A little disorganized rant:
I posed this statement on facebook the other day:
do the ends justify the means? I love lance for his fortitude in fighting cancer, for his perseverance and determination to raise money thru his foundation. For that, call him a hero if you want. Please do not call him a hero for his cycling. Cheating can be forgiven. But cheating itself is despicable and does not make you a hero. Does the end – all his cancer awareness and funds, justify what it took (and what he took) to be noticed?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/richkarlgaard/2012/08/24/did-lance-armstrong-quit-the-fight-to-hide-more-dirt/
Witchhunt – Cheaters never prosper
Do I agree with the witchhunt to convict Clemens, Palmerio, McGwire, Armstrong, Bonds etc? No. I think the government and these governing agencies have their own vendetta to teach a bigger lesson of “Cheaters Never Prosper.” It was a phrase I heard over and over as a child, as my parents wanted to teach me the value of ethics and honesty. These governing agencies are just trying to spank these cheaters, and prove a lesson to the rest of the world. But the cheaters are prospering How much money and fame have these people gotten? Despite admitting to taking things that improved their performance (sure, debatable), their personal accomplishments are still revered. Thier stats are still held as “records.”
The act of cheating is forgivable. Im not a saint. There have been many decisions and choices and actions that I am ashamed of, that I belive I was wrong for. I am grateful that I don’t have to stand trial in the court of public opinion like these people do. The bible says “all have fallen short…” I am no different than these people, in that I too have made mistakes.
Lance Armstrong was never found fraudlent in his drug tests. Well at least in his tests that were submissable evidence (technicalities). However he recently dropped his fight, conceivably, because of the insurmountable evidence against him, that included many eye-witnesses. It was a good PR move. Quit (he was never a quitter before), when it got too rough, when he didnt want the new evidence coming out, and before his name was dragged thru the press again, this time with the required proof.
Cheaters should not be revered as hero’s.
Lance can be considered a “hero” for all of his work that he and his foundation have done to raise awareness and funds for cancer research.
Lance can be considered a hero for his own fight and victory over testicular cancer (was this cancer caused by PED’s?).
Please do not consider Lance a hero for his cycling or his hard work that he put into his cycling. This was all negated by his cheating.
ryan braun – mvp
arod – former MVP soon to be hr record holder
bonds – former mvp current hr record holder
Mcgwire – former hr season record holder
Clemens – countless cy youngs
Im fed up with people gaining exposure, fame, money, and reverence because they excelled at something, and cheated to do so.
Links:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/richkarlgaard/2012/08/24/did-lance-armstrong-quit-the-fight-to-hide-more-dirt/
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/sportingscene/2012/08/lance-armstrong-decision-not-to-fight-doping-charges.html
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/armstrongcharging0613.pdf
http://www.forbes.com/sites/richkarlgaard/2012/06/13/lance-armstrong-hero-cheat-and-tragic-figure/2/