Lance is what he’s always been
They say time heals all wounds, that old grudges eventually fade as the years tick by. Eh, not so much with Lance Armstrong.
The subject of ESPN’s latest multipart documentary mercifully produced to spoon feed our sports-starved pyche, the disgraced former professional cyclist is what he always has been; a bully, a liar and a cheat. No matter how many heartstrings he pulls while revisiting his cancer diagnosis, no matter how tough life had been for him after his 2013 public admission of doping, he is and always will be the poster child for sports scoundrels worldwide.
Here’s the thing, though … he had a brief moment in Santa Fe two years ago that made him downright likeable.
True story. As someone who was there to witness it, there was no shortage of people lining up to meet one of the most famous athletes the world has ever known.
He was in our neck of the woods to record a podcast for the 2018 Tour de France at Violet Crown in the Rayilyard. Roughly 250 people crammed into a room designed to fit 40, listening to him talk Tour strategy with his co-host.
The Armstrong people got that rainy afternoon was pretty much the same Armstrong that was shown casually recounting his version of the truth in the two-hour premiere of ESPN’s twopart 30-for-30 production, titled Lance. Part 2 comes out this weekend.
Sitting in the far corner of the room that day he was conversational, blunt and engaging. He got a few laughs as he cracked a few jokes, posed for dozens of photos and signed autographs before giving a certain newspaper guy a 10-minute interview away from everyone else.
At no point did he come across as the manipulative monster as history has come to know him.
And maybe that’s what makes him such a pariah, the fact that he can be as easy to talk to as your next door neighbor and come across as a guy you’d like to have on your beer league softball team. That guy, as it turns out, got the world to fall in love with him and defend his backstory to the fullest despite mounting evidence to the contrary.
What’s worse is when the walls finally came crumbling down, he destroyed his pundits with the same ferocity with which he competed.
If you’d subjected yourself to the full 10 hours of The Last Dance, it’s easy to see how those who climb to the top of the sports mountain (looking at you Michael Jordan) can often be mistaken as real-life versions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Winning at all costs means eviscerating everyone around you, although the only thing most of us see is the winning — not the destroying.
Where Armstrong separated himself is what he did to all of us. He betrayed our loyalty and played us all as fools. You can be a huge jerk and crush your competition, but lying and cheating your way into the hearts and minds of those who watch is simply unforgivable.
Back to that day in the summer of 2018. How easily he’d pulled the wool over our eyes and made us feel stupid for believing him, reinforcing the idea that people with the ability to influence us with money and power can be the most damaging nightmares of all.
Say what you will, Lance, but you’ll always be the guy who made secondguessing second nature for all of us.
Will Webber’s commentary appears regularly in the sports section. To contact him, email wwebber@sfnewmexican.com.