"Armstrong stripped of Tour de France titles, banned from cycling"

From SI.com

Review by Lindsay Brauch in SRM 334

In recent news, Lance Armstrong was stripped of his titles from 1999 to 2005, with an accusation of doping. With his most recent refusal to fight this accusation of ten years, the United States Anti-Doping Association had no other option. His old drug tests originally came out negative, but with new technologies, this was not the case. 

Not only were his titles taken from him, he was banned from cycling all together. Although he is still standing by his innocence, it’s a man’s word against the facts. Armstrong referred to the USADA’s actions a “witch hunt.” He felt that their actions in looking into his old tests were absurd.

As a result of being stripped of his seven titles, Greg LeMond, is now the only American to win the Tour De France in 1986, 1989, and 1990. According to USADA officials, at least ten of Armstrong's teammates were set to testify against him. Not only is it upsetting to have ten of your teammates not have your back, and lose your titles, as well as being banned from cycling, Armstrong’s ties with Nike have also been cut.

Apparently many witnesses said they knew or had been told by Armstrong himself, that he had “used EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone and cortisone.” It is also common in the cycling world to have been a doper. I feel as if it’s a little extreme to only focus on Lance Armstrong. He was not the only cycler to have been apart of it, its just unfortunate that he is the main focus. I’m not saying I approve, I believe the whole concept of it is wrong; I just think it needs to be fair. If you’re going to look at all of his old tests, they should look at all cyclers. I also don’t believe that doping should ever be seen as an outlook to success.

Armstrong was an idol to many, and a role model to aspiring cyclers. He was even a role model to cancer patients and survivors. It is an upsetting loss to the cycling world; he was their most popular athlete. How would you feel if your star player was accused of being a cheater, or even your hero? Wouldn’t your views change on him or her?

Lance Armstrong has to find a way to save his image, now that he has chosen not to fight this case anymore. In my eyes it is now clear that he was in fact using drugs. We also have to consider how this scandal is going to affect his Livestrong foundation. It’s still a fantastic cause, and it would be awful to watch it fall apart. I hope he realizes how his actions affect everyone. As far as how this relates to our class, it’s analyzing how all of his actions affect his life. It’s going to be looking at how all of his foundations and sponsors bounce back, and how he bounces back. The media is going to be focused on all of them for a while, each company and even Lance himself is going to have to find a way to be seen in a positive light. 

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Review by Christopher Hudgins in SRM 334

After nearly ten years of fighting doping allegations, Lance Armstrong decided to end possibly his biggest fight yet by quitting. Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from the sport of cycling. Lance Armstrong refused to file for arbitration thus giving up on a fight that essentially wiped out 14 years of his miraculous career. This decision has shocked nearly everyone in the sports world especially in the close cycling community. Armstrong has stuck by his innocence through all the accusations and now to give up on the fight is what has shocked his former competitors the most. Former coach Johan Bruyneel said Armstrong was the victim of an “unjust” legal case, stating that he has never known Armstrong to back down from a fair fight. Many critics however believe that this decision to stop fighting is as good as a confession. This is in large part due to the fact that USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) claimed to have witnesses who had been told by Armstrong himself that he had “used EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone and cortisone” from before 1998 through 2005. Had Armstrong decided to pursue arbitration all the evidence would have been available for him to challenge. This decision to quit though could end up costing Armstrong more than just victories on the bike. Armstrong’s success helped sell millions of Livestrong bands and ultimately helped his Lance Armstrong Foundation. Since the foundation was started in 1997 it has raised nearly $500 million to promote cancer research and treatment. The recent turn of events and extensive media coverage of the recent findings in this scandal could cause his foundation to unfortunately take a hit in support. That first hit came almost a week ago when one of the biggest partners and supporters decided to cut ties with the ex-cyclist and his Lance Armstrong Foundation, after initially pledging their allegiance with Armstrong citing that “Lance has stated his innocence and has been unwavering on this position”. Some feel that the media whirl wind caused by this investigation and the ten years of fighting both USADA accusations as well as the media has ultimately just worn down the 41 year old Lance Armstrong. “There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ For me, that time is now.” These were Armstrong’s exhausted words before the deadline to enter arbitration, yet still standing by his innocence.

The hype about Bryce Harper

From Bleacher Report and ESPN.com

Review by Ryan Gerrity in SRM 334

The article and group discussion that we decided to bring to class was about Bryce Harper, and his early introduction into the sports media world. The article that we chose was about both Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, and how they are taking the MLB by storm at such a young age.

The article talks about how that at age 16 Bryce Harper was put on the cover of Sports Illustrated. They compare him to LeBron James because he was the first high school player to ever be on the cover of that magazine. The article than goes on to describe how the hype is surrounding them both. Trout even though, he is having a better year than Harper, is not receiving the same attention from the media.

The way that Harper approaches the media is also another part of the article. He does not handle the media well at all. It seems like he gets frustrated very easily with the media and will have outbursts and sometimes even attack the reporters verbally. It is unnecessary and very immature. At a very young age he was put into the spotlight of the media, and this made him grow up very quickly. Even though he is in the media spotlight, he is still a young man, and may not be prepared and may still be very immature. Personally, I believe that he was put on a pedestal at such a young age by his parents, and by the media that surrounded him. This caused him to become a little over confident in himself and his ability to play baseball. He was a spotlight in a feature called E:60 by ESPN when he was 16 years old and that was when he was in high school. He then took that and believed that he wanted to leave high school early, and go to a community college so that he could go to the MLB draft when he was 19. He was drafted first overall, and the spotlight was on him since that day.

This subject has to do with our class because it is based on the media and the effect that it had on him at such a young age. The way the media portrays him and how it effects him is very noticeable. The media shows him as a young immature player and person, and he follows through with that stereotype by the way he handles himself with the media. I do not think that he is doing a good job when he is handling the media. I believe that his teammates and his fans are annoyed by the way he handles himself.
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Review by Steve Robertson in SRM 334

When I think of the media today I think of a monster. It can essentially make you or break you. I find it extremely interesting how influential the media can be for the fans, and how it keeps them coming back for more. I did my article on the MLB Rookie, Bryce Harper, and his popularity between the league and media.

This article begins with comparing him to NBA Champion LeBron James as a rookie coming out of high school and his fan base in the MLB, compared to Tim Tebow’s popularity within the NFL. The major similarity which was highlighted was similar to LeBron, Harper found himself on the cover of Sport Illustrated as a teenager in high school. Furthermore, Bryce was also drafted number 1 overall in his draft class, similar to LeBron.

As the article continued, it began to compare Bryce Harper to the other new MLB rookie Mike Trout. Mike Trout has actually been out performing Harper throughout the entire season. However it said due to his struggles before he was called up, was when Bryce Harper “went-off.” As the article began to wind up the author mentioned that, “Hype has its place and serves a purpose in the sports-entertainment world. It cultivates interest—both positive and negative—which generates publicity, which increases newspaper circulation and page views, which facilitates the pursuit and attainment of the almighty dollar. “

Honestly anything that has some sort of drama/hot topic can sell, in the media sense. A big reason that Bryce has become so popular throughout the league has been because was talked about a teenager and the media fell in love with not only his athleticism, but his character as well. I feel the Bryce Harper needed to learn how to mature quickly when coming into the MLB. A major reason, I feel why the fans and media love him is because he can be quite unpredictable and has had a history of immature outbursts during interviews and has already had multiple ejections throughout his baseball career.

I think Bryce Harper along with Mike Trout have very promising careers ahead of them. I feel in order for Bryce to thrive in the MLB however, I strongly believe that he needs to grow up quicker in the league- he will not be a teenager forever.