Peak Oil
Donate Bitcoin

Donate Paypal


PeakOil is You

PeakOil is You

A Q for Americans: Do you know of Lance Armstrong?

What's on your mind?
General interest discussions, not necessarily related to depletion.
Post a reply

A Q for Americans: Do you know of Lance Armstrong?

Unread postby hanrahan » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 07:27:45

All of Europe and most of us in Australia know that he is about to win his seventh Tour de France, the toughest bike race over 22 days, but how many of his own coumtrymen are aware of this?

By any reasonable definition this makes him the best athlete (across all sports) competing today and worthy of shortlisting among the alltime greats. Aussies are sports mad, I know, but he would be warmly recieved here, in spite of not being one of our own.

So, is he well known in his own country?

Hanrahan
User avatar
hanrahan
Peat
Peat
 
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue 12 Jul 2005, 03:00:00
Top

Unread postby MD » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 07:31:56

Almost universally.
Stop filling dumpsters, as much as you possibly can, and everything will get better.

Just think it through.
It's not hard to do.
User avatar
MD
COB
COB
 
Posts: 4953
Joined: Mon 02 May 2005, 03:00:00
Location: On the ball
Top

Unread postby EddieB » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 08:24:04

Armstrong is indeed a household name, but as far as cycling goes that's it for most Americans. If asked who Eddie Merckx or Jan Ulrich is few would know the answer. Heck, even Lance's teammates are largely unknown. Knowledge about cycling is only skin deep in the US.
User avatar
EddieB
Peat
Peat
 
Posts: 128
Joined: Mon 21 Mar 2005, 04:00:00
Location: BA PA USA
Top

Unread postby Specop_007 » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 08:29:58

Lance Armstrong?
Wasnt he the guy who went to the moon or sumthun?

:oops:


Yes, we know who he is. One HELL of a monster on a bike.
User avatar
Specop_007
Expert
Expert
 
Posts: 5586
Joined: Thu 12 Aug 2004, 03:00:00
Top

Unread postby lorenzo » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 09:48:10

Just for the record: Lance Armstrong's coach and trainer is Johan Bruyneel, Belgium's beast, himself once a great cyclist. Without the Belgian touch, nothing on this planet works. Name anything. I deliver.
User avatar
lorenzo
Intermediate Crude
Intermediate Crude
 
Posts: 2184
Joined: Sat 01 Jan 2005, 04:00:00
Top

Unread postby LadyRuby » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 11:58:01

Yeah, yeah, everyone knows about Lance Armstrong. Personally, I think professional athletes are overrated and overglorified. Why don't we glorify and celebrate our school teachers like we do our football, baseball, etc. stars? Screwed up priorities, and in this arena I think Europeans could be even be WORSE than the Americans!! So the guy's great a riding a bike. How useful is that?
User avatar
LadyRuby
Heavy Crude
Heavy Crude
 
Posts: 1177
Joined: Mon 13 Jun 2005, 03:00:00
Location: Western US
Top

Unread postby TheTurtle » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 13:24:21

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('LadyRuby', ' ')So the guy's great a riding a bike. How useful is that?

While I agree with you about professional athletes in general and Lance Armstrong in particular, I find it very amusing that you ask this question on Peakoil.com, of all places . :lol:
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.” (Ted Perry)
User avatar
TheTurtle
Heavy Crude
Heavy Crude
 
Posts: 1905
Joined: Sat 14 May 2005, 03:00:00
Location: Along the banks of the muddy Mississippi
Top

Unread postby LadyRuby » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 13:34:31

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheTurtle', 'W')hile I agree with you about professional athletes in general and Lance Armstrong in particular, I find it very amusing that you ask this question on Peakoil.com, of all places . :lol:


True, good point! :-D
User avatar
LadyRuby
Heavy Crude
Heavy Crude
 
Posts: 1177
Joined: Mon 13 Jun 2005, 03:00:00
Location: Western US
Top

Unread postby NeoPeasant » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 14:03:39

He's famous for riding a bike. So what the hell's he doing selling Subarus?
NeoPeasant
Heavy Crude
Heavy Crude
 
Posts: 1003
Joined: Tue 12 Oct 2004, 03:00:00
Top

Unread postby Petro » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 14:26:20

