Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Lance Armstrong Dropped By Nike - Steps Down From Livestrong

I guess all those reports this week accusing Nike of being in on the Lance Armstrong doping scandal has finally got them off their butts. They dropped Lance Armstrong because of what they called a decade of being misled by Lance about doping. As a result, Lance has also been forced out of Livestrong because it was the only way Nike would continue to support that organization. If you wear a Livestrong bracelet though, are you still supporting Lance in a way? Wasn't the original purpose of the organization to show that even though you have cancer you can live strong and win the Tour De France? I guess the spirit of it is there and they supposedly use the money for good things. It has been a rough last few weeks for Lance, but you know what? He had already retired from cycling and already made a ton of money. It is not like he is being forced to give all the millions of dollars back that he made. This is all after the fact.

36 comments:

Cathy said...

It's pretty easy to be misled when you're wearing a blindfold.

timebob said...

As a competitive athelete I would think losing titles far outway any monetary fine he could ever get. Hope he invested wisely those cushy speaking engagments are about to all dry up.

auntliddy said...

Never never liked this man, who thinks his shit dont stink, treated women like disposable tissues, and RIDES A BIKE for a living!!!!!!! And dopes to do it??!! Its like a bike nerd gone bad! Mb the roids gv him the cancer, mb they helped him get better, who knows? And the timing- after he is retired with 3 wives and idk how many kids and has all his billions- is highly highly suspious to me and smacks of a deal. Ugh!

Frufra said...

Ahh, the chickens have come home to roost. I am glad to see this smug SOB humbled.

(Just hope his kids fare ok through all this.)

Frufra said...

You tell em, auntliddy - testify!

CantHaveMyPurse said...

Whatever happens to Lance, he deserves. I just hope the cancer patients who need the foundation aren't compromised and are able to get the help they need during their illness.

Amber said...

I'd always been pretty indifferent regarding Lance, but I am really disappointed in the extent of the lying to cover up his doping and the lengths he went to to do it. That being said, I've actually found the Livestrong website to be pretty useful.

Sarah said...

This doping stuff is so out of hand. It seems as if everyone is doing it now, it's hard to get excited about any new records when you know in the back of your mind that they could be using.

OneGirlRevolution said...

I hope the foundation remains untainted.

whocaresnow12 said...

Supporting Livestrong is not supporting Lance. It's an amazing organization.

I have friends that still insist he's innocent (we triathletes can be a loyal bunch). It's utterly ridiculous how much they insist its a set-up. At what point does one concede before looking like a complete fool.

a non a miss said...

I agree about the Livestrong website being useful and I used to have one of those bracelets, a few kids in my school died of cancer so everyone bought them and supported the cause.

Lance seems like a douche and karma is a bitch. Hope you invested your millions well, you won't be working much.

Anonymous said...

Lance is.a douche.

libby said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
libby said...

I can't believe I didn't even THINK, way back when he was being treated for cancer (here in Indianapolis, btw), that as a professional athlete, PHD could be the CAUSE of the cancer....duh.
I was so naive about this one, but thankfully I'm not alone.
He did beat cancer. But not only did he cheat at his sport and treat women like shit, he LIED TO US. To our faces, repeatedly.
I wanted him to be as awesome as he seemed to be. What a disappointment.

dia papaya said...

LOL auntliddy and Frufra!

The inner blackness of his heart is finally revealed! Scary to me that he could lie so convincingly to so many people for so many years. Can we say Narcissist? Can we say Sociopath? Not throwing these words out there lightly either. He rose to the top on a tower of lies, for what?

Have to say that I'm actually proud (sorta) of Nike for kicking him out. Although I'm sure peeps there knew or suspected what was really going on. That company made millions off of Lance. And now that the money train is over, it's out with the trash. At least Livestrong will live on. It will always be trained for me, though.

Seachica said...

Well ain't that a kick in the balls. Erm, ball.

Frufra said...

Seachica, you're en fuego!

whocaresnow12 said...

Maintaining a farce for your career is hardly being a sociopath.

NapAssasin said...

Dear Kate Gosselin & OJ- please take note that if you're a lying, deceitful human who even does GOOD THINGS you'll get what's coming to you. Enty- lots of payback posts today, are you trying to tell us something?

MISCH said...

Money is the reason he stopped fight this it would have wiped him out...and he knew he couldn't win.

Poppymann said...

Here's the deal. I had cancer(Hodgkins) when I was 17. When through chemo and readiation and it took eme about two years to get back to feeling just okay. There is no way in hell he wasn't doping.

Also, Livestorng gives very little to cancer research. Most of their money goes to advocacy and awareness.

I live in Pano, TX where Lance grew up and there are a lot of stories about what an asshole he was when he was growing up.

JustJen said...

Honest question, or thought: If you dope to keep up in a sport where doping is what you have to do to stay competitive, is the question of doping just a yes or no answer?

