Lance appearing on Oprah next week

[ggusta]

the general 'drift' i get listening today from sports talk is that, hey so what, it's just cycling, they're all dopers which really irks me to no end.

I do not think this spells the end of the fall of Lance. More just a brief respite on the way to utter ignominy. Now will come the unearthing of how his 'charities' were used as fronts for his lavish lifestyle. This isn't going to end for him until there is nothing left. He has a really bad case of schadenfreude. People love to watch the demise more than the rise.

 

[Amsterhammer]

For Dutch viewers:
http://www.tlc.nl/
http://www.tlc.nl/tv-shows/lance-armstrong

Pfff, 3 o clock. Friday will be a bad day at work. Maybe it will be the rerun in the evening.

Thanks for these, Fearless.

i just might have to!

Amsterdam is closer than Colorado. You need to check out your obscure Flemish cable channels, one of them must be showing this live, after all, it's a country of cycling junkies.

 

[reginagold]

He needed a team of 10 people standing next to the set to help him keep his lines straight. As time passes it becomes infinitely more difficult to keep from falling over your previous lies. But the Clinic knows that.

Glad to hear Oprah did some serious background reading. Sad she went to him instead of the other way. Glad it ended up at a hotel - neutral of sorts, at least compared to his own mansion.

 

[DirtyWorks]

the general 'drift' i get listening today from sports talk is that, hey so what, it's just cycling, they're all dopers which really irks me to no end.

Learn to let it go. The sport is not going to get any better until the IOC takes anti-doping seriously. That's not happening.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

No one is buying it.

The last port of call, as of today because the One Balled Wonder has admittd to doping, is to attack Tygart as he will not rescind the ban so OBW can dope and win real competitions.

There is only one person putting Tygart down so I would not really call that an attack. Not everyone was invited to that Staff apology I guess.

 

[dopingectomy]

- Good Evening Lance.

* Good Evening Oprah.

- I will go straight to the point: did you ever dope in your entire career?

* Yes, I did. The first time in the 1990's. Before my cancer. There is a high chance that my cancer was caused by my doping.

- Do you mean that doping substances can cause cancer and provoked your cancer?

* Yes. Testosterone and growth hormone are well known carcinogens. That's what I took just before I had cancer.

- Were you aware at that time that these doping substances can cause cancer ?

* No. My knowledge of cancer was very poor at that time. Actually that's what happens to most people who learns they have cancer. They do learn about cancer only when they get it. That's an important problem. Actually that's one of the reasons why I founded Livestrong in 1997.

- Does this mean that you stopped doping after you had cancer?

* No. After my cancer I had to make the most difficult choice of my life. The moment I learned that I had cancer was terrible. My life radically changed that day. As it does for all people who learn that they have cancer. Cancer is an atrocious disease. When someone learns he has cancer, he does not understand why. Why me? Why now? People with cancer do only get aware of cancer after they have it. This had to change. I had to change that. From that time the main goal that I had in my life was to make people more aware of that atrocious disease. But how to achieve that? I was not a medical doctor. Neither did I have a PhD. I was just a cyclist. Thus I had to win races so that I could tell more about my own experience of cancer survivor and in turn to raise awareness of this evil disease. But at that time most were doping in cycling. Thus in order to reach the goal of my life I had to take doping substances again. That was a terrible choice. Doping gave me cancer but in order to fight against cancer I had to dope again. I had to dope to win races in order to make people more aware of cancer.

- You just told me that doping substances can cause cancer. Did you risk your own life to reach the goal of your life?

* I minimized the risk to get cancer. From 1997, I did not take growth hormone and testosterone anymore. Rather, only EPO and blood transfusions. EPO is not as carcinogen as growth hormone and is a very efficient performance enhancing drug in cycling. Also, there is something that I learned during my fight against cancer: to never give up and to go deep inside me to find some energy that I had not even thought of.

- Do you mean that your cancer helped you to win the Tour de France?

* Yes. My victory over cancer gave me more strength to train a lot. Really a lot. Maybe I learned how to suffer on a bike more than others because my body knows how to suffer to win against cancer.

