Armstrong, My Thoughts

In the last month I've written about half of 20 or so posts. They never make it to completion because at about that point I ask myself, "Am I saying anything that isn't already being said?" Generally the answer is no and since there are plenty of professional and amateur writers out there saying it better than me, I hit ctrl+A, delete.

It's really no surprise that most of the cycling world is still talking about Lance. What is surprising, at least to me, is that so many people still seem to live in some dream land believing he didn't do it. Come on people, at this point, it shouldn't even be a question anymore. Lance's doping allegation defense strategy has always followed a very simple strategy: 1) Act insulted. 2) Angrily deny. 3) Use the tested more than anyone else line. 4) Question the credibility of the accuser, whether that be 1 person or an entire nation. 5) Threaten lives/livelihoods.

With Hamilton's 60 minutes piece it was pretty obvious that the Lance response would follow those 5 steps just like it always does. This response was so predictable I'm not entirely sure it happened because I didn't even bother to look for it. Yes, Tyler denied doping for years, took donations and now comes clean about the whole thing. Does this on the surface seem like the accusations of someone with credibility issues, sure it does. Does this person come from the camp who probably coached him on this life of denial, seems likely.

Hincapie won't comment on it but it's been reported that in his grand jury whatever it's called, he also testified that he witnessed Armstrong doping and that he used PEDs himself. To me, and it should be for all you believers of the fairy tale, that's the nail in the coffin. The other three guys who have come out and said Armstrong doped all have agenda/credibility issues, not Hincapie. There's no alternative agenda for Hincapie except making sure his ass stays out of jail to raise his kids. He doesn't need to rat Lance out because he's mad at him but he certainly doesn't need to keep his mouth shut and do time for the Don either.

In a small way I find this incredibly ironic because a lot of people attribute George's lack of classics success to his loyalty to Armstrong. Instead of being able to put up a sprinting fight against Boonen on the velodrome in Roubaix he was becoming a better climber to be more loyal to Armstrong. Without Armstrong, Hincapie probably wins Roubaix at least once because he'd have ridden for a team who would have surrounded him with guys in those races. Instead, Hincapie stayed with Lance and continually lost the race that meant the most to him while helping Lance win the race the meant the most to him. Let's say Big George goes to another team early on and wins a bunch of Roubaix's it doesn't necessarily mean that he still isn't testifying that Lance taught him to dope, but in the present scenario, it makes it very hard for Lance to use his typical 5 step program against his accuser. If there's anybody the American cycling fans see as the model of credibility, it's Hincapie.

The other piece that strikes me as ironic is that Armstrong is always so quick to point out the previous denial pattern of all those who have accused him of doping. When it's official and he can no longer deny it, what does he think that's going to do for his image? He's essentially lumping himself right into the same category as Tyler and Floyd and in the end, the only thing that's going to separate Lance and those guys, is that he survived cancer and they didn't. But all three will be convicted dopers who denied it for years and took others money under some sort of false pretense. An obvious argument to that is that Lance's money raised went to cancer research, not a fake defense fund, and that'd be absolutely right, but how much less money would he have raised if the story wasn't so grand and dependent on PEDs?

I'm not smart enough to understand exactly what he's up against if some sort of rico charges against him as he used government money to buy doping products. That side of this entire situation seems insanely unlucky since the same thing would have happened regardless of the sponsor printed on their jerseys.

I wrote sometime last year that I hoped for the sake of the cancer community that he didn't get caught. I wrote that I believed 100% that he was guilty but that I didn't think any good would actually come of it. I'm still not sure that much good comes of Armstrong getting busted. For everyone but the most casual cycling fan the writing is on the wall and we've all made our minds up regardless of what the feds find out. But at some point, people, regardless of how big they are need to be accountable for their actions and I think this line of thought is what changed my opinion on the seemingly impending Armstrong trial. Just because you create a larger than life persona doesn't mean you're larger than the law and at some point, you have to lay in the bed you made.