Lance Armstrong resigns (cough) as the Livestrong chairman. [Dlisted]
Michelle Obama vs. Ann Romney: Who did “pretty in pink” better? [Pop Sugar]
Eminem turns 40 years old today! He’s probably pissed off about it. [ICYDK]
Ryan Gosling loves to take candid self photos for his “hey girls.” [Pajiba]
Solange Knowles plays well in this gorgeous dress. [Go Fug Yourself]
Hugh Jackman shows off his Gangnam Style. [A Socialite Life]
Jessica Alba hates her perfect body, asks for a body double. [Celebslam]
Tom Parker of The Wanted plays tonsil hocky with a chick. [The Blemish]
Taylor Swift lyrics do not make good pickup lines at all. [OMG Blog]
Kelly Rutherford cuddles a cute dog on “Gossip Girl” set. [I’m Not Obsessed]
Billy Bob Thornton is selling his Angelina Jolie love shack. [Dramarama]
Honey Boo Boo officially endorses a Presidential candidate. [Wonderwall]
Oprah shows everyone a (boring) day in her life. [Bossip]
Liv Tyler does the school run with Milo in NYC. [Celebrity Baby Scoop]
Olga Kuylenko is banging 50-year-old Danny Huston. WTF? [Moe Jackson]
Sister Wives raise diversity awarness in Las Vegas. [Reality Tea]
Tyra Banks wants babies, like, yesterday. [Jezebel]
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN
Ah, Hugh Jackman … Novak Djokovic did Gangnam Style after the Shanghai Open as well, I think. Funny stuff 🙂
And I lol-ed at the Taylor Swift pick up lines.
Both videos were hilarious.
Gangnam style I won’t say squat about it as I found myself enjoying it… Hey you gotta do what you gotta do 😀
Jessica Alba perfect body problem is what is called a “celebrity problem”, meaning WTF problem!
Oh Swifty… Everything about you is a bad pick up!
Tyra Banks love herself so much that she’ll probably hit the sperm bank!
Never been a fan of Armstrongs. Think he’s a D-bag but I think he’s being used as a poster boy for something almost every sports star in the world is doing. Certainly, I’d bet my years salary that the successful teams in the Tour ALL dope. Every major sport in the US has had doping scandals. Look at the Olympics. Doping is here to stay sadly. We need to place asterisks next to the names of record holders in most sports and simply note that performance enhancing drugs were used. There will always be new drugs that tests dont register. To scapegoat one guy when every other guy on the Tour is doing it too…
I was a fan of Armstrong’s for many years, though after Operacion Puerto, I realized the entire sport was dirty. I know some people are fine with doping and believe that, if everyone is doing it those that do it best deserve to win. I am not one of those people.
I think Armstrong’s been targeted because he’s tried to make himself larger than life and make claims like he’s the “most tested athlete in the world.” The NYTimes ran an article after the USADA information came out; the article stated that LA had been tested around 60 times, not hundreds of times. Had he acted differently and won say, two TdFs, I think things would be different. Though, don’t forget that many of cycling’s top stars have been disgraced, they just happen to live in other countries so it’s not big news here.
That said, I do think that until EPO came along, it was possible to win the TdF clean. Now, I don’t think it’s possible.
You are right that drugs and corruption are sadly rampant in all professional sports. But I think Lance is rightly being made a poster boy. Not only did he dope, he set up an elaborate system of deceit and intimidation and sought to systematically destroy the lives of anyone who dared to question him. It almost makes the doping itself seem quaintly innocent.
I have been skeptical of him for years yet out of loyalty to my cyclist husband who worshipped him, I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. In recent days I have become increasingly convinced of his fraud and corruption. But this Nike thing is what really brought it home to me that he has truly, finally been exposed.
I feel terrible for all of those who have given him money and support over the years, when it looks like we all were victims of one of the biggest scammers ever.
Someone here on the previous Lance post said they think he’s a sociopath. I’m starting to believe that’s true. I am just stunned by the depth of his deception.
Ignore this comment, when I read “gave him money”, I thought you meant gave the charity money, not the people who sponsored him as an athlete.
That was me with the sociopath remark. I’ve been reading a lot about sociopathy recently and I’m pretty convinced (of course, without ever having met the guy) that he’s operating without a conscience.
