Armstrong “Stupid” to Give Up Reputation

Presse Sports-US PRESSWIRE

Lance Armstrong did something stupid.  I’m not talking about him allegedly taking performance enhancing drugs to sustain a long and glorified career in cycling, because nobody can know for sure except for him.  So, I’m of course talking about him giving up when, in all aspects of his life, he has done the opposite.

On Monday, the commissioning body of cycling upheld the USADA verdict and stripped him of his seven Tour de France victories and has banned him from the sport.

“Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling, and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling,” said Pat McQuaid, president of the International Cycling Union.  “This is a landmark day for cycling.”

Harsher words were never directed towards Armstrong before.

The decision puts an end to the two-year long doping investigation that cited a 200-page report and hundreds of pages of people standing against him.  McQuaid went on to say the evidence was overwhelming and that he found it “sickening” to the sport of cycling.

In leu of the investigation, Nike dropped Armstrong last week as a sponsor of Livestrong, the cancer-awareness charity he founded after battling and eventually beating testicular cancer.  The decision ended their eight-year long partnership together.

Still, Armstrong denies the doping allegations, especially after passing dozens of drug tests.

So why quit?

Armstrong’s decision to stop fighting the USADA is an obvious admission of guilt.  If someone falsely claimed I doped, I’d be standing against them for as long as it took to rectify my career and my reputation.  No amount of paper work or court claims would deter me from earning back the respect I might have lost from all my adoring fans.  So, in that sense, he is stupid.  Stupid for not wanting to reclaim his reputation, not only as a cancer survivor, but as a decent and moral person.

Now his reputation is tarnished beyond repair.  His Livestrong campaign will crumble at his feet and millions of people will see him as an outright cheater.

Or maybe the answer is simple.  That he is guilty.  And maybe we should continue to believe that people are guilty until proven innocent.  So thank you Armstrong for restoring our faith in the lack of humanity.

Presse Sports-US PRESSWIRE