Lake Travis Relay Top Five - 10/12/12

bob - you make this whole affair sound so personal. I think that is a fair, and actually excellent question. Let me see if I can give you a short answer (or at least short by lawyer's standards). I have been a long time fan of the Myth of Lance. I have been following the Tour since the LeMond days. During all of those years there were questions raised what drugs people were using. Only large does of caffeine? More than that? Etc. I had no doubt that some were even used by Eddy Merx. When Lance won his first tour I was convinced he was doing something, most likely EPO which I believe was part of his cancer treatment. Was I outraged? No. When other cyclist or the European public attacked him as a doper my thoughts were that they were all doing it. The difference with Lance is he applied the same discipline to his doping program that he did to his training, and that Dr Ferrari was the best in the world at drawing up doping programs that beat the system. Did this make me angry? No. They all doped so it was a level playing field for the most part. What I didn't realize was that due to individual physiological differences, doping helps certain athletes more than others, but let's put that aside. What did bothered me was the way he attacked people who came forward and told the truth about what he (and they) were doing. It just didn't seem right, but I let it go because in my ignorance I didn't think it changed much. They were all in it together. When he attacked Greg Lemond I though it was wrong, mean spirited and went too far. But Greg was a public figure and could take care of himself. I knew he had to fight to get money from an insurance company who was trying to wiggle out of paying him because the claims (which were "unproven") that he was doping. So I let that go. I also heard about his lawsuit against some british paper for printing claims he doped, and that they had to pay a settlement (which was confidential). I didn't know how it was resolved so I ignored that. And then this summer a lot of information came out I began to realize his days were numbered. I also learned more about the way he attacked people directly, through others, in the press and in the courts. That was the point when I began to see the real Lance, and not the one he wanted me to see. Everything that came out made him look worse and he and his lawyers kept getting nastier and his attacks on people escalated. I knew this was wrong and I kept waiting for him to stop. He didn't and he continues even today. The only thing he has conceded is that is a "controversy". This really bothers me. I read the opinion of the Federal Court case that he filed and lost this summer. It was obvious that it was an attack purely on procedural grounds and that he and his attorneys intentionally mislead the court (and the public). He continued his ridiculous attack on USADA and its process (even threatening them that they would file a lawsuit if the USADA report concluded he doped) and going so far as to pull political strings in Washington. Yep that bothered me as well. And then the USADA opinion came out. Because I am retired I had the time to read it and a lot of the accompanying exhibits. It established that beyond a reasonable doubt that he doped. Did I care, not really. It was not news to me. What did bother me was that it proved the existence of a criminal conspiracy (along with Johann B. and Dr Ferrari) created to defraud people and organizations of millions of dollars. And what was worse it established that Lance was a mean, vengeful, narcissistic ego mania who set out to destroy everyone who tried to get in the way. This really was the last straw. I watched the video of him testifying under oath along with the parts of the videos made public of Betsy A. (who I always had my doubts about courtesy of Lance's PR machine) and his soigneur. Suddenly it all came together and I realized what was going on. This was not about a cyclist who doped to win a big race in Europe. It was so much more sinister. I could go on and explain all of the unseemly, wrong and illegal things that were involved, but I think you catch my drift. There is so much more. In fact while I am convinced that Lance had cancer (and doped in the years before he came down with it) and that he unselfishly set up a foundation to help others, he quickly became aware that the Lance Armstrong brand was worth so much more money if it was seen by the public as part and parcel of the Livestrong brand. Lance is a lot smarter than people give credit for, and I think his decision to tie them together so closely is what he also hoped would save him if he ever got caught. So far it seems like it is working. I think he has not come out and confessed because he still believes it will be his salvation. Only time will tell. My feeling is that if Lance comes forward tells the truth, apologizes to everyone (in particular the people he personally attacked) and wrote a check to Livestrong for $100 million (his net worth isestimated to be $125 million and it is a fair guess-timate of how much he earned off the Livestrong name) we should put every thing aside. He could/should remain on the board of Livestrong. No jail time, It serves no purpose. As with Marion Jones the humiliation would be enough (jail time made no sense for her either). Of course he faces other legal claims but with the money he has left along with the over $10 million he'll make from his book, he'll do fine. I think if he does all of this he can use the rest of his life being the person he always wanted us to believe he was. Frankly, if he doesn't he faces a worst case scenario of losing everything and ending up in jail like Bernie Madoff. Despite all of that, I didn't take any of it personally. However, I do take something personally, and that is he thinks I and others are so stupid we don't understand what really went on.

