You know what’s crazy? I’ll tell you what’s crazy
Accusations of doping.
First it was Mark McGwire and his bulging biceps. Then it was Barry Bonds and his bulging head. Then it was Roger Clemons and his bulging tongue.
Now it’s Lance Armstrong whose neck is stretched out on the Peformance Enhancing chopping block.
After 7 Gold Jerseys and Tour de France championships, the accusations are once again falling like so much acid rain.
The question is why? Who cares?
Do we care if Batman has Human Growth Hormone in his utility belt?
Do we care if Krypton’s sun gives Superman an unfair advantage on Earth?
No.
We want results. We want Batman to answer the light in the night sky. We want Superman to stop the train that is about to roll off the tracks.
Welcome to another edition of let’s drag down the hero.
60 Minutes interviewed a teammate of Armstrong who says he saw the cycling king inject himself with PED’s. The teamate claims he saw the refrigerator full of blood doping drugs and syringes.
Did Armstrong do it?
Probably.
And how did the 7 time champion defend himself? Did he hold a press conference to deny the accusations? Did he rent out the lobby of the Biltmore and ride in like Cleopatra on a gigantic yellow jersey?
Nope he used less than 168 characters and TWEETED:
“20+ year career. 500 drug controls worldwide, in and out of competition. Never a failed (drug) test. I rest my case.”
But is his case rested? No. That’s because the man did what nobody ever dreamed possible. He defied logic in the broiling heat of the French countryside. He defied gravity in the oxygen depleted mountains.
He was a piston pumping machine, his race horse heart surging, harder – faster than a locomotive as he chewed up competitors like bicycling sausage.
The French loved him and hated him. America embraced him. Those who rode with him had their doubts and cast their aspersions.
How could a cancer survivor cheat death and then cheat the world?
It was a story for the ages.
Mitch Albom on ESPN’s the Sports Reporters said this about the sport he called a rolling pharmacy.
“3 more teammates came forward. Tyler Hamilton said he saw him inject himself. Why would they announce this? For more book deals? how many people can read about bicycling?”
“I saw it in his refrigerator,” Tyler Hamilton says. “I saw him inject it, more than one time.”
Why say this if it is not true? What is the benefit to bring up accusations against a champion now retired.
The man has done a lot for cycling, but more for cancer survivors. They revere him. He gives them hope that cancer can be beaten.
It’s sad the way we build up our heroes only to tear them down.
What if Paul Bunyon is on the juice. Would it matter if he and Babe the Blue Ox were chopping down forests with an Axe made of nuclear fusion.
Again I ask. Should we care what’s in Bat Man’s utility belt or if Robin stuffs socks into his pajama tights?
As long as they are SOCKING the Joker and ZAPPING the Riddler, who cares?
In a world full of accusations and asterisks, you wonder what’s real and what’s not anymore?
Enhanced? What the hell is that anyway? Is the exotic dancer at the Wild Goose Club “enhanced?”
If you have Cancer and Armstrong’s yellow bracelet gave you hope in a time of darkness, then I doubt seriously if you care about the 60 Minutes report or how big Barry Bonds head is.
As long as Batman defeats the Penguin, who cares if he’s hopped up on the juice.
Holy Blue Ox Batman.
and That’s Crazy!