Armstrong greatest American athelte 10 yrs

[steve26]

There is a poll on www.cnn.com today and the question is:

Is Lance Armstrong the outstanding U.S. athlete of the last decade?

76% said yes!

That is quite amazing considering the U.S. does not really follow cycling. I have to admit i was a casual follower of cycling until this year. I followed every stage, and really came to appreciate the sport. I never realized how much talent there is in riding a bike, the strategy, etc.

It is a great sport, and I hope it keeps gaining popularity here in the states. But with Armstrong retiring I am not sure that will be the case. Unless another great champion comes along from the U.S.

It will be interesting to see if OLN has all the stages again next year on T.V.

 

[iBanesto]

It very hard to compare athletes from different sports but Lance should be up there as one of the greatest in ten years with Tiger Woods.

 

[mareblu]

There is a poll on www.cnn.com today and the question is:

Is Lance Armstrong the outstanding U.S. athlete of the last decade?

76% said yes!

That is quite amazing considering the U.S. does not really follow cycling. I have to admit i was a casual follower of cycling until this year. I followed every stage, and really came to appreciate the sport. I never realized how much talent there is in riding a bike, the strategy, etc.

It is a great sport, and I hope it keeps gaining popularity here in the states. But with Armstrong retiring I am not sure that will be the case. Unless another great champion comes along from the U.S.

It will be interesting to see if OLN has all the stages again next year on T.V.

I was thinking about what OLN will show next year. I guarantee you they will not broadcast as many times The tour. You watch, it will probably be twice a day and that's it.
They may as well have Lance as a commentator, that way they keep a large portion of their audience


I am going to vote on CNN- thanks-

 

[tinks]

My vote goes to Marion Jones.

 

[jhuskey]

It very hard to compare athletes from different sports but Lance should be up there as one of the greatest in ten years with Tiger Woods.

I know some very good golfers. They are very skilled in their sport,but I do not consider them even close to being athletes.
That includes Tiger Woods.
Great Golfer but not an athlete on the Armstrong scale. Not even in the same universe.

 

[thebluetrain]

Here is a article from the Austin American-Stateman. This is the Austin newspaper so of course it is biased towards LA. It lists the Top 25 Athletic Achievements of all Time by U.S. athletes.




http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/shared/sports/tourdefrance/2005/072305greatest.html

 

[ATM]

Here is a article from the Austin American-Stateman. This is the Austin newspaper so of course it is biased towards LA. It lists the Top 25 Athletic Achievements of all Time by U.S. athletes.

http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/shared/sports/tourdefrance/2005/072305greatest.html

That list is heavy on baseball. Not a complaint, just an observation.

 

[whiteboytrash]

Mine goes to Tyler Hamilton.....

My vote goes to Marion Jones.

 

[Flyer]

Ben Johnson?

Mine goes to Tyler Hamilton.....

Marion Jones? Tim Montgomery?

 

[nonameboy]

It very hard to compare athletes from different sports but Lance should be up there as one of the greatest in ten years with Tiger Woods.

since when are golf players athletes,golf should be in the same category has chess,poker,snooker etc.

 

[jhuskey]

since when are golf players athletes,golf should be in the same category has chess,poker,snooker etc.

I disagree, I think maybe the same as Bowling or shuffle board. The others are just games and golf is a pass time spor but not necessarily high activity.
Although you can be fat and out of shaper and be a great golfer.
You can be a great golfer and be a great sportsman ,I believe.

 

[Fixey]

Here is a article from the Austin American-Stateman. This is the Austin newspaper so of course it is biased towards LA. It lists the Top 25 Athletic Achievements of all Time by U.S. athletes.




http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/shared/sports/tourdefrance/2005/072305greatest.html

Thats amusing to say the least. Ali would be my pick for #1.......a truely amazing athlete and a great man to boot imho

 

[noonievut]

As I'm also a golfer, I tried to compare an amateur golfer to pro; and an amateur cyclist to a pro. Here is my thought...there must be 100 'cyclists' in the world to every golfer, out of every 100 cyclists, probably 1/1000th can ride half as hard/good as a pro (sorry about the math, but you get the point ), while I've heard that 4-5% of golfers can break 90 (which isn't all that bad). Even without the exact #'s, I would say the difference between the general population and pro's in these sports heavily favours pro cyclists as being "SO" much better than amateurs.

So the point, cyclists in general can be considered superior athletes to others, so Lance and all his accomplishments easily makes him "the" greatest athlete in 10 (or more) years.

 

[Patrick1983]

My vote goes to Marion Jones.

LOL that is very funny

 

[MJtje]

Well fact is most americans don't know cycling only the story of LA........that's why they chose LA!!!!! Funny a dutch bike owner of a cycling shop in austin got asked if he thinks the people of austin no anything about the TDF. Well very suprising what did he say: 'nooooo ofcourse not, the majority only knows LA and doesn't know anything about tactics or other teams'.

It's all about his story......which is not wrong.....I guess cycling will always be a minor sport in the USA!

There is a poll on www.cnn.com today and the question is:

Is Lance Armstrong the outstanding U.S. athlete of the last decade?

76% said yes!

That is quite amazing considering the U.S. does not really follow cycling. I have to admit i was a casual follower of cycling until this year. I followed every stage, and really came to appreciate the sport. I never realized how much talent there is in riding a bike, the strategy, etc.

