Lance Armstrong Will Be Burned in Effigy

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Ah, leave him alone!  He's a cancer survivor, for Pete's sake!  He's been through enough hell just getting through that, and deserves a life medal of some sort for his spirit alone.   No, it's not in the true spirit of "sport" to cheat at it, but neither is it to burn him in effigy.  All of those who want their pound of flesh should go through what he did and come out a hero, whether in sport or simply in life.

It is hard to say something belongs to someone when there is no legitimate right to that thing.  In this case, after many years of haggling about it, one of the greatest sports stories has been laid bare for the world to see.  The fact that something illegitimate occurred to help Lance win those titles is the story here.  Unfortunately it dilutes the real story that someone, such as Lance, who has been stricken with a deadly disease and then conquers that disease will now get lost in the millions of accusing fingers.  I am in no way condoning what occurred here.  But I do laud Lance for turning his personal tragedy into a celebration of life and the triumph of spirit.  That he chose to 'cheat' while doing that - this is his downfall.  LiveStrong will still go on and there will be those, like 'toryd' who select to ignore facts and cry over Lance's loss.  But Lance lives on - and that is a triumph he can take with him his entire life.  The Tour De France will have a tough time trying to console those who chose not to take the short cut and lost those races.  This is a time of a tragedy of faith for the rest of us - those who had faith in Lance's wins.  But again, not those who have been helped and encouraged by the good will Lance projected from his fame.  You can take away the medals and the yellow jersey, but you can't take away the positive steps Lance completed outside the Cycling spotlight.

If he had enough sense to stash his money away, he can walk away from all this.  Lay on the beach somewhere and drink mai-tais.  Let them burn him in effigy.  Why should he care?  He got his.