Living Strongly ?

Last year didn’t quite draw to an expected ending with unfortunate instances wrapping up what could have been one of my better years; Tendulkar’s untimely and prompt retirement from the ODIs, the IOC’s refusal to recognise IOA only added to the woes of the sports follower in me.

But what hurts more than any of these is watching an icon fall, seeing the superman of your early years- the one you imitated with futile attempts at flying- going dark.

We make an investment in our heroes, our sports-stars; we give them our time, our respect, we hold them in honour. But if they fail to live up to that honour and respect, there is a breach of trust; there’s nothing worse than seeing your trust shattered, all it takes is one offhand remark or a deed and you lose all that is there.

With the ugly news of Armstrong’s alleged involvement in doping doing rounds in media, it gets hard for a follower-less of a fan- to digest the story and even harder to fathom the psyche behind it, if at all the reports are to be believed once. Why would Armstrong give in to a meek and fallacious thing as doping? It is a complicated problem trying to understand that a man who urged the world to believe in itself and its abilities didn’t believe in himself and his physical abilities, and had to resort to a thing as low and immoral as doping to prove his supremacy.

There are so many questions in my mind right now; each one of those needs an explanation. When Lance was stripped of his medals and Tour victories, he had not lost my support; he still was a hero and champion in my eyes. But with reports in media pouring a little too heavily now, there are slim chances that the news come out to be untrue. A confession would salvage nothing; there are men in plenitude who were attacked by Armstrong for doubting him, all this while they were rebuked for stating the truth. They will be buckling up as reports from all corners are strengthening their stance; they have some scores to settle.

The man stepped down as Chairman of Livestrong Foundation, followed his actions by quitting the board of the organisation- which seems more like an admission of guilt; but this is just the first blood drawn by his detractors. They will be coming for more. Money, pride, power - there is so much at stake.

"You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push!"

 Seems like he forgot that a person who is not swayed from his chosen path, even during the most trying times, will ultimately find that he or she is trusted by all. If Lance had realised it then he should have conceded to doping long ago and not made so many enemies. If not then, then why now? That is the big question. Why in front of Oprah and not the UCI? The man decides to come out clean and does it with someone who is not from that world, shocking indeed. There is so less one can think of when it comes to a plausible reason.

The vivid memories of him in the Maillot-Jaune, with machine like lungs pumping oxygen, while scaling the peaks of the Alps and Pyrenees keeps me from believing that the man was on drugs. It was a picture of authority, moment of domination; as I relive those memories of him reaching Champ Elysees in his favourite yellow jersey I hope the man rises like the Dark Knight and proves all including me wrong.