This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on October 23, 2012 7:46 AM.
The previous post in this blog was Eye for an eye?.
The next post in this blog is How we're voting, cont'd.
Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.
The doping is bad, but the news that he allegedly intimidated his teammates so that they would never tell the truth about what they did is tragic beyond words. The people who broke the silence are no angels, but they are to be commended for ending one of the biggest frauds in sports history.
Boy, when things go south, they go south fast. And how I thought that The Emperor really did have nice clothes, and his critics just were jealous of his abilities. What a fool I was, to believe Lance. Hard to believe how many people knew what was going on during the time that it was happening.
It keeps getting better. Forbes has a breakdown this morning on the issues he faces in having to give back all of his Tour de France bonuses, from a tax standpoint, and the current issues are practically a sidenote compared to what's going to happen to him once the IRS is done. I've watched similar stupidity and arrogance with a couple of businesses (thankfully, I was well away from Ground Zero when they detonated), and all I can ask is "And has anybody thought of what's going to happen when you're busted? Not 'if,' but 'when'?"
Lance is a creep, a bully, and a total fraud. He should probably go to jail for something! However he may well be relegated to a single wide in some remote area by the time the IRS and the rest are finished with him.
I do feel sorry for his brood of offspring though. They will have to adjust to a very different lifestyle.
And no more VIP treatment from Phil Knight either!
It's always the cover up that's worse than the crime in these situations. Everyone juiced back then in this elite cycling world. But no one lied about it with such arrogant bravado, like the Lance team.
Lance villainized everyone who spoke against him. He had a lot of so-called success with that tactic over the years. It cost him a fortune and an army of lawyers. Everything changed when Big George Hincapie started talking. Levi Leipheimer also was a very credible witness. When their stories matched others' it was over. Lance's scorched earth policy eventually engulfed him. Someone said he should be forgotten. That's harsh.
The doping, yeah, that was no surprise. You almost had to suspect that, close to the point of knowing it, when he had not just testicular cancer but an assortment of odd cancers at an extremely young age.
The rest of the story comes as a total shock I expect to the public at large. I heard a news report a week or two ago, as his teammates were jumping ship and sponsors were throwing him overboard, that the group of people who still most rallied around Lance were from the cancer community. That bond is just of a different order.
I wonder if that will start to break also. I feel for the cancer survivors, like my younger brother, who will feel this very painfully as a personal loss.
X-Portlander, let's narrow that just a touch. "Typical Plano resident" is closer to it. I'm not offended by the comparison in the slightest: I just like noting that Lance has disavowed his old home town mostly because too many people remember what he was like back then. Namely, just like his fellow Planoites. (If you've ever been to the place, you'd understand.)
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Hope Larson - A Wrinkle in Time, the Graphic Novel
Rudyard Kipling - Kim
Peter Ames Carlin - Bruce
Fran Cannon Slayton - When the Whistle Blows
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 29
At this date last year: 66
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (15)
The more that comes out about this guy, the more shocking it gets. "God Complex" is a start.
http://reader.roopstigo.com/view/roopster/story/595#/chapter/1/
Posted by smarana | October 23, 2012 8:20 AM
I just hope the French aren't upset about this. C'est la vie, non?
Posted by Bill McDonald | October 23, 2012 8:33 AM
Boy, when things go south, they go south fast. And how I thought that The Emperor really did have nice clothes, and his critics just were jealous of his abilities. What a fool I was, to believe Lance. Hard to believe how many people knew what was going on during the time that it was happening.
Posted by Harry | October 23, 2012 8:39 AM
It keeps getting better. Forbes has a breakdown this morning on the issues he faces in having to give back all of his Tour de France bonuses, from a tax standpoint, and the current issues are practically a sidenote compared to what's going to happen to him once the IRS is done. I've watched similar stupidity and arrogance with a couple of businesses (thankfully, I was well away from Ground Zero when they detonated), and all I can ask is "And has anybody thought of what's going to happen when you're busted? Not 'if,' but 'when'?"
Posted by Texas Triffid Ranch | October 23, 2012 8:47 AM
I never felt good vibes from the dude. People that are truly gifted usually give honest praise to the higher powers and are humble.
And all the sympathy he got for getting cancer from most likely doping, is both ironic and just sad.
Throwing your teammates under the rims is just another chapter of his Greek tragedy life.
Posted by Tim | October 23, 2012 8:51 AM
Lance is a creep, a bully, and a total fraud. He should probably go to jail for something! However he may well be relegated to a single wide in some remote area by the time the IRS and the rest are finished with him.
I do feel sorry for his brood of offspring though. They will have to adjust to a very different lifestyle.
And no more VIP treatment from Phil Knight either!
Posted by Portland Native | October 23, 2012 9:10 AM
It's always the cover up that's worse than the crime in these situations. Everyone juiced back then in this elite cycling world. But no one lied about it with such arrogant bravado, like the Lance team.
Posted by Drewbob | October 23, 2012 9:11 AM
Lance villainized everyone who spoke against him. He had a lot of so-called success with that tactic over the years. It cost him a fortune and an army of lawyers. Everything changed when Big George Hincapie started talking. Levi Leipheimer also was a very credible witness. When their stories matched others' it was over. Lance's scorched earth policy eventually engulfed him. Someone said he should be forgotten. That's harsh.
Posted by reader | October 23, 2012 9:23 AM
The doping, yeah, that was no surprise. You almost had to suspect that, close to the point of knowing it, when he had not just testicular cancer but an assortment of odd cancers at an extremely young age.
The rest of the story comes as a total shock I expect to the public at large. I heard a news report a week or two ago, as his teammates were jumping ship and sponsors were throwing him overboard, that the group of people who still most rallied around Lance were from the cancer community. That bond is just of a different order.
I wonder if that will start to break also. I feel for the cancer survivors, like my younger brother, who will feel this very painfully as a personal loss.
Posted by sally | October 23, 2012 10:27 AM
"Disgraced cyclist threatened Democrats with Livestrong army"
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-armstrongs-influence-extends-beyond-sport
Posted by pmalach | October 23, 2012 10:45 AM
On a more amusing note, this from today's WSJ, an interview with Lance's replacement (and he mentions Portland):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203630604578072920179356816.html?mod=ITP_personaljournal_3
Posted by sally | October 23, 2012 11:26 AM
Let's see...
• Cheating.
• Lying.
• Committing tax fraud.
• Engineering a conspiracy (perhaps violating RICO).
• Threatening cohorts to hide the truth.
• Threatening Democrats with a hollow "army of followers."
Seems like a typical Texan to me.
Posted by x-portlander | October 23, 2012 11:52 AM
X-Portlander, let's narrow that just a touch. "Typical Plano resident" is closer to it. I'm not offended by the comparison in the slightest: I just like noting that Lance has disavowed his old home town mostly because too many people remember what he was like back then. Namely, just like his fellow Planoites. (If you've ever been to the place, you'd understand.)
Posted by Texas Triffid Ranch | October 23, 2012 12:32 PM
In a world of cheaters, Lance was the champ.
Posted by dg | October 23, 2012 1:34 PM
Just heard he's being sued for $12M for a bonus he received that is now negated
The bonus payer originally would not pay out, due to the doping charges and lance sued for his money, based upon the TDF win.
No win, no bonus
Posted by T | October 23, 2012 2:11 PM