Thoughts on Lance...

[kpete]

The Cyclist You Didn't Hear About This Week

Nicole Cooke deserves another medal for highlighting sexism in cycling
The Beijing Olympics road cycling champion has spoken out about the blatant discrimination in the sport, and brought to light some shocking facts

He's a criminal. He has stolen people's livelihoods. There must be thousands of clean athletes scrabbling around on the bottom end of the employment structure because that's all that's possible, and he's taken away their career... Of course, Lance Armstrong should go to jail. At the moment his punishment is not in line with the crimes he has committed. For the sport to genuinely clean itself up, the punishment has to be severe so not one would even think of doping.

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2013/01/the-cyclist-you-didnt-hear-about-this-week.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2013/jan/16/nicole-cooke-medal-highlighting-sexism-cycling

[Jumping John]

1. George Carlin - Fuck Lance

[Buzz Clik]

5. No, this is the proper attitude:

[vaberella]

11. Thank you for making me laugh so hard I peed on myself. n/t

[Buzz Clik]

2. What the hell. Another log on that fire, please.

What would DU be without hysterical, over-the-top reactions to literally everything?

Go to jail?

I was interested in hearing how female cyclists view their sport. This, however, is crapoli.

[Blue_Tires]

6. Well, to be fair, he did threaten/intimidate/blackball more than a few people to keep his secret

so it isn't hyperbole to say he cost some people their livelihoods...

Don't know it that necessarily means jailtime, but as part of his PR offensive, he'd at least be smart to reach out and do right by some of the people he ruined...

[roguevalley]

9. perjury sued people who he knew were telling the truth endless. put bush there instead

Of lance. Jail is justice

[leftstreet]

3. At least he had the ball to admit it

[Erose999]

7. Now thats hitting below the belt. Don't mock the man for what he had to do to beat cancer. I

started to share this, but then I thought about my friends who've battled cancer. One had to have a colostomy bag for a while, and another lost most of his teeth from chemo. And my grandpa had to have a large section of his jaw taken out.

[Erose999]

4. My thoughts on Lance are... who else knew? I haven't watched the interview, but I mean just think

about how many people were close to Lance and all the work etc that was going on around him. All those musicians and actresses etc that he dated, the activists he worked with, all the money that changed hands around him, etc. I guess in a way all that was bigger than him, but now all that good work is tarnished, right?

[Blue_Tires]

8. A lot of people knew, Armstrong just coerced most of them into silence

or relentlessly tried to tarnish their reputations, so the media would have reason to doubt their accusations...

The million-dollar question of course, is who ABOVE Armstrong, on an organizational level, helped to cover it up? Of course, his lips are sealed on that one...

[jsr]

10. She also said:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/cycling-nicole-cooke-bows-out-with-attack-on-lance-armstrong-8451402.html

“I do despair that the sport will ever clean itself up when rewards of stealing are greater than riding clean,” she said. “If that remains the case, the temptation for those with no morals will always be too great. I have been robbed by drugs cheats, but am fortunate I am here with more in my basket than I dreamed of.

“But for many people who do ride clean; people with morals, many of these people have had to leave the sport with nothing after a lifetime of hard work – some going through horrific financial turmoil. Tyler Hamilton will make more money from a book describing how he cheated than I will make in all my years of honest labour.

“When Lance [Armstrong] ‘cries’ on Oprah this week and she passes him the tissue, spare a thought for all those genuine people who walked away with no rewards – just shattered dreams. Each one of them is worth a thousand Lances.”

Cooke criticised the UCI for its governance and also spoke of how close she came to doping. She said: “I have had days where temptation to start onto the slippery slope was brought in front of me. In my Tour de France when I was 19 as the race went on my strength left me. I was invited into a team camper and asked what “medicines” I would like to take to help me. I said I would do my best but I was not taking anything."