Did you guys watch Lance Armstrong last night?

[basedog]

I came away thinking "what an asshole"?

[Mjoelner34]

Nope. I didn't see it but I've thought the same thing for several years.

[SteelCurtain74]

I went into it thinking "what an asshole". I came away thinking, "yep, I was right".

In all seriousness, after watching the first episode of Lance and The Last Dance series, it showed me that many of the greatest athletes are not concerned with popularity and how they are viewed but greatness. You can throw Kobe and Brady in that list as well.

[BrunswickDawg]

I just finished watching, and it pissed me off all over again.

First, Lance has always been an asshole - that's not what made me mad.

What made me mad was being reminded of buying in. I love the Tour de France and have since the mid 1980s. I looked forward to it all summer growing up - and getting to see it on ABC on Saturday and Sunday all July.
For the '96 Olympics I got a temp job working as a transportation coordinator and site staff for the road cycling venue in Buckhead. It was a real dream come true to get to see and work the event. I got to meet Greg Lemond and some of top riders at the race. I was in the racers end of race collection area as the press swarmed the riders after the finish and I literally got to see Lance - who was a favorite to medal - react to finishing an incredibly disappointing 12th up close. Then 2 months later the cancer announcement, and the rest is history. When he came back we all should have known it was too good to be true, but we all wanted it to be, and so it was. We bought in to one of the biggest lies in sports history, and it sucks.

[Leroy Jenkins]

Dirtiest sport ever. One race they had to go all the way down to 14th or 15th place before they found a finisher who wasn't doping. So, if you want be successful you have to do what you have to do to compete.

[redstickdawg]

Dirtiest sport ever. One race they had to go all the way down to 14th or 15th place before they found a finisher who wasn't doping. So, if you want be successful you have to do what you have to do to compete.

I doubt that there are any clean riders at the upper echelons of the sport. It is simply impossible for the human body to do what is required of the top riders in Europe, 2-3000 competitive miles per month and a lot of training etc. I have ridden several century rides, can't imagine doing that several days a week.

[basedog]

Buy/Sell

So is Lance Armstrong the dirtiest or biggest cheater in sports? I'd go with BUY because of his dominance in the Tour, seven straight wins! Amazing how dirty all those riders are!

[SteelCurtain74]

Buy/Sell

So is Lance Armstrong the dirtiest or biggest cheater in sports? I'd go with BUY because of his dominance in the Tour, seven straight wins! Amazing how dirty all those riders are!

Sell. The answer to this question is ALWAYS Ole Miss. MLB during the steroid era would be second for me. They knew what guys like McGuire and Sosa were doing and turned a blind eye because the ratings were so good.

[iPat09]

There was a movie that came out about 4-5 years ago called "The Program" with Ben Foster as Lance Armstrong. Not sure how accurate, but it really showed the cheating side of things. I watched it once a little while back and I remember it being pretty good.

[SPMT]

Who cares when everyone was dirty. He was still the best but he?s a straight duck. 17 him because he?s an asshole.

[Bothrops]

I came away thinking "what an asshole"?

I passed right by him on the Natchez Trace once.

[KentuckyDawg13]

Going the opposite direction, right? Lance is still very fit.

[KentuckyDawg13]

Haven't seen it yet, but was big fan of cycling. Have been following pro cycling for decades, from Hinault to LeMond to Indurain to Riis to Ullrich to Armstrong to Landis, then I quit watching (and racing personally). I have been racing cycles (bike and motorbike) of some sort since I was 13 yrs old. Discovered road cycling (post BMX) in my 20s post MSU. Really enjoyed the strategy implemented when racing, especially the pro level. When the Lance crap came out, I like millions of others, felt like my sport just diminished.
When I returned to the sport (2015) after my kids grew up as a Masters racer, I approached the sports a lot more casual yet still competed. Still don't know all the current pro racers, but the testing now is a lot more intense and with their biological passport concept the testers utilize now, it makes the obvious cheating (see Barne Riis) a thing of the past. In other words, the playing fields has been leveled somewhat. Froome is dirty though, so the sport LIKE MOST PROFESSIONAL SPORTS has a long way to go still. If anyone thinks the standard NFL players doesn't take something, I have a bridge to sell you.

Had to add more: Lance may have cheated at the level of the other top pros during that era, but he did prepare and train harder/more intelligently than any other racer during that time. There was only ONE rider riding the Alps in the Spring (when there is still snow), and that was Lance Armstrong. He is a complete dick, so don't think I like him as a person. I met him in the 90s at the Tour duPont when I lived in North Carolina, complete dickhead. Also met Phil Anderson (Australian badass) at that race and he was super cool.

[R2Dawg]

I came away thinking "what an asshole"?

I missed the very end of it but couple of observations.

He wanted to do it drug free at first but then got tired of losing to drug laced competition, then he saw it was OK to level the playing field. Don't agree with it but that is what I saw.

He was a spoiled brat kid growing up. Thought the world revolved around him. I need to see the end of it to see how it turned out.

[R2Dawg]

There was a movie that came out about 4-5 years ago called "The Program" with Ben Foster as Lance Armstrong. Not sure how accurate, but it really showed the cheating side of things. I watched it once a little while back and I remember it being pretty good.

The Program featuring MSU getting beat by some football team. Sorry first thing I thought of on The Program.