Protesters: Nike should cut ties with Lance Armstrong
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BEAVERTON, Ore. – A small group of protesters gathered near Nike headquarters in Beaverton Tuesday morning to demand that Nike break ties with Lance Armstrong.
Last week, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) released a report claiming that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs while winning seven Tour de France titles, which USADA has ordered taken away.
The report claims Armstrong bullied his former teammates into cheating as well. Eleven of those teammates testified against him.
Paul Willerton of Bend, Ore. once rode with Armstrong. He put out the call for others to join him at Tuesday’s protest and said it’s time for Nike to cut ties with the athlete.
“I’m not the only one. I think there are millions,” said Willerton. “Stand up and acknowledge the truth.”
Willerton said he didn’t know how many others would join him in protest Tuesday, but said it didn’t matter to him if he’s the only one.
One protester's sign said "Just do the right thing: Sack Lance." Another said "No drugs. No bullies. No lies."
Willerton said it’s important to illustrate the kind of person that he believes Armstrong is.
“[They] not only took drugs to get the results they wanted in the sport, they made someone else, other people take those drugs within the team, they orchestrated the most organized doping program that’s ever been uncovered in the history of the sport,” Willerton said.
“I think they have a great opportunity to set an example for corporations to support clean sports, clean athletes and set a great example for the next generation of kids,” said protester Jeff Mitchem of Portland. “Drug-free sports are more important than winning at all costs.”
A spokesperson from Nike released this statement Monday: “Lance has stated his innocence and has been unwavering on this position. Nike plans to continue to support Lance and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a foundation that Lance created to serve cancer survivors.”
Willerton said he wants Nike to continue to support the Lance Armstrong Foundation, but he believes the company should cut ties with Lance Armstrong the athlete and condemn him.
Ok Nike, now what? Who are you going to screw over next? This is the 2nd time you have cow towed to opposition regarding someone that you support. Nothing has changed on what he accomplished or has done for others. He may have been in the wrong or he may not have. Anyone that is / has testified against him is just diverting anyone looking at them. Did he use something that helped him recover? Was it performance enhancing? Who knows? No one really except him! If you are a grown up and you say you were bullied into doing it too. I call B.S. Youâre a big boy and able to make your own decisions. Might it mean that you did not race, maybe? But you would be standing up for yourself and doing what is right then, doing it now is pointless and only causes trouble for all people involved.
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I personally will not by any Nike product again, I think their shoes are being cheaply made anymore. Nor do I wish to support a company that cannot backup their word when it is given.
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I call to everyone to boycott NIKE for being political and not doing as they say in the first place.
Has Lance been convicted of anything? No. A semi-quasi-non-official organization has charged him with doping. But this organization has no legal authority, no supervision (that I can find), or any official status. They stripped him of his "medals" but did not award them. How can they do that? This seems typical these days. Punish by the court of public opinion without any legal backing or actual conviction.Â
Armstrong cheated and thought he had gotten away with it.  Of course Nike's sponserships are questionable at best. Look at what the thugs at the U of O have done and Nike still backs them.  But losers and cheaters will always think he is some kind of hero. Â
Paul Willerton, go protest that female dog that gave birth to you that you are not an achiever and fighter like Lance Armstrong. You are nothing but an envious protester.
Y'all watch, the next thing these dipsh*t will start yelling "Occupy Nike Campus, let's shut these capitalist down" Â
These protesters are self-serving, attention seekers that have too much time on thier hands.
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I like the irony of carrying a sign with the inscription "Sack Lance" after the man overcame testicular cancer.
Why do these protesters hate people that survived cancer?
 @Bob McMastersonÂ
because they did and and could never achieve what Lance did. Lance is a Hero.
@George Rehfeldt @Bob McMasterson   Lance is a fraud
Nike is never gonna sack lance..Doesnt matter if he took drug enhancers or not..The reason why nike is sticking with him is because of his battle with cancer...Don't have to be an athlete to be in contract with nike..He is a hero to be as a person who survives one of the worst things on this world..If he did take them,,ya i agree just come out with it..people will still love you and look at you as a champion whatever it is for.
Man, I bet that Lance Armstrong merchandise is flying off the shelves!
All the crap going on this country, things so fundamentally broken....and these dips**ts choose this complete NON-issue and then actually go and stand there, DEMANDING something from a company that they have no stake in. Â I'll never understand that mentality. Â Quit wasting your energy on crap and go do something meaningful and relevant. Â Seriously, people never fail to amaze me with their complete lack of perspective and downright stupidity.
Let's face it. The truth is always Money talks BS walks. Â Mr. Willerton and his supporters can protest all they want. Nothing will change. Â BTW, there ain't any solid proof against Lance. These protesters are all acting on pure speculative evidences. Â Just another splinter group of those BIG "Occupier" losers. Â See how long they'll last.......no more than a week when the rain comes. Â
@Toshioboy -Â Â Â Hmmm....care t reevaluate this statement now that Nike dropped Lance?