I’ve pulled the below from Wikipedia, but these listed hallmarks of sociopathy are consistent with the texts I’ve read.
It ties in what what his teammates have said about him (the bullying, manipulation, everything having to revolve around him etc), the way he treats women, his inability to admit any wrongdoing (continuing to lie in the face of overwhelming evidence), his ability to turn on the charm as needed for PR purposes, and the criminality (years of doping and deceit at the highest levels of international sport. A sociopath might be a serial killer; he might also be a Bernie Madoff or a Jeffrey Skilling. It’s all about what suits his (or her) own ends).
Facet 1 Interpersonal
Glibness/superficial charm
Grandiose sense of self-worth
Pathological lying
Cunning/manipulative
Facet 2 Affective
Lack of remorse or guilt
Emotionally shallow
Callous/lack of empathy
Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
Facet 3 Lifestyle
Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
Parasitic lifestyle
Lack of realistic, long-term goals
Impulsiveness
Irresponsibility
Facet 4 Antisocial
Poor behavioral controls
Early behavioral problems
Juvenile delinquency
Revocation of conditional release
Criminal versatility
Many short-term marital relationships
Promiscuous sexual behavior
Even now, people still defend Lance Armstrong on the basis of his charity work with Livestrong without realizing that Livestrong doesn’t raise any money for cancer research.
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/athletes/lance-armstrong/Its-Not-About-the-Lab-Rats.html?page=all
For all the money that Livestrong raised, where did all that money go if it wasn’t going to cancer research?
I’m sure Livestrong does some good but at this point, what exactly does a charity do when its mission statement is to ‘raise awareness’ for a disease that everybody is already aware of.
It seems Livestrong’s mission was not just to raise awareness about cancer but also to enrich and publicize the Lance Armstrong brand.
Perhaps Lance Amstrong is a scapegoat in the United States, I ignore it, but as regards the Tour de France, there were numerous scandals (Festina, Delgado, Riss) and it well before the EPO, numerous winners (Anquetil) and it from the 1900s were doped
A semi-pro cyclist friend alleges that no cyclist who wants to be world-class competitive can do so doping-free.
Not surprised. I have zero respect for this sport left, since it all seems to be about doping. It’s sad for people like your friend, who probably cycle for their enjoyment.
At least in other sports, you need other skills that are not just about stamina and strength, but this is ruined for me.
Also too bad since the Tour always shows lovely views of France and whatever surrounding countries it visits.
Lance, total douche
+1 Got the shady vibe from him first time I saw him.
I’m saddened by the whole armstrong saga. But on a completely superficial note, How can someone be so physically fit and still not be hot? Like, not hot at all.
There was a time that I thought he was hot, but I go for cyclist types, (married one actually), lol. But that was years ago. Decades of training and alleged doping tend to take their toll!
I would bet too that the doping was the catalyst to his cancer. very sad any way you look at it. I believe all professional athletes at this elite level do some performance enhancing doping…and I always thought Lance a douche because of the way he conducted his private life so I guess sociopath would be a fitting description given what we know now too about his sports history.
Yes, that was the biggest shocker of this whole thing to me. When he was first being treated for cancer he was overheard listing all the performance-enhancing drugs he had taken, which very well could have caused his cancer. When you think how he profited from his cancer comeback, the irony is enormous.
And now I need to step away from the computer. 🙂
+1
Not only that, but the fact that he was lying about it could have been eating at him and caused it too….
Tyra Banks with a child is a horrifying thought.
Does anyone else feel ‘old’ hearing Eminem is turning 40? o.O
Not really, he’s been MC-ing since the early 90s. I thought he’s already mid 40’s.
I only heard about him during the late 90’s, when he sort of ‘blew up’. But it’s still weird to think that was more than 10 years ago.
While I do not doubt that Lance Armstrong did dope during his career I am very put off by how this has been handle by thosein charge of the investigation. It in my opinion was turned into much more of a witch hunt than it needed to be. What has also made me raise an eyebrow or two are the rumors that other cyclists were told if they came forward with information they would not get into any trouble even if it implicated them, such as yes Lance was doping and I was there waiting for my dose so thats why I know. They are claiming to want to clean up cycling and I commend them for that but if they truly want to than focusing on one man is not the way to go. Instead they should look at all involved and not given clemency to those whom they feel can help skewer Lance Armstrong.
