The Fraud that is Lance Armstrong

Like many people, I wanted to believe. I wanted to believe in a man who was on his death bed with testicular cancer.  I wanted to believe that the seven Tour de France races he won after being so close to death was done legitimately.  But fairly tales are only in books.  Cycling is a dirty sport and has been for years.  It was naive of us believers to think that in a sport that is so dirty and corrupt, that Armstrong would have won cleanly.  It's a sad story that we cannot have heroes in sports anymore because he could of been it.  Performance Enhancing drugs have been used rampantly in Track & Field, Cycling, Baseball, and many others.  Who can we look up to anymore?  Maybe that's the problem.  We invest so much time in sports and it's players.  We look for good guys that we can like and follow, and even idolize, especially as kids.  As parents (which I'm not one), how do you explain to your kids that their favorite athlete might be a cheater?

I know in 1998, during the great homerun chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, I, along with a lot of my friends, wanted to be a part of history.  So we took a trip to Milwaukee to see Mark McGwire make history.  He did hit homerun #65 in one of the games we saw that September weekend.  We were elated that we got to see history.  Then steroid rumors began.  I gave McGwire, Sosa, and others the benefit of the doubt at first.  Then I came to the sad realization that these rumors were indeed true.  McGwire admitted to steroid use.  Sosa has not yet, but evidence is strong.  Needless to say, I was devastated at first.  Then I came to acceptance.  Acceptance that it wasn't just those two guys that used, but many of the era.  So I have accepted the era.  Now I watch sports with caution and skepticism.  When I watch a sporting event, I don't think about who uses PEDs and who doesn't.  I just am not surprised anymore if someone tests positive.  While the testing has become much better over the years, the cheaters are still ahead of the game.  My first introduction to steroid use among athletes was in 1988 during the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.  Canadian track star, Ben Johnson, obliterated the record in the 100 meters and beat American Carl Lewis.  Shortly there after, Johnson tested positive for steroids and was stripped of his Gold Medal.  I didn't really understand it then at age 9, but I understand now why athletes try to do it.  Everyone wants to be bigger, faster, and stronger.  They feel cheating is the only way to do it.  What they should take note of, is the rise and fall of Lance Armstrong.

When Armstrong was winning, even amongst the loud whispers of doping, people didn't want to believe it.  I didn't want to believe it.  He denied it over and over again.  He was defiant and was hard not to believe.  You wanted to give this cancer survivor the benefit of the doubt that he was clean.  He started the Livestrong Foundation for cancer research.  They yellow bands became a symbol of the cause.  I have worn a yellow Livestrong band for years.  In light of Armstrong reportedly admitting to his use of PEDs in an interview that he will do with Oprah Winfrey that will be taped Monday and aired on Oprah's OWN network and Oprah.com, I've been struggling with the fact if I should still wear the yellow band or not.  Armstrong has distanced himself from Livestrong.  Resigning as it's CEO and not doing anymore appearances.  But the organization still does great things in the fight with cancer; a disease that has affected all of us in some way.  After a lot of thought, I've decided to keep wearing the band...not in support of Armstrong, but in support of the fight against cancer.

In an interview with 60 Minutes Sports, the head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Travis Tygart who investigated the Armstrong case, said he found strong evidence and testimony from fellow team members of Armstrong, that the United States Postal Service team, had a very sophisticated system of illegal drug use, lead by Armstrong.  He said that bullying tactics were used to get other team members to use, and imposed a strict code of silence that was equal to the code of silence you would see in mafias.  The details and testimony are damning.  Armstrong refused to fight it.  It has been reported recently that he has reached out to USADA in hopes of lifting his lifetime ban so he can compete in other sports, like triathlons and marathons.  We'll see what comes of that.

Armstrong's rise and fall has been an epic one.  One that every athlete should take note of and think twice before using PEDs.  I hope it will lead to less use, however, we all know that won't happen.  Cheaters will always try to be ahead of the system.  I'm hoping that in his interview with Winfrey, that he will address every single question she poses.  I think Winfrey won't be as tough a questioner as say a Bob Costas or a Dan Patrick who would be more qualified to ask such questions, but I do hope, that whatever she asks he answers honestly and candidly.  In a text to the Associated Press, he said he put no limits on what she could ask.  I just question that she will ask all the right questions and hard follow up questions that need to be posed to him.  I'm sure some clips and quotes will be leaked out from that interview tomorrow and I'm looking forward to watching the full interview on Thursday.

I hate to judge someone before hearing it from them no matter how things look, however, the evidence against Armstrong is so damning that it's hard to not pass judgement.  While we may never get all the answers, I hope the answers that Armstrong does provide will shed light on why he did it and the culture he himself set among his USPS team.  We will see.  Stay tuned...