Well last night Oprah had it. The Big Story. The Big Reveal. The one that had Lance Armstrong finally coming clean about his doping during his time as a professional cyclist where he won an astonishing 7 titles in the Tour De France (1999-2005). His excuse was his drive to win and that it was a level playing field, everyone was doing it. And actually Lance is not far off from the truth.
In the years of Armstrong’s run at the Tour Title there were 94 cases of doping (not including Armstrong) in cycling. (1999-5 cases; 2000-5 cases; 2001-12 cases; 2002-15 cases; 2003-13 cases; 2004-22 cases; 2005-22 cases) And those are the ones caught. To say there is more might be a stretch but it is possible that when Armstrong testifies (and yes he is going too. Why else go on Oprah and talk about doping if he did not want to compete again in sports). But as it seems that Armstrong was the crème de la crème when came to passing dope tests, however I am banking on one or two more big names falling. But if we want to put it in a real contents, the number of cases almost double from 22 in 2005 to 42 in 2006. And by that time Lance Armstrong was done with cycling and had retired. So I say again: Armstrong is not far off from the truth.
And while the 2000s for cycling is going to looked at as the 90s were fo baseball and the steroid debate and use where we saw a number on top ranked players fall from grace or had their images and legacies tarnished forever by being linked to steroid use. Many of the players, while they beat the probes into their lives, are still being punished today and being excluded from the Hall of Fame. In fact doping has been an issue in sports since people found a way to make money at playing them. The Olympics for decades has been dealing with the fact of doping. Some of it done by the actual country that the puts forth their athletes. (East Germany anyone? And lets not forget North Korea or China). On a side note we are going to have to face the fact the NFL (National Football League) allows quite a bit of doping to go on the sidelines during the game. They say that they (NFL) are make strides into making the game safer for the athletes that play the game but the league allows actual doctors on the sidelines to administer pain meds to players so they can get back on the field. And if we are serious about wanting to rid doping from sports and make the games that are played safer then that is something that is going to have to be discussed.
In the end Lance Armstrong has done nothing that has not been going on for years. He did not ruin the sport of cycling or sports at all for that matter. He is just another scapegoat in a long line of scapegoats with many more to come in the realm of the sports world. Because sports today are driven by the almighty dollar. And tougher, faster, stronger athletes are going to be the most sought after even if they think that they might be doping. Just don’t get caught is the motto of sports today. That and we are going have to figure out one day that these people are not role models. Sure many do something good; give back to the community so to say. But many do not. Many are just thugs and assholes And besides, it is just a game.
To say that Lance Armstrong (and people like him) have and are ruining sports is as about as ridiculous as saying that gay people marrying is and will ruin the sanctity of marriage. Because lets face it. They have not. Sorry. We all have a hand in it whether you like it or not.
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