Livestrong -- past and present

 

Lance Armstrong.

Few people have ever had a personal legacy changed as quickly, as radically and as negatively as this man.

Phase 1: Hero. Supreme athlete. Cancer survivor. Founder of Livestrong Foundation. Seven-time Tour de France winner.

Phase 2: Liar. Doper. Emotionless robot. Vengeful and hurtful to those who questioned him.

If Armstrong coming clean about his cycling career and the calculated use of banned substances to improve his performance was meant to enhance his image, the attempt failed miserably.

Armstrong displayed the emotions of a dust mop; his “apologies” to those people he bullied and sued when they questioned his integrity and honesty seems exceptionally hollow. His admissions and timing are suspect due to his wanting to return to completion as a triathlete and just after the statutes of limitations on some of his lies made under oath passed.

I wanted to believe him – then and now. I wanted to believe he didn’t “juice” in the most “juiced-up” sport in the world. I wanted to believe his apology and confession and that he was doing it for the right reasons.

I was wrong then; I won’t be taken in so easily this time.

I wore a Livestrong rubber bracelet for more than 10 years; I took it off several years ago due to a skin rash but about six months ago, put it back on. When the global cycling community stripped him of the seven Tour de France titles, I removed it and put it in a drawer.

Now, today, I’m going to get it out and put it back on … not to honor Armstrong, but to acknowledge the good his foundation to fight cancer has done and also to serve as a reminder that real heroes are few and far between and many, if not most, have feet of clay.

The two words, made into one word for marketing purposes, have meaning in more ways than one: Livestrong.

Even though its roots are now suspect, it's still not a bad motto for life.