an interview with/on Oprah is laughable.  But to do an interview with someone familiar with the sport, such as Phil Liggett, or knowledgeable about the subject matter, like ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap would have subjected him to scrutiny, so being a cheat, he took the chicken-sh^t way out,
2. I hope all the people he bullied and threw under the bus are vindicated,
3. He needs to work with the cycling sport to help them sew-up the loop holes he was able to jump through,
4. He and his “doping accomplices” whether team members, medical personnel, or WADA employees should all be held accountable and banned as well,
5. I see this as just the next practical step in 'what is best for Lance' under the current circumstances, though I’m sure he’ll pitch it as sincere remorse,
6. His foundation will get along better without him.

My God, I find myself agreeing with virtually everything that was said.  I personally watched Lance race as a teenage junior in Central Texas.  Fun to watch.  As an American and one whose love of collegiate and professional sports has gradually given way to putrid contempt--for most of the "athletes" and "administration" (Think Penn State here), I have no particular sympathy with Armstrong.  I do think there was an international conspiracy against him, but it happened to be, as you Brits say: "...spot on."  My only regrets are that the sanctimonious French, who have never forgiven the United States and Britain for pulling out their hash in World Wars I and II, will utilize this as justification for further sanctimony.  Now I must say something here to my French brothers and sisters (my middle name is DeBord): First, I know that neither war was fought on our soil, and that you lost millions.  Moreover, if there were even just the occasional spot where I could take a leak without dropping a Euro in the slot, I would probably live in Paris.  (Nope, on second thought, make that second to Vienna.)  Moreover, I do not direct my comments at all of you--only the sanctimonious few.  So now that you don't have Lance to kick around any more, perhaps you can start searching within French veins for all the hot chemicals!  I'm just saying!

Best regards, and yes, I mean that for everyone--including the French.

Russ

Moralisateur? Toi?

Mais oui, Phillipe. Pouvez-vous le croire? (Si vous le pouvez, vous aussi peut-être aussi accepter que je ne l'ai pas traduite en ligne!)

Cordialement,

Russ

Liggett wouldn't work. He's been a friend of Armstrong's for years (although he may now feel betrayed, I guess). Liggett is a bit "past it" in any case.

I'd like to see him interviewed by Paul Kimmage. Then slide back a door to reveal a Q&A panel comprised of Betsy Andreau, Emma O'Riley, Greg LeMond, Tyler Hamilton, George Hincapie, Travis Tygert, Dick Pound and Floyd Landis. Now THAT I would watch.

OUCH!  That would sell as pay per view.  Priceless.

Has he admitted to doping yet?

Totally agree

Shame Nicol Cooke has retired.

Even as a Texan, to whom Lance was at least something of a hero--even though I knew he and half the cycling world were doping--what Cooke says pretty much sums it up. 

Derry, Whether he has or not, the evidence is now overwhelming (kind of like Bengazi--it's damned well obvious what happened there--the difference is no one will EVER admit it or be accountable).  All this crap about appearing on Oprah would not have occurred without Lance screaming it was false, unless he is planning to admit it.  Hell, he may already have done so for all I know.

Best regards,

Russ

Don't you think that lying drug cheats (and wives of lying drug cheats), with no credibility, are not the ideal people to be questioning another lying drug cheat ???  They are just as bad as Lance.

Beating the system and getting away with it is really hard. 

My sympathy goes to Lance for having tried (and almost succeeded!).

Obviously those who believe in heroes, gods and other santas are now utterly disappointed.

They will be upset for a while.

Then, some new fairy tales will be made for them and things will fall back into place.

I feel sorry all the clean riders who never achieved the success they deserved due to pharmstrong et al. To add insult they were often bullied out of the sport by said armstrong who was well connected.

I've been a cycling fan since the mid eighties and to be honest I think there has been only a handful of clean winners of the tour in that time. Lemond, Evans and Wiggins probably the definate clean winners. As for all the others....

Though I love cycle riding, I have never followed the professional road racing scene. Too many scandals for me to be interested. In the case of Lance Armstrong, I could never quite believe that he should be lynched in the court of public opinion, based - as it seemed to me - on media sensationalism. I did not like him as a man, and yet he seemed to have some redeeming features, such as support for charity work.

I have not watched his interview, but if he admits the doping allegations are true, then I must regard him in a different light. And it has to be said that this would not be a very positive one, to massively understate my view. 

I would always give someone who so vigorously protested their own innocence the benefit of the doubt to a degree, but now I feel that my giving him that leeway is betrayed - assuming he does "come out." I hate being told lies. In fact I detest the people who do this, almost as much as those who commit the most heinous crimes.

Anyone who plays on a sense of fair play and abuses that, is a rascal of the first degree in my book.

Even if he does admit I suppose I could still muster some respect for him even now, if he put his vast alleged experience of bucking the drugs testing regime in sport at the disposal of those currently in charge of making it more effective.

But has he actually admitted it yet?

ATB from George 

I think that professional sport and cheating are completely inseparable. Once the rewards become monetary and therefore something other than the satisfaction of winning, sport becomes a cruel parody of itself. Often spectacular, but without any credibility. Virtually all professional sports are rotten to the core. I only say "virtually" because someone will inevitably point to a noble exception, but I can't think of one.

I don't know what we achieve as a society by paying people to play games.

Dear Winki,

I could not agree with you more!

Money is nothing but a corruption in the field of sport ...

ATB from George

For the record, yes, he admitted it Monday during a taped interview with Oprah.  The interview will not air until Thursday and Friday (two parts) in the US on the Oprah Network, and all involved in the interview have to remain silent about the details until the shows air.