I don't believe in hero worship, sorry.
User avatar
Petro
Lignite
Lignite
 
Posts: 349
Joined: Thu 14 Oct 2004, 03:00:00
Top

Unread postby Hawkcreek » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 15:57:14

--
Last edited by Hawkcreek on Sun 09 Sep 2007, 17:41:59, edited 1 time in total.
Hawkcreek
Expert
Expert
 
Posts: 1468
Joined: Sun 15 Aug 2004, 03:00:00
Location: Washington State
Top

Unread postby smallpoxgirl » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 16:06:21

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Specop_007', 'L')ance Armstrong?
Wasnt he the guy who went to the moon or sumthun?


No No. He's the Olympic diver that was so popular back in the 80's. Then he wrote an autobiography where he came out as gay and HIV positive.
User avatar
smallpoxgirl
Expert
Expert
 
Posts: 7258
Joined: Mon 08 Nov 2004, 04:00:00
Top

Unread postby mgibbons19 » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 16:13:31

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('LadyRuby', 'S')o the guy's great a riding a bike. How useful is that?


Athletes are overrated, Ill agree. But, I get paid for doing something I (hopfully) am good at. It's called my career. Can't blame them for doing the same. And further, considering the awareness Armstrong has brought to both cancer research and cycling in the US, I think this is a silly attitude. I would bet that between fundraising for cancer, giving ppl the hope and the will to live, and generally raising cycling awareness so a few less bikers get run over on the roads, he's saved more than his share of lives in the world. In other words, because of his platform, he's probably done more good than I'll ever be able to.
mgibbons19
Heavy Crude
Heavy Crude
 
Posts: 1105
Joined: Fri 20 Aug 2004, 03:00:00
Top

Unread postby dub_scratch » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 18:23:04

Lance Armstrong is not only one of the greatest athletes, he is one of the greatest athletes of all time. But he is among others who have taken human athleticism to its limits. Another is Dean Karnazes who absolutly blows away anything that anyone could have imagined humans could do just a few decades ago. (see http://www.ultramarathonman.com).

OK, anybody ready for big the peak oil tie-in?
We are at peak human athletic achievement in parallel to the peak in energy. The fact that so many people live in relative affluence increases the competitive pool. But perhaps more importantly is the idea that societal complexity at high levels allows people to spend their own physical energy and time doing this kind of stuff. Case in point: I saw Dean Karnazes profiled on 60 Minuets where he told the interviewer how he would often order a pizza to be delivered in a remote part of Marin County California along one of his daily runs. That story told me all that I needed to know about what is really behind this great achievement in human conditioning.
dub_scratch
Tar Sands
Tar Sands
 
Posts: 700
Joined: Thu 16 Dec 2004, 04:00:00
Location: Santa Monica, CA
Top

Unread postby Specop_007 » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 20:16:08

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lorenzo', 'J')ust for the record: Lance Armstrong's coach and trainer is Johan Bruyneel, Belgium's beast, himself once a great cyclist. Without the Belgian touch, nothing on this planet works. Name anything. I deliver.


Playstation.
User avatar
Specop_007
Expert
Expert
 
Posts: 5586
Joined: Thu 12 Aug 2004, 03:00:00
Top

Unread postby EddieB » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 20:40:33

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'J')ust for the record: Lance Armstrong's coach and trainer is Johan Bruyneel, Belgium's beast, himself once a great cyclist. Without the Belgian touch, nothing on this planet works. Name anything. I deliver.


Dynamite
User avatar
EddieB
Peat
Peat
 
Posts: 128
Joined: Mon 21 Mar 2005, 04:00:00
Location: BA PA USA
Top

Unread postby WebHubbleTelescope » Sun 24 Jul 2005, 21:48:58

I wish I could have a 20 person entourage at my side as I bike daily to work, ready to fix flats, exchange me a brand-new bike, or give me first-aid if I get run over by a lunatic.
User avatar
WebHubbleTelescope
Tar Sands
Tar Sands
 
Posts: 950
Joined: Thu 08 Jul 2004, 03:00:00
Top
Post a reply

Return to Open Topic Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests



cron