Mistake or Choice!!!

All the news outlets seem to be thoughouly engaged and anticipating this Oprah and Lance Armstrong interview. I must admit that I’m a little intrigued as to what he’s going to say as well.  But for me I look at this situation through a different lens.   First of all living in Austin, I know that Austinite’s have truly adopted cycling as the official sport of this town being inspired by Lance. They seem to take up residence on every street here, with no intention of ever using the sidewalks (but that’s another story for another time). Austinite’s feel like they have a vested interest in Lance, hey he lives here, they wore Livestrong wristbands, I even drank some of the Kool-Aid.  But since I’m not a rider myself it doesn’t quite disappoint me so much that he may or may not have used performance -enhancement drugs in order to gain an edge on his competitors. I mean, its sports and people cheat all the time, they’re human and we all make mistakes or rather bad choices.   What bothers me is that in the midst of him knowing that his name could one day be linked to such a scandal became the face of an organization in which in this day and time is so prevalent. 

Each year globally, 12.7 million people learn they have cancer, and 7.6 million people die from the disease.  This cloud of deception that he choose to cast on something that affects so many, to me was somewhat selfish.  Why would you choose to be the face of such an organization, why not go about it another way?  Work with the organization in another capacity, be an anonymous contributor but not be the face of the organization. He had to know that this could taint contributors trust in donating monies that could very well help in the area of Research and Development for such an epidemic.

So what possibly could he say to redeem himself, what would you guys like to hear him say?  Why did he do it, why let it get this far, why continue to take these “alleged drugs and go on to win, not 1, 2, 3 but 7 Tour De Le France titles…seems a little narcissistic to me. So why talk about it now, I mean Oprah is good but doesn’t mean that this interview is going to change your image in the court of public opinion. Or maybe it will, we tend to see a few tears and quickly forget any wrong doings.

I for one plan to be watching with a third ear…. I want to see how he handles this situation, if there is any remorse for his actions and the choices he’s made.  Cant wait to see.

I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Cia Bellas