For many years Lance Armstrong was the face of cycling. In recent years, and thanks to some advances in technology, he has become the disgrace of cycling to many people. The article below outlines why this shift has occurred. Share your thoughts on the topic. Discuss how technology advances triggered this fall. What are some of the social implications of this discovery? What is another instance in sports where events such as this have changed someone's legacy? Post a link to an article about that event as well.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/22/sport/lance-armstrong-controversy/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/39131/does-a-rod-really-gain-an-edge-from-peds
ReplyDeleteI think technological advances triggered his fall because he had been tested 200+ times and he had been getting away with it for years. But when the testing gets more into detail then he gets pinched.
Some social implications of this is that people will see how many things get taken away when you get caught cheating medals, money, credibility, and your own hard work.
Alex Rodriguez was a star growing up and moved through the levels of baseball and reached the MLB as one of the youngest players of his time. He hit the ball fielded the ball and threw it. His career kept excelling and soon he was a fan favorite. With more and more pro ball players getting suspended for using PEDs A-rod was a suspect, with his size and numbers he was putting up. He got caught and suspended 212 games which is more than 1 1/2 seasons. He lost many fans and now has a hard time securing a starting spot on the Yankees.
Just like any other sport, cheating is present in the world of cycling. It's surprising to me that such a profound leader in cycling would be caught in the middle of an era of cheating. Lance Armstrong has lost all of his sponsors, medals, and citizen support because of doping. I believe the impact Lance had on society before the scandal was huge, and once he got caught society kind of just turned their back on him because no one likes a cheater. A hero is someone who wins honestly and fairly. I don't know about all of the technology advances in sports testing but I'm guessing a lot has changed since 20th century sports. They are able to do testing easier and more effective than they were years ago.
ReplyDeleteA supporter of Lance Armstrong is former sprinter Ben Johnson, who lost an Olympic Gold Medal in the 100 meter dash after failing a drug test. After he overcame the scandal, he turned his attention towards fighting performance-enhancing drugs.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-lance-armstrong-ben-johnson-20130923,0,2178789.story#axzz2fowIPk4b
In early years if people wanted to get better at something like a sport, or get stronger they had to work at it and work hard every day. With todays technology people have developed things open to anyone on the street like testosterone and human growth hormones. Having these so easily available has made society more strict on things like drug tests, getting a job, or competing a professional sports. WIth how complex these injections are they are very hard to read on a test, which is why Lance got away with it so many time. Lance took advantage of this and doped up on all of his tours. He did not just cheat on the race he cheated himself and society. This is such a disgrace just because Lance was so big on the "live strong" when he was definitely "living wrong". What Lance has done will change the way people look at him forever. Another instance in sports where their personal choices changed their legacy would be Kobe and his "rap" scandal. Everybody sees how great of an athlete Kobe is so they then expect him to be just as great off the court. As he works his way back to the top through society's eyes right now he is some peoples dead legacy. http://www.wnd.com/2003/07/19930/
ReplyDeleteLance Armstrong was a household name and the only reason for many to was the tour de France. I know I haven't watched one since he hasn't been competing. I think that the majority of big names in sports that choose to use drugs will get caught. The point at which technology is today if you are doing above average eventually you will get caught. But as technology makes the testing practices more advanced it is also making the drugs much more advanced. Even if the drugs are more advanced than the testing eventually the testing will catch up and you will be caught. In any professional sport if you are doing above average people will begin to question if you are doing performance enhancing drugs. Another instance where performance enhancing drugs have changed someones legacy is Barry Bonds. He held numerous records in his career and he is now stripped of them or has a symbol next to his name indicating that he used performance enhancing drugs.
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ReplyDeleteI was personally a little dissapointed to hear the news of Lance Armstrongs downfall. He has been one of the worlds premier athletes and now he is nothing. Armstrong let down a lot of people by winning the wrong way. He was once an icon and now he is a bum that is paying back millions of dollars to sponsors and the tour. I can't name one other cyclist that competes that's how big Armstrong was to cycling. Now that Armstrong is gone it will be interesting to see if anyone gets as big as he once was. Another doping incident that changed someone's legacy was Marc Mcquire who was once a great athlete in the MLB and even broke the home run record in 1998. The only difference between the two was McGwire came clean about using PED's as Armstrong did not. Doping (PED's) have been around for awhile and will always be in professional sports. Players keep finding ways to beat the system. Technology however has improved in detecting for dope and will continue to improve.
ReplyDeletehttp://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4816607
I believe deep down Lance Armstrong is a good person. I believe this because with the money he made he use some of it to start a huge program based on fighting cancer. I just think his will to win just got so bad that he was willing to do whatever to be at the top and eventually it caught up with him. I think advances in the drug testing played a part in his downfall as he had beaten many test over the years but , eventually because of technology advances he would get caught. Socially Lance Armstrong is widely known now as cheater and liar to the human society.
ReplyDeleteAnother instance similar to this is the story of baseball player barry bonds. Barry Bonds is the all time leading hom run leader in baseball history.His position there is tarnished though because he used steriods and lied on severeal occasions and to the courts about it. Now Barry Bonds is also looked upon as a liar and cheat and his chances of making the hall of fame or being recognized as one of the greats are slim.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Barry-Bonds-perjury-trial-begins-032111
With new technology comes more ways to avoid almost any tests. There are new ways, new drinks to pass a urine tests. I think with the advances in technology there will only be more downfalls with people who take advantage. Some of the social implications of this discovery are that people are finding ways to "pass" a urine test either of avoiding the situations or using someone else' urine completely or using other products. there are other sports where participants try and "success" on their own. For example; Josh Hamilton who played Baseball for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, he signed on and in time got injured and during the time he was not playing he started taking drugs and it ruined his career and his story. But all that time he had been successful and came over that hump and changed himself and made a career out of baseball. After all some people do fall to their weakest point but it is up to you change and make yourself better, not only for you but for others who look up to you.
ReplyDeletehttp://sports.gunaxin.com/top-ten-athletes-who-damaged-their-careers-with-drug-abuse/2434
Technology has alot to do with what triggered his downfalls. Although he was using steroids to improve his cycling he was a very talented athlete. The media ruined his career. The way the media delivers knowledge to the public society has a huge impact of how the society reacts to something. It was said that Armstrong took over 200 test for doping and it was never showed that he has used. He should be stripped for his rewards, but no one deserves all the public humiliation. He still had a huge impact for his strength.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-papa/michael-phelps-greatest-o_b_1737863.html
Technology once again put a burden on Michael Phelps career as a swimmer. However, he did admit to using the drug but he said it didn't affect his ability to swim. It is illegal to use drugs when your an athlete. However, media is what blows everything out of the water.