For all the Lance Armstrong haters...

I loved that article, nice post...that said, I still believe he doped and I'm not sad he was stripped of his tdf championships.  I hope he continues to do wonderful work with LiveStrong...I understand they've had a flood of contributions coming in since the news about the stripping of his championships and ban.

Does that make me or folks who feel similarly "haters?" , I don't think it should.

That was a really good read. Very few people are black and white. Great men can do stupid things, ordinary people can have moments of greatness. I don't see LA as black and white either.

And even I have heard the normal talk that he isn't exactly a nice person. But I do understand driven people often do not come across as "warm and fuzzy". I actually don't think ditching your wife is great.... But I do have a story... it is second hand so feel free to dismiss it. It did not happen to me, so I do not care, but I always thought it was cool.

My sister has a really good friend that is a cyclist. I don't know him, but he was following LA on twitter. He said he was on his way to Austin for his charity ride. This guy... just say John... tweeted back that he was sad he was not going to be able to make it that year due to funds. Where are you...Colorado... I will be landing in 2 hours can you make it.... yes... pick you up there. John got his bike and met him at the air port. LA was in a private plane and flew him to Austin. They hung out for the weekend. Did the ride, and LA flew him back. They actually had to land somplace else... LA had his assistant bring his car, and LA drove him back to his car. He said the biggest thing was that obviously LA was busy that weekend, but he treated him as a guest and didn't blow him off and leave him to fend for himself.

I'm sorry, but I think that is pretty cool for a arrogant jerk.

Yep

Crazy thing, I don't hear of too many haters...  save the french and USADA...

MOST people, even if they are disapointed with the recent happenings, still hold him with high regard. 

I agree, I think his brand is still as good or potentially even better than it was before.

I guess I'm going off of the immediate response that I saw on FoxSports, ESPN, and the regular nightly news broadcasts last week like this one: http://msn.foxsports.com/cycling/story/lance-armstrong-quits-doping-fight-against-usada-goes-from-hero-to-zero-082412 

There was definitely a sense among the regular non-cycling/triathlon media last week that Lance is the greatest cheat in American Sports History and that he is guilty. 

I'm with you guys.  He may have doped, but he still crushed all the other dopers who were dopey dopers themselves.  Good luck finding an honest guy in the top 35 in the TdF in those years.

But what he does off the bike is nothing short of amazing and inspiring.  Even this weekend, he raced against some 16 year old and he and the kid were trading tweets up to the race day.  The kid beat him and it was the greatest day in his life.  That's who LA is to me.  An all-out competitor who puts the same intensity into helping cancer victims. 

The "French" was a joke.  BTW

It could be me.  And I'm basing it on listening to ESPN all day and the local news.  I would say GENERALLY, the attitude was more that the USADA just went too far.  No one was outright against LA and no one was outright pro LA.  No one was outraged or offended to extremes. 

The feeling I got, was most were saying it was a disapointing situation but still gave LA some support.  Mostly in the lines that he did a lot of good, cycling in general is a hugely dirty sport, he was the best doper of the dopers, and that the USADA had some vendeta...  No one was giving him the scarlet letter.

Again, my interpretation of local news and ESPN.

Did they actually take away his titles?  Bob Roll mentioned during the tour of Colorado that only the UCI and Tour de France can actually do that.  He also said that they have been very inconsistent when it comes to stripping titles.

x3.  It is much too late for retroactive testing unless they test every last person. (What would happen if they all DQd?)

To me the USADA is one big McCarthy hearing. What has arbitration ever done for the accused? Have they ever had to say, "Oh, sorry, we got those samples mixed up? or That test isn't as reliable as we thought." If the process is 1. Go to hearing. 2. get stripped of any wins and suspended. Why go?