I would love for Lance to just admit that he was doping and tell us WHY... because from what I've read, the question isn't who was doping, it's more how they were avoiding detection. To me, it taints the whole "investigation" to go after a retired cyclist and gather all this evidence but assume that the current US Postal Service cyclists are clean. Or the cyclists from other teams.

Lance comes across so arrogant but I still admire his discipline and determination. How many cancer patients just give up? Whatever else he did, he came back and showed that cancer isn't a death sentence. That still counts for something, in my book.

SusanB said...

@poppymann - glad to hear you made it through Hodgkin's ok! Mr B. had it when he was in his 30s (he's 68 now). He only had chemo - no radiation, but also said it took 2-3 years to feel good after that. Of course, he took no steroids (unless it was ordered by his oncologist). So yeah, Armstrong's story now that you look at it does sound suspicious. I never followed bicycling (how boring is that to watch) so I never looked into it.

ljsmed said...

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/biking/road-biking/My-Life-With-Lance-Armstrong.html

Apparently, this is the real Lance Armstrong. Very eye opening to what a jerk he is.

dia papaya said...

whocares - granted, my psych degree is old but I meant sociopath aka antisocial personality disorder defined as:

The World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, tenth edition (ICD-10), defines a conceptually similar disorder to antisocial personality disorder called (F60.2) Dissocial personality disorder.[4]

It is characterized by at least 3 of the following:

- Callous unconcern for the feelings of others.

- Gross and persistent attitude of irresponsibility and disregard for social norms, rules, and obligations.

- Incapacity to maintain enduring relationships, though having no difficulty in establishing them.

- Very low tolerance to frustration and a low threshold for discharge of aggression, including violence.

- Incapacity to experience guilt or to profit from experience, particularly punishment.

- Markedly prone to blame others or to offer plausible rationalizations for the behavior that has brought the person into conflict with society.

I think a lot of this sounds like Lance.

NernersHuman said...

Lance has stepped down as chair of Livestrong, so Nike has said they will still be giving them funds.

Unknown said...

All of the drugs he put into his body actually probably caused the cancer he had.

Silly Girl said...

Nike probably made a deal with Lance, You step down and Chairman and we'll continue to support Livestrong. If you don't step down, we're out. There was NO WAY he could have said no to that. There would have been a major revolt by the Livestrong team if that had happened. I don't know the funding situation, but if Nike pulled out, I'm sure it would be a SERIOUS hardship.

mybrothehero said...

Until very recently, I had a coworker (nurse) who was very heavy and claimed she had to have stomach surgery because of stomach cancer. This occured exactly at the time I left my ex d/t my 11 month old witnessing domestic abuse from my ex and his mother (long story). This was also a couple weeks after my brother was diagnosed with esophageal cancer of the GI junction, so it also caused cancer into his stomach. I confided in this person about how she was handling her cancer and how my brother's was so devastating after everything else going on. She had major complications and received a pig's stomach and had a lot of health problems. I did everything I could to help because I had a taste of how difficult it could be.

Earlier this year, she was fired suddenly. It turned out she never had cancer; she had gastric bypass. Now, I do NOT look down on those having bariatric surgery-- I commend them for it because it is not a "lazy" way out. What angered and hurt me was that at the time my family and I were living a nightmare, she kept the charade of having cancer.i think I was so hurt because I'm going through one of the worst nightmares of my life and she "made it through cancer" when my brother died from it. She took advantage of the situation for her own sympathy.

Regardless of whatever kinda asshole Armstrong is or is not, the guy survived cancer and dad a lot to draw attention to testicular cancer, screenings, ect. That's what brought attention, money, and research. Unfortunately with Esophageal cancer being extremely rare there's little research, thus much less awareness and funding. Same with pediatic cancer (www.journey4acure.org).

To me, I dont get into the sport, but I'm glad he has been able to assist others in the cancer nightmare.

g.strathmore said...

@ljsmed, thanks for the link. I'm off to read that article now.

El Roy 13 said...

co-sign @auntliddy.

I think anyone could check the archives here and see, most commenters always had a bad vibe from the guy. My gut, more so women (getting the bad vibe from him) then men. It seems most men like him. But then again, most men aren't naturally equipped with internal gut radar's as us women are.

astrogirl said...

Karma is a bitch Lance

pinch weasel said...

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Love it when people finally get theirs.

tamarind said...

i'm surprised it lasted this long

annabella said...

I just read the book by his former team mate, tyler hamilton. its called 'the secret race.' I highly recommend it.

I'm not a cycling fan but the book is fascinating. and there is no doubt that lance took drugs. virtually everyone did and he could never have won had he not taken them.

he had the best doctors who knew how to trick the tests.

Lelaina Pierce said...

"Well, that's it, I am never watching the Tour de France again or before." - Seth Meyers

Ever since he released a statement saying he refused to go through testing pretty much confirmed his guilt in my eyes.

One of the commenters here said they'd either known him or had interactions with him and what a huge a-hole he was. I wondered what they thought about it.

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