sleazazar wrote:
This thread is evidence that a lot of people don’t care if you are a sh!tty human being.
Armstrong was a trash person and that means a lot more to me than pedaling a bicycle.
People care if you are a shi tty human being. However, they also forgive much of that if you are really talented. American football (pro and university-level) is a great example of this.
I admire him for his singular focus. He was determined to win one race and he did whatever it took to accomplish that, no different than any other highly successful athlete or business person. Jan Ulrich was always coming into the Tour overweight or off some other big race. Armstrong was always in perfect shape.
Many of his other competitors were too one-sided in their abilities, i.e. Basso who could climb with Armstrong but could never win an ITT. Armstrong could compete with the best time trial-ers during his peak (Cancellara). I’ll never forget seeing LA so pissed after losing the opening day ITT by like one second to Cancellara on a course on which he had no business being remotely competitive as an overall contender. But he somehow almost won yet wasn’t satisfied.
That’s driven to me and I find that admirable. But I’d never defend him as a human being and it was fascinating and satisfying to watch him be outed as a doper. In my mind, he had to be. I didn’t want it to be that way but I couldn’t justify his success without it.