Drug Cheat
Posted: Tuesday, January 22, 2013 by Travis Cody inYesterday was the national holiday to commemorate the birth of Civil Rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr. In my post yesterday, I said that I try to be kind every day and that I reflect on MLK Day to make sure I'm getting it right every day as he would want.
Today I prove that I've still got a lot of work to do to live Dr King's message every day and in every situation.
I have been a defender of Lance Armstrong. I will not be an apologist.
Lance Armstrong is an admitted drug cheat. And a liar. And I'm not OK with that.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong admitted that he used performance enhancing drugs during his cycling career. I don't care why. I don't care that drug use has been rampant in the sport. I don't care that drug use was the norm throughout sport during a period of years, and may still be. I don't care that anyone thought that since everyone else was doing it, then it was simply a part of training and riding on the professional tour.
I don't care. I don't forgive. I have nothing but contempt for this athlete.
Using drugs to gain a competitive advantage is cheating. Armstrong never had an actionable positive drug test during his career, but there was plenty of suspicion. I believed him when he said he did not use performance enhancing drugs or techniques because there was never an actionable positive control result. I staunchly defended the athlete. I asked for the proof...not what somebody said. I wanted the actual proof.
Why did I do that? Because I beat cancer nearly 20 years ago. It wasn't a life threatening situation for me, but it was cancer and I fought it and I won. I wanted to believe Armstrong because of that. I wanted to believe him because he beat a life threatening cancer and became an inspiration to millions living with, through, and after cancer. His Livestrong foundation brought support to so many.
I wanted to believe that a person could beat cancer and not just return to a life, but take that life by the balls and do extraordinary things with it.
Well, a person can do that. People do that every day. It takes hard work. It takes effort. It takes a fierce will and determination. I've made my life extraordinary for me, for my friends, and for my family. I did it honestly by following the rules.
Lance Armstrong isn't just another drug cheat. He isn't just another in a long list of liars. He's a first class, grade A asshat for the years of self-serving lies that misled so many fans who wanted to believe that one pure athlete could win the premier event in professional cycling seven times in a row without cheating.
Yes, I'm disappointed. I understand now that I was naive. He fooled so many. He played on the sympathies of so many. He got so many on his side.
He fooled me. He played on my sympathies. He got me on his side. I defended him.
I will not apologize for him.
Dr King said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." It matters that Lance Armstrong cheated and lied about it. So I will not be silent and let him sweep those years of lying away.
I'm not ashamed that I spent those years defending an athlete who had no actionable positive drug tests, at least that came to light until recently. I am embarrassed that I remained purposely blind to the circumstantial evidence that was clear to others.
I was naive. I wanted to believe that he was clean and simply extraordinary.
A drug cheat. A liar. An asshat.
Don't look for forgiveness here.
I so agree with you. x