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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Geez! Gotta watch what goes in your coffee!
EPO - Coffee 250g Espresso Grind
@sthilzy
I see COTHO sitting on the sofa in Texas and sipping a nice espresso saying "why yes, Oprah, I did ingest EPO, in fact I still do" then whipping out a bag of this coffee to fulfill his sponsor contract.
I still don't see him fessing up as that'll cost him shed loads of $$:: SCA, Sunday Times, lawsuits from slandered folks, Federal whistleblower investigation, etc, etc. Who's he going to blame? Johan? Everyone knows he was top dog and ruled the team with an iron first and I really don't see him playing a very convincing victim. I mean, can you see COTHO saying "I was a duped, misled, made a fool of for 10 years by Mr X" Will he throw Ferrari under the bus? "I just took what my doctor proscribed and he told me it was legit." Lance playing a victim is as convincing as the Pope saying he's Musliim.
@Deakus COTHO does not need a publicity stunt to keep him in the limelight. I think this is pretty brilliant when you start thinking about it. Who has more blind followers than Cotho? Oprah. If Lance can pull out all the stops and get Oprah and her flock of sheep all teary-eyed and forgiving - those Livestrong bracelets will rocket out of the discount bins.
@Tobin
Exactly my point...he does need them...not for the money... for the adoration...the man is a megolomaniac. He probably needs to make some small change out of it just show he can still rock up to A list shows but in actual fact he is different from most Oprah guests who have something to promote....Pharmy has fuck all to promote...except livestrong which will as you say rakes in the dollars for him. He stepped down as Chairman but he is still a director. More importantly it I am not sure why anyone still thinks he is worth interviewing....?
@Deakus I am torn on his interview. On one hand - he gets airtime and a chance to sway public opinion and on the other hand I think a lot of us want to hear him say he doped. For a lot of us I think it will be a no win situation. Ideally, it would be great if he crashed and burned and took down Pat and Hein with him and we could finally put this chapter to bed and focus on the cycling again. I sure wish these questions were asked instead of the prescripted fluff we will most likely see.
What a scumbag. Of course it's only to sway public opinion. It's not like Orca's audience is a bunch of cycling fanatics.
Last seen he was riding a blacked out specialized and running in a pair if Asics.
@Tobin
Handing out these;
I've had the strangest thought lately... who is(are) the only person(s) that could possibly come out looking worse than Lance in this whole thing? McQuaid, Verbruggen, WADA and the UCI...that's who. Could Lance come clean and drop the bomb on them and actually spin it to make it seem that he felt compelled or coerced to use PED's to continue his success? That he had to continue to do it to keep up the rise in popularity of the sport (especially in the U.S.) that was tied to his comeback from cancer? That he had to do it to continue to raise the millions and millions of dollars to help those being assisted by Livestrong?
Think about it... so many people would be ready and willing to forgive and forget (at least forgive) and he could actually bring down all of the corruption at the very top of the sport and (dare I say) become cycling's savior in the eyes of the non cycling or even the recreational cycling public?
It's a scary scenario...
I hope it doesn't happen, because if it did I think Lemartyr would have a stroke.