bob - you make this whole affair sound so personal. I think that is a fair, and actually excellent question. Let me see if I can give you a short answer (or at least short by lawyer's standards). I have been a long time fan of the Myth of Lance. I have been following the Tour since the LeMond days. During all of those years there were questions raised what drugs people were using. Only large does of caffeine? More than that? Etc. I had no doubt that some were even used by Eddy Merx. When Lance won his first tour I was convinced he was doing something, most likely EPO which I believe was part of his cancer treatment. Was I outraged? No. When other cyclist or the European public attacked him as a doper my thoughts were that they were all doing it. The difference with Lance is he applied the same discipline to his doping program that he did to his training, and that Dr Ferrari was the best in the world at drawing up doping programs that beat the system. Did this make me angry? No. They all doped so it was a level playing field for the most part. What I didn't realize was that due to individual physiological differences, doping helps certain athletes more than others, but let's put that aside. What did bothered me was the way he attacked people who came forward and told the truth about what he (and they) were doing. It just didn't seem right, but I let it go because in my ignorance I didn't think it changed much. They were all in it together. When he attacked Greg Lemond I though it was wrong, mean spirited and went too far. But Greg was a public figure and could take care of himself. I knew he had to fight to get money from an insurance company who was trying to wiggle out of paying him because the claims (which were "unproven") that he was doping. So I let that go. I also heard about his lawsuit against some british paper for printing claims he doped, and that they had to pay a settlement (which was confidential). I didn't know how it was resolved so I ignored that. And then this summer a lot of information came out I began to realize his days were numbered. I also learned more about the way he attacked people directly, through others, in the press and in the courts. That was the point when I began to see the real Lance, and not the one he wanted me to see. Everything that came out made him look worse and he and his lawyers kept getting nastier and his attacks on people escalated. I knew this was wrong and I kept waiting for him to stop. He didn't and he continues even today. The only thing he has conceded is that is a "controversy". This really bothers me. I read the opinion of the Federal Court case that he filed and lost this summer. It was obvious that it was an attack purely on procedural grounds and that he and his attorneys intentionally mislead the court (and the public). He continued his ridiculous attack on USADA and its process (even threatening them that they would file a lawsuit if the USADA report concluded he doped) and going so far as to pull political strings in Washington. Yep that bothered me as well. And then the USADA opinion came out. Because I am retired I had the time to read it and a lot of the accompanying exhibits. It established that beyond a reasonable doubt that he doped. Did I care, not really. It was not news to me. What did bother me was that it proved the existence of a criminal conspiracy (along with Johann B. and Dr Ferrari) created to defraud people and organizations of millions of dollars. And what was worse it established that Lance was a mean, vengeful, narcissistic ego mania who set out to destroy everyone who tried to get in the way. This really was the last straw. I watched the video of him testifying under oath along with the parts of the videos made public of Betsy A. (who I always had my doubts about courtesy of Lance's PR machine) and his soigneur. Suddenly it all came together and I realized what was going on. This was not about a cyclist who doped to win a big race in Europe. It was so much more sinister. I could go on and explain all of the unseemly, wrong and illegal things that were involved, but I think you catch my drift. There is so much more. In fact while I am convinced that Lance had cancer (and doped in the years before he came down with it) and that he unselfishly set up a foundation to help others, he quickly became aware that the Lance Armstrong brand was worth so much more money if it was seen by the public as part and parcel of the Livestrong brand. Lance is a lot smarter than people give credit for, and I think his decision to tie them together so closely is what he also hoped would save him if he ever got caught. So far it seems like it is working. I think he has not come out and confessed because he still believes it will be his salvation. Only time will tell. My feeling is that if Lance comes forward tells the truth, apologizes to everyone (in particular the people he personally attacked) and wrote a check to Livestrong for $100 million (his net worth isestimated to be $125 million and it is a fair guess-timate of how much he earned off the Livestrong name) we should put every thing aside. He could/should remain on the board of Livestrong. No jail time, It serves no purpose. As with Marion Jones the humiliation would be enough (jail time made no sense for her either). Of course he faces other legal claims but with the money he has left along with the over $10 million he'll make from his book, he'll do fine. I think if he does all of this he can use the rest of his life being the person he always wanted us to believe he was. Frankly, if he doesn't he faces a worst case scenario of losing everything and ending up in jail like Bernie Madoff. Despite all of that, I didn't take any of it personally. However, I do take something personally, and that is he thinks I and others are so stupid we don't understand what really went on.