Say what
you will about his work to "fight" cancer, Armstrong lived a lie and
did whatever he could to cheat and misguide his fans along the way.
It just
goes to show how people will believe anything when it comes to worshiping a
sports figure or celebrity. I believe the phrase is called "star fucking."
I've never bought in to that philosophy, and I never will.
But see,
not only were his followers fooled by his tangled web of lies, so was Lance. He
was so good at convincing the world and those within his tight inner circle, I
sincerely believe he began to accept his own words and actions as truth.
There is a
famous George Costanza line from an episode of Seinfeld:
Once a
liar, always a liar.
As
Armstrong delved deeper and deeper into his complex and intricate delusional
world, he threatened those that turned against him, discarded those he no
longer had use for and took advantage of those he had a Svengali-like power
over. This was not a decent or moral human being.
All of this
behavior has been well documented over the years by various media outlets that
have investigated Armstrong at great length.
I'm not a
cycling fan, never have been, but it was hard to ignore the fact that Armstrong
had won seven Tour de France titles and was a cancer survivor to boot. I never
followed his story that closely, because, quite frankly, I didn't really care.
But when Armstrong became a spokesperson of sorts for a company I was working
for, I had to take notice. He was probably one of the most recognizable
athletes/celebrities in the world at the time.
Admittedly,
I didn't like the fact that he was part of my company, but there were a lot of
people that did. They thought it was a good move, even with all of the unusual
things swirling around in his personal life. I always felt uneasy promoting him
and the foundation at fundraising functions, and I never wore the yellow
bracelet. It had nothing to do with the fight against cancer, but everything to
do with who Lance Armstrong was as a person.
The funny
thing is I never thought it was cool that I got to hang out with Armstrong. I
never bragged about it. It wasn’t something I was proud of either. Now that the
years have passed, Armstrong is no longer associated with the company; however,
his foundation is.
Once the
USADA report came out in 2012, sponsors began dropping him like a bad habit.
Now, he
wants to come clean. How ironic. Cycling seems to be as corrupt as politics. Is
this a ploy to try to compete again? Or is it to try to make amends with his
fans? Or, is he truly sincere and really wanting to make peace with himself?
The damage
is already done. He has lied for so long, and I believe people are way too
cynical, and hopefully smart, to fall for his charade. I’m not buying what he’s
selling, but then I never have. Oh, there are still some diehards out there
that will stick with Armstrong to the bitter end and cite the work he has done
with his foundation. But I can't personally forgive someone who has vigorously
fought to protect his reputation against an illegal activity for so long only
to have it crushed under the lies he told in the process of protecting it.
Whatever
the fallout is from his admission to using performance-enhancing drugs, or if
he goes on some national apologizing tour, Armstrong should be finished as a
celebrity/athlete. But of course, this is America, land of the glut and home of the
absurd, and someone somewhere will partner with him, and he’ll resurface in
some kind of reality show, and one of his fanatical followers will step forward
and say, “See, I told you so. Lance Armstrong is a good guy. He just needed
another chance to prove himself. Everyone else did him wrong.”
Because you
see, we never are the cause of our own problems. It’s always someone else’s fault.
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