12.10.2002
GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP
Every now and then a pointless award seems not so pointless. Case in Point: Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year I mean professional athletes really are crappy role models for the most part. We hear about the sacrifice, the years of practice, playing through the pain, all those cliches. Hell, if I were making the base salary for any of the major professional sports I would be hard pressed to call any of what I do suffering. The work fits the pay I say. There are always exceptions to these rules, and indeed athletes can be good role models, as SI has reminded us. If you don't know the story of Lance Armstrong, get your head out from under that rock, and do a Google on him already. He won four Tour de France races in a row! He's the first American to accomplish that feat. He's only the 4th guy ever to do it! (But cycling fans know that 5 is the real achievment, and 6 puts you on a level where none have ever gone.) Plus, get this, he won them all after surviving cancer. Sheer madness I tell you. The accolades have been phenomenal, but so too has the skepticism. In a sport where doping is an unfortunate reality, and the testing is commonplace, scrutiny lies everywhere. There have been question marks over the successes of Lance and his U.S. Postal team, but the fact remains that they have never come up with a positive test. Lance has probably been dope tested more than any other Cyclist in the past 4 years - clean. Time to acknowledge that we are witnessing something truly special, truly great, and try and put aside a cynicism that is all too commonplace in the world these days.
I had the good fortune to see Lance Armstrong race on a number of occasions, specifically when he was dominating another race, though one not quite as storied as the Tour. Lance was a different rider when he was winning the Thrift Drug Classic in Pittsburgh (Boy how I always hated that name - it truly showed that the american public has no clue about the sport of cycling), He was built like a linebacker, and was aggressive almost to a fault, but to see him Climb sycamore in the later stages of the race, when most of the other riders were well past faded was something. I have no illusions that the competition was as strong there as it is in the tour, but the fact remains that Lance showed the potential for greatness early on. The funny thing is, I doubt he would have ever been anyting other that a stage winner had he not been stricken with cancer.
At any rate, congrats to Lance, and lets hope that there is no backlash from obsessed football fans like there was when SI named Greg Lemond sportsman of the year back in '89.
go and tell me all about it
Every now and then a pointless award seems not so pointless. Case in Point: Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year I mean professional athletes really are crappy role models for the most part. We hear about the sacrifice, the years of practice, playing through the pain, all those cliches. Hell, if I were making the base salary for any of the major professional sports I would be hard pressed to call any of what I do suffering. The work fits the pay I say. There are always exceptions to these rules, and indeed athletes can be good role models, as SI has reminded us. If you don't know the story of Lance Armstrong, get your head out from under that rock, and do a Google on him already. He won four Tour de France races in a row! He's the first American to accomplish that feat. He's only the 4th guy ever to do it! (But cycling fans know that 5 is the real achievment, and 6 puts you on a level where none have ever gone.) Plus, get this, he won them all after surviving cancer. Sheer madness I tell you. The accolades have been phenomenal, but so too has the skepticism. In a sport where doping is an unfortunate reality, and the testing is commonplace, scrutiny lies everywhere. There have been question marks over the successes of Lance and his U.S. Postal team, but the fact remains that they have never come up with a positive test. Lance has probably been dope tested more than any other Cyclist in the past 4 years - clean. Time to acknowledge that we are witnessing something truly special, truly great, and try and put aside a cynicism that is all too commonplace in the world these days.
I had the good fortune to see Lance Armstrong race on a number of occasions, specifically when he was dominating another race, though one not quite as storied as the Tour. Lance was a different rider when he was winning the Thrift Drug Classic in Pittsburgh (Boy how I always hated that name - it truly showed that the american public has no clue about the sport of cycling), He was built like a linebacker, and was aggressive almost to a fault, but to see him Climb sycamore in the later stages of the race, when most of the other riders were well past faded was something. I have no illusions that the competition was as strong there as it is in the tour, but the fact remains that Lance showed the potential for greatness early on. The funny thing is, I doubt he would have ever been anyting other that a stage winner had he not been stricken with cancer.
At any rate, congrats to Lance, and lets hope that there is no backlash from obsessed football fans like there was when SI named Greg Lemond sportsman of the year back in '89.
go and tell me all about it
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