 @Toshioboy - Well said.  these guys either have nothing better to do or are the scums of this ultra liberal city. Â
Y-A-W-N-!-!-! Wow. I think I'll go and protest WWII. So, they should to roll back time and punish everyone over the last 25 years for doping whether they're guilty or not or have proof or not. Void all the contests and start over. Cancel all the charities and close all the bicycle stores until everyone involved has been tested and proclaimed clean by the Gestapo at USADA. Seig Heil! If they fail, it's off to the concentration camps for them.
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Or, USADA could simply concentrate of making sure that current contenders are clean, proclaim them so, and then shut the hell up. Stupid Doping Nazis.
"Paul Willerton of Bend, Ore. once rode with Armstrong. He put out the call for others to join him at Tuesdayâs protest and said itâs time for Nike to cut ties with the athlete"
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Hmmm... my cynical side would say that this is a case of sour grapes. Â The money stopped coming in and now he's guilty by association (I presume Willerton was one of those whom was "bullied" into doping) so what better way to distance yourself and try to regain some integrity than to make a big stink about the evils of doping?
Sure. Then every person, every business, every charity that has made a dime off of his name should give every dime back. How many millions upon millions of dollars to various charities do you want to give back? Let it go. get over it. Â
Nike should just lance Lance.
I don't know...Armstrong used doping to get ahead.Nike uses child labor to get ahead...
Where exactly is the moral conflict in this relationship?Â
who do you think got him the designer enhancing drugs....Follow the money
'Â âLance has stated his innocence and has been unwavering on this position. Nike plans to continue to support Lance and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a foundation that Lance created to serve cancer survivors.â
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...and besides, in our test marketing groups, Lance Armstrong is still an incredibly marketable commodity.Â
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When enough peoples opinions of him change to the point where he is no longer an asset to the marketing department, his contract will be used for kindling. Nike (Phil Knight) is a business, their loyalties are aligned first and foremost with the allmighty dollar. No dollars, no contract.Â
 @MarkKpic You should have seen what happened in the "Joe Paterno Childhood Development Center" the day Nike decided to drop him.  The name came off the building, and the paraphernalia police came through and boxed up all the bobble-heads and other branded merchandise like it was radioactive.
 @Festivus  @MarkKpic It happens. Same thing happened to the Jeffrey Dahmer Food Court too. ;-)
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Life is fickle!
 @Festivus Yep. Same thing will happen to Lance that happened to Papa Joe and Tiger woods. Once the public opinion polls show that Lance is a liability rather than an asset, he'll be dumped with the days garbage from the Nike campus.Â
Does anyone have good proof as to the total number of people in sports who cheat? How many total in all sports are doping? It is actually ridiculous that they feel they have to do it. But the point seems to be "Win at all costs"
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Those that do not win all the time, do not get the $$$ in the end.
 @Just Lookin If everyone does it, is it cheating? Or simply part of the game?
Yup! Sports are not for amateurs anymore! Riding a bicycle is BIG business, I guess!
"Lance has stated his innocence and has been unwavering on this position." But but but, what about the evidence? It sure looks pretty blatent IMHO.
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I have banned nike for life and never want to purchase their cheaply made consumer goods. Its too bad their company cannot make products in America; we used to have a thriving textile industry!
 @portlandborn83 One must remember that evidence is often nothing more than conjecture and innuendo. Look at all the "evidence" gathered against the victims of the Salem Witch Trials. We now know they were innocent, but back then? The entire town was up in arms about those witches!
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"Burn, baby, Burn...Disco Inferno!"
@Mikey @portlandborn83Â Â Did you serve on the OJ Simpson jury?Â
You mean 15 of his ex-teammates confessing against him isn't good enough?
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Ya, they took his blood and mixed it with drugs and then injected it back to him...the evidence is gone, up in smoke I guess! Its pretty evident that he won afterwards as well...
A spokesperson from Nike released this statement Monday: âLance has stated his innocence and has been unwavering on this position. Nike plans to continue to support Lance and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a foundation that Lance created to serve cancer survivors.â Good for Nike .
 @Oh My The Lance Armstrong Foundation DOES NOT fund individual cancer survivors; it pays a bunch of rich people unbelievable salaries, benefits, and pensions to collect more money from other rich people who need tax deductions....
 @Oh My Doesn't matter that the cancer he survived was likely caused by the doping....Â
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LOL.
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He's a marketing pawn. Nothing more. When his name ceases to be equated to dollars for the house of Knight, he'll be tossed aside like tsunami floatsam.Â
 @MarkKpic There's no real evidence that doping causes testicular cancer. Simply another rumor to fuel the fire.
