Why Lance Armstrong Should Not Get Busted

I want to write about anything else, I really do! But the only thing swirling through my head is Floyd telling the truth and tossing everyone else under the bus and by everyone, I mean Lance Armstrong.

I've always said, and I believe I said it earlier this week, that it's easy for all us who have never had to make the choice to dope and compete in Europe or be "moral" and race crits back in America, to wag our fingers and take a holier-than-thou stance against athletes who confess or are caught doping. I've often argued that if everyone else is doping and cycling is your best prospect for increasing your quality of life, it's a poor economic decision not to dope. I've never argued that it makes it morally better because everyone else is doing it, but, in a case like this, the morality of doping is a gray area.

For issues like this I often like to turn to the opinions of pros. What do they think about Floyd and if Lance doped, etc, etc? Yesterday I posted on twitter a link to a blog entry by Adam Myerson who I think has an insightful take on the entire issue. You can find it here. Maybe I like his take because it matches pretty well with what I already think, but, I still think a pros opinion should carry a bit more weight than the guy who beats up on you at your local Tuesday night ride who's been a Cat 3 for the last 10 years and refuses to upgrade because he knows he can't compete at the next level. Man, that's a tangent.

Back to the issue at hand. There is now a full on federal investigation into whether Lance Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs during his career. First off, let's just all take a moment to reflect on what's going on in the world today, this instant:

(In no order of importance)
1) Oil Spill with little to nothing being done about it.
2) Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that cost ga-billions a day and don't need to be fought.
3) Schools all over the country and firing teachers and closing doors because of budget short falls.
4) Economy still in the shitter.

Now, I realize that a federal investigation of Lance Armstrong doesn't cost so much that it would have any affect on the issues listed if the money were spent in those areas instead. But, one can't help but wonder why the hell the US Gov't gives a shit if Lance Armstrong used drugs or not. I had the same argument about their investigations into baseball and football and I think the same reigns true now. If they want federal investigations, fine, but do it on some topic that actually makes a difference. In reality, whether Lance was doped up or not doesn't change anything about the world in a positive way. If you're going to take away his tour titles, a lot of years you're going to rolling that title down to the 4th placed rider before you get to someone not busted for doping. Is Lance going to write a check to Andre Kivilev (Finished 4th behind Ulrich and Beloki) for the 2001 Tour de France if he's found guilty? If so, that same investigation better go find out if Kivilev was doping because chances are high he was and so on down the line. It may change the outcomes on paper of who won 7 straight bike races in France. Big F'in Deal!

For the longest time I've had the internal debate over whether Lance used drugs because I feel like he did but I want to believe he didn't. While some people don't think that Floyd's statements are credible because he lied for so long, I'm not sure I agree. Floyd's got nothing to gain by naming names. Nobody's paying him to do so. Maybe he gets a reduced punishment for lying under oath or some shit but I'm not sure that's reason enough name all these names. If he had just kept his mouth shut he wouldn't have to face that charge to begin with. I think Floyd was simply tired of being the guy taking the fall for everyone else. This sentiment is backed up by Myerson's comments.

Do I think Lance Armstrong used drugs? Yes. There I said it. I know I have no evidence that could prove anything in court. I'm just a guy who rides a bike and writes an opinionated blog about various crap. I have a ton of reasons to believe he was and I think he's just smarter than everybody else. I think Lance's inner circle is better paid and more loyal than any of the guys he beat in the Tours that got busted. Lance didn't work with a doctor who was going to put his name in some easily deciphered code in his balance sheet. You know why king pins of drug rings hardly ever get busted? Because they're so far removed from the product the guys at the ground level don't even know who they're working for. Lance isn't stupid. I'm sure he and Johan set up their circle the same way. Whoever was supplying the dope probably thought it was for some junior in Bulgaria trying to get to the next level. Everybody's got a price and if there's one person in cycling who can afford to meet someone's price, well, that answer's obvious.

Do I think Lance Armstrong should get busted? No. I know, that's a contradiction, but remember, I don't personally get into the whole morality issue of doping. Some people don't like Lance Armstrong. Those some people are a tiny tiny minority of the people who travel across the globe to stand in a crowd 20 deep to take a picture of the guy at an event they had never heard of before. You know why? Because they've got/beat cancer and this guy is their inspiration. Is that a reason to not get busted for doping? Maybe not to some people, but to me it is. Worlds will literally crumble for people fighting that disease if their hero is exposed as a fraud. I'm not making this up. It's not hard to find accounts of people battling cancer who say they'd never had made if it weren't for such an inspiring figure as Lance Armstrong. There is plenty of science that backs up the claims of having a positive outlook or a reason to live as a helpful factor in beating deadly cancers. If Lance doped his way to 7 Tour de France victories and millions of millions of dollars, does that infraction negate the insane amount of money he's able to raise for cancer research? You think if Lance Armstrong didn't win 7 Tours de France he'd be able to sit down with Senators, Congressmen and other leaders to talk about legislation and funding for cancer? Absolutely not. I obviously can't prove this but my assumption would be donations, funding, meetings and support that is currently driven by the Lance Armstrong Foundation would all but dry up upon a conviction or confession of using drugs.

When Floyd confessed nobody's life was altered. The people who donated to his fund certainly had every right to be outraged but if you had the excess cash to donate to that anyway I imagine you're still doing alright. I doubt anybody would even call it a setback once discovered you donated to a scam. If Lance confesses, critical money being used to fund cancer research could go away. In the grand scheme of things that could definitely mean a set back in someone's life battling the disease. It could mean they die.

I don't care if Lance Armstrong used drugs. But I like cycling and the history of the sport in a totally different way than most fans. Most people that are Lance fans aren't cycling fans. They don't care or haven't even heard of Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders or any other race that Lance didn't win 7 times. Most of them don't even understand how the Tour de France works. But they love Lance Armstrong and that's all they need to know. Maybe Lance built a really elaborate house of cards. And for no reasons besides those I mentioned, I hope beyond hope that he used super glue.