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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Let's not be churlish... there's a whole lot more shit coming that man's way, thoroughly deserved. Whether or not he dresses it up in excuses and half-truths might cut it with Oprah's viewers but I don't think it will influence lawyers for SCA, the Sunday Times, David Walsh etc.
I suspect some questions will be asked in the US Justice Department too.Something like "So we spent two years investigating a case, convening juries, sub-poenaing witnesses and then we dropped it... and now the subject of the investigation has gone on television to admit everything we thought we couldn't prove." From pure embarrassment they could get very righteous on his ass.
Best/worst bit for me - I called her crazy, I called her a bitch but I didn't call her fat. That's meme-gold. Print the t-shirts now.
@frank
As safe as orange juice.
Don't have time to find it just now but I read an interesting article about limits in the legal system regarding COTHO on Velonews.com. Something about how there are limits regarding how far back the law can go. If he lied in court 6 years ago about certain stuff he's immune to prosecution as the limit is 5 years for some cases 3 for others and you can be sure his legal team have been through it all to see how much damage he can avoid.
COTHO
@ChrisO
Indeed let's not get too carried away:
1. The sponsors were already chasing him for damages. I would imagine his lawyers have cut deals with some of them prior to this interview.
2. If you are already guilty, everyone knows you are guilty, the evidence is there, then you do not have much to lose by fessing up.
3. I wonder if he has negotiated his way out of any federal action (perjury) before coming on TV?
4. Call me a cynic...but surely this openess now leads to his next book?....er...hello!
Let's be clear, this is too little too late and actually admitting the drug taking is only admitting what we already knew. The pressure on Kimmage, the things he said about David Walsh...all publicly and verifiably tells me what he is really like, someone who is not worthing knowing or knowing about.
To be balanced, I have not watched the interview (I could not stomach it) and the posts seem to indicate I made a good decision (I don't rubberneck either).
The one thing that does bring a wry smile to my face is the shitty feelings all those Lance Lovers will have today....he duped them all and they were blind/deaf enough to believe him. It's not nice to poke fun at those people, but fuck they deserve each other!
I would like to think I was on my bike when this abomination of an "interview" happened. I really have no idea, because I have no idea when Douche Day actually stormed the beaches. Two glory hounds past their prime, even though Oprah was just slightly fading in my opinion - until now.
@itburns
I think I was either on the bike or recovering....50k first "proper" ride out post operation and the ankle was solid. Sadly for me the turbo training has actually let me start this year where I ended last year, even with the ankle operation. FUCK! That means I am going to have to use one again now because it obviously bloody well works!!
@snoov
That's why he only admitted doping up to 2005. That must be the limit his legal team set to avoid prosecution. Cunts.
@Nate
That where the family gets discussed and the tears start. And that's where 80% of the audience falls back in love with COTHO. Cunts.
I am looking forward to seeing him cry, even if they are crocodile tears. Does that make me bad?
Based on my brief post - work review of a handful of internet web news reporting sites, the court of public opinion still condemns COTHO as a fucking massive c**t. It's not hard to see the hand of legal self interest working very hard here to admit to so much and not an inch more, while flirting with the court of public opinion to assess his future career prospects. Watching the snippets, he looks more the politician than an athlete and he appears to be looking further down the line of his career than 'coming clean' or any big break that Oprah has (probably) been punting to the general public. This whole is frankly quite sickening. Lance's version of events is going to be the most widely reported and accepted by the general public because of the mode of delivery.
One thing I'm still hoping for, is jail. Fuck him.
@scaler911
Whew. I don't feel so bad now.
If his ban gets reduced to 8 years and if they believe that his last doping was 2005 then he could be back doing ironman this summer.......some big ifs