OT: Lance

[scaredyclassic]

Lance’s confession may make the history books. It seems very important to me, personally, and speaks volumes about our national character.

He is a quintessential winner. I mean, the guy is dogged, relentless, brutal, unstoppable, an athletically gifted freak of nature…

He’s also just the biggest asshole conceivable. If he were fictional, it would be difficult to buy him. The gall — suing people who are telling the truth about you into oblivion, using your money and power to squash them. Threatening, bullying and pushing anyone in your way into the dirt.

But really, deep down, in spite of all the fist-shaking, don’t we all kind of in a way think, yeah, you know what — Lance did what it took to stay on top. Maybe he went further than I would have, certainly he bent, broke and shat on the rules, he lied, he cheated, he hurt others without any thought for their welfare, and only concern for himself — but on some level, I think we as a nation admire that.

Maybe the majority of us would agree he went too far, but the underlying desire — to win, to not have concern for others to distract us from our ultimate victory, to prevail, to do whatever it takes to make it to the top … those are all qualities most americans agree are the foundations of greatness…

I wish I were more like him…I wish i were that tough…that relentless…

and here are all those traits we would love to instill in our children, in all their glory, fully metastasized into its monstrous megaversion, all venal ego fed glory driven pure shameless 100% supremely litigious American asshole.

And i gotta admit, I kind of admire the guy’s balls.

I mean, ball.

I loved and admired the guy, followed his entire career.

I was such a stupid ass fanboy I even bought your i realize now piece of shit book…filled with lies…

I can forgive everything but the meanness…although I may sue you for a refund on that book…i think there is a cause of action for fake memoirs…sue him in small claims court in temecula…maybe serve him at Livestrong?

He probably got the cancer from all the doping…the irony…the beauty…what a fucking American icon….

God bless you, Lance; you were beautiful and inspired me to ride harder…..may you rot in hell…

there is no lanceness in our house…no relentless pursuit, no drive to win, no lack of concern for others…we are all a bunch of non-winning philosophical slackers, concerned for cats and even spiders, not particularly driven to win, conent to curl up witha snack and a book and a cat.

we might need a bit of diluted lanceness in us…maybe he could dope us all with a bit of his essence…

Douchebag doesn’t even begin to describe Lance…prick is too weak.

I think the word “lance” itself should mean supreme asshole, just like Santorum now means the frothy mix of feces and lubricant produced during anal sex, and i’m counting on you all to start using the world Lance” in common parlance to describe the biggest douchebag imaginable..

[earlyretirement]

I think the guy may be one of the biggest @ssholes imaginable. I know he inspired a lot of people but I assumed once ALL of the people he used to ride with all said he was using drugs that it was true. All those people didn’t have any reason to lie.

The nerve of this guy to sue people when he knew they were telling the truth is very telling to the type of person he is.

I believe in karma and this guy will probably get his again and this time no one will feel sorry for this guy.

I don’t really think you’d want to be more like him or do whatever it takes to “be on top”. I hope this guy loses every dime he ever made.

[scaredyclassic]

i would like to be a winner.

[Hatfield]

Lance Armstrong is a douchebag. He seems to think the world owes him the opportunity to compete after all the shit that he’s pulled.

I find it very telling that when talking about all the people he screwed over, he always uses the passive voice. He’s sorry about the bad things that happened to other people, not the bad things he DID to other people. That’s not remorse, that’s just a prick with entitlement issues wanting to get back into the game.

It’s very sad that anyone should feel the need to win that badly.

[NotCranky]

Excessive admiration for a person because they excel at any kind of “specialization” whether in sports, economics or painting, preaching or anything else is misplaced admiration. Should be saved for people who are obviously a more complete package even if they aren’t excellent at anything. That’s a philosophy too.

I hate image based pecking order games and Lance and his followers are nothing but proof of how stupid they are. So what if some people can do one thing better than most of us, that’s often where it stops if you open your eyes.

[scaredyclassic]

But that’s not it. It’s not that he was merely better.

He was literally tough as nails.

