Repeatedly.
Over and over.
And then he bullied people into living the lies. And hiding the lies.
And then he lied some more.
And millions of people believed him and trusted him.
People like me and people like you.
I feel a little ashamed.
Perhaps it was because I wanted to believe him. I wanted to trust him. No way could a guy beat the testers for all those years. He’s just an amazing human specimen with a bigger heart and larger lungs than the rest of us.
He was a great guy for whom all of us could root.
Right?
Wrong.
He was horribly wrong, and I can’t shake the feeling that I once really looked up to te guy and admired him.
After watching portions of the interview with Oprah Thursday, I feel confident that all parties — me and Lance, and I suppose Oprah and her millions, too — will move on, but the past and future of all of our relationships are a bit tarnished and irrevocably broken.
Hopefully, Lance will willingly — and with the same determination that made him a hero — make amends with his past and continue his apology tour for as long as it takes for him to look all the people in the eye whose lives he damaged and careers he ruined.
I doubt that ride will ever end for him.
For myself and millions of others, the ride won’t last as long, but it might serve as reminder to be honest with ourselves and our expectations and keep them in perspective.
I’ve always been a trusting kind of person, one to take people at their word. Now, I think I will dig a little deeper before I buy into the 60 homers after age 35, or the Cy Youngs at age 38, or the Wimbledons at age 17, or the seven Tour de France titles.
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Bill Kohler is Tri-State Editor of The Herald-Mail. Reach him at billk@herald-mail.com.
