Friday 19 October 2012

Hot Topics: Lance, Lies and the Law

 

"I'll say to the people who don't believe, the cynics and the sceptics: I'm sorry for you. I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles.”

And so said Lance Armstrong when he celebrated his record-breaking seventh Tour de France title in 2005.
Do you suppose that Lance truly believed in his own spin as much as he hoped the rest of the world would?

Fortunately, the truth always has an uncanny habit of working itself free.  
And just like the most accomplished snake oil salesmen, Lance's miracle was not all it was cracked up to be.
The heavy weight of evidence from the USA Anti-doping Agency (USADA)effectively calls him a cheat, a master manipulator and a fraud.  
He doped before cancer; he doped after cancer; he doped through his glory years; and he doped in his comeback. His blood values in his valedictory 2009 and 2010 Tours, state an expert, had "less than a one in a million chance" of being natural.
He is now viewed as the ring leader in one of sport's most sophisticated drug scandals. The instigator of a massive and long-running scheme to cover tracks, tarnish reputations, lie to hearing panels and the press and do whatever was necessary to conceal the truth.

He fought like hell to keep the truth from surfacing. He sued anyone who even hinted he used drugs. The London Times, for example, had to pay him one million dollars in damages after a long running court case. At the time of that case there was no hard evidence.

I understand that there are people who have no conscience and use everyone around them as pawns in their corrupt games.  That is how the world turns.

I also understand why people want to believe in fairy tales. Lance's comeback from cancer to dominate the world's toughest bike race really was a wonderful and inspirational story. I believed him didn't you?

If we went through life not having belief in people it would be a wretched existence. Most of us treat others well and try to see the good in people. Many of us are raised with ideals, religious or otherwise, of forgiveness and non-judgment. And most of us make mistakes and admit it.

It is quite sad though that many, many people knew the truth about Armstrong and never said one word. They kept his secret and they helped him cover it up in all manner of ways. Why? Why are human beings so gutless at times? He had politicians and large corporations defend him and many supporters who acted as his drug mules. Why do people choose to “look the other way” or to “sit on the fence and do nothing” and enable evil people to continue to manipulate, abuse and hurt others? I do not get that bit of the equation at all. And I do regard his actions as evil.

I am glad that each of his team mates finally came forward and told the truth. And as the USADA says, "Collectively, these athletes, if forgiven and embraced, have a chance to leave a legacy far greater for the good of the sport than anything they ever did on a bike."
 
However, Lance Armstrong will never admit the truth even though his empire is falling down around him. Maybe this mega fraud will be instrumental in changing the way we view our sporting heroes. Athletes are human beings not machines. And it is about time we stopped giving them millions of dollars to try and beat the clock and ultimately the law as well.
 
Some mistakes you just cannot and should not wipe away. Let's hope they are a lesson for everybody.
 

29 comments:

  1. What a sad disappointment Lance Armstrong has proved to be. He is just another idol with feet of clay. Perhaps a little less hero worship for the greedy and more respect for the altruistic givers in our society would go some way to making a better world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The sad thing is he used his ill gotten gains to start his charity Livestrong which has gone onto raise $500 million for cancer research, programs etc. Remember his yellow wrist bands? He has now stepped down as the public face of that organisation but will remain on the Board. He is young - perhaps he may be able to reinvent himself but only if he admits the truth. He should also pay back every last cent he squeezed out of people he took to court. He took drugs and they were quite right in saying so. There were a lot of other riders who left the sport because they did not want to take drugs and that was the only way that they could compete with Lance's team. Shame all around.

      Delete
  2. There has been so much news about doping in sports that I guess I wasn't too surprised when the dirt about Armstrong came out. It's pathetic. Honor and truth in sports is becoming harder and harder to find.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Its a shame because it went on for years and he allowed it to.

      Delete
  3. Raising $500m for cancer research is pretty good but guess the ends don't justify the means.

    The powers that be should introduce DrugSports©
    where athletes are permitted to drug themselves up to the eyeballs, it's then a level playing field.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It is for sure but I think there maybe a question mark over it all now. Yes maybe there needs to be two streams in sport now and be open about it drug assisted and natural. These people are just sports people not Gods. We turn them into Gods is the problem. I wonder if all that crap would help my blogging...

    ReplyDelete
  5. How was he able to win a Million $$?? I don't understand how he could win these court cases and be guilty. Did everyone lie for him??
    What a mess! It is sad in so very many ways. And yet...he did do some fantastic things raising money for Cancer, etc., etc.
    One wonders how many other sports people in ALL different sports, are doping, too....!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that was before anyone could prove he was a cheat. And yes, people lied for him and he was paying one doctor a million or so to look after him. It is actually quite horrific if you think about it. He also sued some of his staff who quit in disgust at his drug taking. Of course they had no money to fight him in court and lost everything they owned. There was the case of one of his assistants who 'knew too much'. Armstrong got him black balled so he could not longer get a job in the cycling industry in the USA. He moved to New Zealand. There are lots of stories like that. He did what he had to in order to lean on people to shut them up. Then others of course just agreed to keep his secrets. That was all until every other person in his cycling team admitted to using drugs and using drugs with him. He is the only one that refuses to tell the truth and still claims he is innocent. The story is not as much in what he did but the measures he took to shut people up. I think he may have a personality disorder to achieve such a feat. He is super human on a few levels it would seem lol.

