Live Strong and Wrong

Lance Armstrong has hurt the sport of cycling, and he has hurt the world of professional sports, he has hurt his teammates and fans as well, but there is another group of people that Lance Armstrong has hurt badly: Cancer patients and cancer survivors and all the residents of CancerLand.

Now we know that he misused lots and lots of drugs and hormones and additives and he used suspect medical practices to improve his performance. The testimony is making clear that he also bullied teammates and staff members into participating.

But what about all those yellow bracelets? What about the unbearable hubris of his “I got cancer but I can still win the Tour de France”. What about Live Strong and Lie; Live Strong and Wrong? Live Strong and capitalize on years of testosterone abuse possibly leading to testicular cancer and then capitalizing on that cancer?  What feels the worst is suggesting to other cancer patients that they too can power on and climb cancer’s hills and wear the yellow jersey, but oops forget to mention I abuse my body—and others --mercilessly.

I know this is tricky territory. We’re not supposed to blame the victim in CancerLand. But now we know that all those yellow bracelets bought him so many free passes and so many looks the other way.

I remember feeling sad when Lance and Sheryl Crow broke up. But now I wonder, “What did Sheryl Crow know?” I’m glad she’s out.

And I just gotta say, here at The Amy Winehouse House, we never liked him.