Lance Armstrong steps down as chairman of Livestrong

[jimmyinkedup]

Disgraced cyclist steps down from Livestrong

Lance Armstrong said Wednesday he is stepping down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer-fighting charity so the group can focus on its mission instead of its founder's problems. The move came a week after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a massive report detailing allegations of widespread doping by Armstrong and his teams when he won the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005. The document's purpose was to show why USADA has banned him from cycling for life and ordered 14 years of his career results erased -- including those Tour titles. It contains sworn statements from 26 witnesses, including 11 former teammates.

Armstrong, who was not paid a salary as chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, will remain on its 15-member board. His duties leading the board will be turned over to vice chairman Jeff Garvey, who was founding chairman in 1997.

"This organization, its mission and its supporters are incredibly dear to my heart," Armstrong said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. "Today therefore, to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship."

Foundation spokeswoman Katherine McLane said the decision turns over the foundation's big-picture strategic planning to Garvey. He will also assume some of the public appearances and meetings that Armstrong used to handle.

Armstrong strongly denies doping, but did not fight USADA accusations through arbitration, saying he thinks the process is unfair. Once Armstrong gave up the fight in August and the report came out, crisis management experts predicted the future of the foundation, known mainly by its Livestrong brand name, would be threatened. They said Armstrong should consider stepping down to keep the charity from getting dragged into a debate over doping.

Armstrong's inspiring story of not only recovering from testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain but then winning the world's best-known bike race helped his foundation grow from a small operation in Texas into one of the most popular charities in the country.

Armstrong drew legions of fans -- and donations -- and insisted he was drug free at a time when doping was rampant in professional cycling. In 2004, the foundation introduced the yellow "Livestrong" bracelets, selling more than 80 million and creating a global symbol for cancer awareness and survivorship.

"As my cancer treatment was drawing to an end, I created a foundation to serve people affected by cancer. It has been a great privilege to help grow it from a dream into an organization that today has served 2.5 million people and helped spur a cultural shift in how the world views cancer survivors," Armstrong said.

As chairman, Armstrong did not run the foundation's day-to-day operations, which are handled by Livestrong president and chief executive Doug Ulman.
Ulman had said last week that Armstrong's leadership role would not change. Armstrong's statement said he will remain a visible advocate for cancer issues, and he is expected to speak at Friday night's 15th anniversary gala for Livestrong in Austin.

"My family and I have devoted our lives to the work of the foundation and that will not change. We plan to continue our service to the foundation and the cancer community. We will remain active advocates for cancer survivors and engaged supporters of the fight against cancer," Armstrong said.

CharityWatch, which analyzes the work of approximately 600 charities, lists the foundation among its top-rated organizations. That status normally goes to groups which "generally spend 75 percent or more of their budgets on programs, spend $25 or less to raise $100 in public support, do not hold excessive assets in reserve" and disclose of basic financial information and documents.

Livestrong says it had functional expenses totaling nearly $35.8 million last year and 82 percent of every dollar raised went directly to programs, a total of more than $29.3 million.

The foundation reported a spike in contributions in late August in the days immediately after Armstrong announced he would no longer fight doping charges and officials moved to erase his Tour victories.

Daniel Borochoff, founder and president of Chicago-based CharityWatch, said last week it may take some time for donors to digest the allegations against Armstrong.
"Individuals that admire and support an individual who is later found out to be severely tarnished, don't want to admit it, don't want to admit that they've been duped," Borochoff said. "People, though, do need to trust a charity to be able to support it."

Read more: Armstrong steps down as chairman of Livestrong cancer-fighting charity | Fox News- http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/1...#ixzz29YnvrFtF

[system admin]

The dude used drugs... WOW, big shock. However, I cant STAND Lance due to how arrogant he was about people who "cheat" or use drugs to compete.

IN Austin, there is a golds gym or whatever (i dont remember the name of the gym) and there was a big lance armstrong comment painted on the wall about not cheating or something like that. I just think he's a bit of a dick and others have said the same thing who have met him.

Good on him for raising money for cancer, but I am just saying.

[red_hulk]

The dude used drugs... WOW, big shock. However, I cant STAND Lance due to how arrogant he was about people who "cheat" or use drugs to compete.

IN Austin, there is a golds gym or whatever (i dont remember the name of the gym) and there was a big lance armstrong comment painted on the wall about not cheating or something like that. I just think he's a bit of a dick and others have said the same thing who have met him.

