Lance Friggin Armstrong

j_wilson2012
j_wilson2012 Posts: 293
in Chit-Chat
So....it is out. Lance quit the never ending fight against doping. But it is still very debatable, and from 2 very different perspectives.
Do you think he doped, and was finally admitting guilt, without admitting it? The USADA says it is just a cop out, and that he is a fraud.
On the other hand, he has a family, and various charities, and probably a business to run. Maybe he was tired of pouring thousands of dollars into lawyers, and spending hours and hours going to court. Maybe running the other things in his life were more important than his recognition.
I dont have all the facts firsthand. I will read more into it. But the world may never know unless he admits it. Another Clemens, or Bonds. I think he may have, part time, when he came out of his cancer, but I dont think he did it 7 years in a row.
He has been the face of fitness and cycling for a long time now. So.......what do you think?

<http://espn.go.com/olympics/cycling/story/_/id/8298135/usada-ban-lance-armstrong-life-strip-seven-tour-de-france-titles-charges-used-performance-enhancing-drugs-cycling-career&gt;
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Replies

  • midschool22
    midschool22 Posts: 1,267 Member
    I think it was his only option. If there is hard evidence it will come out when his buddy Johan Bruyneel goes to arbitration. Just for kicks, here is a list of the second place finishers during Lance's reign...

    1999 : Alex Zulle took second. He has admitted to taking EPO in the past.
    2000 : Jan Ulrich. Suspended and banned for doping.
    2001 : Jan Ulrich. Yet more doping.
    2002 : Joseba Beloki. Implicated in Operation Puerto.
    2003 : Jan Ulrich. Yet more doping.
    2004 : Andréas Kloden. Accused of blood transfusions in 2006.
    2005 : Ivan Basso. More blood doping
  • j_wilson2012
    j_wilson2012 Posts: 293
    bump
  • corn63
    corn63 Posts: 1,580 Member
    What do I think?


    That I'm over the posting about it. He didn't say he cheated. Nobody can prove that he can. Therefore, I do not care.
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    I'd put all my money on he was doping
  • Suzy_in_DE
    Suzy_in_DE Posts: 191 Member
    From my understanding he has never tested positive.
  • Mustangsally1000
    Mustangsally1000 Posts: 854 Member
    I find the entire thing really sad. He took hundreds of tests..you would think if he was guilty..there would be irrefutable evidence there. But..there's not.

    A long drawn out court case would eat up everything he owns, and he has a family to support, and a job to do. I agree..It was likely his only option. And that sucks!
  • dmpizza
    dmpizza Posts: 3,321 Member
    I would like to believe it isn't true, but how else could they get the ten other competitors to rat him out?
  • wbgolden
    wbgolden Posts: 2,066 Member
    Headline from the Onion:

    Lance Armstrong: Cyclist, Survivor, Liar, Hero

    I dunno what the truth is. I just know I'm super disappointed.
  • ket_the_jet
    ket_the_jet Posts: 1,257 Member
    "You're quitting? I thought about quitting once, after I found out that I had lung, testicular and brain cancer... all at the same time. How are you dying?"
    -Lance Armstrong
  • hoskibn
    hoskibn Posts: 86
    Here is the one thing that makes me suspect(since we may never know) he was doping. This isn't like previous allegations, the USADA, United States Anti Doping Agency, is making them. It's not like it is an organization that benefits from proving his guilt. It's not like this is a European ADA who is upset about a Yank winning their race. This is our ADA. If this is a witchhunt, where is the benefit?
  • KyleB65
    KyleB65 Posts: 1,196 Member
    I read about this earlier today. Perhaps I am naive or I have a soft spot for Lance? But, I want someone to prove something. All I have ever heard on this has been innuendo at best. As an American winning the Tour De France I am certain that the Europeans did absolutely every thing they could to find a smoking gun on him and found nothing provable. In addition he has already been cleared by the US Congressional committee investigation. This sounds like Floyd Landis trying to sell out his past team mates to take the pressure off of his conviction and the USADA jumping on the band wagon to get a high profile win.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    he is the most tested athlete ever and has never popped positive. nuff said.
  • sillygoose1977
    sillygoose1977 Posts: 2,151 Member
    Newsflash! Cycling (and most other sports) are dirty.
  • Im_NotPerfect
    Im_NotPerfect Posts: 2,181 Member
    I think the media and the international cycling organization had it out for him and was looking for an excuse to crucify him. He finally said the hell with them and gave up. There was never any evidence against him. He tested clean again and again. Sometimes you get so worn down, you just give up.