- Therefore you doped to make people more aware about cancer. What was your feeling at that time? Cheating for a good cause?

* I'm not proud to have taken doping drugs. But I'm very proud to have saved some lives. Thanks to my doping. Thanks to Livestrong. If you ask me if I would do it again, I would say yes because my doping helped to save some lives and I know how cancer makes people suffer.

- between 2005 and your come back in 2009, you spent much time in the fight against cancer. Did you dope after that?

* No. I raced clean in 2009 and 2010. At that time, hopefully, it was not necessary anymore for me to dope to empower cancer survivors and their families. Doping was less prevalent in 2009 than it was in 1999. This is confirmed by the 3rd place that I got in Paris. I'm more proud of this 3rd place racing clean that all my 7 TDF wins doped.

- You claimed at many occasions that you never doped. Why lying during so many years? Many believe that lying is worse than doping.

* Until 2005 it was not possible to admit. You have to understand that both doping and lying were intrinsically related and part of the system. When a rider chooses to dope, he does also make the choice to lie. I sincerely thought about admitting after that. However, the risk to not be able to compete again in order to make more people aware of cancer was too high and therefore I decided to ride clean the TDF in 2009. Also, you have to understand that it was very difficult to admit, not because of the consequences that I would face, but for Livestrong. Any admission could have ruined Livestrong. The foundation was dependent on my credibility. I made many sacrifices in my life to raise awareness of cancer through Livestrong. Doping is disgusting, I hated to dope since I got my cancer from my doping, but I was forced to do so to save more lives. And to admit doping meant less lives to save.

- in other words, you lied to protect your foundation?

* Yes. I sincerely apologize to all persons who believed that I was competing clean. I had to dope to create Livestrong and then I had to lie to help the foundation to save more lifes. Life is made of difficult choices and, believe me, to dope after I had cancer precisely because of doping was not an easy choice.

- But then why admitting today?

* Hopefully, yes I repeat, hopefully, USADA investigation does allow me to admit my doping today. I thank USADA and more particularly Travis Tygart for that. As soon as the evidence was strong enough, then it was clear for me that I had to tell the truth for all of those who trust in Livestrong and the fight against cancer. That's why I sit here now in front of you: to tell the truth in order to defend Livestrong and the fight against cancer, and, hopefully, to make it still stronger and save more lives. I know that I take a big personal risk, that I will face strong consequences, both legally and financially, but I'm ready for that because I know that my admission will help in the fight against cancer. I'm here to tell everyone how cancer is atrocious and that they should trust in all people who work for Livestrong.

- Thank you Lance.

* Thank you Oprah.

 

[Bosco10]

^^^ Is this the interview or the screenplay?

 

[D-Queued]

Is this for real?

How many new lies can you spot?

- Good Evening Lance.

... But I'm very proud to have saved some lives. ...


* No. I raced clean in 2009 and 2010. ... I'm more proud of this 3rd place racing clean that all my 7 TDF wins doped.

...

* Hopefully, yes I repeat, hopefully, USADA investigation does allow me to admit my doping today. I thank USADA and more particularly Travis Tygart for that. As soon as the evidence was strong enough, then it was clear for me that I had to tell the truth ...

This is the image of someone happy with their 2009 result:

And, uh, why couldn't he have admitted to USADA back when he first saw the mountain of obvious evidence?

Dave.

 

[mountainrman]

I think the best is yet to come via Mcqauid and company

I hope the best is yet to come with outing mcquaid and company, but on the basis that every other rider implicated has "done the right thing" only because of a self serving deal, it is probably necessary to offer that to Lance in order to give him reason to dish dirt. They cannot threaten him with more sanction, only offer a carrot not stick. So Tygart needs to reduce the penalty If he wants LA to speak out.

