I think we can now almost safely assert what I had before supposed:
Lance Armstrong is the greatest fraud ever perpetrated in the history of sport.
I'm trying to imagine if there is any scenario where Lance finally confesses and says, "I'm sorry. I lied." He has so much built up around this fraud that it's hard to imagine him risking it (though by not confessing he incurs risk as well). The greatest cyclist outside of Eddie Mercx. His self-image as a leader in the fight against cancer. His political aspirations. He desire to be attractive to younger female celebrities and score tail.
Is this enough to justify continued perpetration of a lie?
Many of us were willing to overlook the fact that Lance is/was a prick of the highest order. He treated many around him like shit. Including the mother of his children, despite the fact he grew up without a father. He was petty, he held grudges. But we were willing to overlook all of that. We chalked it up to his competitiveness. The same drive that made him the best cyclist also made him an asshole. He would not be unique in that. Look at Michael Jordan.
Now I know that some of you Armstrong apologists are going to say that he was still the best cyclist, and because everyone was cheating, it was an even playing field.
Except that all of his contemporary adversaries have been busted for cheating and have been kicked out of the sport and shamed.
Shouldn't some shame fall on Armstrong as well? Should his contemporaries be derided as cheats, while Armstrong is not?
Maybe history will look back and give a blank check to all these cheaters and say "that was the era." That's fine. But that's for history to decide. Right now, some amount of consistency and fairness should be the order of the day. If Lance cheated, then he cheated. And it should be made crystal clear.
Imperfect people can still fight cancer. Imperfect people (duh) can run for political office. Imperfect people can still promote things that are important to them.
This fairy tale, sadly, appears to be exactly that--a fairy tale. Millions of dollars, drugs, sex--it's the same story we have heard many times. It's about time we stop putting assholes like Lance on the top pedestal and start looking to different kinds of heroes.
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