Skip to main content

What I think about Lance Armstrong

No doubt a number of people will disagree with me here, but I don't care. After having watched the entire Lance Armstrong interview with Oprah Winfrey, I don't care that he doped, and I don't care that he perpetrated that lie for so long.

What I am, is disappointed. As a fellow cancer survivor, I find it difficult to believe, having gone through what he did in fighting testicular cancer, that anyone, let alone Lance Armstrong, would ever do something as stupid as dope. I never would have. At least I don't think I would, but having never been in the position of an elite athlete, I can only assume I would have been smarter than that.

But as a cyclist, I'm also a little biased, and despite the doping, I can't help but marvel at what he was able to accomplish. 7 Tour d'France wins! I know how grueling the sport of cycling can be at times, even at my level, and I know how cruel life can be as well, so I can relate to some extent. Maybe even be a little sympathetic.

Maybe it's naive of me to accept Lance's coming clean as something noble, but I do. I also believe he was treated unfairly, and hounded far beyond what other athletes had to endure under similar situations. Some might say it was because he had reached a level greater than that of other athletes, but that doesn't excuse anything. He still has to pay the price. I just happen to believe he is sincere when he says he is remorseful.

My only regrets are the damage he's inflicted on the sport of cycling, and a few individuals, but mostly it's that all the good he was able to accomplish in promoting cancer awareness, and aiding those fighting it, has now been tainted.

He was an inspiration to many of us, and now that is gone.
Labels:

Comments

Alan said…
Yes, a number of people will disagree with you, I among them.
12:13 PM
Marc said…
Then thank goodness I got one thing right. :)
12:22 PM
Alan said…
It's not so much that he cheated to obtain his ends. It's that he disparaged and sued (successfully) the reporters who got the story right (not to mention his teammates).

As for the Oprah interview I didn't believe for a second he was sincere. Only sorry he got caught.
12:27 PM
Marc said…
Yeah, but if they hadn't pursued the story so incessantly, beyond what was done in other instances, then...........

This story should have ended years ago.
1:12 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The results are in

And I am iron deficient, big time. [Which would account for my low hemoglobin] Test Result Ref Range IRON 30 59-158 mcg/dL TOTAL IRON BINDING CAPACITY 231 250-420 mcg/dL IRON SAT 13 20-50 % My Ferritin levels were good, but that could be because Ferritin is also an "acute phase reactant", that is sometimes increased with acute or chronic disease. Folate and B12 levels were also within the normal range. The only problem now is determining what is causing the iron deficiency, which in the case of men, is [very] rare. My oncologist has given me a Globin Fecal test to perform, and has scheduled me for a consultation with a colorectal surgeon to discuss performing a colonoscopy, which could be problematic because of my large spleen. In the mean time, I've decided to start taking an iron supplement, it's only the quantity that is causing me some consternation. I've been told by a very knowledgeable person that to overcome an iron deficiency, I need to be taking 300 mg o...
5 comments
Read more

History IS repeating itself

I didn't grow up during the rise and fall of Hitler and Nazi Germany, so for me to claim it feels like those are the times we are living in now, must be taken with a grain of salt. But I have seen enough movies, and read enough history to know, if the times we're living in now are not akin to the rise of a Nazism and Facism in Europe in the 1930's and 1940's, then we're not far off. If you can't see the parallels with Nazi Germany, then you must be living in a different country than me. Republicans and other right wing extremists will stop at nothing to subvert the will of the majority, forcing their beliefs, that they are the superior race and have been appointed by God, to impose their will on America, while they blame all our problems on immigrants, blacks and Jews. As I speak, Mitch McConnell, and his minions are raising roadblocks to all legislation designed to help average Americans under the guise of fiscal responsibility. They condone violent and verba...
Post a Comment
Read more

This is just one of those days

It's one of those days you just want to sit around the house and do absolutely nothing, or watch some movies you have recorded. It might even be a good day to read a book, if you were so inclined, which I am not. As you should be able to see from the view out my bedroom window, it is raining outside. The rain started last night, and hasn't let up since. I can't complain too much though, as this is the rainy season, and we do need the rain. Plus Monday's are typically my day off from exercise, so I will surprise everyone, and not complain. I just feel sorry for anyone who might be visiting from, say Argentina, like a friend of mine (fellow MCLer), who happens to be in Cambria today. He might be a little disappointed. Fortunately the rest of the week, when he will be in LA, will be nice, and the real intent of his trip was to visit his son in Tahoe, who works at one of the ski resorts, and ski, so I know he's not complaining too much either. This weather will actually...
6 comments
Read more