Sympathy for Lance Armstrong

[Leisesturm]

I can agree with most of this... but only to a point. It had long ago become ridiculous for Lance to claim he was clean when he was routinely winning the toughest race in the world against known dopers. Also the sheer number of people who knew he was doping couldn't be silenced forever. What Lance should have done was keep quiet or come out against the hypocrisy that is Professional Cycling and argue for the complete removal of restrictions on what athletes in cycling can do as regards PED's. Really. This. The genie does not go back in the bottle. Drugs are here to stay in sports and the athletes need to unite as one voice to be allowed access to them. The way things are, they are constantly on a knife edge of suspense, wondering when the other shoe will drop. And it will. And then everything they have done in their career is taken away anyway. Does that make sense? Sympathy for Lance? Why? Because we have destroyed him... now we feel bad? It's not Lance, particularly I feel bad for. I feel bad for the next crop of dopers who will have to turn in their medals and leave their sports under a cloud of disgrace. You know its coming.

H

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by Dane_in_LA

"All the others did it" is not a valid excuse from a grown man.

You're right, it's not a valid excuse, but it is an understandable motivation. I mean... about the only choice an athlete has these days is whether to dope or leave his or her sport just when they make the big time. Some choice. I have a better idea than in my last post. Athletes of all sports should organize a "Year Without Sports". Just shut it all down. No more ESPN. Nothing. A whole year. Nothing. Wouldn't bother me, I'm not a sports fanatic. But it would likely be a threat to National Security. I'm running the risk of NSA surveilance just for suggesting athletes boycot pro sports. A talented clean athlete CANNOT beat a talented doped athlete. It cannot happen, it does not happen, and for us kibbitzing in the bleachers that the talented clean athlete should go out there clean and win anyway because that's the right thing to do... ... so many people wanted to believe Lance was clean... ... that just shows how driven by morals we are as a species. Morals don't win races. If Lance didn't win races he would have been out on his ear. He wouldn't have become the Lance we know. We know that now. Shouldn't that inform some of the thinking that takes place after his disgrace???

H