BUFFONE: Doping is Not why People Hate Lance Armstrong

by John Buffone

The whole sports world has been spotlighting Lance Armstrong lately. The now-notorious cyclist admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs during his famous run of Tour de France victories in the late 90s and early 2000s. If Armstrong’s admission caught you off guard however, you may have been living in a bubble for the past decade or so. Cycling is one of the most (if not the most) dirtiest sports in the world when it comes to PEDs and Armstrong has been suspected of doping for quite some time so it shouldn’t have floored anyone to finally hear him admit to it. For the most part though, I don’t think people detest Armstrong because he doped. After all, we’re talking about someone cheating in a bike race. But I think Armstrong is sustaining this firestorm because of the way he handled himself after being accused. Armstrong tried to play everyone for a fool and even considered suing the people who ultimately made accurate accusations against him. Not only did Armstrong lie, he lied to the point that he convinced himself that he was the victim. Sports fans have long become callous to steroid users and blood dopers. It’s something that is reported frequently in nearly every sport and the news isn’t as hard-hitting as it used to be. What sports fans don’t like however, is having their intelligence under-minded and that’s exactly what Armstrong did when he vehemently defended his character in such a brash way. Unfortunately for Armstrong, it appears his reputation is beyond repair in the court of public opinion.

4 Comments

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  By forward, January 21, 2013 @ 7:32 AM

  Could you please explain your use of’ under-minded ‘ ??? I find no mention of it in my dictionary, though it is an old version. Perhaps this is a recent addition to our language or perhaps a misuse of the word undermined?
• By jbuffone, January 22, 2013 @ 8:30 AM

  Thanks for catching the typo. I appreciate you reading again!
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  By player24, January 22, 2013 @ 9:03 AM

  Forward…….Seriously?
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  By forward, January 22, 2013 @ 3:08 PM

  Actually I was drawn in by the title of this piece. Hate is such a strong word to use, and I’m not convinced that people do HATE him, maybe some do.
  But back to the supposed ‘ typo ‘ , one could say that by using a term that doesn’t exist that you ‘ under-minded ‘ the intelligence of the readers;)………

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