The day superman died: Et tu Mr. Armstrong

Today morning while glancing through the usual kadharshian and Madonna stories in national daily supplement I saw my horoscope for the week which read, be prepared, there might be a theft in your place. Within half an hour of that, I open twitter and saw Lance Armstrong trending. The news that it bore was the theft as predicted. He quit fight against drug charges and will be stripped of all tour-de-France titles, all seven of them and will be banned for life from cycling. *Pause* link to article here.

   Sports persons keep getting involved in all sorts of drug allegations and why is this shattering news you ask? Remember the day when you found out that metro city didn’t exist on United States map and superman was a fictitious character? Or Captain vyom was strikingly similar to Star trek. When you google’d and found out that the princess you were looking for so desperately all your childhood didn’t actually exist in any castle whatsoever. Remember the feeling? You just couldn’t bring yourself to admit to the fact. You were short of words to react? You knew you couldn’t counter the facts because it was truth but deep down, you didn’t want to believe it. That.

  Mind you tour-de-France is no child’s play and he did it 7 times, after beating cancer. He was pinnacle of human spirit, proof that human determination can move mountains. He was the best thing to have happened to cancer patients since chemotherapy because he turned the doctor’s advice on its head and was back on road cycling and winning like before. he started lance armtsrong cancer foundation and was at the heart of the cancer support revolution which ahd people wearing rubber bands etched 'Livestrong'. He was the shinning light, like the beach lighthouse for tired sailors. He was the ‘aal iz well’ personified.

  So much so that when I was going through a tough phase some time back, I resorted to the life story of steve jobs and lance Armstrong and that helped me. Sheer fact that these gentlemen, if I may, braved all odds stacked against them and not only came out victorious but made history while doing so. It’s just uplifting. When you are down and dusted, looking up to people who have braved such situations does wonders to you and makes you get up and go for the kill again. Its like the single life jacket when your titanic is sinking. And when accusations are made against man of such stature, it shakes the whole belief one had in fairy tales and happy endings.

  Now I am no cycling sport fanatic. No sir. The only thing I know about cycling starts and ends with you. I know about the sport as much as Indian govt knows about governance, so to speak. I am even more clueless about drugs and how it spikes/helps/boosts performances. Heck, I didn’t even bother to Google the names that came up in your accusations. Because, I DON’T CARE. All I know is, you cheated. Of all people, it was you. It might result in you getting charged for cheating/doping and might even land you in prison. But you have lost a fan today. You would know the feeling, if the person you looked up all your life turns out to be a cheat.

  I am not angry sir, I am just……. disappointed.