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Now swallowing saliva, on the other hand, causes cancer. After all, anyone who has ever had cancer has swallowed their own saliva. ;-)
 @Mikey Fair point.
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A part of the problem with such studies is that there's not just one type of 'performance enhancing' substance. The constant evolution of drugs used by athletes to evade drug tests almost makes any such studies impossible to undertake. Another part is that nobody would finance such a study, largely because the same groups who use and manufacture the drugs are the ones who typically fund such studies.Â
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I'll just say that I find it a bit odd that so many people who use 'performance enhancing' drugs end up getting cancer of one type or another.Â
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Of course, that's a circumstantial argument at best. And I fully admit it.Â
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I for see a small group  becoming a larger group and I for see Nike having to do some "restructuring" to stay in business or fail.
 @lee986321 ... yeah, put a TV camera on them and watch the rush to protest anything just to get on the boob-tube...
 @lee986321 right, and I see you winning the lottery very soon.
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Who Cares? Cycling is the dirtiest sport out there. They all dope anyway, so just make it legal.Â
 @bennypete I think Mud Wrestling is a lot dirtier! And more fun to watch, too!
"Sack Lance?"Â Was that intentional?
 @Stogie Helps them keep their eye on the ball.
 @Stogie As Jefe would proudly say: "It has a plethora of meanings"
Give me a break...Lance Armstrong will always be a favorite of mine...these guys can whine all they want but their names won't be remembered 2 months from now while Armstrong's will....These Willerton types are just looking for attention because they couldn't get it from biking....Hang tough Nike.  We are behind you....
@KHEB Well put... âThis is my body, and I can do whatever I want to it. I can push it; Study it; Tweak it; Listen to it. Everybody wants to know what I am on. What am I on? I am on my bike busting my ass six hours a day; What are YOU on?â â   Lance Armstrong
 @KHEB OMG. We actually agree on something, KHEB!
Mark this day on your calendar! LOL!
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I think that some people just love to see anyone famous be brought down to the level of the ordinary, run-of-the-mill droll do-nothing-niks whose sole claim to fame is breathing.
Ohhhhhhh so all of you protesters are ok that Nike endorses CHILD LABOR?Â
 @Farnsworthy Playing the child labor card is like saying Miami Vice is the hottest show on TV. Your comment is from an incident in the 80's. Things have changed and you can find fault in any company. Maybe you should do some homework on all the good things Corporate companies do and not whine like a typical Occupy believer.
 @Farnsworthy ... did it ever dawn on you that not all countries have the same standard of living as we do..I'll bet you those "children" and their parents are thankful for the opportunity to have their jobs...whatever they are paid is more than what they would have otherwise....in many countries it means eating, having a roof over their heads..so, I am okay with it.  Also, if the unions hadn't gouged and threatened mayhem, sucking the life out employers, I don't think our American companies would have found it necessary to send jobs overseas....it's time the bleeding hearts look at both sides of the issues.
@KHEB @Farnsworthy Oh my god OH MY GOD! Did you just DARE to speak of unions as if they are a bad thing? That's it! I'm filing a grievance and then I'm going to stand outside your house with a sign and complain until SOMEBODY listens! Anyone who disagrees is a closed-minded meany.
 @KHEB  @Farnsworthy So you're for outsourcing? Imagine the good Nike could do for the jobless in Oregon if they offered jobs to American workers.
@tigress @KHEB @Farnsworthy   """""Imagine the good Nike could do for the jobless in Oregon if they offered jobs to American workers."""""
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Imagine the price of made in America  Nike sneakers.... times the current price by something like four or five.
 @tigress  @Farnsworthy ... did it ever dawn on you we wouldn't have to out-source if unions stopped gouging?  Don't forget, it did not, out-sourcing, become such a big-deal until Clinton and NAFTA came along.  Remember Perot when he said  the "giant sucking sound" if it was enacted...if you had a company needing employees and paying them a reasonable salary was important you'd be looking for alternatives also....I don't blame them, I blame unions and gov restrictions, just a host of bad regs imposed by our government...,
@Farnsworthy So if someone is not constantly protesting one thing or choose to protest something else on a given day, they must support Child Labor? You should do some research on how to make a logical statement.
That's right, you keep choking on that Nike swoosh ;).
 @Farnsworthy They should add some points to the short end...make it look like a SPORK.
@Farnsworthy What are you doing? Shouldn't you be at Nike protesting child labor?
@Farnsworthy I am all for child labor. It helps to develop responsibility early on in life. Just yesterday, I had an entire pre-school class on my roof cleaning gutters and they were all rewarded with brussel sprout ice cream when they finished.
 @Dirtman  @Farnsworthy At least you gave them a healthy snack.
@Farnsworthy of course! The children aren't using performance enhancing drugs, so where is the problem? Duh.