Lance to Landis…..and From Landis to Lance

It seems that Lance Armstrong is following Floyd’s lead in attempting to sway public opinion.  Floyd’s Wiki defense was brilliant.  He was able to go from villain to hero in many people’s eyes because of his decision to make his document packet available to the public.  Regardless of how Floyd’s arbitration hearing turns out, he was able to sway public opinion in his direction.

Lance took Floyd’s lead and started a Wiki defense of his own yesterday.  His defense is an attempt to fend off negative publicity from the new book “Lance to Landis,” that accuses him, once again, of doping to win the Tour de France.  The problem with Lance’s Wiki defense is that it is not complete and misrepresents things.  For example, Lance cites his winning an arbitration hearing where he was awarded $7.5 million as proof that he has already debunked all of the allegations in this new book.  The $7.5 million was a bonus that was owed to him, and the ruling in the case doesn’t mean that he didn’t dope.  There are some convincing documents in his packet, but there is so much hate and “holier than thou” attitude in his letter, that it turns many people off.  His letter turned me off right away. 

Reasons that Floyd Landis’ Wiki Defense Worked:

1. Floyd released everything that he had to the public, which leads people to believe that he has nothing to hide.
2. Floyd acts like he is a regular guy.  People can relate to him easily.
3. Floyd and his team presented easy to understand arguments that made sense.
4. Floyd made it clear that he wanted to help the system…not just himself. 

Reasons that Lance Armstrong’s Wiki Defense Has Problems:

1. Lance’s anger in his letter almost sounds like he is mad at us along with the author of the allegations against him.  -I didn’t do anything.  You don’t have to talk to me that way.
2. Lance cherry picked documents that he wanted to release.  The packet is incomplete.
3. Lance has a how dare you attitude about his defense that turns people off.
4. Lance’s attitude assumes that we should worship him and that he has nothing to prove. (By the way…if he has nothing to prove, why is he trying to prove it now?)
5. Lance’s arguments don’t fully make sense….the $7.5 million award didn’t exonerate him of any wrong doing.  It simply ordered a company to uphold a contract that they had signed with Lance.

Lance’s attitude has been similar to Barry Bonds.  It is an attitude that turns people off.  Everyone respects what Bonds has been able to do, just as everyone respects what Armstrong has done.  I just wish they would both leave the attitude problems behind and allow us to like them…..even just a little bit. 

29 June 2007 | Uncategorized | Comments