Why are you giving up? Do you realize that it may cause some people (OK, a lot of people) to assume that you're guilty after all? You've maintained all along that you're clean. You're the most tested athlete in history and passed every test with flying colors. Why give up now? If you're truly innocent, FIGHT. And keep fighting. And keep believing. Because you know what? You're an inspiration to thousands of people. Millions. We believe in you, and we believe anything is possible because of you.
You got cancer, and you fought back, and you won.
You endured the most grueling endurance test on earth, and you fought hard, and you won. SEVEN TIMES.
You have faced accusations and half-truths and downright lies. And you fought back. You submitted to every test they threw at you. And you won. You passed all those tests. Blood tests, urine tests, random tests. Your samples were all clean.
I know you're tired of fighting. I do understand that feeling, although I can't say I've been through anything like what you've been through all these years. I know it's exhausting. And expensive. And frustrating.
But you're LANCE FREAKING ARMSTRONG.
If you won't fight, who will?
And if you're giving up because you really did cheat, and you've been bamboozling us all along, I want you to know that I'm devastated. I believed in you. I defended you whenever anyone said anything negative. I stayed glued to the tv and Internet during the Tour all those years and cheered for you. I bought your story, every word of it. Now that you're giving up and giving in, I have to wonder if my allegiance was misplaced.
8 comments:
I dunno I really think that even drugged up I couldn't accomplish what he did. He still had to bike those miles at those speeds and beat cancer...Yes it is unfair to all those who competed against him to not have a level playing field, but dont let this sour our image of an amazing person...
It would be like finding out Martin Luther King had a speech writer...so what? He still made the speech and did something amazing...
Personally, I think he was just tired of fighting to clear his name and wants to get on with his life. All his drug tests were clean, but they are going on word of mouth. Seems unfair and how do you really fight that? If the tests aren't good enough, what is?
I have no facts to back this up but I think that if he was doping, so was everyone else thus making it a level playing field. I'm a Lance fan whether he was clean or not, he played by the same rules as everyone else.
Furthermore, why are our tax dollars paying for things like investigating athletes doping? What a waste of tax payer money. I've never understood how such a rich country can have homeless people yet we have money to heckle Lance, Roger Clemens, etc. Let the sports regulate themselves and do something more noble with the money.
Sorry for the rant.....
Here is my take on it: he felt that the USADA was not going to use a fair process. He claimed that there was no physical evidence and just claims from others who cut deals with the USADA. I believe that he though that if the District Court would not intervene (and it did not which is what prompted this) there is no doubt the USADA would have found him guilty. So why spend more time and money for the same outcome, when he could throw in the towel and focus his efforts and money elsewhere. I can't say I blame him. It sounds like the USADA is pretty self-contained and there really is no fair adjudication on the merits. They already decided he was guilty and despite hundreds of clean tests, there was little more he could do to advance his case.
*thought*
AND - nothing good could come from months of testimony. It would have smeared him in the public whether true or not and he would have once again been in the hot spotlight re denials. Why do this to yourself when you know the outcome is going to be bad?
One more comment (sorry) - PLUS, he may not be stripped of his titles. That is not the USADA's determination. So he is gambling that not all the governing bodies buy into what he coins to be the USADA's "witch hunt"
For the record, I'm still a Lance fan. I hope that much is clear. I really hope he didn't cheat, because if he did then he was lying to us all along, and that would piss me off. But I still think what he accomplished is amazing.
Personally, I think he is just tired of spending millions of dollars against an agency that has already "presumed guilty"
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