Last week was a whirlwind, Manti T'eo "faked" his girlfriend throughout his Heisman Trophy bid, then it turned out to be that he was hoaxed all along, the NHL came back, and the NFL Conference Championship Weekend gave us two road winners heading to the Super Bowl as Ray Lewis' Ravens pulled off another upset and will take on Colin Kapernick's San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl. There was lot's to talk about this week, but Lance Armstrong dominated the week with his interview with Oprah, confessing doping allegations during all of his seven Tour de France wins that most expected, but some emphatically denied grabbed headlines all over and sparked widespread discussion on Lance's legacy and position as a human being.
I am not here to defend Lance Armstrong for cheating or for lying to thousands of employees, fans, and anyone who he inspired with his Livestrong campaign, but I am here to address the craziness that is being exhibited with those who are choosing to turn their backs so easily on a man they blindly believed one week ago.
The doping red flags attached to Armstrong are nothing new, brave journalists and USADA officials have been accusing him of doping for years. Yet 95 per cent of the public, the media, and Armstrong himself gave the same old song and dance everytime "But I've never tested positive."
Failing to logically think that a man who has the resources and sponsorship money that Armstrong has/had could beat the system. It was painfully obvious. One time beating a field of blood dopers and PED users is being 100 per cent clean would be an anomaly, two is eyebrow raising. Seven is utter insanity to believe. If you knew anything about the human body, cycling, and as rude as it sounds logic, you knew he was cheating. You had to have. He was dominating in the final years of the reign of PED's in sports. Barry Bonds was hitting 73 home runs and everyone said he was on steroids with no negative tests. Why? Because Barry Bonds didn't make nice with the media.
This is what it all boils down to, the same people who are appalled right now, are the same people who used to scorn and chastise anyone who would suggest that their golden boy could ever potentially deceive them. They are mad at themselves as much as they are mad at Lance. It is a relationship gone wrong.
They started dating, (The first Tour de France) got engaged, (Titles 2-4) got married (5-7) then the marriage started hitting some rough patches and warning signs were there (Floyd Landis' testimonies and getting busted for PED's, Lance retiring then coming back and finishing middle of the pack) then they caught him in the act (the stripping of his titles for refusing to continue to submit evidence). But they still loved Lance, so they believed him. Then he finally came clean, and now they are heartbroken, but they need to blame themselves as much as they need to blame Lance.
I wrote a column in this very spot when Armstrong was stripped of his seven titles, saying athletes are not role models and how they shouldn't be held to a higher moral standard. Months later I feel it holds true, but that the element of how many people Armstrong let down by lying to them should not go unaddressed, but it still teaches the lesson that riding a bike really fast over long distances doesn't make you a hero. Lance Armstrong beat cancer and lived his ream, that happened. He did it, he is still the man who beat cancer and inspired millions of people. That is what Lance Armstrong set out to do come hell or high water and he did it by any means necessary.
The media and public allowed themselves to believe something that was simply just too good to be true, they even ignored Armstrong's flaws. His ego was "his passion" him throwing former teammates under the bus was forgiven, he was given a free pass. Sure no one wants to be the guy to rag on the hero cancer survivor, but Armstrong was untouchable and it fed into that ego that the media is suddenly revealing now and taking from the Oprah interview.
In his interview Lance was finally broken. You saw a man who went through life untouchable for over a decade with all eyes on him, defeated. Day one of the interview made Lance look like the villain, Oprah played Lance.
Dragging an interview out for two days in the quest for ad dollars left man seeing Armstrong giving short answers of admission on Thursday night, then on Friday when some would be out and away from the television, being engaging in talking about the disgust in himself for betraying his son's trust and having to leave the Livestrong Foundation.
In his final hour the tag team partner Lance benefited so immensely from in the past left his corner, he was used. Used by Oprah in a quest to save her network, used by writers for an easy call out to appear to be tough on someone they blindly defended by years. Used by sports fans all over, who also ignored his cheating.
Lance Armstrong is going to fade away from the spotlight now and begin another chapter. I actually wish him the best, the man survived cancer and has helped millions after all. I just hope that everyone can forgive him.
After all, he doesn't deserve all the blame, he was just a man riding a bike in a fraudulent sport no one cared about until you came around. Let's try to remember that as we say our final words.
