Lance "brazens" it out

[Merckx index]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100921/ap_on_sp_ot/cyc_armstrong_s_image_3

"We call it 'brazening it out.' You act as if there's nothing wrong," said George Merlis, founder of Experience Media Consulting Group. "All of these are laudable if he's doing it for the right reason, such as fighting cancer."

But Zeta Interactive, a marketing firm that tracks looks online to see how people are being viewed, found Armstrong has fallen far from his perch as one of the most popular athletes the agency has ever tracked.
Zeta measured Armstrong at 92 percent popularity in 2008, and he was at 86 percent in July before the start of his final Tour de France. That number dropped to 51 percent in August when the federal investigation ramped up and has bumped only slightly to 55 percent in recent weeks.
"He's flirting with 50-50," said Zeta Interactive CEO Al DiGuido. "For someone trying to build themself as a brand, that's not a good place to be."

Interesting that the big fall came after the TDF, though there wasn't a lot new in the investigation then. Implies that much of it resulted from his poor performance.

 

[Anonymous]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100921/ap_on_sp_ot/cyc_armstrong_s_image_3





Interesting that the big fall came after the TDF, though there wasn't a lot new in the investigation then. Implies that much of it resulted from his poor performance.

Same bunch of losers that worshiped him because he was a "winner" dropped him because he lost. I have always been an 8%er, and proud of it!

 

[Race Radio]

Dude used to hang out with rock stars, heads of state, movies stars......now all he has are the fat chicks

 

[powerste]

"You act as if there's nothing wrong," . . . "All of these are laudable if he's doing it for the right reason, such as fighting cancer."

Man did I ever LOL when I first read that!

Then I thought about how this line of is endlessly perpetuated and I felt more like crying.

 

[powerste]

His expression is priceless!

 

[flicker]

It is OK Lance. A few of us here still support you. We are your "foundation."

 

[nowhereman]

It astounds me how LA couldn't see that he was heading into a lose-lose situation right out of the gate, back in 2008. My guess is that his Gargantuan ego blinded him completely. Add to the mix his loyal supporters helping to convince him into thinking that their was nothing wrong/or extremely risky to his legacy, through carrying out his veiled strategy the way he did. You would have to be a Lance junkie not to see how vain the whole effort was, especially in hindsight, thus the drop in popularity, after his performance this year.
The pitiful side of LA began to emerge when the petty twittering began, and then the whole affair spiraled downhill, into the abyss when his expected advantage over AC on the cobbles of the Roubaix stage of this years tour turned into a debacle. Culminating with him burying a pedal into a curb, like a rookie, which ended up being the final KO blow to his aspirations to be a "Contendah" this year, in essentially what was recognized to be his last chance. "Lance fans" doesn't automatically mean "cycling fans". I think many of those are the ones that have fallen away. I'm sorry to say this. But, at this point, I'm glad he is finally going away, for good. I'm just afraid for him, that it might be a bit too late to get away scot free, like he did back in '05, With Novitsky on his tail, He might wish he'd never put the spotlight back on to himself.

 

[Hugh Januss]

His expression is priceless!

Flicker's mom is a really big fan.

 

[Oldman]

It astounds me how LA couldn't see that he was heading into a lose-lose situation right out of the gate, back in 2008. My guess is that his Gargantuan ego blinded him completely. Add to the mix his loyal supporters helping to convince him into thinking that their was nothing wrong/or extremely risky to his legacy, through carrying out his veiled strategy the way he did. You would have to be a Lance junkie not to see how vain the whole effort was, especially in hindsight, thus the drop in popularity, after his performance this year.
The pitiful side of LA began to emerge when the petty twittering began, and then the whole affair spiraled downhill, into the abyss when his expected advantage over AC on the cobbles of the Roubaix stage of this years tour turned into a debacle. Culminating with him burying a pedal into a curb, like a rookie, which ended up being the final KO blow to his aspirations to be a "Contendah" this year, in essentially what was recognized to be his last chance. "Lance fans" doesn't automatically mean "cycling fans". I think many of those are the ones that have fallen away. I'm sorry to say this. But, at this point, I'm glad he is finally going away, for good. I'm just afraid for him, that it might be a bit too late to get away scot free, like he did back in '05, With Novitsky on his tail, He might wish he'd never put the spotlight back on to himself.

Two comments-1.he never had a shot and never prepared.
2. Don't be afraid because he loses no sleep over your true opnions, good or bad. He's where he deserves to be it would appear.

