What I Did During My Winter Vacation, by Johan Bruyneel
An Explanatory Note Regarding Today’s Post: From time to time, I get notes from the future. For example, a couple years ago, I received several excerpts from Dr. Preston Prescott’s journal, which was (will be?) written in 7114. And about a year ago, I received a letter from near future, in which Lance Armstrong begged me to stay away from him.
Well, it’s happened again. Me getting a document from the future, I mean. Not Lance Armstrong begging me to stay away from him.
This time, the document comes in the form of a letter from Johan Bruyneel, who has recently been given a two-month suspension from his duties as Director of Team RadioShack, for a very serious and detrimental infraction of UCI rules. Specifically, on the final stage of last year’s TdF, he let Team RadioShack wear unsanctioned jerseys designed to raise awareness of the 28 million people fighting cancer worldwide.
Really, the nerve of the guy.
Regardless, I have received an email from Johan, dated April 1, 2011 (the day Johan’s suspension ends), detailing his activities during his two month suspension.
It is my pleasure to publish it for your perusal.
What I Did During My Winter Vacation
by Johan Bruyneel
I can’t remember the last time I had an enforced vacation of two months (and I’m still a little bit angry at the UCI for making it during February and March, the two least-vacation-friendly months of the year) but even before the first day of my suspension, I had resolved to not waste my suddenly open calendar. I wrote down a few high-level objectives:
- Exercise more
- Do some woodworking
- Catch up with old friends
- Get in touch with my inner child
- Grow a beard
Like most things in life, the reality of my vacation was a little bit different than what I had planned on, but I still think it’s worth detailing. These are my notes as the days went on
Day 1
Two months of no responsibilities, no schedules to keep, no pro cyclist egos to massage and keep in check. I should send the UCI a thank you card. Really, though, I have a lot of email to catch up on, maybe I’ll start with that.
More than 35,000 unread messages. Wow.
OK, I just deleted all my unread messages. People who really need me will get back in touch.
Day 2
I got a call from Lance today. We both talked about how weird it was for each of us to have nothing to do, right at the same time. “You should start another team during this two months, and I could announce my first act in my Comeback 3.0 will be joining that team,” he said.
I was fifteen minutes into my brainstorming of a team roster, potential sponsors, and Lance’s role in the team before Lance was able to break in, telling me he was just joking.
Ha ha.
Day 3
Eki called today. In fact, he called four times. This rider wants this, that rider wants that. This pro can’t stand rooming with that pro. This pro is injured, that pro is 2 Kg overweight.
For each of the problems, I just said, “I can’t help you, Eki. The UCI was really clear about my total non-involvement with the team for two months.”
Seriously, I should send the UCI a thank-you card.
Day 4
Cleaned the kitchen today. I can’t believe I let the dishes pile up this long.
Day 5
One of the things about being the director of a sports team is that I just don’t usually have time to watch any TV. I’ve heard about a bunch of shows, though, and think maybe I’ll look into a few while exercising.
Today I got the rollers out and downloaded Dexter, Season 1. I watched two episodes while riding the rollers.
And then I watched the rest of the season, just sitting on my weight bench, still in my bibs and jersey.
I’ll have to be more careful about watching so much TV in the future.
Day 6
OK, so overnight I downloaded seasons 2 and 3 of Dexter, planning to watch them over the next few weeks while riding the rollers. But when I woke up this morning, I thought to myself, “Heck I’m on vacation; I think I’ll eat a bowl of cereal and watch an episode of Dexter before I get moving today.”
Now, 17 hours later, all I have to show for the day are two empty boxes of cereal and the near-certainty that I am the first person in the world to watch all three seasons of Dexter in a space of 48 hours.
I have a headache, too.
Day 7
I started watching season 4 of Dexter today — on the rollers, this time — but the sight of a naked John Lithgow was simply too much to take. I finished my two hours on the rollers in solitude.
