I read that Lance Armstrong has now completed his interview with Opra and has “confessed” that he used performance enhancing drugs. This is one of those incidents/stories that I really wanted to turn out differently. Unfortunately by now, the story has been “beat to death.” I think the general public just doesn’t care anymore,
Apparently, based on how many athletes get caught with drugs in their system every year, most all athletes are doing it and it probably forces many others into the practice to just try to stay even with the competition.
The bigger story here is all athletics and athletes — not just cycling or Lance Armstrong. Major League Baseball is a good example. In the middle of last season, baseball’s leading batter (Caberera – San Francisco) was suspended for 50 games because he had used banned substances. Caberea’s teammates expressed disappointment and disgust that a player would jeopardize a team’s chances by acting selfishly. Barry Bonds is another example.
I feel bad for the youthful sports fans — when I was growing up I had all sorts of sports heroes. Maybe they cheated, but I never ever would have believed they would — and — none were ever brought before congressional committees, or accused of cheating by others.
The fact is that we live in a society that rewards winners. And it seems to encourage people to do whatever it takes to win. It appears to me that the effectiveness of drug testing is questionable, and substance abuse is readily forgiven by most people. Some people will always look for ways to cheat. If that continues to be easily forgiven by the majority of people, I don’t know how to correct it.
As I said earlier, I really, really wanted the accusation against Lance Armstrong to be wrong. He just seemed to be the kind of person we needed as a hero — he overcame so much adversity and a lot of people could relate to him. Not many people can hit a baseball out of a major league park or tackle Adrian Peterson in the open field, but most do know how to ride a bicycle… Armstrong seemed like a regular guy that overcame some of the obstacles that life throws at all of us.
One reason Armstrong disappointed so many people is that he fostered deep emotions in his fans. Barry Bonds always came across as a kind of jerk — his myth tended to produce anger or disgust. Lance Armstrong broke hearts.
I noticed that the Baseball Writers Association of American voted nobody into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. Good for them!!!
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I too hoped the Armstrong debacle would have turned out different. I believed everyone was pointing fingers & ratting out each other to get revenge in one way shape or form. We met Armstrong once. He was the up & coming American cyclist at the tour DuPont. I nervously approached him & asked for his autograph. He seemed preoccupied as he signed it, probably because the rest of his team (Motorola ) left him behind & headed to the hotel w/o him. He admits to being cocky & focuses on winning. He was instrumental in getting Livestrong started which is a very good organization & stepped down so as not to tarnish it. I’m disappointed in his doping actions, he’s not a super hero but only human w/faults & flaws…sigh