Good on him for raising money for cancer, but I am just saying.

He was probably so anti-drug to throw people off his own trail.

[jimmyinkedup]

The dude used drugs... WOW, big shock. However, I cant STAND Lance due to how arrogant he was about people who "cheat" or use drugs to compete.

IN Austin, there is a golds gym or whatever (i dont remember the name of the gym) and there was a big lance armstrong comment painted on the wall about not cheating or something like that. I just think he's a bit of a dick and others have said the same thing who have met him.

Good on him for raising money for cancer, but I am just saying.

I have been told (by some who knew him in fact- rode on postal service us team .Lance on international team) that he is very cocky and arrogant in person.

I just cant help but respect him for persevering personally and then what he has done for cancer research.

[austinite]

The dude used drugs... WOW, big shock. However, I cant STAND Lance due to how arrogant he was about people who "cheat" or use drugs to compete.

IN Austin, there is a golds gym or whatever (i dont remember the name of the gym) and there was a big lance armstrong comment painted on the wall about not cheating or something like that. I just think he's a bit of a dick and others have said the same thing who have met him.

Good on him for raising money for cancer, but I am just saying.

Yes. He was very rude to my employees. Just a complete jerk. Wants what he wants and wants it NOW, kinda guy. You'd think he would be quite humble.

[SEOINAGE]

The dude used drugs... WOW, big shock. However, I cant STAND Lance due to how arrogant he was about people who "cheat" or use drugs to compete.

IN Austin, there is a golds gym or whatever (i dont remember the name of the gym) and there was a big lance armstrong comment painted on the wall about not cheating or something like that. I just think he's a bit of a dick and others have said the same thing who have met him.

Good on him for raising money for cancer, but I am just saying.

That's the thing I don't like about a lot of people, not just in this regards, but others too, people bashing on others for doing this and that, yet they are the ones doing it. People calling poorly dressed women dirty whores and pretending to not be attracted to women, when they are the ones that have paid for sex. All this kind of self righteous bull shit makes me really angry, judging others kind of thing is really stupid.

[jimmyinkedup]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/sp...rity.html?_r=1

[RaginCajun]

NIKE dropped him cuz they were the big Livestrong sponsors.

i heard they had a lot to do with the covering up of all this

[JohnnyVegas]

Interesting developments today for sure.

I read another story about Livestrong not actually giving money for cancer research. They now focus on "awareness" but the public perception is that Armstrong has raised almost $500 million for cancer RESEARCH. Livestrong is NOT trying to cure cancer, but they do seem to offer some amazing support systems for people dealing with cancer.

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor...-Lab-Rats.html

[Shol'va]

That's the thing I don't like about a lot of people, not just in this regards, but others too, people bashing on others for doing this and that, yet they are the ones doing it. People calling poorly dressed women dirty whores and pretending to not be attracted to women, when they are the ones that have paid for sex. All this kind of self righteous bull shit makes me really angry, judging others kind of thing is really stupid.

Welcome to todays American politics and society. People build you up and then tear you back down. It's as American as Apple Pie.

[jimmyinkedup]

The NIKE thing is huge. They have stuck with him through thick and thin ...we are talking way back in the cancer days. Them / TREK and a couple others (i forget). All the other sponsors and his team dropped him when he was diagnosed with cancer. NIKE didnt.... I dont think they had anything to do with covering anything up ...I think they genuinely believed him and are prob pissed. JMO ....

[JohnnyVegas]

The NIKE thing is huge. They have stuck with him through thick and thin ...we are talking way back in the cancer days. Them / TREK and a couple others (i forget). All the other sponsors and his team dropped him when he was diagnosed with cancer. NIKE didnt.... I dont think they had anything to do with covering anything up ...I think they genuinely believed him and are prob pissed. JMO ....

I agree since they were so bold in saying they dropped him because Armstrong lied to them for over a decade. Sure, they cannot support an athlete that uses PEDs, but their official, public stance is one of betrayal.

They publicly fired him, and wanted everyone to know they had cause, and it wasn't amicable. Kinda brutal.

[Far from massive]

I have no opinion on Lance since I have never met him. However this whole process by USADA sux. First off the guy is retired, second they are breaking thier own rules against statute of limitations, third they do not hold the titles to the tour de france (although being affiliated with the US gov I can certainly understand their thinking that they have the right to run the world) fourth they do not have anything (actual positive drug tests) other than testimony from other guilty parties who have been offered lesser sentences in exchange for testimony.

