Mary Eggers

I believe in Lance Armstrong. That’s a controversial statement to make these days but I believe in him. I believe he is clean. I believe he did not cheat. I am willing to also be proven wrong. I live in a country that states we are innocent until proven guilty. I know there are some great websites that will talk about the specifcs, all the test results from everyone, etc. I know there is a lot more to this story than my small opinion. Here is why I have this opinion.

First of all, because I live in a country where I can have an opinion.

Set aside the positive and negative and false positive -blah-blah-blah tests. Look at the character of these athletes.

Floyd Landis. Wins the Tour de France. Tests positive, denies it. Writes a book denying it. Accepts millions of dollars in donations denying it. Speaks out… denying it. Then for whatever reason….. maybe he saw the light…… changes his story. “Comes clean.” To me Floyd Landis is good at lying, I think he proved that by all that I just previously mentioned. He denied it, he made money off of all of us denying it….. and then suddenly he’s telling the truth and suddenly he is a trustworthy source?

Sorry. fool me once shame on me. Fool me twice go to hell. I bought your damn book, do I get a refund??? I don’t believe a thing Floyd Landis says.

Tyler Hamilton. Similar story. Wins Olympic Gold. Tests positive. Twice. Denies it. Same sort of thing. Stood up in front of millions of people denying it. Accepted money….. denying it. Then suddenly…… I guess he saw the same light…… “comes clean”. Am I supposed to find it honorable that you gave back Olympic Gold? No you asshole, you cheated. YOU LIED ABOUT IT. And now you want me to consider you a trustworthy source?

You can go to hell too.

George Hincapie. Ugh. Honestly….. I don’t know what to think on his statements. I don’t want to believe him, I would like to call him a liar. But he has more integrity it seems that most of the cycling world put together. He could the the wild card for me.

Lance Armstrong. In his 20 year career has over 500 tests, passes them all as far as I understand. There is a questionable, maybe a positive in 2001…… I could be wrong, I didn’t look into it.

He states he doesn’t dope. As far as I can see he’s lived a pretty honorable life. He’s raised millions for Cancer….. I am definitely biased…. I have been directly affected by LiveStrong and I more than many people feel in my heart the importance of it.

But two proven liars saw him do it. So he’s guilty.

Which leaves me to wonder….. exactly what would it take to prove Lance is innocent. He’s passed tests. He’s tested in and out of competition. What would it take to you…… to us the every day people…..  because his results aren’t good enough, his word isn’t good enough that we are willing to make this judgement based on  two proven liars’ stories?

I will take Lance’s word. And I will admit, we don’t share a BFF necklace. All I really know about the man could be due to pure marketing. But aside from that here is what I think about cheating in general………

I think it takes a certain type of person to be a cheater. Let’s take a person who cheats on their husband or wife. They lie, they become really good at lying. To live this lie they have this feeling that they are above…. above something. I don’t know if it’s above morality, above marital vows…… but they have this deranged delusion that the rules don’t apply to them. They sneak around. They go behind their families’ backs. Bottom line….. THEY LIE!!!!!!!!!

Then, when confronted with the cold hard reality that they lied to their spouse and maybe even their children….. they will justify it to spare themselves from accepting responsibility. He was a bad husband (or wife… it goes both ways).

I think people who cheat…… cheat at everything. There’s a sense of entitlement about them they somehow the rules don’t apply to them….. somehow they are better than the rest……. when in turn it’s a really big hole within themselves that they need to fill so badly they become desperate. They are sneaky…..meet me in the parking lot at the grocery store, my husband won’t know, then they will come home to their family and be able to act as if nothing is happening. Then you will cry that no one understands you and not to judge you. I certainly hope you would judge me if it were me.

That takes a certain level of insanity in my opinion. To be that good of a liar. Then to justify it. That’s what’s truly sad and frightening about that whole type of  situation. It’s really a fundamental issue with the person in your mirror. That speaks louder than anything.

So I think it requires a certain type of person to be a cheater in general. I think if you cheat in life, you are more likely to cheat in sport.

But back to the point…….. I don’t know Floyd, Tyler or Lance personally. Floyd and Tyler have proven themselves to be liars. To me, Lance Armstrong has not proven that. As my friend Todd pointed out….. “some nice guys dope, and some jerks don’t“. I completely agree. I don’t know if we ever will know the real truth and the real motivation behind all of this.

 I think cycling is so tainted that it doesn’t even matter anymore. To me the Tour has become…. how soon after the winner gets crowned does he get stripped????? I don’t even watch anymore.

Here is what I do know…… Lance gave me hope when I needed some hope. He gave me LiveStrong when I needed LiveStrong. Unless you have ever been in that position, unless you have been touched by Cancer in that way…. you might not understand the passion and the love many of us have for LiveStrong. Lance is LiveStrong….. he knows. He gets it. You can’t take that away from him. He’s never given me a reason to lose hope not just in the fight against Cancer, but in the underdog.

At the end of the day…. sport is truly a metaphor for how we live our lives. How you act on the field is a good representation of how you act off the field. I think if you cheat on the field…. you probably cheat off the field. If you are an asshole on the field…. you are likely an asshole off the field.

I love the discussions that this situation is bringing about. I love to debate and converse, I love to hear opinions and thoughts others have. I find it fascinating. My friend Steve commented yesterday this, which I adore: 

I don’t mind at all if others think I am nuts for my belief in Lance’s innocence.

Again……I really enjoy the discussion it has given birth to. I love a good debate. My father taught me how to do it without allowing it to be personal. The person I can’t have a friendly debate with is the one who will take personal jabs at each other and resort to arguments like…. well you are an idiot. Be an adult. Don’t take it personal…… I love to hear all sides of the story. We had a terrific discussion on FaceBook yesterday and I love learning what other people think and why.

I believe in everyone until proven otherwise, and I hope that’s what people believe for me as well. If I walk through life believing in the bad stuff…. where will that get me? believing in the good of everyone might get me a giant burn on the ass in the future, but that’s a heartbreak I am willing to make.

I once believed in Floyd Landis. I was an even bigger believer in Tyler Hamilton. I said the same things about them that I said about Lance….. I will believe in innocence until proven otherwise. I am absolutely willing to admit I am wrong. If there comes a day when Lance is proven guilty I can absolutely be wrong.

But I still choose to believe in the greater good. I can’t help it, I am an optimist.

Filed under: My Training