DAVE ROSS

Thank you, Lance

Jan 18, 2013, 5:54 AM | Updated: 6:04 am

In this July 19, 2009, file photo, Lance Armstrong crosses the finish line during the 15th stage of the Tour de France cycling race in Verbier, Switzerland. Armstrong confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France during a taped interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013, reversing more than a decade of denial. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours, File)

(AP Photo/Laurent Rebours, File)

Personally I think riding a bike to the point of exhaustion is silly.

So hearing Lance Armstrong admit that he doped? I’ve always assumed that athletes who excel at unnatural activities have to do unnatural things to get there.

The thing that I find unforgivable is trying to destroy people who told the truth.

What kind of person behaves that way? The kind of person who places winning above everything.

We are exposed to a lot of people like that these days, because it sells. We’re Americans; we play to win, nobody remembers the second man on the moon! It was Buzz Aldrin, by the way.

Enough of our athletes have bought into this “go big or go home” culture that we can’t take a man by his word anymore, we have to take him by his urine. You are only as trustworthy as your pee.

Except the doping is so sophisticated now they have to suck out your blood too. And little by little our privacy evaporates.

Armstrong was so immersed in winning that when people began accusing him, he actually had to consult a dictionary for the definition of cheating. “Getting an unfair advantage over others,” it said. Since all the others were doing it too, he told himself, he was fine.

And it was OK to try to destroy his critics.

But I still say thank you, Lance. Thank you for injecting us with a megadose of reality and reminding us that sometimes it’s not the best man, but the most ruthless who wins. For reminding us to pick our heroes carefully, or better yet, to choose someone you actually know – whose urine you can trust without testing it.

Dave's Commentary

Dave Ross on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM
  • listen to dave rossTune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 5am for Dave Ross on Seattle's Morning News.

Dave Ross

car culture...

Dave Ross

Ross: Are we killing car culture? Or is car culture killing the US?

I don’t think the question is whether we're going to "kill" our car culture. The real question is can we stop our car culture from killing the U.S.?

4 days ago

drivers data insurance...

Dave Ross

Ross: As cars release driving data to insurance, is your driving my business?

Every move you make, every swerve you take, every lane change you fake – someone’s watching you. Do drivers have a right to keep driving data private?

11 days ago

rent control...

Dave Ross

Ross: Rent control was never the answer in Wash.

The rent control bill died in the Washington State Legislature this week, even though Democrats control both houses.

1 month ago

end of democracy...

Dave Ross

Ross: Conservative activist earns applause for pledging an ‘end of Democracy’

The theme from Jack Posobiec's speech is that Jan. 6 was a righteous attack not on democracy, but on those who threaten democracy.

1 month ago

Image: Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, is seen on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2023. (Photo: Alex Brand...

Dave Ross

Ross: Voters can help cull bad politicians from the herd early

Let's remember that just about every occupant of a higher office once occupied a lower office, and was put there by us, Dave Ross says.

1 month ago

Super Bowl celebration...

Dave Ross

Ross: The NFL does it again

The NFL once again put on a show that was able to keep me tuned in for four hours even though I had no stake in either team.

2 months ago

Thank you, Lance