 

[flicker]

It astounds me how LA couldn't see that he was heading into a lose-lose situation right out of the gate, back in 2008. My guess is that his Gargantuan ego blinded him completely. Add to the mix his loyal supporters helping to convince him into thinking that their was nothing wrong/or extremely risky to his legacy, through carrying out his veiled strategy the way he did. You would have to be a Lance junkie not to see how vain the whole effort was, especially in hindsight, thus the drop in popularity, after his performance this year.
The pitiful side of LA began to emerge when the petty twittering began, and then the whole affair spiraled downhill, into the abyss when his expected advantage over AC on the cobbles of the Roubaix stage of this years tour turned into a debacle. Culminating with him burying a pedal into a curb, like a rookie, which ended up being the final KO blow to his aspirations to be a "Contendah" this year, in essentially what was recognized to be his last chance. "Lance fans" doesn't automatically mean "cycling fans". I think many of those are the ones that have fallen away. I'm sorry to say this. But, at this point, I'm glad he is finally going away, for good. I'm just afraid for him, that it might be a bit too late to get away scot free, like he did back in '05, With Novitsky on his tail, He might wish he'd never put the spotlight back on to himself.

This is why I started the lessons from Lance thread. There is a lot to learn from Lance. Typical behavior for a certain type of person. If you had a love one who was following a self destructive path how would you tell him or her that they were making a mistake? My guess is there is nothing you could do.

 

[Oldman]

This is why I started the lessons from Lance thread. There is a lot to learn from Lance. Typical behavior for a certain type of person. If you had a love one who was following a self destructive path how would you tell him or her that they were making a mistake? My guess is there is nothing you could do.

Except in this case the multitude of associates that go down with him should have applied the brakes or got out of the way. That's simplistic and won't help the truly egregious profiteers among his coterie of "friends". Hopefully Weisel will find out what if feels like to be holding a b*ttload of BP Oil stock when the well blew up.

 

[flicker]

Except in this case the multitude of associates that go down with him should have applied the brakes or got out of the way. That's simplistic and won't help the truly egregious profiteers among his coterie of "friends". Hopefully Weisel will find out what if feels like to be holding a b*ttload of BP Oil stock when the well blew up.

Hard to say. Comeback 2.0 might have been for another reason than LANCES' EGO. We have to serve somebody. I like Bob Dylan.

 

[Berzin]

His expression is priceless!

Didn't you know? Lance is going to be sponsored by Ruegamer for the bike portion of the Ironman, so she got an invite to the last stage of the Tour!!!

 

[Tubeless]

Except in this case the multitude of associates that go down with him should have applied the brakes or got out of the way. That's simplistic and won't help the truly egregious profiteers among his coterie of "friends". Hopefully Weisel will find out what if feels like to be holding a b*ttload of BP Oil stock when the well blew up.

It's a classic case of feeling invincible after successfully defeating all previous threats. Lance & his associates surely felt there's nothing Landis could do even he carried out his threats of speaking out. When he did, that's exactly how they reacted - "it's his word against ours". They thought it would all be handled in the court of public opinion - and at most via civil lawsuits, both forums where Lance was comfortable having won there before.

It wasn't at all obvious that a federal agency would ever want to investigate Lance - there was no hint of that as recently as 4 months ago. Exactly what triggered their interest still isn't clear, but once they were open to listening, there was a lot to talk about given the colorful history of the brash Texan. Rules changed. Now there could be no more intimidation, witness tampering, public manipulation, bribery - or "taking care of friends". This is what changed the game and Lance did not know how to play any more.

As for the shift in popularity / public opinion, it's an obvious result of what the press is writing about. There has been a boatload of negative articles, and there's no end in sight. Some fans are still sticking with him due to the cancer connection, but when was the last positive press piece published?

 

[hektoren]

Don't be afraid because he loses no sleep over your true opnions, good or bad. [/color]

I believe his Lanceness stated this summer that he sleeps like a baby.
With my experience that means that he wakes up crying every couple of hours.

 

[kielbasa]

It's a classic case of feeling invincible after successfully defeating all previous threats. Lance & his associates surely felt there's nothing Landis could do even he carried out his threats of speaking out. When he did, that's exactly how they reacted - "it's his word against ours". They thought it would all be handled in the court of public opinion - and at most via civil lawsuits, both forums where Lance was comfortable having won there before.

It wasn't at all obvious that a federal agency would ever want to investigate Lance - there was no hint of that as recently as 4 months ago. Exactly what triggered their interest still isn't clear, but once they were open to listening, there was a lot to talk about given the colorful history of the brash Texan. Rules changed. Now there could be no more intimidation, witness tampering, public manipulation, bribery - or "taking care of friends". This is what changed the game and Lance did not know how to play any more.