Day 8
I called Lance today, and started — in a joking way, of course — talking about our new team again. He laughed along with me for a few minutes, and then said, “But seriously, I’m retired for real this time, Johan.”
“Of course!” I replied. Then I started work on that cabinet, but my heart wasn’t in it.
Day 9
I called Eki today. Just to see what he was doing, you know. See how the team is doing, whether there was any good gossip in the biking world.
He asked me if I was enjoying my vacation. “Of course I am!” I said.
Day 10
I had the craziest thought today. “I wonder if there’s a single bike-related company in the world who wouldn’t send me whatever I want for free.”
So far, I have called Trek, Specialized, Oakley, Giro, Pinarello, Lew Racing, Shimano, SRAM, and nineteen other companies. So far, nobody has said no.
Day 11
I didn’t expect everything to be sent priority next-day air!
So far, I estimate I have received over $128,000 in product.
Day 12
Today I have started a little eBay side business, specializing in new, top-quality bike frames and components. I expect it to be quite profitable.
Day 13
I tried calling Lance today. He didn’t answer. Weird.
Day 14
One of the racers on Team RadioShack is always talking about World of Warcraft. Before today I had never tried it out, and in fact had no idea what this guy was talking about. Just for fun, I downloaded and signed up today, just to see what it’s like.
Tried calling Lance again. Left a message. He hasn’t returned my call.
Day 35
Has it really been three weeks since I’ve written? Huh. I’ve been pretty busy doing stuff. Mostly on the computer. Like email and stuff.
Oh, who am I kidding? I’ve done nothing but play World of Warcraft for the past three weeks.
Day 50
Three minutes ago, I deleted my World of Warcraft account.
I need to get back to work. Desperately.
Day 51
I called Eki today. He says he’s made “a few little changes” to the team and that he was interested in telling me all about them when I get back in a couple weeks.
What does “a few little changes” mean?
Day 52
I couldn’t sleep last night. Kept tossing and turning, half-awake, with increasingly terrifying images of what “a little change” might be.
I have never been so glad to be the light of day.
Day 53
Lance called today. I didn’t answer.
I did call Eki, though. But hung up before he could answer.
Two months is a long time.
Day 54
Lance called three more times today. I have not been available.
Day 55
Finally gave in and answered when Lance called today. Turns out he’s been on a four-week Minecraft jag. (I guess I would have known that if I followed his Twitter account).
He sounded a lot more receptive to the idea of getting the band back together than when we previously talked.
So I’m now considering the whole “Comeback 3.0″ thing, and whether having Facebook as the primary sponsor of a team is really all that great of an idea.
Day 56
Shaved my beard today. Amazing how shaggy it got in just a couple months.
I’m keeping the goatee, though.
Day 57
Built an entire wooden cabinet today.
Day 58
My last official day of vacation. With this time behind me, I now see the wisdom in the UCI giving me a two month suspension, and am truly, humbly penitent. I will never, ever, ever commit the crime of having my team wear unauthorized jerseys in the final stage of the TdF.
At least, not until Dexter Season 5 comes out on DVD.
Comment by Paul Guyot | 01.3.2011 | 1:51 pm
Days 10 -12 are my favorite.
I love Johan. My son wants to ride for him one day. Do you think he’ll still be directing in another 15 years?
Comment by Peter | 01.3.2011 | 2:01 pm
These are the posts I come here for :) Thanks :D
Comment by John H | 01.3.2011 | 2:20 pm
Nobody ever writes to me with stories of their vacations. You are so lucky.
The wife and I watched Dexter season 4 this past weekend. We realized that if you are an unknown actress and get a role on the show, you should plan on spending half the season topless. Great season… but had the ending spoiled by my sister in law. I in turn told her Bruce Willis is a ghost for all of Sixth Sense, and Vader is Luke’s father, and every other movie ending I could think of. Didn’t seem to carry the same weight though.
Comment by Dale | 01.3.2011 | 2:44 pm
Awesome. What made it even better was reading the whole thing with Johan’s voice in my head. Somehow you nailed his accent perfectly.
