AUSTIN, Texas — Lance Armstrong stepped down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer-fighting charity and Nike severed ties with him as fallout from the doping scandal swirling around the famed cyclist escalated Wednesday. Armstrong announced his move at the charity in an early-morning statement. Within minutes, Nike said that it would end its relationship with him “due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade.”….Nike said it will continue to support Livestrong.
In my latest column (Cheatstrong) at Oregon Sports News, I made what I felt was a very strong and compelling argument for why Nike, if it hoped to retain any credibility, needed to cut its ties with Lance Armstrong. By now, the reasons why I would make that argument are well known, and I’m not going to regurgitate them here. Lance cheated, he lied about it for years, and Nike needed to do the right thing. As far as I was concerned, it made for a pretty simple equation.
As it turns out, it really was just that simple. Yesterday morning, shortly after Armstrong issued a statement resigning from his LIVESTRONG Foundation, Nike issued their own statement, announcing they were cutting their ties with Armstrong. Nike plans to continue to support LIVESTRONG, which seems appropriate. Lance Armstrong the athlete may be a liar, a cheat, and a miserable excuse for a human being, but the work he’s done fighting cancer is laudable and worthy of continued support. I have no problem with yellow wristbands, just the athlete who made them famous. Those fighting a battle against cancer shouldn’t be punished because LIVESTRONG’s founder is a moral reprobate.
No one should be crying for Armstrong. He still has his mountain of filthy lucre accumulated during his long and now tarnished career. Neither he nor anyone in his family will likely ever have to worry about where their next Big Mac is coming from. Lance Armstrong will be just fine, though if there’s any justice he’ll be widely considered a pariah.
Cheaters may not prosper, but…oh, wait; they may not remain victorious, but they sure as Hell can prosper.
Karma can be a real b—-h, no?? And a trip on the Schadenfreude Express isn’t far behind. Beyond that, I hope that Armstrong will somehow find it within himself to own up to his treachery and make something of the time he has left. America is about second chances…and perhaps even Lance Armstrong deserves one.
