Because that's what we're down to, PR. There is no other way to know for sure. The French authorities, once again, are accusing Armstrong, suggesting he's hiding steroid use or some other performance enhancing drug. This time, the accusation goes, when he was about to be tested, he slipped away for a 20-minute shower. He could be in real trouble for this, as he's supposed to stay in the tester's view. These athletes slip away, and who knows what they do to clean up.
And you might believe that Armstrong is clean already, or you might believe he has found some way to beat the system for years. But the truth is, you don't know. I don't know. How are we supposed to know with any of these athletes anymore? It's a battle for belief now, for your belief, and your belief is not going to be based on anything more than public relations.
"At my son's flag football game," Armstrong tweeted the other day.
Well then, he must be clean.
To believe in Armstrong requires an even bigger commitment than it takes to believe in others. He has fought back from cancer and won the Tour de France seven times. Seven. He has been an incredible inspiration. He's a true American sports hero.
Or he's one of the biggest cheats in history. The higher the success, the greater the risk. If he has cheated to get to those heights, then he's the biggest cheat.
Marion Jones. Did you believe her? I did, stupidly. Barry Bonds? Not too many people believe him, and that has plenty to do with his attitude, his PR.
Lance Armstrong Photos
** FILE ** In this Monday, March 23, 2009 file photo Lance Armstrong of the United States rides on the first stage of the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon, between Paredes de Nava and Baltanas, Spain. France's anti-doping agency accused Lance Armstrong of violating its rules Thursday April 9, 2009 for not fully cooperating with a drug tester and says it could punish the seven-time Tour de France champion. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano, File)
AP
FILE - In this Feb. 20, 2009 file photo, Team Astana's Lance Armstrong, of United States, heads down from the halfway point in Los Olivos, Calif. toward the finish line in Solvang during the Stage 6 Individual Time Trials at the Tour of California cycling race. Armstrong said in a statement on Tuesday, April 7, 2009, he did not try to evade a March 17 test in which, blood, urine and hair samples were collected and were ultimately found to be drug free. France's anti-doping agency sent a report on Armstrong's behavior during the test to cycling's governing body and the World Anti-Doping Agency. At question is a 20-minute delay when Armstrong says the tester agreed to let him shower while his assistants checked the tester's credentials. (AP Photo/Michael A. Mariant, File)
AP
FILE - In this March 20, 2009 file photo, cyclist Lance Armstrong looks on during a press conference in Milan, Italy. Armstrong said in a statement on Tuesday, April 7, 2009, he did not try to evade a March 17 test in which, blood, urine and hair samples were collected and were ultimately found to be drug free. France's anti-doping agency sent a report on Armstrong's behavior during the test to cycling's governing body and the World Anti-Doping Agency. At question is a 20-minute delay when Armstrong says the tester agreed to let him shower while his assistants checked the tester's credentials. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
AP
FILE - In this Feb. 20, 2009 file photo, Team Astana's Lance Armstrong, of United States, heads down from the halfway point in Los Olivos, Calif. toward the finish line in Solvang during the Stage 6 Individual Time Trials at the Tour of California cycling race. Armstrong said in a statement on Tuesday, April 7, 2009, he did not try to evade a March 17 test in which, blood, urine and hair samples were collected and were ultimately found to be drug free. France's anti-doping agency sent a report on Armstrong's behavior during the test to cycling's governing body and the World Anti-Doping Agency. At question is a 20-minute delay when Armstrong says the tester agreed to let him shower while his assistants checked the tester's credentials. (AP Photo/Michael A. Mariant, File)
AP
In this photo provided by Elizabeth Kreutz, seven-time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong listens to Dr. Douglas Elenz before surgery on his broken right collarbone Wednesday, March 25 2009, in Austin, Texas. Armstrong broke his collarbone in the first stage of the Vuelta of Castillo cycling race in Spain, Monday March 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Kreutz) ** NO SALES, ARCHIVES OUT, MAGAZINES OUT **
AP
This photo provided by Elizabeth Kreutz, courtesy of CSE (Capital Sports & Entertainment), shows the X-ray of seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong after surgery on his right collarbone, showing one steel plate and twelve screws. Amrstrong had surgery at Austin Sports Medicine in Austin, Texas Wednesday, March 25, 2009 after a crash during the first stage of the Vuelta of Castillo bicycle race, Monday March 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Kreutz, CSE)
AP
Spanish rider Alberto Contador, right, of the Astana team, stays ahead of the main group of riders during the fourth stage of the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon cycling race to Laguna de los Peces, Spain, Thursday March 26, 2009. U.S. rider Levi Leipheimer retains the overall lead. Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong left the race Monday after fracturing his collarbone in a crash. (AP Photo/EFE, Ruben Garcia) ** NO SALES, LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN AND SPAIN OUT **
AP
Spanish rider Juan Jose Cobo, of the Fuji Servetto team, celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the fourth stage of the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon cycling race in Laguna de los Peces, Spain, Thursday March 26, 2009. U.S. rider Levi Leipheimer retains the overall lead. Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong left the race Monday after fracturing his collarbone in a crash. (AP Photo/EFE, Ruben Garcia) ** NO SALES, LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN AND SPAIN OUT **
AP
Spanish rider Juan Jose Cobo, of the Fuji Servetto team, celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the fourth stage of the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon cycling race in Laguna de los Peces, Spain, Thursday March 26, 2009. U.S. rider Levi Leipheimer retains the overall lead. Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong left the race Monday after fracturing his collarbone in a crash. (AP Photo/EFE, Ruben Garcia) ** NO SALES, LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN AND SPAIN OUT **
AP
In this photo provided by Elizabeth Kreutz, seven-time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong listens to Dr. Douglas Elenz before surgery on his broken right collarbone Wednesday, March 25 2009, in Austin, Texas. Armstrong broke his collarbone in the first stage of the Vuelta of Castillo cycling race in Spain, Monday March 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Kreutz) ** NO SALES, ARCHIVES OUT, MAGAZINES OUT **
AP
At some point, though, the risk is too great to believe. I want to believe in Armstrong, and if I had to say it, I do. But exactly how disappointing would it be to find out he's a liar, too? The problem is that we can't find any real truth-tellers. The greatest one has been ... Jose Canseco.