Comment by bklyn74 | 01.3.2011 | 4:36 pm
Curious about your take on a reader’s comment (esp. the last stat) following the article you link to in your post. (It’s in response to an earlier commenter complaining about the Susan G Komen foundation):
“Does anyone at the Susan G Komen foundation fly around on a private jet paid for by the foundation? The revenue for SGK was close to 10 times the size of Livestrong, why are their travel costs almost the same? Why are Livestrong’s legal and advertising so high?
Did anyone from SGK claim the Foundation as a “Personal Asset” when financing an investment?
Did anyone from the SGK pocket $3,000,000 in cash and $12,000,000 in stock from pimping the charities name to a spammer with questionable accounting practices?
Last year SGK spent $267,659,270 on their programs, Mostly research, treatment, and free screening services. Livestrong spent $31,000,000…mostly promoting Lance and his sponsors.”
Comment by Jason | 01.3.2011 | 5:01 pm
Minecraft in Fat Cyclist? Man, I knew the game was big, but didn’t realize it was going to start infiltrating my other hobbies.
Comment by Arienna | 01.3.2011 | 5:14 pm
bklyn74: I read that too… Made me kinda uncomfortable. As soon as I’m done with work I’m going to have to spend some serious time with google trying to check on that.
Comment by bklyn74 | 01.3.2011 | 5:51 pm
Hi Arienna,
I just started reading this thread:
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=11579
and at the very least I can say some increased transparency is in order for Livestrong and Lance himself.
It starts getting pretty gritty around page 10 or so.
Comment by Paul Guyot | 01.3.2011 | 7:02 pm
Well… I’m thoroughly depressed now. After spending the last two hours reading all this “stuff.”
A while back I asked on this very site about exactly where the Livestrong money goes, and got perfunctory answers at best.
I understand Livestrong helped Fatty. A lot. And that counts for… A LOT.
But if things are truly as it appears they are – then this whole organization is going to come crashing down and the only ones who will suffer will be all the people that refuse to trust another charity, and thus, don’t help people in need, as well as those that Livestrong might have helped down the road. And it will all fall on LA. Sure, they will parade scapegoat after scapegoat in front of the media, but we’re not stupid.
I have known for years that LA was not a great guy – off the bike – but I always thought Livestrong rocked.
Kind of makes me very nervous about the whole DAVIS, CA of it all.
This is really scary.
Comment by stuckinmypedals | 01.3.2011 | 7:21 pm
Brilliant post, Fatty! Lucky Johan having all that time off. ;)
Comment by Mary from NC | 01.3.2011 | 7:33 pm
I too love Day 10-Day 12. hahahahahahaha
Comment by eandjmum | 01.4.2011 | 2:34 am
That was awesome Fatty… well done… I always have a laugh when reading your posts :-) Such witty comments. I hope that Johan laughs too! His suspension is crap.
Comment by Arienna | 01.4.2011 | 3:39 am
bklyn and Paul,
Wow.. just wow. I don’t even know. O_O I usually run for the breast cancer groups and Habitat for Humanity (architecture student, you know) but this year I just started biking after an injury and stumbled onto Fat Cyclist.com.. after reading all about Fatty and his wife and Livestrong, I decided to do 24 Hours of Booty here in NC.
In one day I’m about to roll out some pretty massive fund-raising efforts. I’ve told my readers (I draw a comic strip), I’ve told my boss, I’ve convinced my school to let me hold bake sales.. I’m ready to really go out there and do some good… only to hear about this. D: Yeesh. I’m really hoping there’s something to clear this up, because it’s putting a really bad taste in my mouth.
Comment by Penina | 01.4.2011 | 6:05 am
Yeah, I know…I’ve read everything up to late last night’s posts, and because of it, I’ve actually hesitated to begin asking anyone for any donations until I hear more…
Comment by Demonic1 | 01.4.2011 | 9:43 am
I’ve never seen Dexter, but if it’s that addicting I’m not sure I want to. I’ll stick with Jude Judy reruns instead.
