wow- Lance Armstrong is a sociopath

[Anonymous]

http://si.com/1133341/mike-anderson-lance-armstrongs-former-bike-mechanic-speaks-out/

For those who think no one was actually ruined or that the only participants were those who agreed to dope and benefitted from it, you may want to read this interview with Mike Anderson, Lance's former personal assistant, who had to move to New Zealand to start over.

[Anonymous]

http://m.si.com/1133341/mike-anderson-lance-armstrongs-former-bike-mechanic-speaks-out/

Previous link not working. Try this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://si.com/1133341/mike-anderson-lance-armstrongs-former-bike-mechanic-speaks-out/

For those who think no one was actually ruined or that the only participants were those who agreed to dope and benefitted from it, you may want to read this interview with Mike Anderson, Lance's former personal assistant, who had to move to New Zealand to start over.

I read this article a few months ago and it was chilling. Never thought about Lance Armstrong the same way again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sure I'm in the minority here but I actually feel bad for the guy. I can't quite put my finger on why, and I'm not making any excuses for him, but it seems the way he was raised had a lot to do with his "win at all costs, take no prisoners" mantra. After reading his first book, I came away thinking that he is an incredible asshole but I felt he had been that way since he was a pre-teen; behavior that mirrored his mother's behavior (not saying she was/is an a-hole but based on what he wrote she seemed to be one tough lady who didn't take shit). He started this life a bitter, broken boy raised by a tough as nails mother. People like that don't learn empathy or compassion; they always feel like it's "me against the world"; they don't understand fairness because in their view "life isn't fair". When he got into a sport that was riddled with doping and deceit, why would he rise above that when his view was most likely "can't beat 'em, join 'em."

Someone like Lance Armstrong can only change when everything comes crashing down. In his case, it happened twice. He seems to be a good, caring father. There is no judgment or validation like the judgment or validation from your children; good and bad. Now that it has sunk in that his children have been hurt by all of his lies and deceit, he recognizes, on some level, that he is no better than the biological father that he hates and who hurt him by not wanting to be a part of his life. Oprah asked what was the moral of the story and he didn't have a good answer. Lance's story is a semester long class on integrity, ethics and lying and why people do it in the manner in which he did it.

It's too easy to say that he is an a-hole, jerk, bully, etc... Yes! He is all of those things but there is a reason why and he just didn't know how to stop it. I hope he is able to forgive himself when the time is right.

He is a lost soul. He had no clue what to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://si.com/1133341/mike-anderson-lance-armstrongs-former-bike-mechanic-speaks-out/

For those who think no one was actually ruined or that the only participants were those who agreed to dope and benefitted from it, you may want to read this interview with Mike Anderson, Lance's former personal assistant, who had to move to New Zealand to start over.

I read this article a few months ago and it was chilling. Never thought about Lance Armstrong the same way again.

This one was published a couple days ago. You're thinking of the original article that was in Outside magazine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've disliked Lance ever since he left his first wife. No strength of character there. Do whatever is expedient to get ahead, that's his motto.

Yep. Instincts are a good thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Enough said.......

He cheated at bicycle racing--bicycle racing! Who in the hell cares about bicycle racing and whether some cheats, it might as well be horse shoes.

You do realize that the American taxpayer funded $40 million dollars toward his USPS racing team, right? Last I heard, my taxes aren't going to people playing horse shoes.

Maybe they should have, it's unlikely that EPO would help you throw a ringer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What turned me off was his lack of emotion. It was like he was riding another race. You would think he would show visible sign of pain or regret, lose his train of thought or something.

I can't believe how many hours I wasted on his books and watching him race. Maybe I should sue for damages. After all he says they sue everybody so I guess I would be putting his advice to use.

Do it! How about DCUM class action lawsuit? Enough lawyers & PR people on here to make it work! I'm in PR. I'm half joking here...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've disliked Lance ever since he left his first wife. No strength of character there. Do whatever is expedient to get ahead, that's his motto.

THANK YOU! Me, too, and IIRC, he left Sheryl Crow when she got cancer! I don't understand anyone who hasn't thought he was an emotionless dick.

Exactly. I remember that well. She also made some statements later that told all about him without being too direct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're right, 11:06, sports are not very important in the scheme of things but I do consider it important not to attack and try to ruin innocent people like Betsy Andreu, Mike Anderson, and Emma O'Reilly who are only telling the truth. I don't think doping is good for cycling but, as a former admirer of Lance, what upsets me is his unethical behavior towards other people.

Do you really think that it is unimportant that Emma O'Reilly feared that his lawsuit against her would bankrupt her?

How exactly did Lance ruin these people? Are they now homeless bums in the streets of America?

you are really dumb. having a team (literally, a large team) of attorneys bombard you with litigation that you cannot afford to defend, all the while Lance is blackballing you in your chosen profession, can ruin someone.