And probably most importantly, if they strip Lance of the titles who do they plan to award them too? Most all the teams have members who have been convicted of doping during the same period, so with cycling and particularly the tour being a team sport how to you strip one competitor of the title and award it to another who is also dirty?

Too me its really a shame that people are so focused on how fvkd up Lance is instead of this NeoNazi action by the USADA...to me the fact that the public seems happy to accept this action is really sad.

[Shol'va]

I agree since they were so bold in saying they dropped him because Armstrong lied to them for over a decade. Sure, they cannot support an athlete that uses PEDs, but their official, public stance is one of betrayal.

They publicly fired him, and wanted everyone to know they had cause, and it wasn't amicable. Kinda brutal.

Doesn't matter to me anyways as I never buy Nike Crap. I hate their shoes that are way overpriced and made in a sweatshop in China by 10 year old children. and they have the nerve to be worried about their credibility? Nike can shove their shoes where the sun don't shine..IMO!

[Shol'va]

So what steroid was found in Lance Armstrongs blood or urine that has him busted? I'm just curious since he is still saying he has done nothing wrong and that it is a witch hunt due to his arrogance.

[JohnnyVegas]

I have no opinion on Lance since I have never met him. However this whole process by USADA sux. First off the guy is retired, second they are breaking thier own rules against statute of limitations, third they do not hold the titles to the tour de france (although being affiliated with the US gov I can certainly understand their thinking that they have the right to run the world) fourth they do not have anything (actual positive drug tests) other than testimony from other guilty parties who have been offered lesser sentences in exchange for testimony.

And probably most importantly, if they strip Lance of the titles who do they plan to award them too? Most all the teams have members who have been convicted of doping during the same period, so with cycling and particularly the tour being a team sport how to you strip one competitor of the title and award it to another who is also dirty?

Too me its really a shame that people are so focused on how fvkd up Lance is instead of this NeoNazi action by the USADA...to me the fact that the public seems happy to accept this action is really sad.

I do agree with many of the things you mentioned.

I think most people are focusing on Armstrong because the evidence is overwhelming. You know Nike went through the evidence (there are 1,000 pages of it) before making this multi-million dollar decision and they have publicly said the evidence is overwhelming.

[jimmyinkedup]

Oh he did it... but they way they went about it was and is wrong.

Shov he wasnt found with any steroid or ped in his system. They have no failed drug test at all.

[cherrydrpepper]

Welcome to todays American politics and society. People build you up and then tear you back down. It's as American as Apple Pie.

Its pretty sad to be honest. Look what they did to Joe Paterno not to throw the thread off track but they pretty much have the American public believing he sheltered a pedophile. He reported something he didn't even witness to authorities and left it to them to figure out. If it had been any other topic than pedophilia, he would not have been butchered for it. If it had been "so and so saw him raping a girl" or "so and so saw him shoot someone" he would not have been hung for it. If you know someone for years and someone comes to you and says "so and so is a rapist I saw it", but you have known this guy for years, you are going to need a little proof to believe it yeah? He didn't see anything, he only heard second hand account about one incident, but he is basically killed for it. He gave his whole life to that program and to the school, and when they took it all away from him his entire legacy for one lapse in judgement, he was the beginning of his death.

I looked up the last interview clip he gave on youtube. These are the highest thumbs up comments on the video:

"Rejoice cult members! The time has come to drink the kool aid and join Joeped in hell. High priest Sandusky will be there soon!"
"Burn in hell Paterno! SCUMBAG OF THE CENTURY! Remove football from penn state. Thats all Penn State will be remembered from now on a pedophile infested university. Death penalty for sandusky"

Whats really sad about this is they have convinced so many people that he's the son of the devil that theres no point in fighting everyone who shares these dumbasses viewpoints. Howard Stern even believes Joe is a quote unquote scumbag and Howard is pretty sharp regardless of whether you like him or not he's an intelligent guy.

So my take on Lance Armstrong yeah he came off like he thought he was a rockstar but who the f cares. Its like people don't want to let anyone have anything in this life because people's lives are so pathetic it hurts them to see someone doing something with their life other than checking facebook 20 times a day and masturbating to porn.

This is why people want to tear successful people down


This is why people are addicted to world of warcraft, facebook, porn and all kinds of dumb shit out there:

[Shol'va]

Oh he did it... but they way they went about it was and is wrong.