Competitive is not enough to describe him.

He had that inner vital indescribable strength.

Lying in a hospital bed, close to death, cancer of the testicle his sponsors abandon him, he is nowhere , alone, skin and bones , weak, he crawls his way back to the top to spit in the face of the people who left him to die.

Guts. He had guts. It wasn’t just that he was faster. It was that that motherfucker would not quit and could not be beat.

Indomitable.

Who wouldn’t want some of that?

[NotCranky]

It seems like in Lance’s case what made him what you like is what made him an asshole. Take my kids amazing 3rd grade teacher. She drives 45 minutes a day, one way, to handle a classroom of kids like very few people could or would. She faces an an abominable administration/system everyday. She’s been doing it about 40 years. If she got cancer and made it back to work would she be as good as Lance? In my eyes shes would be better, even if Lance never doped. She does it without the prestige, without the money, and is a genuine and sincere human being.

[ltsddd]

He’s the lowest of the lowest life form in my book. I could understand the competitiveness and the desire to have an edge (read cheat) over the competition. However, to use your power and fame to bully and to intentionally destroy other peoples’ life and livelihood (a teammate of his for many years?) when you know you’re in the wrong is not something that any decent human being would do – let alone an alleged “hero” in so many people’s eyes.

This may sound cruel, but one has to wonder if his “cancer” was a also a lie and a fabrication. What are we supposed to believe after all these lies and deceits from him? Investigators familiar with the case have already said that he lied to Oprah’s face regarding his assertion that he didn’t dope in 2009 and 2010. Supposedly, his blood samples seem to indicate otherwise.

I think the guy out-conniving himself. This thing is going to blow up in his face big time. Karma is a bitch.

[SK in CV]

I have no idea why I should care about Lance Armstrong.

[flyer]

I give the man credit for staging a fight against a disease that any of us could face, and winning a battle many lose.

Other than that, everything else about him has been proven to be a myth, and on that basis, I have no respect for him.

At this point, I think most people wish he would stop wasting everyone’s time trying to justify his lies, and simply disappear from public view.

[scaredyclassic]

[quote=Blogstar]It seems like in Lance’s case what made him what you like is what made him an asshole. Take my kids amazing 3rd grade teacher. She drives 45 minutes a day, one way, to handle a classroom of kids like very few people could or would. She faces an an abominable administration/system everyday. She’s been doing it about 40 years. If she got cancer and made it back to work would she be as good as Lance? In my eyes shes would be better, even if Lance never doped. She does it without the prestige, without the money, and is a genuine and sincere human being.[/quote]

Well… That’s nice but… The world values athletic performance.

And there is great drama and beauty in bicycle racing.

And even 2nd place doesn’t get you. $100 million empire.

[CA renter]

[quote=Blogstar]Excessive admiration for a person because they excel at any kind of “specialization” whether in sports, economics or painting, preaching or anything else is misplaced admiration. Should be saved for people who are obviously a more complete package even if they aren’t excellent at anything. That’s a philosophy too.

I hate image based pecking order games and Lance and his followers are nothing but proof of how stupid they are. So what if some people can do one thing better than most of us, that’s often where it stops if you open your eyes.[/quote]

Great posts, Russ, both this and the one about your kid’s teacher. Awesome.

[CA renter]

[quote=squat300]i would like to be a winner.[/quote]

You’re a much greater winner than Lance Armstrong. You seem to be a great family man who loves and supports his wife and kids, unlike Lance Armstrong. Based on your posts, I’m guessing you don’t habitually lie, cheat, steal, and run over others in your quest to “win.” You appreciate the little things in life and know how to value those closest to you.

You win, Lance loses. Big time.

[scaredyclassic]

I changed my mind. I want the $ and glory

[CDMA ENG]

The things that just burns me is how he ruined some many people in all of this.

Bonds, and the other doping d-bags robbed people indirectly. Lance destroyed people personally.

As I stated before I am an athestist but I would sure like for their to be a heaven and hell so people like Lance can sit there for a while!

CE

[Author]

Posts