You know what’s crazy? I’ll tell you what’s crazy.™
The audacity of the lie – the boldness of the falsehood – the abhorrent stench of the deception.
I’m not talking about Richard Nixon or Bernie Madoff, I’m talking about Lance Armstrong.
I never took Performance Enhancing Drugs he said over and over and over.
Now at the abyss, in the swamps of despair, Armstrong must decide which path to take. The path of truth, the continuing path of lies.
Armstrong’s reputation is in tatters, his self value is lower than seaweed in a typhoon.
They say Armstrong is going to reportedly confess his sins, and he will do it at the Journalistic alter of Oprah Winfrey.
This week, the revelation will be confirmed. Armstrong won’t tell all, but he will reportedly pull back the curtain just enough to let the stench of his duplicity ooze out.
He was an iconic figure who gave hope to millions around the world. He sored up mountains while others labored. He wore yellow while others stood in awe. He was an inspiration to those knocking on death’s door step.
Suddenly the world wore a collective yellow bracelet with the slogan: LiveStrong.
These bracelets were on bankers and dying children and pro athletes. The yellow band gave them power, hope, a sense of solidarity.
And that is the atrocity of it all.
Armstrong beat cancer and won 7 Tour De France bike races. He was accused by his own teammates and competitors of doping. He was defiant, almost belligerent in his denials.
He was more than an athlete, he was a Icon. Now he is man, fallen from grace.
What will he tell Oprah? Does it matter? It will only be part of the story. It will only be a half truth. The damage is done.
Or is it?
Belief is belief. Sick people rallied around a spirit of togetherness with others who also had hope and needed hope.
Lance Armstrong lit the fuse. Just because he has been extinguished, doesn’t mean the good he promoted has been. The real power is in the people who believe in LiveStrong.
Regardless of what Armstrong says, despite how he says it, people still have the power to fight and Hope and succeed.
One man’s lie cannot extinguish the will to Livestrong.
And that is crazy.™