"I knew what my competitors were doing," he was quoted as saying. "We [his U.S. Postal Service team] were doing less. We were more conservative, and that's the reason we were never going to be caught."LA Times
"This is a story because I was a bigger [jerk]. Because I was more litigious. Because I was more combative," he said. "And I've heard from a lot of people who say, 'You made all the money, you got all the fame, you deserve this.' And I hear that, and I understand that people think that way. But it's not consistent with what USADA has said.
"If we're going to be honest, then just say, 'He's a [jerk]. We had to go after him.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
"He tested positive for being the biggest [jerk] in the world.'"
"In an interview with ESPN the Magazine, Armstrong said that -- faced with widespread cheating in his sport -- he would do it all over again and that authorities singled him out because of his contentious nature.
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16 comments:
What is it with bikes and people who ride them being obnoxious jerks? It started with Charles Johnson.
So now Armstrong's defense seems to be "Okay, fine, I'm a jerk, but it was only because everyone else was a jerk, too. And most of then were bigger jerks than me."
Lance Armstrong sounds more and more like Pee Wee Herman.
Actually, I think Armstrong is saying simply that his sport is corrupt, so he was too to compete. I believe him. Look at other sports from Baseball to Football....steroid use is rampant but not talked about until someone "famous" is detected or suspected.
Tell me this: how many 300 lb linemen were there in college football and the pros in 1960? How many today?
Did improvements in Nordic Trak machines etc make the difference?
As for being jerks? In sports? Please. There are exceptions I am sure, but fundamentally it is now more business and entertainment than sport IMO. YMMV.
Yes, but Charles Johnson will be ready to go tomorrow against the Jets.
Michael Haz said...
Lance Armstrong sounds more and more like Pee Wee Herman.
One big difference...he is saying the sport is entirely corrupt, and in my mind that makes it more entertainment than sport. None-the-less, with or without steroids & doping (I'm pretty sure it was "with") he did win one of the most difficult sporting & endurance events in the world 7 times. Is that his crime? Or is it that the other roid users & blood dopers didn't?
Vince McMahon would understand it. Its not personal, it is just business.
Bingo, Aridog.
Ari is saying that all things being equal, Armstrong was the best roider in the competition / sportatainment..
What he's really saying is it's a French race with lots of Frenchmen in it, so what do you expect?
"Sacred blue!", as Benny Hill would say.
A bike roider - they aren't just Aussies anymore.
It's cold, periodically heavy, rain here today. I will have to pry my cold fingers from this keyboard and get something done.
Lights on the tree, now to sprinkle some ornaments around. No family this year so it's taking longer.
And maybe even get some work done.
Brrr.
Echoing AllenS, Aridog scores a shack..
Ari, well said. I concur with AllenS's sentiments.
Aridog, that was a great Vince MacMahon reference. Gotta say, Vince looked pretty good after he roided up himself.
You've heard about the broken watch twice a day, right :) ?
Another aspect of sports as entertainment as a "hype phenomena" might be Alex Karras, purportedly the 6'2" lineman for the Detroit Lions. That was the publicity hype.
I had met (the late) Alex Karras a couple of times through acquaintances and once accidentally (in a K-Mart, no shit)and if he was 6'2" I am a 9'6" hobbit. He was shorter than me, at 6'0", by a couple inches at least. He was also a very cordial and nice man...even if you met him at his haunt, the Lindell Athletic Club (bar) in Detroit (where I parked every day for work for 20 years)....soft spoken actually. None-the-less his neck and shoulders were massive and sloped like Gordie Howe's (NHL player of record) and he was no one I'd ever want to tangle with anywhere anytime. He may have been the last of the "real" athletes without enhancement I ever met. I'd have to include John Salley (NBA-Detroit Pistons) in that group...met him too and he was a genuine article and funny as hell, one of the few people I had to hurt my neck to look up to close in.
Today sports has become all business. Michael Jordan unintentionally aided that change, but once done it is forever. High Vince...you knew the secret all along.
Why are there more 300 lbs lineman? Because of two reasons:
1) Lots more weight lifting; and
2) Coaches figured out that its better to weigh 300 Lbs than 260 even if it meant hauling around 40 lbs. of extra fat. And being a lineman is a little like being sumo wrestler. Back in ye olden times, coaches hated fat linemen and guards were expected to have low body fat so they could lead the sweep. The Redskins and the "Hogs" proved that theory wrong.
3) BTW, my High School football and basketball teams overstated the heights and weights, the coaches thought it gave us a psychological edge - well, at least it didn't hurt.
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