As referenced in the 2012 V-Moment of the year article and ensuing discussion, it was a most Vawesome year for cycling. It’s been hypothesized here and on cycling sites with more integrity that the fantastic racing of 2012 may be, at least in part, attributed to a cleaner peloton. Unless you watched the Tour de France you’d think the days of foregone conclusions and three week coronations are quickly becoming a thing of the past. It is in this vein we bring to you the Anti-V Moment of 2012: Lance Armstrong’s ceasing to fight the charges against him.
Now usually, we try our best not to delve into the seedy side of cycling. There is just way too much cool about our sport to focus our collective energy and attention on asshats. Besides, we’ve got bikes to ride. But the COTHO’s public announcement that he would no longer fight, er, defend himself against allegations of systematic doping, money laundering, blackmail, intimidation, and international douchebaggery has to be the biggest Anti-V moment of the year, if not in the history of pro cycling.
The COTHO could have feasibly taken one of three tacks as the winds of pressure, evidence, and public opinion continued to blow against his house of cards. Tack one would have been to continue lying, bribing, and digging an ever deepening hole as he steadfastly proclaimed his innocence. This obviously hadn’t been working for the past 10-odd years but at least it allowed him to maintain his base of supporters. Even as it became more difficult for him to maintain the façade he still had a sizable group of survivors, apologists, journalists, and mis-guided cycling fans who believed.
Tack two would have been to come clean (pardon the pun) and admit to the whole sordid mess he created but he didn’t have the ball to do this either. Who knows what his reasons are for not being honest? Best guesses are he’s rationalizing a set of excuses ranging from mitigating his financial liability, evading criminal implications, and blaming the corruptness of the sport. Maybe he’s trying to save face in some twisted way. But for as cliché as Tyler Hamilton even admitted in his tell-all; the truth will set you free. The COTHO could have stood in front of those microphones and cameras and said “Hey, you know what, I doped. I made some poor choices and lied to everybody and for that I’m deeply sorry.” Had he done so his detractors would probably still be his detractors and he would have given his supporters a legitimate reason to continue supporting him but at least everybody could say he fessed up and there is some integrity in doing that.
Alas, he took the Anti-V tack. He stopped defending himself, er, lying without admitting to anything and seems to be hoping to just fade into the background. In essence, he’s taking his toys and going home. What’s striking about this is that it is contrary to what we’ve come to understand about the guy. If anything, we’ve come to know him as a fighter, both in life and on the road. But this latest, and hopefully last maneuver was just plain weak. (Notice I’ve added the categories of “Evanescent Riders” and “In Memoriam” to this article in addition to “Awards”. The first two are much more fitting.)
Perhaps it belies the true nature of the man. A nature that involves intimidation, serial emotional and physical aggression and even violence. A nature that includes socially isolating his victims, arguing them into submission, and propagating rumors, gossip, and lies about them to sway public opinion in his favor. A nature that involves amplifying the mistakes of others in order to strengthen his own self-image. A nature whereby there are many innocent bystanders who are too fearful of repercussions to come forward themselves. The nature of a man who may be trying to compensate for his own insecurities and feed his own narcissism and megalomania. The nature of a simple bully who ultimately shows himself to be a big pussy.
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@Buck Rogers
It bloody well could.
Did I really say that?
@Buck Rogers
So Stuey, you're telling us you were a pro rider for 15 years (more ?) covering the era of Riis, Pantani, Ullrich and Armstrong and you had literally no idea that he was doping. You just thought he trained harder. In fact not just you, but the rest of the bunch as well.
Pull the other one mate.
@Sauterelle
Wow, alright I admit it, you deserve the V-adge award for that one!
Oh yeah, I luuuuuved the fact that he claimed to have stopped in 2005. And never doped during a race. "See, he raced clean!" the idiots will say. And by claiming he stopped in 2005 he's alluding to the fact that they were out to get him. Damnit.
I did enjoy it when he called himself a prick job. And a jerk. A jerk is such a great term, perfect for him.
And when asked if they were shooting up in a tent with fans just outside and he said something along the lines of not recalling that specifically. I thought that was perfect. Just like anyone with something to hide, at first you are nervous and trying to hide it. Then slowly you are using/shooting/doing it in the bathroom at a party, just around a corner, anywhere & everywhere. Just like any dope fiend of any kind. It becomes easy & normal.
Denying they were the most skilled/organized doping scheme - argh! again this opens the door for apologists. And saying he knew he'd never be caught. Jerk.
Careful now, once you start handing out the V-adge so freely everyone will want a piece. It's a slippery slope.
OK, I'm done now. Back to the testosterone and other manly stuff.
@ChrisO
It's interesting. I ALWAYS thought that Stuey had doped but recently I changed my mind on him. But, good point, he had to know that he was doping as well as a number of other riders. Not sure that he is saying that he never suspected the COTHO as a doper but that knwo he knows for a fact.
Still, it's better than Jensie's "Lance has suffered enough" bullshit response.
So much to say/comment on this. A particular favorite of mine is his claim that the USPS doping regime wasn't as bad as the East Germans. Well no shit Sherlock, you're comparing a privately-owned individual cycling team to a state sponsored program across many sports. Of course it doesn't compare! But of course, Oprah failed to bring this up.
He's so conditioned for spin and deceit that it would take a team of psychiatrists, at the University level, in Vienna to peel back all those layers so he could get to something closer to the truth. Oprah does not have the skill for that, she's in way over her head. Might as well of had Dr. Phil on too, for the freak show aspect.
@Marko
Even Lance does not know what is going on deep inside Lance - He has serious issues....denial, borderline megalomania, possible psycotic behaviour, anger management issues and that's just warming up, if he ever opened that pandoras box I suspect a complete meltdown would occur!
Overall, what I was most surprised at was that for someone who is known for preparing so meticulously, Lace seemed unprepared in being able to answer some of Oprah's questions, thereby either a. making himself appear entirely unbelievable and nonredeemable and/or b. setting the stage for more fallout (legal or otherwise). Perhaps some credit has to go to Oprah for at least making him uncomfortable with her questions and not just coddling him (as frankly I expected she would) Apart from the obvious ones like saying he was clean in 2009/2010; saying he didn't know whether or not he sued Emma O'Reilly because he sued so many people; and refusing to say if whether the hospital room confession actually happened or not, some of my favourites were:
- saying that it was a 'level playing field' but then saying he was able to 'phone in' the TdF victories. As Tim Johnson pointed out, if its a level playing field, you CAN'T phone it in.
- referring to suing people you knew to be telling the truth and receiving damages as a result as a 'serious flaw'
- and of course, the best was actually debating whether or not he called Betsy Andreu 'fat'