Lance Armstrong: Innocent until proven guilty
Let's talk about Lance Armstrong and a little something we have in the United States called "innocent until proven guilty." Most of you have probably heard that Lance Armstrong has been disqualified from all cycling competitions and has been stripped of all his titles. This comes after a decision from him not to fight any further allegations regarding his possible drug use. These allegations are something he has been fighting for seventeen years, and he said he's tired. He's provided sample upon sample to be tested (all of which have come out clean), and he's done everything in his power to try and cooperate with the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency).
Nothing has been proven. These allegations are only that - allegations. I don't know where they expect he's gotten all these clean samples he's provided them with. Yes, people have been known to have used samples from people who weren't on drugs to pass said tests, but if they think he was doing that, you'd think maybe they would have been careful about where his samples have come from and who handles them before they're tested. He's already provided said samples for them to test until their heart's content, so I'm not sure what else they expect him to do. If they're just going to automatically yell "cheater!" any time anyone passes a drug test, what the hell's the point of even having them?
There's not even anything to prove at this point. Lance is retired from cycling, but they're still accusing him of using drugs in past competitions. There's really no way now to prove anything. It's basically come down to "he said, they said", so I'm not even sure what they hope to gain from continuing to accuse him this long after. I can completely understand why he feels he's being treated unfairly.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion regarding this. If you think he's a druggie, that's fine. What pisses me off is that everyone is assuming that since he won't fight these allegations any longer, that's more or less and an admission of guilt from him. No, it isn't. More over, newspapers and news sites are pretty much printing this information as fact as well. "If he won't fight it, that's the same as admitting he's guilty!" Again, no, it isn't.
He's been dealing with these allegations for almost two decades, and he still can't get away from it. Personally, I don't blame him one bit for having had enough. As he's said, "There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.'" He's simply choosing not to fight the allegations anymore. There's a difference.
You may be able to guess from my post that I like Lance Armstrong. I view him as very much an inspiration. His possible drug use aside, he's a cancer survivor, and that's primarily what I view him as. Sure, winning competitions is great (as I believe he did so clean and fairly), but he's done something that I view as being even more heroic - overcoming an illness that has claimed a great many lives.
For me, I'll believe he's guilty if and when he admits it himself. Not because everyone else in the world is convinced of his guilt. Even then, it won't diminish the fact that I still think of him as a hero, nor does it matter what anyone else thinks. My heroes are mine and no one else's.
Nothing has been proven. These allegations are only that - allegations. I don't know where they expect he's gotten all these clean samples he's provided them with. Yes, people have been known to have used samples from people who weren't on drugs to pass said tests, but if they think he was doing that, you'd think maybe they would have been careful about where his samples have come from and who handles them before they're tested. He's already provided said samples for them to test until their heart's content, so I'm not sure what else they expect him to do. If they're just going to automatically yell "cheater!" any time anyone passes a drug test, what the hell's the point of even having them?
There's not even anything to prove at this point. Lance is retired from cycling, but they're still accusing him of using drugs in past competitions. There's really no way now to prove anything. It's basically come down to "he said, they said", so I'm not even sure what they hope to gain from continuing to accuse him this long after. I can completely understand why he feels he's being treated unfairly.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion regarding this. If you think he's a druggie, that's fine. What pisses me off is that everyone is assuming that since he won't fight these allegations any longer, that's more or less and an admission of guilt from him. No, it isn't. More over, newspapers and news sites are pretty much printing this information as fact as well. "If he won't fight it, that's the same as admitting he's guilty!" Again, no, it isn't.
He's been dealing with these allegations for almost two decades, and he still can't get away from it. Personally, I don't blame him one bit for having had enough. As he's said, "There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.'" He's simply choosing not to fight the allegations anymore. There's a difference.
You may be able to guess from my post that I like Lance Armstrong. I view him as very much an inspiration. His possible drug use aside, he's a cancer survivor, and that's primarily what I view him as. Sure, winning competitions is great (as I believe he did so clean and fairly), but he's done something that I view as being even more heroic - overcoming an illness that has claimed a great many lives.
For me, I'll believe he's guilty if and when he admits it himself. Not because everyone else in the world is convinced of his guilt. Even then, it won't diminish the fact that I still think of him as a hero, nor does it matter what anyone else thinks. My heroes are mine and no one else's.