Lauren Fleshman's great letter to Lance

Question: Does anyone actually care what she thinks? She's not even a competitive athlete anymore.

Idontevenknow wrote:

Question: Does anyone actually care what she thinks? She's not even a competitive athlete anymore.

Answer: For one thing, she's pregnant, not retired. Ever hear of Kara Goucher? Or a dozen other elite runners-turned moms-turned elite runners again?

Also, even if she had quit, let me ask you this: When is the last time Wejo or Rojo ran a race? Does their not competing in maybe 10 years render what they have to say irrelevant?

Lauren's letter was the friggin' bomb. If the Johnsons are gonna insist on posting articles they label MUST READ! and AMAZING! (none of their choices are even close), they should link to it and draw the QOTD from it. She's just on a different intellectual level from them and most of the regulars here.

When did she send it to Armstrong? Or is this another one of her vacuous fantasies?

(it was a good letter even if it's just another why for her to push her name onto us again)

This is letsrun...bullet points please.

If you don't normally read Lauren, this is not an exception. I will continue to read her blog, pregnancy or no pregnancy, because she has BY FAR the best running blog out there.

Another great one from one of the really good people in our sport.

It's very well written, but it's written to someone who would never listen and thus is pointless. Moving on to the next thread now...

Wounded Buffalo soldier wrote:

... let me ask you this: When is the last time Wejo or Rojo ran a race? Does their not competing in maybe 10 years render what they have to say irrelevant?

that's irrelevant they are journalists. The job of a journalist is to journalize.

pics?!!

currently mulling over possible subject for future thread-

--Lauren Fleshman...hot or not--

i say green-light all the way

The Fourth Estate wrote:

that's irrelevant they are journalists. The job of a journalist is to journalize.

I won't stoop to writing the initials, but this really did make me laugh out loud. They are journalists in the same sense that some 200-pound mother of five who huffs and puffs her was to a 41:00 5K is an endurance athlete.

They call that piling on.

I don't have much respect for people who pile on.

Remind us - why should we care who you respect?

bullet points wrote:

This is letsrun...bullet points please.

I usually enjoy her blog. I didn't really enjoy it this time.

It just seemed to me that everyone and there mother had to write something about Lance last week.

I think her writing last week, as opposed to after athletes tested positive on the women's side at the Olympics...

You know where was her passionate rant then?

Fact is, writing about Lance last week, tweeting about Lance, many thought would get them more hits than usual.

Almost no one had anything new to say about Lance's confession.

I saw it last week. I stopped reading when she said 99% of professional athletes are clean.

Q: Why didn't she write a critcal letter to Lance when she was employed by Nike?

i've considered much, and deeply, about piling on...

(the rights and wrongs of it)

and if Lauren wasn't happily married

i'd attempt even furthur piling on

now where are those pics we were promised

cliff notes please

Swooshed wrote:

Q: Why didn't she write a critcal letter to Lance when she was employed by Nike?

For the same reason Paula Radcliffe kept her lips zipped when Mary Slaney got busted. She knew if she spoke out the Nike mafia would have buried her in a shallow grave. Paula has transient doping ethics. She'll make exceptions who she calls out if the money's right.

"But the central tenet of being a professional athlete is not winning; it is fair play."

Perhaps for sports a central tenet is fair play, but in professional sports specifically the central tenet is "give the people what they want." It's an industry. It's entertainment.

Lauren's letter was for no other purpose than to garnish publicity for herself. Lance probably won't take the time to read her letter, and even if he does, it won't impact his actions one bit.

I have nothing against her, but for athletes to come out and do this, they either have to be covering for something or are out for publicity, plain and simple.