As a little kid growing up playing sports, constantly
watching re-runs of ESPN and modeling my life after the athletes I saw on the
T.V., professional athletes were the end all be all. In the eyes of a kid who
was as passionate about sports like I was, these pros could do no wrong. Boy, was I wrong. With the recent developments in the Lance
Armstrong case, I find myself looking back and remembering the famous “I am not
a role model” quote from Sir Charles Barkley.
Yesterday, Lance Armstrong threw in the towel and finally
confessed on Oprah Winfrey’s “pillow talk” show that he had used illegal PED’s while
his miraculous, record-setting Tour de France winning streak. Before, you jump
down my throat and say, “Who cares?” or “Everyone else was doing it!” hear me
out. Lance Armstrong raised millions of
dollars for cancer research. He used his
popularity for good and started the famous LIVESTRONG brand to help raise money
stop cancer. Being the face of an
organization like that is something to be extremely proud of. One could only hope that they could make that
big of an impact in the world in a positive light, given his situation. He beat cancer and kids looked up to him and
started wearing the LIVESTRONG bracelets, (I’m still wearing mine). But, Lance had a dirty, little secret that he
strongly denied and would brutally curse you down if you ever accused him. He was a liar, a cheater, and a strongly
manipulative person, (according to multiple sources). He is not the role model we all thought he
was.
Tiger Woods was in Lance’s same shoes a few years ago. He was on top of the world in his sport; He
raised money for foundations and kids all over the world looked up to
Tiger. Then, that one cold Thanksgiving
night, Tiger’s dirty, little secret became national headlines and our perception
of him drastically changed. This seems
to happen more and more as the list goes on; Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Brett
Favre, Kobe Bryant, etc. they all had dirty, little secrets. But, I guess what we have to realize is, they’re
humans too, and they’re going to make mistakes.
I have mixed feelings about these athletes. How can I judge them? I’m not in their shoes. Being a multi-millionaire athlete in the
limelight with all that pressure, who knows how I would handle their
situations. I can only pray I would
handle it the right way. When I heard Charles Barkley say that quote
when I was younger it made no sense. But
the older I get, the more I see his point, “I am not a role model. Just because I can dunk a basketball, doesn't mean I should raise your kids.”
I hope Lance Armstrong apologizes. Not because he was caught, because it’s the
right thing to do. And once he does, let’s
forgive him and move on! There are more
important things in life than cheating on a bike race, such as stopping
cancer. Lance Armstrong is
LIVESTRONG. So, I hope Lance can now concentrate
his efforts on finding a cure for cancer, and less about cheating on a long
bike race.
