"let your boat of life be light, packed with only
what you need - a homely home and simple pleasures, someone to love and someone to love you,
enough to eat and enough to wear
and a little more than enough to drink:
for thirst is a dangerous thing"

Friday 24 August 2012

pain is temporary. quitting lasts for ever



Lance Armstrong.  Lets hope he is right about quitting lasting forever.  I lost all respect for him after he was interviewed on Oprah about his battle with cancer and he went on about how wonderful his wife was and how she had stood by him through thick and thin, he could not have done it without her, he detailed what they went through to have their twin daughters (from his frozen sperm) and how close they were and how wonderful it was to be Lance Armstrong. The little twin girls were hardly walking when he decided to run off with Cheryl Crow.  He has since had 2 more wives and at last count 5 children.

Hopefully he will be stripped of his 7 yellow jerseys but the whole Tour de France is now a farce.  Will they hand the his "doped" jerseys to the guys who came second?  Unlikely, because they have also been accused of doping.  Why don't they just have 2 races - 1 for those cyclist who do not use drugs, who train hard and respect their bodies and the rules and the other race to see who can dope themselves up the most, make themselves the strongest and so that we can see which sponsor makes the best drugs?

Why am I emotional about this?  One reason only, I hate being taken.  We all stuff up along the way but we don't pretend to be a hero, like he has done.  We all love the human side of the story and I am still convinced that Tiger Woods, for all the wrongs he has done, will come out of all of this a better character than Lance Armstrong.

I will never forgive Hansie Cronje for what he did to my children's perception of what a "sportsman" should be.  Gareth, in particular was shattered with Hansie's revelations and the fact that he "was caught" by his hero.  Was the cricket he was watching on television "real"?  Was the excitement and tension that a 13 year old cricket fan was feeling while he watched a World Cup match and believed was all "real" and "true"?  Was it all staged.  Was it ever "real"?  Can I ever trust again?  It is all so wrong.

Back to Lance.  Should he hand back the jerseys? This to me is the elementary part.  To me it is about the bigger picture.  What about the money that people spent on his books and the people who bought his books as inspiration and motivation for their children?  Lance Armstrong the brave, Armstrong the survivor, Lance the role model.  Nevermind the money he now has in the bank because of the races he won which enabled him to write books and give talks around the world to promote the "Lance Armstrong, Live Strong brand".

This will be the most popular debate around dinner tables all over the world.  I love to argue with the best and my family roll their eyes when I get on a roll about something I feel strongly about.  Lance Armstrong / Hansie Cronje, same mould.  Guilty or not, the not knowing is almost worst - My Hero - Sportsman or Fraudster? Mess with the grown ups but don't disillusion your young fans who believe in you.

AND, more importantly, don't make me buy a badly written book for a Christmas present for my son's stocking because I saw you race, was amazed at your comeback after cancer and thought that you were a good role model for my boys. 

I was taken AND I don't like that feeling.

Live Strong ....  Carry On....

Hopefully all the remaining sperm has defrosted!!




3 comments:

  1. need to read the facts again, he never EVER tested positive! Not once all based on allegations by other dopers who been offered a ligter sentence for testifying, he ha not failed a drug test in over 500 tests?! read this nd re-think, as this whole thing is a joke for people in sport amd the know.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/othersports/lance-armstrong-vs-usada-what-are-we-to-believe/2012/08/24/62940afa-ee0a-11e1-afd6-f55f84bc0c41_story.html That sums up the facta and arguments, then re-evaluate and will see how fake and unfair his trail is.

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  2. I should add one of those "views are my own" tabs. I did not say that he tested positive but I find it hard to believe that if he is innocent why he does not continue the fight to clear his name - certainly not lack of funds holding him back! I certainly would not like having my name dragged through the dirt (even by menopausal mothers who blog).

    I am not "people in sport and the know" and I don't pretend to be. Views are my own.

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  3. AND if he has lost the energy to continue fighting, surely there is a tablet or drink he can take!!

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