+1
Agreed he is loathsome, doping is rampent but his flamboyantly flaunting and taunting others while pressuring or eliminating anyone in his path, goes beyond !!! That’s really what sets this apart. Never Ever liked him.
Side note: A few years ago was on an overbooked flight from France to NY, was bumped to 1st class since I was alone and eco was full. Turns out the whole US cycling team, having just won TDF made up all of the compartment.
Spent the next 7 hrs listening to their PURE hatred of LA,many many reasons why !!! LA was not there bc he was on a private jet !!! Sent from a private FAN !!! Like I said NEVER LIKED HIM that experience back then confirmed it.
This makes me grateful the truth has come out.
THAT is very, very interesting Cancangirl 🙂
oh wow, I love hearing these first hand accounts. that certainly says it all, doesn’t it?
Lol’s to both Hugh Jackman dancing and Taylor Swift’s bad pick-up lines!
I defended Lance for as long as I could.
The stick is in the spoke, and it’s time to fess up.
As an athlete myself, I’m disappointed, but at least he didn’t “hurt” anyone (in the big scheme of things) except himself. Yes, cyclists who did play by the rules, and those affected by his lies, but he’s not an axe murderer. Moving on.
I truly don’t have an axe to grind, but it does seem that he intimidated and threatened people who tried to reveal his doping. In that sense he did hurt people.
Yes…indeed…what I’m saying is, in terms of the big picture here, he’s not an axe murderer; meaning, there’s some perspective to be had about his crimes.
I’m with you. No, he didn’t kill anyone, but he worked hard to destroy the lives of anyone who threatened to expose him. On top of that he built a brand based on his personal story, one that he made millions and millions from, that was basically based on one huge lie.
Yes, he did help raise cancer awareness but even his foundation is shady in how they mislead people into think they are funding cancer research. I guess that shouldn’t be surprising now that we know how far he was willing to go to protect himself.
Cancangrl’s story speaks volumes about the guy…the fact that he couldn’t even bother to be with the guys who put everything on the line to give him his wins. Or that they wanted nothing to do with him. I’m just realizing today that he is scummier and more pathetic than I imagined.
But, if we’re going to say that doping is dangerous for the body’s long term health with several cyclists who have died from doping, then Lance Armstrong hurt not just himself but also the rest of his teammates whom were forced to dope if they wanted to ride on his team.
That USADA report didn’t just show Armstrong doping but also bullying and pretty much strong arming any reluctant cyclists on his team to dope too.
There was that one cyclist whose dad suffered from substance abuse, and so that cyclist went into cycling to get away from all that. But, then that cyclist was pretty much forced by Armstrong to either dope too or get kicked off.
He’s a liar and man, am I tired of that shit…
Lance hasn’t resigned from the board, he stepped down as the chairman of Livestrong but he still remains on the board. Just like Nike it ended it’s contract with Lance but not Livestrong. I’m sure Livestrong will continue to pay Lance a multi million dollar salary or whatever it is they pay him every year.
Hello, just a jerk!!
On a completely shallow note, how do you pronounce Livestrong? Live as in ‘leave’ or live as in ‘alive’? I get conflicting reports from newscasters and bloggers.
I always thought it was “liv” as in “live and let live.”
That’s what I thought too, because ‘(to) live strong’ makes more sense than the alternative.
I don’t why this gets called a witch hunt, except that’s what Lance Armstrong called it.
I looked up the definition in Merriam Webster, and a ‘witch hunt’ was defined as:
1)a searching out for persecution of persons accused of witchcraft
or
2)the searching out and deliberate harassment of those (as political opponents) with unpopular views
Maybe, the more apropos term would be that he got ‘singled out’ for getting punished for doping when everybody else wad doping too.
Other winners and cyclists got caught doping too, and they were punished- their titles were stripped, they were suspended, etc…
Armstrong is no different except it took longer to catch him doping because he was better at doping than the others- he had the better doctors and the better drugs and was always one step ahead of the drug tests.