As for the shift in popularity / public opinion, it's an obvious result of what the press is writing about. There has been a boatload of negative articles, and there's no end in sight. Some fans are still sticking with him due to the cancer connection, but when was the last positive press piece published?

+1
I'm a fan of neither, but I can't wait to see Omerta getting b****slapped by Big Brother.

 

[flicker]

+1
I'm a fan of neither, but I can't wait to see Omerta getting b****slapped by Big Brother.

Big Brother doesn't work overseas see Irak/ Afganistan. Funny it does work in ****stan though.

 

[kielbasa]

Big Brother doesn't work overseas see Irak/ Afganistan. Funny it does work in ****stan though.

Doesn't work overseas?! You realize that BB started out in Oceania, but he's pretty much everywhere now. Just like Omerta.

Perhaps I should rephrase. I can't wait to see the Long Arm of the Law grab Omerta by the ball.

 

[peloton]

please don't quote flicker, thanks.

 

[flicker]

please don't quote flicker, thanks.

Let me quote you then.
Laws work for those who can afford quality legal services. No matter what the law says certain people will live by their own laws thus the term outlaws. Thusly outlaws will perpetuate a legal system which can prosecute law offenders. At the end of the day Novitsky and Co. waste tax dollars on a subject few of us care about. Democracy at work.

 

[Oldman]

It's a classic case of feeling invincible after successfully defeating all previous threats. Lance & his associates surely felt there's nothing Landis could do even he carried out his threats of speaking out. When he did, that's exactly how they reacted - "it's his word against ours". They thought it would all be handled in the court of public opinion - and at most via civil lawsuits, both forums where Lance was comfortable having won there before.

It wasn't at all obvious that a federal agency would ever want to investigate Lance - there was no hint of that as recently as 4 months ago. Exactly what triggered their interest still isn't clear, but once they were open to listening, there was a lot to talk about given the colorful history of the brash Texan. Rules changed. Now there could be no more intimidation, witness tampering, public manipulation, bribery - or "taking care of friends". This is what changed the game and Lance did not know how to play any more.

As for the shift in popularity / public opinion, it's an obvious result of what the press is writing about. There has been a boatload of negative articles, and there's no end in sight. Some fans are still sticking with him due to the cancer connection, but when was the last positive press piece published?

It would be totally ironic if Floyd's descriptions of organized PED purchase/distribution was the tipping point and it just happened to fall into a convenient (and publicity rich) annex to Novitsky's other investigations.
That Floyd may ultimately profit from this and that he, the neglected and misused former teammate; might have been the last straw on this camel's back.
Lance would sleep like a baby then. I did some 3 am diaper changes and kids do wake up every couple of hours with deeply soiled linens. Think very harsh gag reflex.

 

[kielbasa]

Let me quote you then.
Laws work for those who can afford quality legal services. No matter what the law says certain people will live by their own laws thus the term outlaws. Thusly outlaws will perpetuate a legal system which can prosecute law offenders. At the end of the day Novitsky and Co. waste tax dollars on a subject few of us care about. Democracy at work.

Couple of corrections: Democratic Republic at work and few of us know about. Thanks.

BTW, there's nothing more effective at turning that negative sentiment than by prosecuting those who see themselves as above the law even if most don't care about it (if true, that's a sad commentary on our society). Luckily, there are people working on it against the tide of public opinion.

 

[Race Radio]

His expression is priceless!

This is the hell that Armstrong has built for himself.

I have heard from mutual friends that there is nothing Armstrong hates more then the rapid groupies that stalk him everywhere. He gets paid $150,000 to talk for 15 minutes to bunch of them and hates every minute of it. Can't wait to flee the building and get away from the common folk.

If the groupies only knew

 

[Darryl Webster]

I believe his Lanceness stated this summer that he sleeps like a baby.
.

Sociapaths often DO "sleep like babies"..cus there litteraly unaware of there wrongness,

 

[kielbasa]

This is the hell that Armstrong has built for himself.

I have heard from mutual friends that there is nothing Armstrong hates more then the rapid groupies that stalk him everywhere. He gets paid $150,000 to talk for 15 minutes to bunch of them and hates every minute of it. Can't wait to flee the building and get away from the common folk.

If the groupies only knew

Well, then I added to his misery in 1991 after the crit nationals. I even mentioned LeMond to him.

Stealing the spotlight.