Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Don't Call it a Comeback
Reports of Lance Armstrong's retirement from professional cycling appear to have been greatly exaggerated. According to team director Johan Bruyneel, Lance is going to be training with the team this winter and is contemplating riding in next year's Tour de France. Apparently, he's mad as hell about the doping allegations published in L'Equipe and he's not going to take it anymore. I really don't mind if Lance decides to ride the Tour until he drops dead, I just wish pro athletes would stop announcing their retirement amid great fanfare only to renege on their promise a couple months later.
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2 comments:
Are you being serious or just cracking wise? Because I really get annoyed by people who criticize Lance Armstrong for getting divorced. It's not like he's the first person or even the first public figure to ever file for divorce. As far as I know, he didn't cheat or his ex-wife or abuse her, which is more than a lot of divorcees can say. What I'm trying to say here is that I hate how it's now assumed that we are supposed to care deeply about the personal lives of all of our public figures.
Good points all around. I admire Lance's cycling ability and the awareness he has raised for clinical trials in the cancer community. A lot of people who are battling cancer find his story inspiring, and if that helps them battle this dreaded disease, more power to them.
I guess I was being somewhat naive when I said we shouldn't care about the personal lives of public figures. What I should have said is their personal lives shouldn't affect the way their professional achievements are viewed. OJ shouldn't be removed from Canton for his off-field behavior, for example. I never really bought into the idea that Lance was a saint, hence he didn't fall too far in my book when he did the old spousal trade-in/trade-up. There are a lot of people who think Lance can do wrong because of his remarkable cancer story and cycling accomplishments. There are a small number of people who think Lance deserves no laud, even for his cycling accomplishments, due to his dysfunctional moral compass. I think both groups are wrong.
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