Once again the prattling whine of Lance Armstrong can be heard in another world " exclusive ", which is no more than a thinly veiled PR exercise to gain support for the absolutely absurd idea of allowing him to compete in competitive cycling again.
What on earth are you doing Lance ? What the hell are you thinking ? You were caught, you cannot pretend that you are not caught cheating." But lots of people have", insists the nasal twang, which is very true, none more so than in Spain where hundreds of cheats in all types of sports breathed a collective sigh of relief when the judge ordered bags ( literally ) to be destroyed. Quite a few very eminent Spaniards wriggled off the hook. However Armstrong, once the biggest of fishes, did not.
Now many have been caught cheating and in this Lance is quite right. What Lance seems unable to truly comprehend is the scale of, not only the cheating, but the lives he destroyed in the process of doing so and then covering it up.
On many many occasions huge pressure was brought to bear on riders to cheat by Armstrong under immense peer pressure, we can argue they should have been stronger in mind, than to be bullied into taking drugs. On that one, how much glamour is attached to the life of a drug supplier the gangster and how much maligned is the taker, the waste of space.Every time i turn on the splendid film Layer Cake i watch friends rejoice in the roles of Michael Gambon and Daniel Craig, who have the money and the girls and yet we laugh at the three junkies on the sofa, as being weak.One reason why many, i suspect did not come forward.
But far worse than that, not only did Armstrong consign decent riders who rode clean, to the dustbin of history,( can you name the guy who finished in 20th place in this year's Tour De France ? No.. nor can i !) , but finished those unwilling to cheat or expose him.
So imagine the deflated look on the poor bastard in most of the races in 1990's who knew he was the only one riding clean and that most of those above him cheated ?
I once had a discussion with a top sportsman on this issue and his response was that Armstrong was being made a scapegoat, to my eternal shame he was a fellow Australian. It seems to be the accepted norm that it is OK to do it if you can get away with it.
I am sorry that is a ridiculous and pathetic statement and totally devalues those honest sportsmen and women who diligently and fairly compete in the sport they love.
When not able to bully or browbeat into silence anyone not on his page, he would make absolutely certain that person was gagged or completely ostracised within his sport, rather like the McCann's do now with anyone questioning them in life.
So no Lance you cannot ride again !
Your punishment is FAR LESS than you truly deserve !
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