Liar Lance Armstrong

[Blurock]

We have to be honest though, no athlete is going to dedicate their life to being the best at whatever they do and not make money from it.

I have no problem with athletes making money, but are the organisers not walking away with the cake at the expense of the athletes? Look at what happened at ASA and in our cricket. How could Majola walk away with millions (with full support of his board)? How much did the players get out of the deal? Who are more important, the administrators or the athletes?

The athletes are pushed to the brink to make money for the administrators.

[IanF]

I think the major problem there is he's trying to "come clean" without implicating anyone else. No suprise to me that his critics are leaping on it saying he's still trying to control the situation - and they're right of course.

Sticking to a principle can come at a heavy price at times

Why go and make a "confession" well publicised when you are still hiding something? The more he talked the more respect I lost for him.

[adrianh]

It reminds me of "I did not have sex with that woman".....unless of course you are talking about a quick BJ....

[IanF]

Another pic

[tec0]

He was not the first. He will not be the last... Sport and money is not new. Look at the deals people sign. R60 million here and another R60 million there and oh then the R100 million deals. Where the hell do people get that much money for kicking a ball or some stupid $h!t like that.

I can no longer respect sport... That money can help millions of people not just one person.

[adrianh]

I have no problem with people making money by doing what they are good at. There are many many absolutely brilliant sportmen and women. If they become rich doing what they love and people are willing to pay for it then its all good. I don't have an issue with Lance Amstrong either, he beat them at their own game because he played within the rules - they changed the rules and they burned him on the new rules.

Sportmen and women wont make big money if the public wasn't willing to buy into what they do and what thy represent. The public fuels the money that is constantly poured into sport, not the sportsmen. If people didn't watch rugby and talk about rugby then companies wouldn't sponsor them...its that simple.

[tec0]

Well if they changed the rules and he was burned because of the new rules then why the upset? I think this is just another case of the news making the news rather then reporting it.

I also don't have a problem with people earning millions but again I am that is not the truth because I do have a problem with it. I have a missive problem with the fact that 10 sports supper stars can pay off all the debt in South Africa and still have money to spare.

I cannot hold my tongue anymore.... It sucks!!!! How the hell can this be justified. How on earth can a single entity "like sport" have so much money that they can feed every single family in a 3rd world for the next 500 years and yet they would rather pay people so that they can impress teenagers?

There is something seriously messed up here....

[msmoorad]

from what i know, most athletes at pro level in many sports are using illegal drugs

the thing is, everyone else is using it & the human body can only go so far
if you, as a pro athlete are competing against others & youre not using drugs, then youve already lost

cos, no matter how hard you train, you wont be performing at their drug enhanced level.
in order to level the playing field, there has to be certainty th NO athlete is using to or all ought to be allowed to use it

also, promoters & sponsors dangle big carrots in the form of cash & other prizes for coming first or breaking the world record etc-this is where the greed comes in.

[Mike C]

Sportmen and women wont make big money if the public wasn't willing to buy into what they do and what thy represent.

@Adrianh - Couldn't agree more. It is us who make them our heroes and when we discover that they have feet of clay we are disgusted with them rather than with ourselves.

It has always fascinated me how, once a person has become famous (eg won big brother / survivor etc), people hang on their every word as though they are the most profound thinkers. It is as if they had become god-like overnight. A month or two before that they would not have given their "pronouncements" the time of day.

Fame is fickle, and we choose our heroes because of their faces, acting or sporting ability, their political position, or simply because the media has made them recognisable, rather than for the values they hold or the way they really behave and treat others behind the scenes.

[Phil Cooper]

The other thing to take into account is that the sportspeople have a very limited lifespan in the sport - around 10 - 15 years.

We office types have 40-odd years to build up our retirement funds.