In 1977, not long before his death, two of Elvis Presley’s bodyguards and former close friends who had been released from his service published a book called “Elvis-What Happened?”, a searing and detailed account of Presley’s descent into a drug fuelled paranoia and the degradation of a great talent. Red and Sonny West were cousins who had man-handled Elvis’ adoring fans once too often and had been dismissed by Vernon Presley, Elvis’ father due to continuing legal action stemming from their over zealous protection procedures.
Understandably upset that the man who they adored and considered a close friend had ostensibly abandoned them, they conspired with a journalist to write their book with a stated intention of bringing Elvis to his senses because they believed nothing else could. To this day they swear money was not a factor, only their desire to see Elvis return to being the man he once was and could be again. That’s their story and something they have had to live with since Elvis’ death not long after their diatribe was published.
What has this to do with Lance Armstrong? Well Elvis from all accounts was shattered by the perceived betrayal of men to whom he had entrusted his life and nothing he could offer ever tempted his two former friends and confidante’s to change their minds and scrap the book. It haunted him the rest of his life and opened the floodgates to stories of Elvis’ odd behaviour in the little cocoon of life to which he had been condemned since he was 21 years old.
Lance Armstrong must have a similar sense of betrayal as he surveys the wreckage of his once glittering sporting career and fixes his gaze on the detritus and rubble of his life as it is laid bare before the world. Few men have ever had their legacy so comprehensively and completely shattered and their reputation swept away with all the power of a tsunami behind it as has Lance. Men who he raced with and trusted to be accomplice’s in his sporting deceit have turned on him and broken the “omerta”, the unwritten code of professional cycle racing where such things as doping and sporting fraud stay behind closed doors, never a word to be uttered outside the confines of the fortress’ that are professional cycling trade teams. Lance….what happened?!
Who knows where the seed of Armstrong’s demise was sown but one could suggest that it was in his own character and his need and desire to conquer the sport and ride roughshod over all who are a part of it. He dominated the UCI, the controlling body of the sport and antagonised the organisers of the Tour de France, coming back time and time again to win their race even after they had subtlety suggested he stay away and let someone else feed from the trough for a while.
He couldn’t help himself and antagonised others within the sport to make them bend to his will. Sooner or later, any such man with such an attitude falls foul of his opponents and eventually they gather enough strength to turn about, face the aggressor and destroy him.
I have no admiration for Floyd Landis or Tyler Hamilton, the men who in a very real sense were the prime movers who brought Armstrong to bay. They chose their own path and stayed on it even after they had been exposed as cheats, only the threat of Federal legal action by US authorities and no doubt a malice borne from the fact that Lance had gotten away with it and they hadn’t, driving them. Two men without the brains or talent to succeed where Armstrong had left off.
Once the Federal investigation was underway and the US Drug Agency had shown an obvious determination to pursue Armstrong, others turned, former team mates who no doubt were scared of their own futures and were quite happy to throw Lance to the wolves once their own culpability was pursued and threatened to be shown to the world. Perhaps I would have done the same in that circumstance.
I have been asked many times over the last few months since this story has been alive what I think of the situation. My overriding feeling is sadness. Sadness that the sport has been put through this meat grinder and is now, more than ever, fodder for naysayers who snigger about doping anytime the Tour de France is mentioned. Cycle racing and the great athletes who practice it deserve more.
I am ambiguous about the Armstrong investigation and some may find my thoughts a little hard to fathom. I deplore drug taking in the sport, particularly EPO, growth hormone, testosterone and the like which have become a staple diet in the cyclist’s armoury as he “prepares” himself for two wheeled battle but for the life of me I can’t understand what tearing down Armstrong and all he did will achieve.
To read it in the paper one would think that Lance alone was the kingpin who masterminded a practice which has actually been part of the sport since it’s inception. To crucify him for doing what was institutionalized at every other trade team in the sport seems to me to be a witch hunt. He wasn’t alone. He simply treated it as a business and was more successful than everyone else. The failure of men like Landis and Hamilton to emulate him shows what a businessman and athlete he actually was.
Cycling still owes Lance Armstrong something. He was the first truly international cycling star and much of the global appeal of the Tour de France today rests on his story, charisma and talent.That it has all ended this way is a sad testament to the culture of drug taking that is endemic to any professional sport.
Let it go. Write it off as a bad era and put an asterix next to those Tours de France of the early 2000’s so as future generations will know it was great entertainment but not great sport. Taking down Armstrong will not change the bad element in cycling, only a huge cultural shift in the attitude of professional athletes and an overhaul of administrative bodies will enable that. Perhaps Lance’s downfall will be a watershed and we will see that change. But I doubt it.
There are still huge challenges to be faced. I would suggest the result of this year’s Tour de France is open to question given the performances of the leading protagonists and that for every two steps forward a step backwards is next. Concentrate on the here and now and what lies ahead rather than exorcizing the demons of the past.
