I have to admit that when the story first broke of Lance and his admission that I was still in his corner. But now I'm not. Candidly, when the story first broke about Joe Paterno and Penn State I was in his corner as well. Now, I'm not.
It sucks to see famous people (politicians, athletes, etc) build up a persona of being great only to see this perception crash when the REAL story unfolds. We all like great stories and Lance's story seemed to have all the elements we crave. Unfortunate the story that was being told is pure fiction.
I don't feel sorry for Lance; I feel sorry for his fans and those who supported him and his causes. People like me who thought he was better than that. Turns out, he isn't.
I agree with you Brad that you don't get a free pass for doing good; and while what Lance did had some good in it - those ends don't justify the means. I'm not sure what the final consequence will be for Lance but surely the verdict must parallel the crime. That said I'm not sure what that looks like. Pay back some of the fortune? Ok, but locking up a killer won't bring back those who lost their life. I can't imagine anything that will even begin to repair the damage he's done.
Surely people gave to LiveStrong in part (maybe large part) because of Lance. But they also gave to help others. Hopefully we don't find out the money wasn't used to help others. And as long as it went for what it was intended then there is some saving grace in that. Will people actually want their money back because Lance lied? I hope not. And if they do, then that's unfortunate.
What about cycling? Many have said I don't care about it. I care about it. And I care about sports and the integrity of the competition they represent. And while its a side story in the Lance debacle I would like to postulate on how to repair a sport that is clearly among the dirtiest of all sports. Doping is rampant in cycling. I haven't heard a single person refute that. And as is the case with most things, it starts at the top. Lance was the most famous in his sport. And now you've got him. But who's going to clean up the anti-doping agencies, the associations and governing bodies of international cycling, their policies and the consequences of cheating with PEDs? If someone can find an amicable solution it could serve as a guiding post for other sports.
We've all seen the rise and fall of our child and adulthood heroes. Most of mine have been athletes. Sports are being challenged in ways never seen before. Whether its their violent nature and physical injury risk (MMA, football) - the cheating (cycling, boxing, baseball) - the equity (hockey, basketball) or just how extreme they've become (X-games, triathlons) the world is stark crazy for sport. It's big money and big business.
I wish we could all go back to a world where sports was limited to recreational little league. In my mind that is the closest thing to pure sports good with bad in the recipe. Where a win or a loss was short lived, where the cheers were genuine and without a price for admission, where kids wanted to come and learned essential life skills, and where the fun of playing the game was at its peak. Ah, the good ole days!
We can't go back there, but as self proclaimed sports fanatic I'm disgusted by story lines like Lance. It's time to rethink our investments in sports and vote with our pocketbook on those that we support and don't support in the future.
But I suspect most will just watch the excerpts from Oprah, revel in another fallen athlete, and then start stocking up on Michelob Ultra for the big game in a couple of weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment