I feel sorry for Lance Armstrong. Somewhere along the line he obviously got enamored with the idea the winning at all costs was worth the risks. Unfortunately for him, and most others, too, the risks usually catch up to you at some point, especially when the risks attract all kind of attention to yourself.
Who knows whey people do the things they do. Why they don't look far enough out into the future and see that taking shortcuts probably isn't going to cut it in the end, I'm not sure. I've been guilty of it enough times myself, you'd think I know the answer to that question myself.
What I do know is that everyone takes shortcuts at some point. It's inevitable. At some point, the situation or matters or time or whatever factors are at work become so overwhelming, we take the easy way out, sometimes just so that we can live to fight another day. Guys like Lance Armstrong are different. Guys like Roger Clemmens are different. Barry Bonds. Mark McGwire. Women like Marion Jones. They see glory that for some reason they must grab, no matter if that glory is tainted in the end.
Maybe Lance Armstrong looked around and saw everyone else was doping and thought, if I don't do it, I'll get left behind. I tend to think he went the other direction. He seems like a dominate sort to me, like most athletes are. I think he took the initiative and lead the charge, thinking he could probably cover his tracks or get others to do it for him. Whatever the case, he's taking a fall from grace now, as he rightfully should, but unlike some people I've heard in the past week, I don't take a lot of satisfaction in that. I don't enjoy in watching a guy who obviously grew comfortable lying to himself and others now tumbling down the mountain. I feel sorry that he never realized his true potential. He never gave himself the chance to see what he could conquer truly.
The fact is, if Armstrong would have come clean a lot sooner on up the road, he wouldn't be getting dealt one crappy hand after another right now. We would have forgive him and probably even praised him for stepping up and using honestly as his strength. My question is will anyone pay attention to anything other than the fall? Will they learn from his mistakes. Will they reason that obtaining glory really is worth the effort unless you do it the right way? That if you take shortcuts, you not seeing all the sights? You're not fully engaging. I hope so. That's the real lesson here, no that someone got what he deserved. As with most occurrences that are negative, there's something positive to be gained.
Who knows whey people do the things they do. Why they don't look far enough out into the future and see that taking shortcuts probably isn't going to cut it in the end, I'm not sure. I've been guilty of it enough times myself, you'd think I know the answer to that question myself.
What I do know is that everyone takes shortcuts at some point. It's inevitable. At some point, the situation or matters or time or whatever factors are at work become so overwhelming, we take the easy way out, sometimes just so that we can live to fight another day. Guys like Lance Armstrong are different. Guys like Roger Clemmens are different. Barry Bonds. Mark McGwire. Women like Marion Jones. They see glory that for some reason they must grab, no matter if that glory is tainted in the end.
Maybe Lance Armstrong looked around and saw everyone else was doping and thought, if I don't do it, I'll get left behind. I tend to think he went the other direction. He seems like a dominate sort to me, like most athletes are. I think he took the initiative and lead the charge, thinking he could probably cover his tracks or get others to do it for him. Whatever the case, he's taking a fall from grace now, as he rightfully should, but unlike some people I've heard in the past week, I don't take a lot of satisfaction in that. I don't enjoy in watching a guy who obviously grew comfortable lying to himself and others now tumbling down the mountain. I feel sorry that he never realized his true potential. He never gave himself the chance to see what he could conquer truly.
The fact is, if Armstrong would have come clean a lot sooner on up the road, he wouldn't be getting dealt one crappy hand after another right now. We would have forgive him and probably even praised him for stepping up and using honestly as his strength. My question is will anyone pay attention to anything other than the fall? Will they learn from his mistakes. Will they reason that obtaining glory really is worth the effort unless you do it the right way? That if you take shortcuts, you not seeing all the sights? You're not fully engaging. I hope so. That's the real lesson here, no that someone got what he deserved. As with most occurrences that are negative, there's something positive to be gained.
No comments:
Post a Comment