Media Monster

Lance Armstrong And Fighting On That (Alleged) Lie

A little while back there was a show called The Wire. Ever heard of it? I have. I’ve watched it. Watched it all. Not to brag. No big. Nothing for you to be too impressed over or anything.

Anyway. For those who haven’t seen it, late in the show’s third season, a character named Slim Charles delivers a speech to his superior, Avon Barksdale, about their group’s war with a rival drug organization. The war was based on false pretenses (you know, like another war the scene – and indeed, the episode as a whole, right down to the title – was none-too-subtly referencing), but he urges Avon to go ahead with it anyway:

In the wake of Lance Armstrong abandoning his fight against doping allegations and subsequently being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from cycling, my mind wandered back to that scene you see above. Many took Armstrong’s giving up as a tacit admission of guilt. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. But if it was, the legend of Lance Armstrong was based on a lie (if in a sport where pretty much everything everyone does is based on a lie).

And if it was a lie, what did Armstrong do with that lie? Well, he won more Tour de France titles than anyone ever had. He served as an inspiration to countless cancer patients (and while we wondered what kind of effect this week’s news would have on those who looked up to Armstrong, if this is any indication, those who drew hope from Armstrong see nothing phony about that hope now). And maybe most importantly, his charity raised hundreds of millions of dollars to help fight cancer.

If it was a lie, then wow, did Lance Armstrong ever fight on that lie. And regardless of the odious posturing of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (“Heartbreaking”? Give us a break, guys)… is that really such a bad thing?

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