      Delete
  6. Liars inevitably eventually get caught and discredited. It would be far better if we lived in a culture that prized truth above glory, truth above public relations manipulations, and truth for the sake of ethics itself.

    Public image / the mass publicity of an internet age instead renders truth disposable. Too many people don't care to ask what lies (no pun intended) behind an image, and instead accept it at face value because it's easier for them to do so.

    Lance's bicycle wins must be very bittersweet now because they count for nothing - because to him - telling the truth counted for nothing. Karma is complete.

    And all those steroids? Can't be good for him.
    Add to that the unconscious stress of lying, and the stress of worrying about getting caught, and now the stress of having been revealed as a fraud, and the stress of the humiliation that goes with that - no matter how he is in a state of denial - and I would not be surprised at all to read in another year or two that there is cancer in another part of his system/body.

    Be very careful what you wish for - and how you go about getting it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is true Karma is a bitch and then some. We just love to have our heroes though don't we. I guess when you are so deep in a lie it is hard to get out of it. However, he has to be feeling better it is all out on th eopen finally.

      Delete
    2. Lilly,
      Creeps like that don't feel better when the truth is out in the open. Their cover has been blown, and they are just outraged at the people who have blown that cover for them. As you saw with his prior behavior of lawsuits. This guy has no conscience other than 'i want what i want and I will do anything to get it'

      A normal healthy moral person would feel relieved. But a healthy moral person would have never let it go this far.

      Delete
    3. Yes a little psychopath by the look of things. And makes me thing of someone I know....exact same behaviour. I am so glad he got his cover blown. Makes you wonder what his foundation was all about at the end of the day too. More glory for him.

      Delete
  7. This is a sickening story, worse because it's true.
    Good post, Lilly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Beth, where is your blog? I cannot find it.

      Delete
  8. very sad situation... the sports world is in a mess.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a shame for kids to see it = it is only sport though - I just do nto know why there is so much money attached to it. Greed steps in I guess were money is concerned.

      Delete
  9. You have to admire the Drug Agency as it did not back down at all. They ahd to spend millions of dollars getting to the truth and that came from American taxpayers. On one hand Armstrong may have got lots of donations for his Charity but on the other millions more have been spent bringing him to justice. They cancel out each other. He is clearly a little psychopath if you read how he treats people. His first wife and Sheryl Crowe must be clapping their hands they are out of the mess. Although they must have known what he was up to as well. He isnt a healthy role model for anyone to look up to, he is a drug addict.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They copped a lot of flack from certain political quarter too. And no doubt they are just public servants. You can acutally go to their website and read about it all. Public doccuments in fact. It makes your hair curl. Nothing is all that it seems.

      Delete
  10. Sickening is right. I never knew the extent he has gone to. Sad. Just sad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I thought he was innocent as he never gave in and defended himself legally all the time. Just goes to show maybe it's the ones who protest too loudly have the most to hide.

      Delete
  11. Looks like his famous ex-girlfriend talked to authorities about his doping. Sheryl Crow sat down with federal agents back in 2011.
    http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/970311/sheryl-crow-plays-role-in-lance-armstrong-doping-scandal

    Everyone makes mistakes but what is worse than a mistake is covering it up and deceiving everyone. He must not care what people think of him.

    Oh did you know Sheryl Crow only second to you as my most famous follower.
    http://afcsoac.blogspot.com/2012/07/lucky-blogger.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bill

      1. you have to go to my blogging Tips page and see how to inser a link into a comment as it doesnt work for Blogger, lol

      2. Yes, I do not really class this as a mistake, way bigger. And he is never going to admit it because he would lose everything. And deservedly so. I bet Sheryl Crow never said anything. She got cancer two weeks after he dumped her. I hope she told them everything she knew but awkward position for them all to be in, the family and his exes.

      Delete
  12. Cadel Evans came second to a drug cheat in 2007 so that must bust his balls knowing that he should have rightly won. It just goes to show that Evans is a fantastic athlete that never got his dues. Glad he won it righfully in 2011. Shame, Armstrong and team, shame on you. You are no better than Bernie Maddof Both were given millions of dollars on the back of plain fraud.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess I never heard about Cadel until he won in 2011 but clearly he was doing it clean. Good on him as it cannot have been easy.

      Delete
  13. It is just shocking but least it will be all cleaned up for a while anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I don't think Lance made a mistake as one of your commenters says. The reality is that he was a talented athelete that wanted to be more talented. He is a liar and if someone lies they can steal - in fact he has already stolen the people's trust. What I worry about is that young people today really have to look hard to find institutions and prominent people to believe in. Very little feels sacred any more. While I don't doubt that people should be forgiven, I don't think people especially such prominent people, need to be quickly forgiven - that includes Arnold, Tiger Woods, Lance, etc. There really should be some service involved and not just paying back money.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is so true. And he has come tumbling down in everyones books which is rightly so. I don't think he made a mistake either. It was quite calculating and fraudulent and he will now pay the price for that.

      Delete
  15. Did you read about hwo Lances father took off when he was only 2 and that Lance has never had anything to do with him. That oculd explain a lot. It is also intersting that he is likely to be inundated with court cases because he basically lied to companies who sponsored him etc. He will probably go down as the worst sports cheat in history and I dispise him for cheating cancer victims by all his lies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did see that article and its very interesting. It could be the reason he has psychopathic tendencies perhaps. Who knows, people need to move on and not give him any air time anymore. I hope whoever sponsored him sues him for millions. He is no role model for anyone.

      Delete

Thanks for your comments.