And, it strikes me as a bit weird that this, nike dropping lance armstrong and armstrong resigning as livestrong chairman, was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
When the USADA released that devasting report about Lance Armstrong’s doping a week away, it didn’t seem to get a lot of attention by the sports media- you didn’t hear the radio guys talk about it or read a lot of columns about it.
But, today, the sports radio guys on ESPN were talking about it and there were more articles about today than when the USADA released their report.
Pretty in pink: def Michelle.
I thought the s%^$ hitting the fan was weirdly delayed, too. I had been thinking that once again Lance was going to get another pass even in the face of all that damning evidence. But suddenly yesterday it was like “wow, s%^# just got real.” Or to borrow from another post, “rill.” 🙂
Will be interesting to see if his Livestrong association will helpful to Lance in keeping any shred of support. I don’t know who has been more loyal to him over the years, the cycling community or the cancer advocates.
And all of this WITHOUT any proof…. Amazing. Oh there was a proof. The words of few liars who were caught in doping themselves. And all of them are also writing books for money now… And Hamilton and Landis and even that massage woman of Armstrong is writing a freaking book.
Like I would understood if he would be caught in positive test. Thats different. But so many years after his career is over. And he was tested thousands of times. And never tests were positive. Was he using some magic doping that no one can trace?
This is barbarian which hunt. It is disgusting. Remember when they were killing and burning people without any proof just because some neighbor would say: “She is witch. My husband got sick. It must be her, using some magic tricks”…. Everyone are burning Armstrong on fire because some people said something. This is no different then bullying in schools or bullying gays.
And I actually had no idea that Americans hate Armstrong that much. There is so much hate on every site in comments. He is like american and he won 7 Tour de France for country. And it looks like they were hating him before this broke down. And then it was just a reason to publicly unleash hate. Why?
Actually there weren’t thousands of tests, that’s Lance propaganda getting blown out of proportion. And he did fail some, but it’s amazing what enough money can cover up. As for the tests he did fail, he had access to the best doctors money could buy and had an elaborate system to avoid getting caught. It’s all in the report released last week…the facts don’t lie.
And I think it’s not an issue of hating Lance, it’s more of an outrage at the injustice. That someone could play by another set of rules for so long and always, always point the finger at someone else. And make millions while doing it. And yes, other athletes do it. But many of them, especially those in the peleton, are just scraping by to survive while Lance keeps raking in the cash.
I know I’m sounding obsessed, probably. But this hits close to home and seeing this does not evoke any sort of glee at the downfall of an American “hero.” Only shock and sadness.
What proof there was? As I recall there were no proofs. None. Only words of other riders. Half of them were caught on doping before and some were told that they will have lots of troubles if they won’t testify. And all those people are writing books about it to get some money.
Those are all words. If he would be caught then he would be charged! Basta. So many people hated him for years! They were waiting for him to be caught. He was tested daily during Tour De France and other races. He was not caught once. If he was and they have proof then they should say what year it was and take away victory for that year.
How come he was stripped for everything without any proofs? It’s like I would say: “Yo. This Jane chick was bulling me in college. I hate her. So I saw how she cheated on her tests. I saw it with my own eyes. And my friend saw. And my mom saw. And my sister. So now you should take her college degree, you should fire her from work you should spit on her. Because I saw her cheat….”
This is disgusting witch hunt. People may not like him as person. But this is not the reason to threat him like that without any actual proof.
This is how it looks.
It seems like willful ignorance to say there’s no proof after all this evidence presented.
Did you actually read that report? People have been sentenced to death row on much. much less evidence.
Marion Jones also passed hundreds of tests too but she later came out and admitted that she had doped the whole time.
Just because they didn’t catch you immediately doesn’t mean you didn’t dope, especially if you’re always one step ahead of the drug tests with the latest, newest drugs.
And, why would all those cyclists lie before a grand jury, especially if they risked perjury for doing so? They would be in much, much more trouble- even jail- if they lied to the grand jury than if they lied about Lance Armstrong.
Really, all 21 people who testified that Lance Armstrong are writing a book?
Most of those cyclists, who were never caught doping either, risked a lot by coming out- some were fired by their teams, they couldn’t compete in the Olympics, etc..