Awesome post! It’s just not a good morning if the coffee doesn’t come out of my nose you know?
Comment by Skippy | 01.4.2011 | 10:01 am
Arlenna
GO AHEAD with your fund raiser, do good, remember that your heart is in the right place !
Too many out there are jealous of “Tall Poppies” , one is called “flandis” and there is a US Gov. scheme” where if you cause a ruckus and the treasury gets any benefit then you get 10%, not bad for dobbing in your friends and mentors? Oh you also get to stand on your box and sound off about what you know best, CHEATING !
Most Charities have operating expenses, that is why readers of this blog encouraged “Fatty” to continue Ads so as to cover some of his expenses.
In 10 years Lance has raised the Profile of Livestrong to international level and doing that cost money, as time passes the %’s will change, nowhere do i see him say !00% will go to Cancer research, no charity will ever be able to do that. Could more be done or Costs be reduced, who knows and this is not the forum to discuss pros & Cons.
Hopefully you will be successful and encouraged to plan more events with Fatty,Livestrong and other Charities you know !
Comment by bikemike | 01.4.2011 | 10:34 am
I just finished Smallville season 47. Clark gets “The Suit”. I wonder what he’ll look like as Superman.
They should do a movie about Superman. Just seeing him in comic books, i can’t imagine what that’ll look like for real. If they get it wrong, they can just get another director and do another version of it until they get it right.
They should remake “Deadwood” and use Superman as the lead role, that would be awesome.
Dexter should wear a Superman cape.
Comment by owen | 01.4.2011 | 11:20 am
paranoia abounds lately it seems.
I laughed at your post Fatty nothing more nothing less – thanks.
Happy New Year!!
Comment by Laura | 01.4.2011 | 12:35 pm
Dexter and WoW black hole time suck . . . awesome! Thanks for the laugh!
Comment by Tim | 01.4.2011 | 12:49 pm
Fatty – great post. As for the Livestrong questions. Please go look at respected charity rating organizations such as Charity Navigator on line for up to date and independent charity evaluations. From what I can tell, they are not shy to say if a charity does a bad job or not. It appears SKG is doing a great job but on the couple I looked at, Livestrong gets good marks as well.
Comment by TMZ | 01.4.2011 | 1:04 pm
Hey FC!
I haven’t heard from you yet asking where to ship my new MTB wheels from the 10 pounds challenge. No worries though, I’m ready to respond as soon as I get the email!
Just kidding. Sort of.
Happy New Year!
Comment by AngieG | 01.4.2011 | 1:06 pm
I’m not sure you can compare Susan G Komen to Livestrong just because they both raise money to fight cancer. I believe they are two very different enterprises with very different missions.
I have not done detailed research on SGK, nor do I intend to. I have had an opportunity to meet Livestrong’s CFO at Livestrong Austin and was very impressed with his willingness to answer any questions and offer supporting documentation.
I love the attitudes of the Livestrong Leadership. I love their focus on supporting education, screening and survivorship world wide. Even if that means flying across the world to meet with other world leaders.
I love the Livestrong Guidebook set that can be used to create a foundation of suvirvorship for a patient navigating through the battle against cancer. http://www.store-laf.org/guidebook.html
These books are probably not cheap to manufacture, yet Livestrong offers them for free. You only pay for shipping. I have a box of 10 in my office and hand them out to my local medical community and anyone battling this disease.
Sorry for the longwinded message. I guess my bottomline point is that there is alot more to the Livestrong organization than what you see on a balance sheet. Both Livestrong and SGK do amazing work and I would hate to see tunnel vision create an us versus them atmosphere for 2 very worthy enterprises. I know I will continue to support both.
Comment by Skippy | 01.4.2011 | 1:37 pm
Thankyou AngieG you said what i said on my blog ! Those raising funds for LIVESTRONG are contributing to the same fight as SGK who have been around since 1982.
