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By Marlon Manuel
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
July 22, 2006
AP PHOTO: Lance Armstrong was a hit as host of the ESPYs:
The show's ratings hit a 10-year high as Armstrong turned in an edgy performance. |
Lance Armstrong is gone from the Tour de France — and gone Hollywood.
The Tour ends Sunday, but the retired seven-time winner has stayed in the headlines and the paparazzi lenses by palling around with the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Jake Gyllenhaal, Owen Wilson and bike racing fanatic Robin Williams. He does a cameo in Wilson's movie "You, Me and Dupree."
This week, viewers watched Armstrong perform a bawdy monologue during a recent broadcast of the ESPYs, created by ESPN as a Hollywood ode to athletes.
The cyclist-turned-comic collaborated on the ribald ESPYs script, including an obscenity about the French World Cup team, a crude reference to his survival of testicular cancer and a sexually suggestive joke about "Brokeback Mountain."
The ESPYs gig, coupled with hosting "Saturday Night Live" in October, presenting during the 2005 Grammys and appearing briefly in the 2004 movie "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" makes New York sports marketer Michael Paul of MGP & Associates in New York conclude that Armstrong is repositioning himself as a Hollywood talent.
Precedent is plentiful. Former football players O.J. Simpson, Jim Brown, Mark Harmon, Dick Butkus and Merlin Olsen all made the jump from sports to acting.
"A big part of that strategy dealt with the ESPYs being in Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world," Paul said. "That's why it was a good time to test his comic ability."
Mark Higgins, a spokesman for Armstrong, said the cyclist has no Hollywood aspirations, but instead wants to focus on his namesake cancer foundation, which has raised nearly $200 million. Much of that comes from the Livestrong brand, memorialized through millions of yellow rubber bracelets.
"I would not say we are tweaking his persona at all," Higgins wrote in an e-mail. "We are showing a side of Lance that very few people are aware of."
The monologue drew a lashing in a New York Times column.
"You need not be a prude to believe that there are more appropriate places for such language than an awards presentation that celebrates sports," wrote sports reporter Richard Sandomir.
The bawdy riff is nothing new to those privy to the cyclist's candid side. But reputation experts say the performance represents a risky departure for Armstrong, whose fan base is more accustomed to the champion's cool, hard-working demeanor.
Petri R.J. Carby, head of a public relations company outside Houston, said businesses take a chance associating with celebrities who tinker with their public image.
"Armstrong's comment at the ESPY Awards will probably increase his [favorable] ratings among younger audiences who patronize the companies that endorse him — Nike, Trek Bicycles, Subaru," Carby responded by e-mail. "But it surprises me that he may be choosing to move away from the narrative that makes him so popular among all audiences in favor of a more humorous, less polished stature."
During the awards, Armstrong took note of Gyllenhaal, who starred as a cowboy who fell in love with another man in "Brokeback Mountain." Armstrong, with Gyllenhaal's prior approval, then made a joke about a homosexual act, to the laughing approval of the celebrity crowd.
Jean-Marie Navetta, national executive director of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, an advocacy group based in Washington, said the joke disappointed her, especially from someone with such media clout.
"If gay kids in some small town hear comments by Lance Armstrong, it makes it more difficult for them," Navetta said. "A big celebrity endorsing the idea that it's OK to make gay jokes is just inappropriate."
Maura Mandt, executive producer of the ESPYs, said Armstrong had collaborated with ESPN writers since Easter weekend. He encouraged producers to joke about his life, except his breakup with rock star Sheryl Crow.
"I had seen him winning the Tour or talking about cancer research," Mandt said in an interview. "But this was a whole new side of him. He's the life of the room. He's a regular guy."
A hint of Armstrong's potential star power: Television ratings for the Tour are down 53 percent from 2005, the last time he competed. Meanwhile, ESPYs ratings hit a 10-year high with Armstrong as the first athlete host.
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