Lance Armstrong: The New Pete Rose

Now that a pile of evidence has come out against Lance Armstrong, it appears he still won’t admit his guilt.  Even though you now have sworn testimony from 26 people, many of whom had to admit they also cheated in the process, Armstrong still denies the charges.

I see this playing out the same as the situation with Pete Rose. Maybe in 20 years or so, Lance will admit what he’s done.  At some point in life, a person’s conscience usually kicks in, and he or she will feel the need to come clean.

I remember the day Giamatti lowered the boom like it was yesterday and I was in Cooperstown that month before as Johnny Bench and Carl Yastrzemski were inducted into the Hall and the rumors reached their peak. I have seen how Pete would parade himself up and down main-street in defiance of his banishment for years after. It’s sad we will not be able to share with our children the stories of our hero’s from when we were young because there are very few heroes left these days. We only have the words from when the Dowd Report was presented.

"The banishment for life of Pete Rose from baseball is the sad end of a sorry episode. One of the game's greatest players has engaged in a variety of acts which have stained the game, and he must now live with the consequences of those acts. By choosing not to come to a hearing before me, and by choosing not to proffer any testimony or evidence contrary to the evidence and information contained in the report of the Special Counsel to the Commissioner, Mr. Rose has accepted baseball's ultimate sanction, lifetime ineligibility."

A. Bartlett Giamatti,
Commissioner of Baseball,
August 24, 1989

Overall, it’s just a sad story. What are your thoughts?