Salamu
My Niggas!
We are now well and truly into the
new year and by all accounts, if 2013 ends the way it has started, some people
are going to be spending the year looking over their shoulders.
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| Armstrong at the height of his powers |
I know it’s probably a bit late to
talk about this now, but the year really didn’t start well for a certain Mr
Lance Armstrong. Seems like he wasn’t happy just living with the labels of
being one of the biggest liars and drug cheats of all time. He had to go and do
a ‘tell all’ interview with the queen of talk Oprah Whinfrey.
I say it is a ‘tell all’ interview
because although Armstrong admitted to doping, there was much more that he
could have spoken about and revealed to expose what has now become one of the
dirtiest sports in the world. Even Whinfrey later said that she was disappointed
in the interview and expected Armstrong to reveal more than he actually did.
But this is my question…how much did
Whinfrey pay Armstrong to do the interview. The man is already being crucified
by the public and the media, why then come out and compound the pain? No man
will willingly come out and make his name shit? You see without a confession,
he may be guilty…but the measure of his guilt will still be up for debate.
So Armstrong got paid; but is that
such a surprise? Um...no! So why did he not tell all to Whinfrey? Why did he
hold back?
There are two options, either
Whinfrey didn’t pay him enough. Or, Armstrong is setting himself up nicely to
push hard on a book where he really goes to town and reveals every dirty
secret.
He is being either very clever or
very stupid. I think it’s the latter as he will never be allowed to get on a
bike ever again. Not even to ride with his kids in the park.
The most disappointing part about
this whole story is the fact that Armstrong was seen as a role model and an
inspiration to the world coming back from testicular cancer to win the Tour De
France seven times in a row.
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| Armstrong facing the wolves. How the mighty have fallen. |
This begs another question. If
Armstrong didn’t have the Live Strong campaign and if Armstrong didn’t use
every Tour victory to say what a fighter he was and how he is fortunate to have
beaten the cancer…would there be such an outcry? Well lets out it this way,
Armstrong was not the first to dope during the Tour. Before him there was Floyd
Landis and after Armstrong there was Alberto Contador. Yes there was a lot of
publicity around these guys, but not to the extent of Armstrong. Some may say
that the fact that Armstrong won the tour seven times in a row contributed to
the crusade against him, and I agree that it probably had a major role to play.
But one can’t ignore how much of effect the whole hero façade had to play as
well.
As a Christian I am expected to
forgive Armstrong, and I do. To me cycling is the most boring sport in the
world anyway. But not everyone will share my view, and it is the liar factor
that will promote this. Because a lot of kids, teenagers and other impressionable
people looked up to him as a role model.
Till next time my Niggas!
Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na
vivuli nyuma yako!
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