I joined my friend, a cyclist, and tuned into Oprah with
three million others to watch Lance Armstrong's much-hyped interview. Oprah served
up three hours of OWN programming for a two-segment confessional space for
Armstrong to come clean.
The long and short of it was he said he lied and had used banned substances during the seven Tour de France cycling events he "won." At the time, he didn't feel he was cheating because the drugs he used to gain his competitive advantage were freely available to other riders. When Nike severed his endorsement deal, he lost $75 million in one day; and that many peoples' lives in the elite field of cycling were ruined because of his "win at any cost" philosophy.
The long and short of it was he said he lied and had used banned substances during the seven Tour de France cycling events he "won." At the time, he didn't feel he was cheating because the drugs he used to gain his competitive advantage were freely available to other riders. When Nike severed his endorsement deal, he lost $75 million in one day; and that many peoples' lives in the elite field of cycling were ruined because of his "win at any cost" philosophy.
First off, the lure of performance enhancing substances
permeate our culture, whether it's Gatorade,
Red Bull, crack or Prozac, Red Bull or coffee, Mountain Dew, cocaine, Valium or 5-Hour Energy--
the lure to stay up, calm down and do more, better persists, no matter the
risks. And everyone from truck drivers and med students, to admins and CEOs
have their fill.
Let me be clear, I am not excusing Armstrong and hope that
justice is served. I'll never forget Marion Jones serving jail time with a
nursing baby because of her lying about using performance drugs in the
Olympics. Like Jones found, there's always redemption. As it is for us all.
There are those who feel jipped for what amounts to being inspired by him.
Come on. If his example made you get up off the couch or fight to survive
something in your own life, can you really discount it? The effects of
inspiration isn't a placebo and is the stuff miracles are made of. The feeling
of being inspired was real .
But enough about Armstrong.
What I'm most perplexed about is the amount of energy and resources
that went into his public reckoning for fraud that was felt primarily by an
elite group of cyclists and its ancillaries.
How much more would our country be served if that same
energy and attention was placed on smoking out the housing and banking cheats?
Their cheating, lies and fraud sent retirees back to work, took
peoples' homes, wiped out their savings and snuffed out The American Dream for
millions, the impact of which will be felt for generations to come.
I don't feel as much bamboozled by a man on a bike who
sought to win at any cost as I do by the powers that be that so divert our
attention and have us think such misdeeds are the ones that deserve our
time.
Oprah, indeed, the truth will make us free.
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