Imagine that. He wrote a book and named names, and he was immediately ripped as a slimeball and money-grubber. Those things were true, of course.
But so was his book.
And when baseball commissioner Bud Selig kept looking the other way, hiding under his desk, sending out memos to his PR guys to please inform him what his conscience is telling him, well, that served to condemn every baseball player and even spread to other sports.
He's not the only one. But he's the one who mattered most, the one who was in charge of handling the eye of this storm. And his denials served only to discredit every honest ballplayer in favor of the word of the money-grubbing slimeball.
Selig came around, finally. But it was too late. And it has spread since then.
"Another 'surprise' anti-doping control," Armstrong tweeted at 7:31 a.m. on March 17. "24th one. This one from the French authorities. Urine, blood, and hair! Classic."
And at 9:38: "So I'm clear -- never complaining about these tests. Def part of the job. Feel targeted? Of course. But anything to prove I'm clean. Onward."
You feel targeted, Lance? You?
How about us?
What we have with Armstrong is one of two things: The French just can't accept that he has dominated something so important to them. They hate seeing it, so they are persecuting him, raising doubts simply by taking a backpack and syringe to his front door.
Or, he's a dirty cheat, and just a master of evasion.
What do we base our decision on? Maybe you wait for proof, but we've seen proof come on other athletes far too late, far after we committed. Armstrong has handled it perfectly, attacking the French authorities in a convincing way. Also, he has made himself accessible to the public, which gives an image of someone with nothing to hide.
In 2005, L'Equipe reported that a sample from Armstrong's 1999 Tour had been retested for research and was found to have EPO, which is banned. Armstrong said it was a plot against him, that he was clean and if his samples were tainted it was because someone else had done it. It is curious how such results became public in the first place.
The latest issue came March 17. Armstrong said he delayed the testing only while his team manager checked out the tester to make sure he was legit. Why question the tester? Armstrong reportedly said he wasn't aware that the French government's rules permitted any athlete living in France or visiting there to be tested.
Not a good idea for a guy claiming to have been tested more than anyone to say he doesn't know the rules.Armstrong, who is trying to return for this summer's Tour de France, crashed in a race in Spain on March 23 and broke his clavicle. On his twitter account is a video of him explaining the injury, pointing to an X-ray with a dozen screws in it.
Innocent till proven guilty? That's just a legal thing. In the sports world, it's all about what you believe and what you're willing to risk believing.
We have no other guides. Unless Canseco knows something.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Once again...no mention of Merriman. Get a grip.
It's not just cyclists and MLB.
Clearly, Armstrong was given EPO when he had chemo during his bout with Cancer. He probably knows exactly when it clears the body; or better yet, what drug will mask EPO. It wouldn't do these type of athletes a huge advantage using anabolic steroids, for they only increase muscle mass and mostly anaerrobic strength. Bike Racing is all about endurance (aerobic)and that is why EPO is used so often. EPO makes the body make a huge amount of red blood cells--this is something lost when on chemo. I always had my doubts about Armstrong because he was an "average rider" until after his bout with cancer--then he began winning the largest race in the world--seven times? Sorry people; it adds up to EPO in my book. He probably has figured out a way to clean his system of, or mask EPO in twenty minutes. EPO would not show in hair samples; only in blood. My guess, an educated one, but still a guess, is that he figured this all out when lying in bed as a cancer patient.
Educated guess? You mean to say that while he lay there dying that all he could think of was a way to beat a drug test? And he figured out a way to get EPO out of his system that the testers haven't figured out? You are an idiot to think this.
Screw the french, get over and get on with it...you've tested him everyway know to man and he still comes up clean...except the fact that he kicked the crap out of your best riders and that's that...stop the witch hunts, grow up, sell the damned tour but enough is enough and for anyone that thinks he laid in his hospital bed fighting for his life and all his thoughts were on EPO to win the next tour, pull you head out of your backside...they can test for that and since the test is at random time, how could he possibly know how to predict and the fact that he's probably been one of the most tested athletes on the freakin planet, what are you thinking? Move on...