It has been one week since the announcement came down from the baseball Hall of Fame that there would be no class of 2013, despite names like Clemens, Bonds, Piazza, and Biggio being on the ballot.
Earlier this week, Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and American hero, told Oprah that he used PED's in route to winning 7 Tour de France titles. That interview will air over the next two days.
Then today, we hear that one of the most touching stories of the college football season was all a hoax. Manti Te'o became a house hold name this season as he lead the Notre Dame Fighting Irish all the way to the BCS title game. The nation's (or ESPN's) infatuation with Te'o began in the early fall with a story that was almost too terrible to believe. Te'o's grandmother and girlfriend both died in the week leading up to Notre Dame's game with Michigan State, but Te'o, summoning the inner strength of a true hero, managed to play through the pain he must have been feeling, and have a great game. Afterwards he thanked just about everyone in the world for the support he had received and referenced both ladies in his post game remarks.
There is only one problem, the girlfriend never existed. Of course, Te'o and by extension Notre Dame, have released an apology today explaining the confusion. You see, Te'o is really the victim here. He began an online relationship with this woman that he believed was real. He knew that she was sick, and then he found out that she died. He never actually met the girl, but he says the feelings he felt for her were real even if she turned out not be real. Again to reiterate, Te'o is the victim.
Lance Armstrong was once the victim too. During his time dominating the cycling world, Armstrong was constantly being accused of using PED's. He denied the accusations and went on the offensive, attacking his accusers. Armstrong was made out to be the only clean guy in a very dirty sport by the media, and the American public ate it up. Hey, I wore my Livestrong bracelet when I was in college, so I am as guilty as anyone. Again, the story was just too good to pass up. This guy beat testicular cancer, and even though he was literally half the man of the other guys in the field, he dominated a sport that we couldn't care less about.
Now Armstrong is going back on the offensive. He is going to apologize for misleading us, he is going to ask us for forgiveness, and he is probably going to manage to shed a tear while he does it. But make no mistake, this isn't about the Livestrong organization that he founded, and this isn't about coming clean and telling the truth. It is about one thing, the thing it has always been about, Lance Armstrong. You see, Armstrong would have probably been a great cyclist without the drugs, but who cares about great cyclist? Can you name one other great cyclist? You see, Armstrong needed the drugs to win at a level that couldn't be ignored. He needed the fame, the fortune and most of all, the notoriety that comes with winning not just one Tour de France, but seven. Armstrong shouldn't be let off the hook for the lies that he has told, and neither should Te'o or Notre Dame.
Te'o and Notre Dame put the statement out today because the story broke today. According to the original story on deadspin.com, Notre Dame became aware of the hoax on December 26. Today is January 16. If this was about telling the truth, then they would have come clean about the story when the found out about it. Why wouldn't they just tell the embarrassing story then and get it over with? The answer is pretty obvious. Notre Dame and Te'o are going to tell you their side of the story now, because they got caught. Had this story never come out, then they would have let us believe forever that this "girlfriend" really existed.
Maybe Te'o's version of the story is the truth, but that doesn't make him or Notre Dame any better in this situation. They had plenty of chances to come clean before they had to, and they chose every day not to do that. They lied every day they didn't tell the truth.
Shame on them for lying, and at this point, I guess shame on us for believing the story to start with. By now, we as sports fans should know that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is a lie.
When we are kids we grow up hearing fairy tales, and even though we stop believing in Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy as adults, we still want to believe. We want to believe that a man can beat cancer and come all the way back to dominate a high endurance sport like cycling. We want to believe that the human spirit can carry a young man through the darkest days of his life, and help him achieve greatness on the football field. The truth is that it is all a mirage.
We watch sports so we can live vicariously through these athletes that we put on a pedestal. Their success is our success. Their heartbreak is our heartbreak. I'm not saying that it is bad, but it leads us into believing the best of people and being disappointed when we learn that our heroes are simply people that are flawed just like we are.
I think Armstrong is pathetic and I think he owes other cancer survivors an apology for cashing in on his disease I think Te'o is a fraud, and I would think twice about drafting him if I were an NFL general manager. I wish I could say that I won't be sucked in the next time one of these stories come along, but I can't. I just hope that this is the end of it for now.
I mean how could it get worse? The "Miracle on Ice" was fixed? Babe Ruth was just stretching, not pointing, when he called his shot? Did the Giants really win the pinnate?
I'm tired of hearing fake apologies Just once, I wish one of these guys would come out and say, "Yep, I cheated because I wasn't good enough on my own. You got me. But the truth is that I would do it again in a heartbeat if given the chance."
Maybe it is wrong, but I would cheer for that guy.
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