Lance's Worldwide Exclusive, Part 1

Like many households across America, our house is buzzing about the scandalous cycling career of the once great Lance Armstrong.  It continues to be an intriguing story at every turn and Lance is dominating the headlines and social media circles.  He once represented excellence and was the poster child for overcoming adversity.  The biggest hero in sports, and possibly our entire society, has now morphed into one of the world's biggest villains.

Today Lance Armstrong finds himself as only a shell of what he once portrayed himself to be and in a significantly different position.  Instead of dominating from the offense, he's flailing on the defense.  Opinions about him are all over the spectrum, however, I'm trying to take a step back to see the situation for what it is: a human being being human.

I'm not about to excuse any of the behaviors that Lance Armstrong exhibited over the last two decades and I'll never condone decisions to operate outside of the rules and cheat.  I'm also not inclined to accept public apologies by public figures for their transgressions.  Last night I saw a prideful individual who showed very little remorse and was only sorry that he got caught.  For Lance, it seemed to be all about Lance.  He continues to prey on the gullibility and naivety of the American people.  Should we expect anything else?

As human beings, we're predisposed to think of ourselves first and foremost throughout the day in nearly every scenario and situation.  This is precisely what Lance Armstrong did, albeit at a colossal level, and has continued to do.  He was able to justify his decisions and behavior and focused on himself in the process.  It was never about others.  He didn't think about his legacy or those he had influenced, inspired and motivated.  He was focused solely on himself.  We're guilty of the same thing.  It's becoming more and more apparent that during this entire process involving Lance Armstrong, we've been focused solely on ourselves, too.

Lance let me down.  He was one of my role models.  I looked up to him.  I believed him.  I believed in him...me, me, me.  It's been all about me.  Chances are, you've done the same.  The truth is, we're all in a constant flux trying to get the universe to revolve around us.  I do it.  And so do you.  It's the single most unifying quality about mankind.  So, we're upset with others when they don't meet our expectations.  Lance made it very clear that he was adamant about controlling the narrative from day one.  For some sociopathic reason, he fails to see that he's still trying to control the narrative.  Aren't we all trying to control the narrative in our life, though?  We're all selfish beings, but that's not what all of this is about.  At least, not today.

We build up heroes so we can tear them down.  We find the athletes who enjoy the spotlight and we brightly let it shine on them until it burns out.  The good guys don't get the spotlight.  The truly great heroes in sports are the quiet ones.  The individuals who show up and do their job.  They have humble spirits and humble attitudes.  These kind of athletes go unnoticed because it's in their nature to do so.  We celebrate the show offs; the glory hounds and attention dogs.  As a result, we get characters instead of character.  We set the stage so failure is imminent.

We all set Lance Armstrong up for failure.  We all put him in a category of untouchable.  And he believed he was.  Of course, he did everything he could to assure failure in the end.  He's responsible for the decisions he made.  He decided to cheat, but we decided to put him on a pedestal.  His former teammates who consciously chose to bend the rules aren't victims, either, by the way.  They all balked at the opportunity to choose integrity, too.  That's where I find the biggest problem in this story.

We let those further down the pecking order off the hook.  They told on a guy out of envy for his success.  The same success they were trying to attain through cheating, but they never reaped the benefits.  Of course they're bitter.  The promise of PEDs didn't pan out for them.   It's as if we don't require them to comply to the standards.  It's no wonder the sports culture is a train wreck.  Grown men who vehemently cheated are suddenly victims?  What is that?  Excellence should be expected of everyone, regardless of their credentials or position.  We're creating an entire sub-culture of individuals who don't win while compromising ethics and integrity.  It's no wonder that when these people rise to the top they have no real understanding of right and wrong.

The only way to steer the ship in the right direction is to have high standards of ethics and integrity for every single individual who chooses to participate in sports.  No one gets a pass because of their ability or potential.   No one gets a pass because of their accomplishments.  No one gets a pass because they're victims.  No one gets a pass because they demand it.  Everyone must be expected to comply to a certain code, if you will.  Excellence in every facet of the individual's life is the only thing that can begin to change this sports culture of which Lance Armstrong is a product.

Part 2 airs tonight and you can bet that I'm going to tune in.  I'll share my thoughts about it tomorrow.