Lance Armstrong: hero or cheater?

Eleven said:
Cheater.
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I'm developing more and more empathy for the guy as the interwebs rhetoric ramps up. He's in an underdog position of sorts now and I usually cheer for the underdog. Anyway, I don't see any reason that he be vilified.
 
Eleven said:
I'm developing more and more empathy for the guy as the interwebs rhetoric ramps up. He's in an underdog position of sorts now and I usually cheer for the underdog. Anyway, I don't see any reason that he be vilified.
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What about the great cyclists who didn't cheat? They should have had the wins. He robbed them.
 
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Eleven said:
I'm developing more and more empathy for the guy as the interwebs rhetoric ramps up. He's in an underdog position of sorts now and I usually cheer for the underdog. Anyway, I don't see any reason that he be vilified.
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Why exactly do you feel empathy for a guy who took drugs to cheat in a contest?
 
Alice-Bee said:
I could say the same to you. :weird:
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That's the basic premise, innit?
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My question was rhetorical but hey...
No one forced him to cheat for years and years. Im saving my empathy for those that deserve it...you know people with real struggles and problems.
 
RabbitLuvr said:
So it's better to allow cheaters to get away with cheating, just so we don't, yanno, make them feel bad?

**** that.
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Oooh, tough crowd.

Sure, he lied for a long time about using performance enhancing drugs and made a lot of money during that time but that's no reason to pile on. Especially when we haven't walked in his shoes.

As for getting away with cheating, turns out he didn't and none of us here played a part in that. So really, there's no reason for us to kick him when he's down.
 
Spang said:
Lying and cheating are at least 2 reasons Mr. Armstrong be vilified.
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Some other reasons:
In the early 2000s, she told stories of rampant doping and how she was used to transport the drugs across international borders. In the USADA report, she testified that you tried to "make my life hell."

Her story was true, Lance, wasn't it? And you knew it was true. Yet despite knowing it was true, you, a famous multimillionaire superstar, used high-priced lawyers to sue this simple woman for more money than she was worth in England, where slander laws favor the famous. She had no chance to fight it.

She testified that you tried to ruin her by spreading word that she was a prostitute with a heavy drinking problem.

"The traumatizing part," she once told the New York Times, "was dealing with telling the truth."
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Meh, I didn't hero worship him, or have any more respect for him than I do for any stranger, before all this came out. By the same token, now that it's out in the open, I don't hold him in any particular distaste - there are plenty of people walking around with their reputations and fortunes intact who have done more damage to more people than Armstrong has.

I continue to marvel at a society/culture which places such importance on people who essentially play games for a living. Our priorities are screwed up.
 
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Spang said:
Lying and cheating are at least 2 reasons Mr. Armstrong be vilified.
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Some people have been questioning for years whether his charity, Livestrong, actually does more to promote Armstrong (and to deflect steroid questions) than to help with actual cancer. This long article is an eyebrow-raiser.

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoo...nce-armstrong/Its-Not-About-the-Lab-Rats.html

"If Lance Armstrong went to jail and Livestrong went away, that would be a huge setback in our war against cancer, right? Not exactly, because the famous nonprofit donates almost nothing to scientific research. BILL GIFFORD looks at where the money goes and finds a mix of fine ideas, millions of dollars aimed at “awareness,” and a few very blurry lines."
 
ledboots said:
Some people have been questioning for years whether his charity, Livestrong, actually does more to promote Armstrong (and to deflect steroid questions) than to help with actual cancer. This long article is an eyebrow-raiser.

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoo...nce-armstrong/Its-Not-About-the-Lab-Rats.html

"If Lance Armstrong went to jail and Livestrong went away, that would be a huge setback in our war against cancer, right? Not exactly, because the famous nonprofit donates almost nothing to scientific research. BILL GIFFORD looks at where the money goes and finds a mix of fine ideas, millions of dollars aimed at “awareness,” and a few very blurry lines."
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WTF? Is any charity ever legit? It seems that they are all questionable when it comes to where all the donations actually go.
 
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