To whoever implied lifetime cheat Hincapies crimes were nothing allowing Tygart to pemit him to ride TdF you are wrong. A lifetime of doping and conspiracy must be sanctioned. As a lifetime doper he got less than Bassons for an accidental admin error on dropping out of a single race. That cannot be right. Even if given 6 months ( and by the way he too supplied dope to others so 6 is questionable ) He should have been suspended. Travis plays favourites, no doubt about it.

To chewbacca - I do not need to sing Tygarts praises everyone else here overdoes it.. I provide balance to the sycophant mob, He has made errors that should be criticised. If you all attacked him, I would defend him.

It is interesting how the proposals for Tygarts promoted truth and reconciliation are allowing for the fact that some face jurisdiction criminal sanction so all agree the confessions need careful and confidential handling to reduce exposures to national law. But whilst accepting that in principle he rode roughshod over the very same issue in practice in LA case. it needed far better diplomacy and far more time than his bull in a china shop methods if he really wanted LA on board the solution. in my opinion he did not try and wasted a big opportunity.

To Bennoti - any credibilty you may have had vanished in that baseless attack on Nicole Cooke.

 

[jilbiker]

OK UK people - I can confirm it is there.

For those who have sky - Set your recorders to discovery channel 2.0 am Friday "oprah winfrey and lance armstrong" the program is now there.

@glenn_wilson
Nobody in as far as I can tell - other than media and pubic opinion.

I agree, her response is cagey. The whole show sounds cagey. LA does not seem to have one ounce of remorse in his face. If he was really repentant he would not need a show. Much like Tigers joke of a "confessional" it was a joke. Oprah is trying to sell her channel/show which by the way has ratings is the basement region. She probably has sponsors lined up up the waz-zu reading to pay 1 million for 1 minute. Who knows LA might also be getting a cut for this show.

 

[86TDFWinner]

Did anyone else happen to see ESPN this morning when they interviewed Betsy Andreau? very good stuff.


Also, TJ Quinn needs to re-educate himself on the whole Lance situation.

 

[jilbiker]

Oprah's response is cagey. The whole show sounds cagey. LA does not seem to have one ounce of remorse in his face. If he was really repentant he would not need a show. Much like Tigers joke of a "confessional" it was a joke. Oprah is trying to sell her channel/show which by the way has ratings is the basement region. She probably has sponsors lined up up the waz-zu reading to pay 1 million for 1 minute. Who knows LA might also be getting a cut for this show.

 

[AussieEdge]

i am probably a member of a small minority, who wont watch the oprah show...

no, not for lack of time but for lack of plain interest. i've had more than enough of my share watching the pro cycling circus around the fraudster trying to manipulate it during the years i had little choice.

no, not going to waste my time when i DO have a choice !

as to anything 'earth-shattering' he might say, if it really matters, i am sure, such thoughtful commentators like bonnie ford will not pass it over. her i WILL read and, as always, slooowly.

to me, armstrong's downfall (which i longed and contributed to for years) is the end of his era, his image, his sight, his lies... his everything.

I don't believe it's as small as you think

I won't watch as I'd probably throw something at the TV as soon as he weasels Livestrong.

 

[thirteen]

Oh crap! Now it's stretched into TWO nights.
I can't do that....

so maybe the second night???

Amsterdam is closer than Colorado. You need to check out your obscure Flemish cable channels, one of them must be showing this live, after all, it's a country of cycling junkies.

my luck, i'll find it and record and they'll have translated it into dutch

 

[Turner29]

I guess that I am forced to watch the interview when aired Thursday...

 

[Turner29]

Now it is two nights?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/oprah-extends-lance-armstrong-interview-to-two-nights/2013/01/15/5062354a-5f2b-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_blog.html

 

[Dr. Maserati]

I hope the best is yet to come with outing mcquaid and company, but on the basis that every other rider implicated has "done the right thing" only because of a self serving deal, it is probably necessary to offer that to Lance in order to give him reason to dish dirt. They cannot threaten him with more sanction, only offer a carrot not stick. So Tygart needs to reduce the penalty If he wants LA to speak out.

