Lance Armstrong may have overcome some great obstacles, but I've seen more of Sheryl Crow than I have of him. She's like his own personal Jesse Jackson! If theres a camera she's in the picture. I was  getting annoyed as EVERY story on the TV or even in the local papers here, supposedly about him, starts by covering her.

Turns out I'm not alone.

By Sara Burnett Daily Herald Staff Writer

Lance, you dog.

You may be about to climb atop the podium to claim a record-breaking sixth Tour de France title.

You may be revered among cycling fans for your ability to crank in the mountain stages.

And your triumph over cancer may have given hope to millions of people.

But for a growing number of fans - women in particular - it seems that may no longer be enough to keep the Lance Armstrong in America's good graces.

Why?

Something about your new girlfriend, rocker Sheryl Crow.

You know, the one you've been smiling at on the pages of newspapers and magazines and on television throughout this year's tour. The one who seems to have replaced your former wife, Kristin - the non-celebrity mother of your three children who helped you beat cancer - as your head cheerleader.

This, it seems, is not the kind of behavior some people want in their American heroes.

"I always admired him," says Jackie Kelley, a bicyclist from Mount Prospect whose reaction upon hearing in September that he'd split from his wife was an audible, "Oh no."

"This just shows he's human. He changed his mind," she adds. "I wish I never would have known about it."

Sports marketing agents and public relations consultants, meanwhile, are mixed on what effect the divorce and Armstrong's relationship with Crow will have.

On one hand, he'll no longer be able to curl up on the couch with Kristin and the three kids to pitch products, as he did a few years back for Bristol Myers Squibb pharmaceutical company.

And there may be more people like Stacy Christiansen of Brookfield, who refused to buy a Subaru Outback while shopping for cars recently in part because it's the brand endorsed by Armstrong.

"It's pretty offensive to me," Christiansen says. "If I buy the car I guess it's somewhat going to pay his salary."

But all of that is "anecdotal," says Marc Ganis, president of Sports Corp. Limited in Chicago, a sports marketing firm.

In the big picture, the exposure Armstrong will get in celebrity and music magazines where he otherwise would have been "only a blip on the radar screen" will far outweigh the number of miffed fans.

"It's not adversely affected his endorsements yet, and I don't think it will," Ganis adds. "But that doesn't mean it shouldn't."

And though most people don't like the idea of "trading up," what helps Armstrong, Ganis notes, is that his divorce hasn't been the messy debacle that has hurt some other sports stars.

When Michael Jordan's then-wife, Juanita, filed for divorce and stories started flowing about his infidelity, for example, the reaction was much nastier. While the divorce never was finalized, one newspaper columnist at the time called Jordan "Most Valuable Jerk." Another said "Air Jordan" should instead be called "Err Jordan."

Chandra Ram, a public relations consultant from Chicago, agrees Armstrong won't take a financial hit from the relationship.

Having a rocker on his arm, in fact, couldn't come at a better time, she says. It coincides with Armstrong's sixth title and the pro-American spirit of the upcoming Olympic games.

"He just has that much more recognition," Ram says.

But business aside, Ram also says she can't help but feel for Armstrong's ex-wife, who has been silent on the details of the split.

"I just hope she's curled up somewhere with a 22-year-old hottie saying 'Look at that guy on his stupid bike again,'" Ram says.