In this world we have choices and where we spend our money is our right.
When Big C. is beaten we can sit back but until then it is shoulder to the wheel in our own way as Arienna (apologies for wrong spelling earlier) has chosen.
Comment by NYCCarlos | 01.4.2011 | 2:04 pm
An important point to note is that LiveStrong is not a cancer research fund-raiser at heart. LiveStrong’s purpose – as I understand it – is to help people with cancer battle and survive and stay healthy. This is VERY different from SGK, whose main mission (again, as I understand it) is to find a cure, with secondary goals of supporting patients and bringing awareness to the disease.
Comment by muskyhunter | 01.4.2011 | 2:04 pm
Loved the post Fatty!
I must be living in a hole since I had never heard of Dexter.
I’ll have to check it out…
Comment by Phil Rolla | 01.4.2011 | 2:37 pm
I think Skippy and others are missing the point. What concerns me has nothing to with SGK or which charity does what.
I get concerned when the SEC and IRS are suddenly stepping in going “wait a minute.”
It’s not about what Livestrong does or doesn’t do, it’s about accounting for where the money goes.
Comment by NYCCarlos | 01.4.2011 | 2:51 pm
@phil – ah. I knew nothing of this SEC/IRS business… I’ll have to do more research.
I just know that the main gripe I get from people when I ask them to donate is “I heard none of it’s going to cancer research!” so I have to inform them of LAF’s goals and whatnot.
Comment by Ian | 01.4.2011 | 3:13 pm
Hi all,
Has Fatty contacted the winners of the weight loss challenge?
Cheers
Comment by Paul Guyot | 01.4.2011 | 3:52 pm
I think we all need to take a step back and relax. We have hijacked Fatty’s otherwise hilarious post to debate something that should not be debated on a backblog.
And I say this knowing that I personally dumped fuel on the fire.
I apologize to FC, and suggest we all find another place to discuss/debate this. If Fatty brings it up in a post, then fine, otherwise we need to respect the man and his blog.
Apologies.
Pingback by Fat Cyclist » Blog Archive » Massive Motivation | 01.4.2011 | 4:21 pm
[...] Serious Note from Fatty: Yesterday, a few of you commented regarding a conversation about LiveStrong going on in a CyclingNews forum [...]
Comment by Skippy | 01.4.2011 | 8:53 pm
Sent this comment into Cyclingnews forum:
Whilst the original discussion was well meant this thread has now been Hijacked by Ne’rdowells to the extent that it is causing alarm to people who are motivated to raise funds for Livestrong.
When you arrive on fatcyclist.com you wil find refs to this thread and see the damage that is being done to people who quite rightly support Livestrong for the work that they are doing.
Comparing Livestrong Apples to SGK oranges is counterproductive in that both organisations have different goals as i point out in my blog and others who have far greater credibility discuss in their efforts.
AS i have stated elsewhere knocking “Tall Poppies” is a sport some enjoy and if they stand to collect 10% of the proceeds by standing on their soapbox raving on about what they know best “Sporting Fraud” then we should IGNORE them rather than fuelling a non existant grievance that they wish to settle.
Livestrong is about 10+ years in the public arena and as grown to be a force for helping those suffering Big C. and like other org.s has it’s supporters and detractors.
Toyota is a big organisation also who have had product problems and people have issues with them but do they go on about the “childish side issues”?
I think not!
Please no more Mud Throwing!
Anyone concerned about the efforts that Livestrong are making should rest easy !
Comment by ScottR | 01.5.2011 | 12:22 am
Skippy: that was a pretty silly/foolish comment, in several ways.
Nothing negative is being said about Fatty, or those who are doing good work for LiveStrong – in my opinion, thanks to Fatty’s sharing of his personal experiences, we have concrete examples of good work within that organization.
