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RCoapman
Joined: 09 Feb 2005
Posts: 5153
Location: Back in the snowy homeland7/1/23 5:33 AM |
I am a little abivalent in how I think about LA. As a sportsperson, he was definitely driven and talented. I don't care how much dope you have in you, you can't do what he did without boat loads of talent and motivation.
I do think it's unfair that, for an example, Jan Ulrich is still listed as coming in second in the 2001 TdF when he was doped to the gills as well. They all were and everyone knows it. Probably the top 20 or 30 riders, if not more, every year were doping like mad....they should have wiped out the whole damned roster no matter the historical consequences.
But that's a tiny part of it, entirely overshadowed by the cheating and his being a complete and utter asshole to everyone around him. He was toxic, vile prick and caused a lot of harm. I honestly can't believe anyone listens to his podcast, I find him gross...far more for his dickishness than the cheating.
Celebrity breeds narcissism, it's nearly a psychological inevitability given the fawning attention people give to anyone who is publicly known, so I'm not surprised he's taking this tack but given how he treated people in the past it's truly vile. He was an asshole then and it seems he's an asshole now. Fuck him.
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19099
Location: PDX7/1/23 7:46 AM |
i saw doping as leveling the playing field, top 50 riders most probably doped. What are they using now, like EPO early on not able to test for, etc.
but my point was the victim card pullage...
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RCoapman
Joined: 09 Feb 2005
Posts: 5153
Location: Back in the snowy homeland7/1/23 12:51 PM |
Sorry if I wasn't clear, I fully agree.
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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5102
Location: Nashua, NH7/4/23 6:02 AM |
Frankly, I find all the public hating on Lance to be rather tedious. Yes, he doped, as did every other contender during his time AND - let's not forget - previous to that. He paid a heavy price for that, as he should have. I'm over my disappointment with him, but the author of that piece obviously isn't, and it comes across as petty, faux-outrage to me.
Was he a jerk? Absolutely! Is he still? That's a matter of opinion.
Heck, one could almost argue that long-term, he did the sport a favor by pushing doping so much to the forefront that it simply had to be address aggressively. As painful as it was, who knows where we would be today without the Lance debacle.
Personally, I find him mildly amusing and he has insights into the sport that none of us do. He's trying to build a new life for himself, which he's obviously entitled to do. While I don't feel any sympathy for him, I don't feel any derision either. He's just another voice out there that you can choose to listen to or not. Hopefully, he does something interesting, but if not, oh well.
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RCoapman
Joined: 09 Feb 2005
Posts: 5153
Location: Back in the snowy homeland7/4/23 9:59 AM |
I won't argue with the tedium of it. But for me, one thing I have a hard time forgiving is someone who deliberately throws someone else under the bus to try and cover their own ass. The doping is whatever, they were all on the juice, but being a toxic, manipulative, and evil shit to everyone around him to cover his lies is why I'll never partake in anything done by LA.
Yes, everyone deserves a second chance but each person has their own boundaries so this i just my view and I don't expect anyone to share it.
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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5102
Location: Nashua, NH7/4/23 11:30 AM |
That's fair.
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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3238
Location: Midland, MI7/4/23 2:27 PM |
quote:
I won't argue with the tedium of it. But for me, one thing I have a hard time forgiving is someone who deliberately throws someone else under the bus to try and cover their own ass. The doping is whatever, they were all on the juice, but being a toxic, manipulative, and evil shit to everyone around him to cover his lies is why I'll never partake in anything done by LA.
Yes, everyone deserves a second chance but each person has their own boundaries so this i just my view and I don't expect anyone to share it.
An excellent summary of my feelings as well.
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19099
Location: PDX7/4/23 2:50 PM |
"but being a toxic, manipulative, and evil shit to everyone around him to cover his lies is why I'll never partake in anything done by LA. "
This^
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