To whoever implied lifetime cheat Hincapies crimes were nothing allowing Tygart to pemit him to ride TdF you are wrong. A lifetime of doping and conspiracy must be sanctioned. As a lifetime doper he got less than Bassons for an accidental admin error on dropping out of a single race. That cannot be right. Even if given 6 months ( and by the way he too supplied dope to others so 6 is questionable ) He should have been suspended. Travis plays favourites, no doubt about it.

Indeed, it's not right.
As Bassons was allowed to be heard and had his sanction reduced to one month.

And Hincapie was sanctioned - the reason to why USADA waited was because they did not want to let a vindictive doper like Lance know who had offered information. So blame your buddy that George rode the Tour.

To chewbacca - I do not need to sing Tygarts praises everyone else here overdoes it.. I provide balance to the sycophant mob, He has made errors that should be criticised. If you all attacked him, I would defend him.

It is interesting how the proposals for Tygarts promoted truth and reconciliation are allowing for the fact that some face jurisdiction criminal sanction so all agree the confessions need careful and confidential handling to reduce exposures to national law. But whilst accepting that in principle he rode roughshod over the very same issue in practice in LA case. it needed far better diplomacy and far more time than his bull in a china shop methods if he really wanted LA on board the solution. in my opinion he did not try and wasted a big opportunity.

To Bennoti - any credibilty you may have had vanished in that baseless attack on Nicole Cooke.

Any time you wish to point out these errors please let us know.

 

[reginagold]

Now it is two nights?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/oprah-extends-lance-armstrong-interview-to-two-nights/2013/01/15/5062354a-5f2b-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_blog.html

Oh oh, Lance's PR/legal team screwed up again. Two nights creates a half time for MSM to pick him to bits. Not what they intended. These same advisers never anticipated that USADA could, and would, just release all the evidence. Perhaps he should just go back to 100 percent Tim Herman all the time. At least there was a coherence to his tactics in the old days.

Don't mess w Oprah.

 

[spetsa]

To chewbacca - I do not need to sing Tygarts praises everyone else here overdoes it.. I provide balance to the sycophant mob, He has made errors that should be criticised. If you all attacked him, I would defend him.

Nice of you to let everyone know what your real intentions of posting here are

Why the mods allow your sh*t show to continue is nuts

 

[auscyclefan94]

Why do people begrudge Oprah earning a dollar from this and gaining massive ratings? Good luck to her. Why are people so sensitive to someone who are gaining money from an interview? She is not the criminal.

 

[Lukenwolf]

Why do people begrudge Oprah earning a dollar from this and gaining massive ratings? Good luck to her. Why are people so sensitive to someone who are gaining money from an interview? She is not the criminal.

What most people don't like is not the money that O.W. makes off it. It's the fact that she provides a soft landing to the most despicable liar, bully and outright criminal psychopath of the last two decades.

 

[UpTheRoad]

Did Mr. Gunderson get paid for this interview?

 

[Lukenwolf]

Do bears crap in the woods? Is the pope catholic? Does the cheat do anything for free when he even bagged thousands of bucks for speeches for his own ****ing faux charity?

 

[ggusta]

Learn to let it go. The sport is not going to get any better until the IOC takes anti-doping seriously. That's not happening.

you aren't really getting my point, yes, i understand what you are saying, but please follow me, they are saying hey it's just cycling, as if to say the sports they love, football, baseball, baketball are somehow superior by virtue of their clean athletes and cycling is a cesspool which is outrageous to me. If you don't like cycling, believe me I am OK with it, I suffer no delusions, if it could have 1/4th the fans and media exposure of tennis it would be a gigantic coup here in the US, but to say it is a cesspool and by implication imply that football, baseball, etc are not is just as ignorant as the kool aid drinking lance fan mountainmen.

They don't need to falsify a hypocritical reason to base their dislike of cycling such as PED's. They aren't giving cycling a chance. Fine. I get that. I am not giving hockey a chance. It's my choice, there's only so much time in the day. I don't run around screaming that I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out to expose my ignorance.

 

[knewcleardaze]

Glad I don't have the dopey Oprah channel.