That said, that doesn’t mean that that good work is being done by those at the top of the organization, or that LiveStrong-related business has been done ethically. There are questions of whether LiveStrong have been good stewards of the money they have raised. These are valid, if not vital, questions for any charity doing fund-raising.
I look forward to a big article in SI, if they have found information warranting one. It darn well better be more than a list of people who don’t like Lance Armstrong. I’ve thought for a while that his only worthwhile legacy would be LAF/LiveStrong – but if half of the business practice allegations being discussed in that thread are true…
These are far from ‘childish side issues’, and calling them that devalues anything you would seek to say in the matter. Resting easy, as you advise, seems to be more along the lines of ‘ignorance is bliss’.
Comment by kimberly | 01.5.2011 | 1:19 am
ScottR: You say nothing negative has been said about Fatty or those who are doing work at LiveStrong? I beg to differ, maybe you need to read a little closer.
By the way, which CNF poster are you???
Comment by Debbie | 01.5.2011 | 9:28 am
I am waiting to see what kind of changes Eki made to team. Thanks for the laugh Fatty.
Comment by Penina | 01.5.2011 | 9:38 am
You know, I think Johann could be persuaded to actually keep a goatee for the remainder of the season if Fatty runs one of his world famous fundraisers . Maybe shave/style on air, or at least in print, ala Bobke???
Comment by Doug (Way upstate NY) | 01.5.2011 | 9:46 am
If you are interested in comparing or checking out a charity try the following link:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
You will see that LAF is given 4 stars (out of 5). Their administrative costs are 4.1% and fund raising costs are 10% (14% total). That compares nicely with Susan G Komen which is at 16% for those expenses.
There is also a lot of other information there beyond the numbers.
Regardless you should research and be comfortable with whatever charity you are helping.
Doug
Comment by Kathy Brown | 01.5.2011 | 10:27 am
Elden, not only do you do an unbelievable job raising money for cancer and bring awareness to the world but you help fight cancer on a personal level by making us laugh with your remarkable humor. Laughter can be a powerful fighter against all kinds of life’s imbalances. Thank you for helping so many.
Comment by Joe Grossi | 01.5.2011 | 11:02 am
Yep, I agree…day 10-12 are pretty funny…gave me a good laugh. Just send the extra schwag my way if he didn’t sell it all.
Comment by DanD | 01.5.2011 | 11:05 am
One problem with the original post in that discussion is that it lumps all salaries as overhead. This would be fair if the foundation was solely raising money and its only employees were administrative. Since the foundation provides services and material, employees that are doing that are a charitable expenses, not overhead.
Put simply, the person they pay to call you to ask for money is an administrative/fundraising expenditure and should be minimized, the person they pay to counsel cancer patients is a charitable expenditure and is one of the points of the organization, and the discussion ignores that.
Comment by Chris | 01.5.2011 | 11:26 am
Im not sure you could compare the two foundations as one has 15 years on the other. Both are doing great things in the Cancer world and they should be praised for just that.
Comment by Scott R | 01.5.2011 | 11:32 am
Kimberly: you may have misread, or just misunderstood, my post. Maybe you should read a little closer :-)
I see nothing negative, here or at CNF (as of yesterday), regarding Fatty. I believe he supporting an organization that has helped him, and that he believes in. I have nothing but respect for that.
I also see nothing negative towards those doing _good work_ at LiveStrong. The example of the support of Fatty and his family is what I’m thinking of as good work. If LiveStrong’s stated purpose is helping those diagnosed with cancer, and survivors of cancer, then there are good efforts taking place.
I’m not saying everything (or even a majority) done by the org, or with the name/branding of the org, are legit. I’d like to see some sunlight in that respect.
I have no account at CNF. I did read the thread.
Comment by oCoMiK | 01.5.2011 | 12:51 pm
They all can’t be homeruns :-(
Comment by MOCougFan | 01.5.2011 | 12:53 pm
Funny how different the comments are than normal. Not really.
FC… awesome post. Thanks for sharing another great one. Been reading for a long time. I always enjoy my daily read.
