Monday, October 22, 2012

Shlara on Lance


Yesterday evening brought the news that the International Cycling Union has stripped Lance Armstrong of all seven of his Tour de France titles. On the heels of USADA's damning investigative report and the subsequent mass exodus of Armstrong's sponsors, the ICU's decision is the capper of what's been a very bad few weeks for Lance. But Armstrong's legacy is a complicated thing. Our own Shlara weighs in on that aspect of this story:


LIVESTRONG is so much more than Lance Armstrong

I’ve never been a big fan of Lance Armstrong, the athlete.

He’s like the New York Yankees of cycling, and I prefer an underdog.

But Lance Armstrong, the cancer survivor, is an inspiration to me.

And I would bet that hundreds of thousands of cancer patients and fellow survivors agree.
I’ve pontificated several times in the blogosphere about the impact Lance Armstrong’s steroid use would/could/should have on the foundation he started, LIVESTRONG. I’ve been following the series of announcements over the last few days—Nike and Radio Shack discontinuing sponsorships of Lance, Anheuser-Busch stating it will not renew at the end of its 2012 contract and Lance himself stepping down as the Chair of the LIVESTRONG board of directors.

As a communications professional, I agree that Lance did the right and responsible thing for the organization. His personal drama was causing a distraction for LIVESTRONG and taking important attention and resources away from mission-focused work. He is giving the Foundation space to distance itself from the doping conversation and helping protect it from future damage. Reputationally, I still do not believe that the Foundation will take a big hit.

LIVESTRONG is preparing to celebrate a 15th anniversary and in that time has proven to be a valuable resource and advocate for cancer patients and their families. It’s a massive grassroots network of people sharing advice and experiences. It’s the most comprehensive, yet easy-to-use collection of practical resources for patients navigating treatment (test, doctors, options, insurance, etc.) It’s collaboration across silos for research. It’s a focus on living your life during and after treatment. The organization is substantive, well-managed and has a well-known and well-respected brand that does not rely on Lance.

The foundation’s financial health, however, may take a hit from Lance’s personal and professional decisions. About 30 percent of revenue for LIVESTRONG comes from cause-marketing and licensing (read: deals with Lance’s sponsors). Now that many of those relationships have been discontinued, LIVESTRONG needs to identify other streams of revenue. Hopefully the leadership has been considering how to diversify the funding pool and can take the necessary steps to shift funding sources with minimal disruption to the programs.

Personally, I’m rooting for LIVESTRONG. They, and Lance, have inspired me to stay tough and positive in my own battle with cancer and I know their support and message is invaluable to others (See: LIVESTRONG manifesto).  LIVESTRONG CEO Doug Ulman said it best in a November 2010 Fast Company article: “In the sports world, [Lance] is a very polarizing figure. In cancer, he’s not.”

LIVESTRONG is approachable, empowering and innovative.
It’s an incredible force in the cancer universe and health care writ large.
And people like me will continue to wear a yellow LIVESTRONG bracelet and support the foundation with time and money because it is a source of hope, strength and determination.

Brother of FOGTB KQ, TJ Quinn, has been covering the Lance/steroid story since it started. In one of his ESPN segments yesterday, Quinn said, “I can’t tell you how many people I know that wear those yellow wristbands…people wanted so badly to believe in this guy.” Count me in that camp. Still. Despite all of the information that has been uncovered about the steroids. And, one of TJ’s twitter followers (Tim Clough, @coopersam), so perfectly captured the reason why on Twitter: “blame me or not but [my] head is going in the sand. He inspired my mom to fight cancer. The rest means nothing.”

Lance started this, but the rest of us fighters and survivors make it go now.

32 comments:

zman said...

Nicely done.

rob said...

i'm pretty proud of it. thanks, z.

Clarence said...

Perfectly postulated.

rob said...

brother of kq just mentioned me on twitter. so i got that going for me.