And suggesting that the fact that you survived it and didn't end up homeless means what Lance did was okay is like saying that an attempted murder wasn't so bad because, hey, you recovered from the bullet wound and only walk with a limp now.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sure I'm in the minority here but I actually feel bad for the guy. I can't quite put my finger on why, and I'm not making any excuses for him, but it seems the way he was raised had a lot to do with his "win at all costs, take no prisoners" mantra. After reading his first book, I came away thinking that he is an incredible asshole but I felt he had been that way since he was a pre-teen; behavior that mirrored his mother's behavior (not saying she was/is an a-hole but based on what he wrote she seemed to be one tough lady who didn't take shit). He started this life a bitter, broken boy raised by a tough as nails mother. People like that don't learn empathy or compassion; they always feel like it's "me against the world"; they don't understand fairness because in their view "life isn't fair". When he got into a sport that was riddled with doping and deceit, why would he rise above that when his view was most likely "can't beat 'em, join 'em."

Someone like Lance Armstrong can only change when everything comes crashing down. In his case, it happened twice. He seems to be a good, caring father. There is no judgment or validation like the judgment or validation from your children; good and bad. Now that it has sunk in that his children have been hurt by all of his lies and deceit, he recognizes, on some level, that he is no better than the biological father that he hates and who hurt him by not wanting to be a part of his life. Oprah asked what was the moral of the story and he didn't have a good answer. Lance's story is a semester long class on integrity, ethics and lying and why people do it in the manner in which he did it.

It's too easy to say that he is an a-hole, jerk, bully, etc... Yes! He is all of those things but there is a reason why and he just didn't know how to stop it. I hope he is able to forgive himself when the time is right.

He is a lost soul. He had no clue what to say.

Soul? Lance Armstrong? Surely you jest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Do you have any idea how shitty life is for the majority of the human beings who live on this planet and we're obsessing about some guy in spandex took drugs to help him win a bicycle race through the French countryside. Whew ... Talk about drinking the Kool-Aid."

hahahaha!! Thanks so much for this. I just made it my FB status a minute ago and it already has three likes

Re the Facebook likes - birds of a feather. It's not about the sport. It's about the misery his actions caused others. Did you read any of this? Or, do you just pay attention to/see what you're looking for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Americans can be so mean. The man has confessed, his career is over, he and his family are humiliated, many people's lives are ruined...what else do you people want? Should he wear a sack and say "mea culpas" for the rest of his life?

How about forcing him to make whole, at least financially, the people he sued for speaking out about his doping? Both for the legal fees they incurred defending themselves against the suit, and for the wages lost when LA blackballed them in their profession?

How about compensating the people who didn't win the TDF, and therefore didn't get the lucrative endorsements? (And prize money? I assume there's prize money, but don't know for sure.) They are out tons of money, because of his cheating.

How about the sponsors? They could make a case that they bought something in good faith (his good reputation) and are now finding out that the sale was fraudulent. They could claim a part of his fortune.

Who else, lawyers? Who else could ensure that, one way or another, this guy spends the rest of his life tied up in the legal system? It's almost better than prison, having to go from hearing to lawyer meetings to trials, in a never-ending loop.

Totally agree.

If he had any conscience, he'd kill himself out of shame and leave the money to his victims.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Americans can be so mean. The man has confessed, his career is over, he and his family are humiliated, many people's lives are ruined...what else do you people want? Should he wear a sack and say "mea culpas" for the rest of his life?

How about forcing him to make whole, at least financially, the people he sued for speaking out about his doping? Both for the legal fees they incurred defending themselves against the suit, and for the wages lost when LA blackballed them in their profession?

How about compensating the people who didn't win the TDF, and therefore didn't get the lucrative endorsements? (And prize money? I assume there's prize money, but don't know for sure.) They are out tons of money, because of his cheating.

How about the sponsors? They could make a case that they bought something in good faith (his good reputation) and are now finding out that the sale was fraudulent. They could claim a part of his fortune.

Who else, lawyers? Who else could ensure that, one way or another, this guy spends the rest of his life tied up in the legal system? It's almost better than prison, having to go from hearing to lawyer meetings to trials, in a never-ending loop.

Totally agree.

If he had any conscience, he'd kill himself out of shame and leave the money to his victims.

What kind of person are YOU to say something like this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Americans can be so mean. The man has confessed, his career is over, he and his family are humiliated, many people's lives are ruined...what else do you people want? Should he wear a sack and say "mea culpas" for the rest of his life?

How about forcing him to make whole, at least financially, the people he sued for speaking out about his doping? Both for the legal fees they incurred defending themselves against the suit, and for the wages lost when LA blackballed them in their profession?

How about compensating the people who didn't win the TDF, and therefore didn't get the lucrative endorsements? (And prize money? I assume there's prize money, but don't know for sure.) They are out tons of money, because of his cheating.

How about the sponsors? They could make a case that they bought something in good faith (his good reputation) and are now finding out that the sale was fraudulent. They could claim a part of his fortune.

Who else, lawyers? Who else could ensure that, one way or another, this guy spends the rest of his life tied up in the legal system? It's almost better than prison, having to go from hearing to lawyer meetings to trials, in a never-ending loop.

Totally agree.

If he had any conscience, he'd kill himself out of shame and leave the money to his victims.

What kind of person are YOU to say something like this?

I agree with the last poster - that's a horrible thing to say. Clearly, he's done horrible things with his life, but at the least he has children who probably love and need him.