Comment by Skippy | 01.5.2011 | 2:45 pm
Posted a short comparison of Livestrong to SGK with links so you can see for yourself some comparisons, those interested can pursuew the matter further in their own way.
Fatty like Paul i am annoyed that people are getting away from the purpose of this blog, helping raise awareness of resources to assist those fighting Big C.
Personally i think you have the backing to create your own Foundation , there are enough Heavy weight Bloggers following you to assist should you decide to do so !
There is a need that you have already started to fill by using other foundations events.
Hope that others will provide the support !
Comment by honoluludon | 01.5.2011 | 4:09 pm
hilarious post. don’t see these often enough from you.
you & bill simmons are my favorite sportswriters.
Comment by annette | 01.6.2011 | 9:47 am
brilliant!
Comment by ugh | 01.6.2011 | 1:46 pm
Tedious writing at best, lots of bribing of readers to come back with prizes. Lance and Johan to spend retirement in jail.
Comment by Race Radio | 01.6.2011 | 1:46 pm
Fatty, I love your blog. Have been a fan for years and wish there were more like you in the sport.
As for Livestrong. There are serious questions being raised on the CN forums. Most contributors would be concerned if their donations were being spent for Private Jets as well as advertising a for profit website.
Charity Navigator has been mentioned often in these comments.The Founder of Charity Navigator has raised some serious concerns about the conflicts of interest at Livestrong
“This blurs the lines between the foundation and its charitable mission, and the personal gain of its founder,” said Ken Berger, president and executive director of Charity Navigator. “It’s mixing two purposes in a way that smells of a conflict of interest. The most precious thing a charitable organization has is the public’s trust, and things like this put a chink in that.”
Comment by Mark | 01.6.2011 | 4:11 pm
great! invasion of the disingenuous
Comment by mark | 01.6.2011 | 6:02 pm
I decided a while ago to stop giving money to LAF. There are plenty of other organizations that are also doing good work without using charitable assets to promote the founder.
Comment by John Paul Daigle | 01.8.2011 | 4:56 am
“Last year SGK spent $267,659,270 on their programs, Mostly research, treatment, and free screening services. Livestrong spent $31,000,000…mostly promoting Lance and his sponsors.”
First off, the LAF only brought IN $32 M last year, while the SGKF brought in over $300M. So to compare the charitable output of SGKF and LAF is just misdirection. And to say that “most” of the money was spent promotng Lance and his sponsors is simply a claim. I could, with equal authority and evidence backing me up, claim that the SGKF spent $250M… mostly to kill puppies in West Baltimore.
Second, the ‘evidence’ in the Velo News thread (which was apparently a carbon of the Cycling News thread) that LAF money was used to promote Lance was the existence of a Livestrong van at the Tour of CA. Was this a livestrong.COM van, or a livestrong.ORG van? The poster doesn’t say, but it’s an important point–if you give to the charity, the for profit doesn’t get any of that money, and you can’t actually donate funds to a for profit.
Maybe the LAF is playing games with their money. Maybe they aren’t. But I can think of any number of superior sources of information to somebody playing a shell game with innuendo and misleading numbers on a forum thread.
Pingback by Fat Cyclist » Blog Archive » Cancer, Politics, and Religion | 01.10.2011 | 1:19 pm
[...] week, I wrote a fake news post — a piece written from Johan Bruyneel’s future tense point of view describing how he spent (um, will spend?) his two-month enforced vacation. I thought it was a [...]
Comment by Dobovedo | 01.10.2011 | 11:06 pm
Hey wait a minute… there are 59 days in Johan’s suspension. 28 in February and 31 in March. He owes you (and us by extension) another day!
Comment by Richard | 01.11.2011 | 11:46 pm
I know – late to the party as usual.
February/March is a great time for a break – here in Australia! (Unless you are up to your ears in water in Queensland, poor buggers.)
Lance and Fatty are both deadset legends. Good enough for me to give them my hard earned.