Saint Lance of Texas.... For this is what I reckon you call yourself?
So you opened up to Oprah eh?
So brave of you.....
(I am being sarcastic)
I will say now that I have yet to see the interview so forgive any misinterpretation I may have of the the script..... Well at least please don't sue me....
You see Lance it is like this... You plea to us all, your fans, your believers.... That you just followed the example set by others, you plea that everyone was doing it and so you did too.... You are after all ... Just human....
So I ask you.... What would you say or think to a gang member who pleaded the same after their gang were caught having beaten up a man.... The excuse being "but we all did it", "i wanted to be part of the gang", "I wanted to head the gang so just added my weight".... What of morals, what of self regulation, what of self control?
Ahhh yes but you are a great sportsman ... And you no doubt possess that grim "win at all costs" attitude... That selfish perserverance to the detriment to those around you. For you are Saint Lance, cancer survivor, winner..... Bully? Cheat? No ... Not in your eyes.... You denied this so many times and in so many courts.... You have sued, to your own admission, countless people who dared whisper outloud the prospect of you being a cheating drug taker.
You have made countless millions from your actions. Let us be honest ... All for personal gain.
Your one saving grace has no doubt been the livestrong foundation .... This charity has provided much to many people. I wish your sporting energies had been pursued in a similar giving fashion... You have been the biggest sporting fraud of a generation.... Not just for the drug taking, granted "everyone did it" attitude... No because of the persistent denial, even in the last year despite damming evidence.
Have you considered that had you put as much into setting up a clean cycling foundation, having fought the antipdoping fight in a similar way to your fight for life, to the legacy of the livestrong foundation ... That perhaps the sport would already be in a much better place, that you and your peers could have stood up and made it cleaner... Back then.... So the cycling generation of today are not so tarnished by this ugly brush?
And one other thing ... The bullying side of this all seems likely.... Such denial by yourself doesn't ring true to the stealy faced singleminded Lance persona we have all come to see.
Can I imagine you insisting team mates doped? ... I can imagine you saying "you can't let us down. You have to be in the race. If you can't stick the pace then you are worthless"... I'm not suggesting you actually said these things but can I imagine the Lance I've read about having this attitude?.. Then yes absolutely I can...
Conversely I cannot imagine anyone telling you what to do... Insisting you fall into line, that you must follow team orders.... That doesn't sound like your persona either.
Do you ever think of the people you flattened, spat out on your way to "greatness".... The cyclists who refused you, refused the drugs and so deterred from a sport and career they once loved. The people who innocently supported you? The people your lawyers sued for every penny?
But what do I know. I certainly don't know you. We have never met. I just purchased your books and admired you.
But no more.
In my eyes you are a bully, a liar, a cheat. You have let so many people down it runs into the millions. That would be a heavy weight for most but I suspect not necessarily for you... As the saying goes "you got yourself into this mess and it is now for you (not your lawyers, speech writers and publicists I may add) to get yourself out."
I don't know how you even start to repair any of this....
Yes ok you confessed of sorts... But to Oprah ? What does she have to do with any of it? Wada, USADA, UCI .... Maybe... But Oprah!? Give me a break from your publicity vehicle, your scriptwriters, your lawyer reviews. I wish you could go quietly and confess fully to the right agencies in a less public way. I wish you could repair the damage to the careers of all those you messed up and I wish you could repay all those people your lawyers sued. But Lance I have to say I don't think it is going to be that easy.
