<p>I was one of the ones who believed he didn’t dope until the Hincapie affidavit. As I said, he is very flawed and has always had some real personality issues. It’s part of what allowed him to train at the level he did. </p>
<p>I am not making excuses for him or trying to justify the harm he did to others. I don’t think he is, either, at this point. He doesn’t need a major sponsor. He’s in his 40s. He cares about his family and wants to compete. He is admitting that he hurt many people and he completely understands that there isn’t much chance for forgiveness. Maybe he is a sociopath. He isn’t the first. He isn’t the first to step on people on his way to the top, either. </p>
<p>I’m sorry he did this. I’m sorry he hurt people. I’m sorry he put himself and so many others through this hell. I get him, though. I guess I am a bad, flawed person myself, because I DO “get” him. I completely see how it all happened, and I hate it, but it DID happen.</p>
<p>He kids, there is an important lesson to be learned from all this! If you lie and cheat, and especially if you use PEDs, you can make millions of dollars - and keep most of it, achieve fame and fortune, but you might have to go on Oprah and confess, which I guess is a step up from going on Jerry Springer which is what all the non-famous screw-up dysfunctionals aspire to… oh, and another huge downside… you might not get into the Hall of Fame.</p>
<p>Actually my favorite lesson is that if you sue news organizations for libel after they printed allegations that were true, it will come back to haunt you.</p>
<p>He didn’t only step on people to get to the top, he faked it. He never really got to the top legitimately. Not sure he gets that.</p>
<p>I would feel much more sympathy if he 1) showed more remorse, 2) made efforts to apologize to the people he threatened when they were trying to do the right thing and 3) made a serious effort to campaign against drugs and doping in professional athletics. It’s rampant, he knows it, and he could actually do some good in making sports a cleaner place.</p>
<p>He got to the top as legitimately as anyone else. He was the best of all the cyclists in those 7 years.</p>
<p>I do believe he is remorseful. He is still processing how everything has collapsed and is figuring out how wrong his thinking and actions were. It doesn’t happen instantly. I believe he was honest in that he really didn’t see it as cheating- at the time. I do hope he will make amends (financially and otherwise) to those he has harmed. I also hope he works to clean up the sport.</p>
<p>^^moonchild^^ Exactly! I feel as if he’s doing this with motive- not because he truly feels bad, but because he wants to continue cycling in some way shape or form. The people he sued aggressively for “lying” about what they heard or saw. He still hasn’t come entirely clean. One of his responses to Oprah- “At least I didn’t call her fat” Really? Betsy Andreu has a right to be livid. Lance is doing this for Lance- not for his family and not for anyone else. The statute of limitations has expired for plagiarism so he can’t be caught on that. </p>
<p>One can only hope Livestrong can come out this shadow Lance has created.</p>
<p>Of course you have a right to your opinion. However, his glib comments about Betsy Andreu contradict that notion, imo. Everything he did before was very self-serving, and it appears that nothing has changed now. And why would they? It seems he has outed himself as a sociopathic liar; sociopaths do not have the capacity to feel remorse. Ever. The only regret they ever feel is when they have to experience the consequences of their behavior-they only regret being caught, not doing something wrong, dishonest, or vicious.</p>
<p>I found him really creepy, like he was trying really hard to act like someone who had feelings. The only time he seemed actually upset, to me, was when he said there was only one other time when he didn’t know what would happen [to him] in his life.</p>
<p>Lance Armstrong cares about Lance Armstrong. I think we should add professional cyclist to the list of good careers for a psychopath thread.</p>
<p>He isn’t saying the “cancer made him do it”. It’s SO easy to put words into someone’s mouth, isn’t it? I admire the win at all costs attitude with respect to his cancer. He said his mistake was carrying it forward. He didn’t blame his cheating on cancer. Geez.</p>
<p>Isn’t fun to crucify someone- repeatedly? </p>
<p>He will privately deal with the people- like Betsy- that he wronged. They probably won’t (and shouldn’t) forgive him. But that’s between them. He tried to make a joke last night- it failed. That’s what he does. It doesn’t give all of us tremendous insight into his state of mind.</p>
<p>I don’t want to crucify him, but I also found him creepy. </p>
<p>he’s the one who continually puts himself in the public eye. He could have quietly gone away, like others have. If you go on Oprah, you can hardly complain if someone has an opinion about you.</p>
<p>“Isn’t fun to crucify someone- repeatedly?”</p>
<p>Ask Lance…he did it often enough to the folks that told the truth.
(BTW–publicly and in court)</p>
<p>Sociopaths do not feel remorse. And they do feel the need to bring down ANYONE who gets in there way. That’s Lance all over. But hey, as it has been said here repeatedly “that’s what he does”. As if it’s no biggie.</p>
<p>He’s missing a lot of chips that most human beings have. I think he’s more disappointed about getting caught and losing his power than anything else. I didn’t get the sense that he is truly remorseful about what he did. I think he still sees himself as a victim.</p>
<p>He goes on to say that Oprah wasn’t the forum for the entire truth- that he needs to be giving up information/names to others (USADA et al). Perhaps it’s just my legal training, but it’s helpful to quote completely and accurately.</p>
<p>I actually think something he is lying about is the 2009 tour. 2010 I can buy, but I suspect doping in 2009, at least to some extent, but I also know he isn’t out of the statute of limitations yet there.</p>
<p>there’s a difference between an admission of guilt and a real amends.</p>
<p>So, if he finally, in the end, changes and does a lot of good work and makes a new life for himself based on honor and integrity and honesty, we will know it. </p>
<p>But, you know what they say… “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Or, my grandmother’s line, “People talk a lot. It’s what they do that tells you who they really are.”</p>
<p>I hope I’m wrong. I love to be wrong about things like this. But, right now, he has a lot of work to do if he wants to become the “beloved” public figure he once was.</p>
<p>I was really making an effort to keep an open mind because others around me had reached the conclusion (before the interview) that he was doing what he felt was necessary to continue the self serving. I don’t like hearing labels of sociopath being tossed around. I was looking for remorse. I have to say I was shocked at some of the responses.</p>
<p>I did quote the whole thing accurately (the part about Oprah not being the proper forum is in the paragraph I quoted) before I took issue with two particular sentences. I can’t quote everything he said, because that would be against TOS.</p>
<p>As to statute of limitations, well, I guess he’s going to be truthful about things he can no longer be held accountable for-which really isn’t coming clean. Of course, no lawyer would advise his client to admit to wrongdoings which could land him in jail or expose him to further litigation, but it seems disingenuous for him to call this a confession or “taking responsibility” if he continues to lie and evade.</p>
<p>It’s a fact that we live with and among sociopaths. I don’t know whether or not LA is a sociopath, but I think it’s perfectly rational to wonder very strongly about it, given his behavior. He chose to put himself out there by consenting to this interview, so we have the right to state our opinions of his character. There is definitely something seriously wrong with this guy.</p>