It is a great sport, and I hope it keeps gaining popularity here in the states. But with Armstrong retiring I am not sure that will be the case. Unless another great champion comes along from the U.S.

It will be interesting to see if OLN has all the stages again next year on T.V.

 

[thebluetrain]

Well fact is most americans don't know cycling only the story of LA........that's why they chose LA!!!!! Funny a dutch bike owner of a cycling shop in austin got asked if he thinks the people of austin no anything about the TDF. Well very suprising what did he say: 'nooooo ofcourse not, the majority only knows LA and doesn't know anything about tactics or other teams'.

It's all about his story......which is not wrong.....I guess cycling will always be a minor sport in the USA!

Of course it will always be a minor sport in the USA. There is no way it will ever reach the level of NFL,NBA,MLB,and NHL. People in the states grow up playing these sports for competition starting at the age of 6-8. Whereas cycling at that age is considered recreation.

 

[thebluetrain]

Well fact is most americans don't know cycling only the story of LA........that's why they chose LA!!!!! Funny a dutch bike owner of a cycling shop in austin got asked if he thinks the people of austin no anything about the TDF. Well very suprising what did he say: 'nooooo ofcourse not, the majority only knows LA and doesn't know anything about tactics or other teams'.

It's all about his story......which is not wrong.....I guess cycling will always be a minor sport in the USA!

Here is a quote from Jonathon Vaughters. It may be a minor sport but I dont think US cyling is going to end with Lance.

All of this said, I realize, as of today, I need to thank Lance, and indeed need to apologize for being a bit too unedited with my thoughts. This realization came as I was scrolling through the results of the Mt. Evans hillclimb in Colorado. As I rolled down the page, I saw something that truly made my heart warm. The list of junior riders went on and on and on. The numbers of kids showing up to do this venerable Colorado race were beyond what they have ever been before. From my retirement onward, my passion has been the young riders of the US, and to see so many young riders coming up and trying the sport is something that makes me believe in the future of US cycling like no one rider's performance can. It shows that our sport is penetrating the imagination of American youth and pulling them away from the more accessible and softer activities that has made our country infamous (and fat).

Here is the entire article. http://www.cyclingnews.com/teams/5280/2005/?id=diaries/vaughters30-07

 

[MJtje]

That's something else..........I didn't say it was going to end, but thrust me the impact will be so much less. People are more interested in the story of LA then cycling...........

To prove my point there was a ex-cyclist (Jonker) on a dutch program who drove americans around the tour and the only thing they wanted is stay close to LA, see LA, touch him, chat with him, sleep in the same village.............he said most didn't no anything about the team or the TDF and they were all hooked on the CTS programs........
Again it's not wrong...........still I think you're underestimating the post-LA effect........

Here is a quote from Jonathon Vaughters. It may be a minor sport but I dont think US cyling is going to end with Lance.

All of this said, I realize, as of today, I need to thank Lance, and indeed need to apologize for being a bit too unedited with my thoughts. This realization came as I was scrolling through the results of the Mt. Evans hillclimb in Colorado. As I rolled down the page, I saw something that truly made my heart warm. The list of junior riders went on and on and on. The numbers of kids showing up to do this venerable Colorado race were beyond what they have ever been before. From my retirement onward, my passion has been the young riders of the US, and to see so many young riders coming up and trying the sport is something that makes me believe in the future of US cycling like no one rider's performance can. It shows that our sport is penetrating the imagination of American youth and pulling them away from the more accessible and softer activities that has made our country infamous (and fat).

Here is the entire article. http://www.cyclingnews.com/teams/5280/2005/?id=diaries/vaughters30-07

 

[thebluetrain]

That's something else..........I didn't say it was going to end, but thrust me the impact will be so much less. People are more interested in the story of LA then cycling...........

To prove my point there was a ex-cyclist (Jonker) on a dutch program who drove americans around the tour and the only thing they wanted is stay close to LA, see LA, touch him, chat with him, sleep in the same village.............he said most didn't no anything about the team or the TDF and they were all hooked on the CTS programs........
Again it's not wrong...........still I think you're underestimating the post-LA effect........

Only time will tell.

 

[Flyer]

And what a story blood doping makes?

How anemia medicine and techniques have evolved from the 1984 Olympic Games to the 2005 TDF.

We have gone from, transfusions, spinner transfusions, Epogen, araNesp, C.E.R.A, to HBOCs to combinations of all of these methods of cheating.

We lost Flo-Jo, Marco Pantani, Jose Maria Jimenez, Fabrice Salanson, Marco Rusconi, Denis Zanetti, Stive Vermaut, Tim Pauwels and Alessio Galleti along the way---but who cares? It's all about winning and signing up corporate endorsements.

Lying, cheating and fraud are all necessary to paint a handsome picture of Santa Claus in sports.

The idea of a 'clean rider' winng a Tour de France is pure fiction.

Well fact is most americans don't know cycling only the story of LA........that's why they chose LA!!!!! Funny a dutch bike owner of a cycling shop in austin got asked if he thinks the people of austin no anything about the TDF. Well very suprising what did he say: 'nooooo ofcourse not, the majority only knows LA and doesn't know anything about tactics or other teams'.

It's all about his story......which is not wrong.....I guess cycling will always be a minor sport in the USA!