And those who are basking in the spotlight of landing the big fish should not rest on their laurels in the knowledge and comfort that they got their man. Leaving it as it is without pursuing those in the peloton who are still cheating will make the trauma of what has happened a vain sacrifice.
Lance may be hung, drawn and quartered but the war has yet to be won.
Understandably upset that the man who they adored and considered a close friend had ostensibly abandoned them, they conspired with a journalist to write their book with a stated intention of bringing Elvis to his senses because they believed nothing else could. To this day they swear money was not a factor, only their desire to see Elvis return to being the man he once was and could be again. That’s their story and something they have had to live with since Elvis’ death not long after their diatribe was published.
What has this to do with Lance Armstrong? Well Elvis from all accounts was shattered by the perceived betrayal of men to whom he had entrusted his life and nothing he could offer ever tempted his two former friends and confidante’s to change their minds and scrap the book. It haunted him the rest of his life and opened the floodgates to stories of Elvis’ odd behaviour in the little cocoon of life to which he had been condemned since he was 21 years old.
Lance Armstrong must have a similar sense of betrayal as he surveys the wreckage of his once glittering sporting career and fixes his gaze on the detritus and rubble of his life as it is laid bare before the world. Few men have ever had their legacy so comprehensively and completely shattered and their reputation swept away with all the power of a tsunami behind it as has Lance. Men who he raced with and trusted to be accomplice’s in his sporting deceit have turned on him and broken the “omerta”, the unwritten code of professional cycle racing where such things as doping and sporting fraud stay behind closed doors, never a word to be uttered outside the confines of the fortress’ that are professional cycling trade teams. Lance….what happened?!
Who knows where the seed of Armstrong’s demise was sown but one could suggest that it was in his own character and his need and desire to conquer the sport and ride roughshod over all who are a part of it. He dominated the UCI, the controlling body of the sport and antagonised the organisers of the Tour de France, coming back time and time again to win their race even after they had subtlety suggested he stay away and let someone else feed from the trough for a while.
He couldn’t help himself and antagonised others within the sport to make them bend to his will. Sooner or later, any such man with such an attitude falls foul of his opponents and eventually they gather enough strength to turn about, face the aggressor and destroy him.
I have no admiration for Floyd Landis or Tyler Hamilton, the men who in a very real sense were the prime movers who brought Armstrong to bay. They chose their own path and stayed on it even after they had been exposed as cheats, only the threat of Federal legal action by US authorities and no doubt a malice borne from the fact that Lance had gotten away with it and they hadn’t, driving them. Two men without the brains or talent to succeed where Armstrong had left off.
Once the Federal investigation was underway and the US Drug Agency had shown an obvious determination to pursue Armstrong, others turned, former team mates who no doubt were scared of their own futures and were quite happy to throw Lance to the wolves once their own culpability was pursued and threatened to be shown to the world. Perhaps I would have done the same in that circumstance.
I have been asked many times over the last few months since this story has been alive what I think of the situation. My overriding feeling is sadness. Sadness that the sport has been put through this meat grinder and is now, more than ever, fodder for naysayers who snigger about doping anytime the Tour de France is mentioned. Cycle racing and the great athletes who practice it deserve more.
I am ambiguous about the Armstrong investigation and some may find my thoughts a little hard to fathom. I deplore drug taking in the sport, particularly EPO, growth hormone, testosterone and the like which have become a staple diet in the cyclist’s armoury as he “prepares” himself for two wheeled battle but for the life of me I can’t understand what tearing down Armstrong and all he did will achieve.
To read it in the paper one would think that Lance alone was the kingpin who masterminded a practice which has actually been part of the sport since it’s inception. To crucify him for doing what was institutionalized at every other trade team in the sport seems to me to be a witch hunt. He wasn’t alone. He simply treated it as a business and was more successful than everyone else. The failure of men like Landis and Hamilton to emulate him shows what a businessman and athlete he actually was.
Cycling still owes Lance Armstrong something. He was the first truly international cycling star and much of the global appeal of the Tour de France today rests on his story, charisma and talent.That it has all ended this way is a sad testament to the culture of drug taking that is endemic to any professional sport.
Let it go. Write it off as a bad era and put an asterix next to those Tours de France of the early 2000’s so as future generations will know it was great entertainment but not great sport. Taking down Armstrong will not change the bad element in cycling, only a huge cultural shift in the attitude of professional athletes and an overhaul of administrative bodies will enable that. Perhaps Lance’s downfall will be a watershed and we will see that change. But I doubt it.
There are still huge challenges to be faced. I would suggest the result of this year’s Tour de France is open to question given the performances of the leading protagonists and that for every two steps forward a step backwards is next. Concentrate on the here and now and what lies ahead rather than exorcizing the demons of the past.
And those who are basking in the spotlight of landing the big fish should not rest on their laurels in the knowledge and comfort that they got their man. Leaving it as it is without pursuing those in the peloton who are still cheating will make the trauma of what has happened a vain sacrifice.
Lance may be hung, drawn and quartered but the war has yet to be won.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 