Shov he wasnt found with any steroid or ped in his system. They have no failed drug test at all.

So they are going on word of mouth of others who have been busted for doing them and in return for their testimony they will receive a lessor sentencing for fingering Lance. Yep sounds like justice well served. The man has been ridiculed and disgraced without positive proof evidence of which they go by, blood and urine tests. He came back clean but guilty. Serves Lance right for being arrogant. He should spend time in prison just as another arrogant high profile figure did. Her name was Martha Stewart. Moral of the story is you can be rich in America or you can Be Arrogant in America but you can't be both without being guilty. Get a rope....

[Far from massive]

So what steroid was found in Lance Armstrongs blood or urine that has him busted? I'm just curious since he is still saying he has done nothing wrong and that it is a witch hunt due to his arrogance.

On top of no positive tests being discovered, much of the word of mouth guilt is for "doping" that occured more than 8 years ago which was the USADA's statute of limitations on persecution.....well at least till they changed it to go after Lance :-)

As to whether he was quilty I am sure he used PED's just like every other pro-cycling team at the time, this is strictly a targeted attack against Lance not against doping in cycling.

[zaggahamma]

I have no opinion on Lance since I have never met him. However this whole process by USADA sux. First off the guy is retired, second they are breaking thier own rules against statute of limitations, third they do not hold the titles to the tour de france (although being affiliated with the US gov I can certainly understand their thinking that they have the right to run the world) fourth they do not have anything (actual positive drug tests) other than testimony from other guilty parties who have been offered lesser sentences in exchange for testimony.

And probably most importantly, if they strip Lance of the titles who do they plan to award them too? Most all the teams have members who have been convicted of doping during the same period, so with cycling and particularly the tour being a team sport how to you strip one competitor of the title and award it to another who is also dirty?

Too me its really a shame that people are so focused on how fvkd up Lance is instead of this NeoNazi action by the USADA...to me the fact that the public seems happy to accept this action is really sad.

i like this post as well

[Awesome_Archy]

I have no opinion on Lance since I have never met him. However this whole process by USADA sux. First off the guy is retired, second they are breaking thier own rules against statute of limitations, third they do not hold the titles to the tour de france (although being affiliated with the US gov I can certainly understand their thinking that they have the right to run the world) fourth they do not have anything (actual positive drug tests) other than testimony from other guilty parties who have been offered lesser sentences in exchange for testimony.

And probably most importantly, if they strip Lance of the titles who do they plan to award them too? Most all the teams have members who have been convicted of doping during the same period, so with cycling and particularly the tour being a team sport how to you strip one competitor of the title and award it to another who is also dirty?

Too me its really a shame that people are so focused on how fvkd up Lance is instead of this NeoNazi action by the USADA...to me the fact that the public seems happy to accept this action is really sad.

My thoughts exactly.

[cherrydrpepper]

Do you guys think if Lance Armstrong plays Halo he can teabag or because hes missing a nut does he just smack them across the cheek with his cock or something

[system admin]

The world is looking for another Jose Canseco. After lance, I wonder who it will be

[Ernst]

This is McCarthyism. It's f-ing ridiculous.

[supersize me]

In my opinion, Lance Armstrong has always come across as an absolute douche as a person. As an athlete, hard to knock his hustle.

[baseline_9]

I haven't read too much into this whole 'headline'

As soon as I heard it I was like 'yeah, and.....'

He did drugs..... EPO, probably

So did everyone else

If they have no failed blood or urine tests they why is this still going on... Even if people will testify against him, they are all at it too...

It's like taking ronnie colemans titles off him cuz jay cutler said he used gear to win his titles....

[jimmyinkedup]

I haven't read too much into this whole 'headline'

As soon as I heard it I was like 'yeah, and.....'

He did drugs..... EPO, probably

So did everyone else

If they have no failed blood or urine tests they why is this still going on... Even if people will testify against him, they are all at it too...

It's like taking ronnie colemans titles off him cuz jay cutler said he used gear to win his titles....

Damn base - you nailed it. Perfect analogy buddy !!

[zaggahamma]

Thats why they should leave him alone

[jimmyinkedup]

Thats why they should leave him alone

Agreed! Nice to see you btw JPK ...been a while!

[zaggahamma]

Agreed! Nice to see you btw JPK ...been a while!

thanks bro