T.J. said...

brother of kq has a good first name

rob said...

for the record, i'm very happy that cooley is back with the skins. and i remain committed to not rooting for a snyder-owned team.

Clarence said...

As soon as Davis got hurt, every Skins fan thought/said, "Cooley!" It's awesome. There's a decent chance this redux goes like Gibbs 2.0, but for now we revel in the anticipation. It's really what we Redskins fans do best.

Wish it were a home game for us this week. Fans would be going bonkers. Cooley!

Clarence said...

Semantic correction: Fred Davis injuring his Achilles tendon is not awesome, neither for him nor the team. But we have to take whatever enjoyment and exuberance another losing season offers us.

mayhugh said...

My enjoyment and exuberance has to do with #10. I can't believe that guy is on the team for which I root. I only hope he can avoid being decapitated.

For years of getting pissed off about not being able to get to Romo or Vick, or McNabb (you know, when he was good) when they scrambled, the Skins are finally getting to revisit some of that frustration onto other teams/fan bases.

rob said...

rg3 is unquestionably fun to watch. which will make his inevitable tragic demise all the more wrenching.

Clarence said...

SeƱor KQ, here's a shirt I hadn't seen until my friend Little Vicky sent it my way: If rugby were easy, it'd be called 'your mom'.

rob said...

jerome - are the europa league qualifying rules as byzantine as they appear to be? asking for a friend from fulham.

zman said...

Tony Fratto just might be my new drunken pseudonym.

zman said...

Obama is already slipping into pre-written schtick.

zman said...

The Cheney call is a low blow.

zman said...

"Schools that put the parents and the teachers and the students first.". Is that a three way tie for first?

TR said...

So you're doing this again, Zman?

zman said...

Always.

zman said...

"Nothing governor Romney just said is true."

zman said...

The My Cousin Vinny technique.

Jerry said...

Thoughts on the debate based on my twitter feed:

Conservative Pundits: Romney is doing OK
Libertarian Pundits: Foreign policy is stupid
Hipster NBA Nerds: Foreign policy is hilarious
Bryon Russell: Obama handed Romney his ass
Mark Stein: Eric Gordon won't be ready for opening night
TJ: Rabble, Rabble, Rabble

T.J. said...

just 25 mins away from not seeing a second of these debates on tv. too bad they are inescapable on twitter.

glad you're still utilizing the tweet machine, jerry.

Jerry said...

rob - the primary way to get into the Europa League is to finish just below the Champions League spots in the domestic league standings. So in the EPL, generally 1-4 go CL and 5-7 or 8 go to Europa.

HOWEVER - there are some byzantine elements, and I'm not completely 100% of them but usually close enough. If you win a domestic cup, you're in. If you're a runner-up in the FA Cup you might be (not sure). There's also something called the "Fair Play" table that is based on the # of cards a team gets during the season. I think that teams that finish at the top of this have a chance to play their way into the Europa League (which starts in July).

So yes, it's crazy. Or just finish 5-7 in the table.

T.J. said...

this "Fair Play" table sounds intriguing. let's bring it to the NBA.

zman said...

"Obama's bin Laden"?

zman said...

The take home themes from these closing arguments are "tumult" (Mitt) and "nation building at home" (Obama). Not sure either resonate.

zman said...

"you're wrong!"
"I am not wrong!"

Classic debating.

Jerry said...

Foreign policy debate was never going to be good. Nobody really cares that much about it these days, including the candidates. And the stuff they'd do really isn't that different.

Obama is doing pretty much the same stuff that Bush did. Romney would pretty much do the same stuff. They just have different window dressing that appeal to each of their constituencies.

zman said...

There are no bald Romneys.

Jerry said...

Hmm...Jason Campbell is on the Bears (I'm an hour behind)

rob said...

played soccer rather than participating in the electoral process. won, 5-2. did not injure myself. the latter is far more important.

Shlara said...

The end of that baseball game last night was really cool--the Cards getting crushed, the rain coming down and the fans going nuts.

That should have been DC...