    I think it's sad....
  • Mamasota
    Mamasota Posts: 144
    Great post!
  • BackTatJIM
    BackTatJIM Posts: 1,140 Member
    "Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever"
    ... need i say more?
  • chrissyh
    chrissyh Posts: 8,235 Member
    Totally agree with 35!
  • dlashawn5
    dlashawn5 Posts: 28 Member
    I understand that he NEVER tested positive for doping during his whole career, so I am not understand how they can strip him of his accomplishments when the record does not reflect any positive proof of that! I do understand, when you have been fighting for years about the same ole thing that is not supported by proof, one gets a little tired. I don't think it is admitting to guilt at all. He is just tired of the BS! Besides, the truth will come out eventually. If he was dopping and they can prove it, well.....pay the piper. But, if he was not, without a shadow of a doubt, dopping ....then LEAVE HIM ALONE! He earned and deserves those rewards.
  • sing4me4you
    sing4me4you Posts: 88 Member
    I think the only "evidence" besides winning repeatedly, was eyewitness testimony and we all know how reliable that can be. I personally think he is telling the truth but doesn't want to keep up the fight. No blood/urine testing ever has proven he doped even though it has with other participants. Sad day for the sports world that someone is persecuted simply because he was better than others over and over again..
  • 2012asv
    2012asv Posts: 702 Member
    whether or not he did is one thing, but I don't think letting it cast a shadow on all the good that came from him (charities and such) is unfair. He is still a survivor- by whatever means. He still inspired and motivated so many people to change their lives for the better. He is human, if he did make a mistake oh well. IMO everything else he's brought about has made up for it.
    There are so many real problems going on in the world right now that could use all this attention and effort...
  • krullone
    krullone Posts: 7 Member
    ap_lance_matthew_070129_ssh.jpg

    Well, he's a Longhorn fan and he hangs with this dude... nuff said.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    "Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever"
    ... need i say more?

    i disagree. yes, he quit, but he put up a fight for a long time against people with limitless budgets. they would subpoena him to show up at THEIR convinience, and he'd have to take his own time and money to fight this battle.

    he won seven tour de france's and no one can ever take that away from him.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    Don't care if he was. Not even a little.
  • sapabt
    sapabt Posts: 13 Member
    I don't know if he did or didn't. Heard an opinion on the radio this morning from a cyclist that Lance just got tired of the ongoing fight and said enough. It was opined that someone from the doping assn may have an axe to grind.
  • yo_andi
    yo_andi Posts: 2,178 Member
    he is the most tested athlete ever and has never popped positive. nuff said.

    THIS!

    And also, by refusing arbitration he is making a pretty powerful statement of "does it really matter?".

    Still a fan. Except for that whole marrying Sheryl Crow business, but I guess there's no accounting for poor taste.
  • IronmanPanda
    IronmanPanda Posts: 2,083 Member
    I would like to believe it isn't true, but how else could they get the ten other competitors to rat him out?

    Because they all made deals with USADA and got slaps on the wrists.
  • azwildcatfan94
    azwildcatfan94 Posts: 314 Member
    I think he did it. But, I don't really blame him. Look at the people who have won since he retired...
    2006 Floyd Landis... Lost title for doping
    2007, 2009, 2010 Alberto Contador... suspended for doping (just re-instated, I think) Lost title for 2010

    Seems like it is just a matter of time before the others test positive for something. While Lance never tested positive on the tests at the times of the races, subsequent testing with current testing showed positive on at least one (sample b).
  • jtgilfoy
    jtgilfoy Posts: 25 Member
    There will never be PROOF, and the USADA has no authority to strip him of his titles. That said, I'd bet SERIOUS money that he was dirty as sin; all his serious competition has been proven dirty. Do you really think he could beat all the cheaters without cheating himself?
  • _Mimi_
    _Mimi_ Posts: 233
    I would like to believe it isn't true, but how else could they get the ten other competitors to rat him out?
    Perhaps to get better treatment for the doping they did TRYING to beat him.

    Why are we always so willing to believe the worst? I have seen NO proof he doped. I really kind of miss the America where a person was innocent until proven guilty...and a lot of other stuff that used to be.
  • cmcorn26
    cmcorn26 Posts: 253 Member
    i think he might have doped, who doesn't in cycling anymore? well, maybe alberto contador, even he was found "guilty without admitting that we had anything substantial on you". but anyway. i have emailed the usada numerous times and told them exactly what i thought of what they were doing. Here's the thing...no other governing body has been able to prove it, his tests came back negative. from what i understand is the usada is using fluctuating hematocrit levels to prove doping. well, hello, people's hematocrits can fluctuate for different reasons. i think what the usada has done to lance puts a huge smear on the image of cycling in the us and that is one sport that our overweight country needs to get into.
    i commend lance for being brave enough to stop wasting his time fighting this and concentrate on what he has done and is doing for the world of cancer and its victims. to me that makes him just a great a hero as his 7 tours, which i won't forget watching! to me he will always be the winner of those tours. the usada cant take away his fan support, which i am sure they will try to do. That tygart is just a bum who is jealous of people who have actually accomplished something.

    lance got a raw deal.

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