^UPDATE: Lance Armstrong, arrogant and unaware, did little to repair his image

[Deb]

Across 90 minutes with Oprah Winfrey, Lance Armstrong did more than admit he cheated to win his seven Tour de France titles. He revealed a measure of the man that he is and this much is certain: If you never met this jerk, well, count your blessings.

Defiant, distant, difficult.

Arrogant, unaware, flippant.

Oh, Lance had a plan to try to look open and honest, and that was what was so obvious: It was a plan. It sounded rehearsed. But when he went off script, well, that's when he went off the rails.

He apologized, and that's worth something, worth a lot to those of us who aren't outraged anymore over doping in sports. But in doing so, in tuning into the Oprah Winfrey Network, you could only marvel at that personality on display, the same one that while we celebrated his victories was, behind the scenes, leaving a path of personal destruction in its wake.

This was a glimmer of the true Lance Armstrong coming out. No Nike commercial edits. No press conference sound bites. No glowing magazine profiles. This was the guy who left scores and scores of people cursing that their paths ever crossed.

It's not about the bike, indeed. This was about Lance's sociopathic spectacle.

At one point during the interview, he couldn't recall how many people he'd sued. Really. He not only didn't know the number, he couldn't even be sure when asked about specific individuals that his mighty, powerful legal team relentlessly tried to bury.

It's worth noting that many of the people he's sued through the years in an effort to protect his lies and glory were one-time close friends, roommates, teammates, business partners and associates.


http://sports.yahoo.com/news/lance-a...062222144.html

[rondo]

Thought he was an arrogant jerk BEFORE the interview. Now, I'm thoroughly convinced of it.

[SOS4Prez]

This stinging Lance hate is something I just can't wrap my head around. It's not like we seem to hate the likes of Mark McGwire like this.

[Reveryroadie]

and yes he used the "everyone did it" defense.

[pooh555]

Originally Posted by SOS4Prez

This stinging Lance hate is something I just can't wrap my head around. It's not like we seem to hate the likes of Mark McGwire like this.

Mark McGwire didn't go out of his way to sue all his friends, teammates, and others (successfully too), when they spoke truth about him. The fact that he founded Livestrong isn't any consolation because while it may have done good, all it was was a front for him to improve his image even more so he could continue to perpetuate this illusion that he wasn't a lying, cheating, asshole. Forgiving him for that would be like forgiving Bernie Madoff because he gave money to charity.

[G-men]

Originally Posted by pooh555

Mark McGwire didn't go out of his way to sue all his friends, teammates, and others (successfully too), when they spoke truth about him. The fact that he founded Livestrong isn't any consolation because while it may have done good, all it was was a front for him to improve his image even more so he could continue to perpetuate this illusion that he wasn't a lying, cheating, asshole. Forgiving him for that would be like forgiving Bernie Madoff because he gave money to charity.

Boom. Rep. Hit the nail right on the head

[SOS4Prez]

How can we know the facts on why Livestrong was founded? The man did have cancer after all. He's a public icon with a lot of money. It's not ridiculous to think he wanted to help keep others from experiencing what he did.

At the end of the day, if me or one of my loved ones gets cancer and it's treated, I'm going to look upon Armstrong favorably for his contributions to fighting cancer, just like any other major donators. I could care less what he did in any other realm of his life. It doesn't affect me.

Though, I do get the scorn towards him in comparison to others that cheated. Didn't know the suing thing, didn't keep up to date on this whole thing.