An Unexpected Gift From An Incredible Athlete

The Tour de France was something few thought any American would ever succeed at, until Lance Armstrong made his mark on that event five times.

It's something admirable, enviable.

In a prime example of how the media and politicians function, news appeared immediately about performance enhancing drugs.

I find the euphemism interesting. As long as you don't qualify the Viagra drip that most politicians indulge themselves with both literally and figuratively, I'm sure the world will make the needed adjustments.

And as for the media, no one is immune from the joy of creating a story, a full-blown drama. It doesn't matter if it destroys the reputation of anyone.

The bottom line is the story.

An exception to that is one that made the back page lately. After years of scrutiny, all charges against Lance Armstrong are now an afterthought. They dropped them.

For those who wonder why I defend him like I do, it's important to note that he sent me this magazine, when I was going through my own fight with cancer.

Now I have a number of favorite sports and favorite athletes, but I won't hold my breath waiting for something like this from anyone else.

Lance Armstrong does this kind of thing. It is something admirable.

So how do I stand, when it comes to performance enhancing drugs?

Personally, I think politicians should find something else to do to earn the outrageous money they earn at the expense of working men and women. It's not as if there aren't enough problems in the world.

And as for my attitude about the media, they are worse than whores or whoremongers. They sell their souls for a story, regardless of credibility, of validity, of authenticity.

Exceptions are the "old school" men and women, who knew what was the term "news" really meant--like one I watched get emotional while announcing the death of JFK.

I hope we return to some paradigm, where men and women, who serve the electorate and where men and women, who report the news take a close look at the world and discover the vacuum they seem to surround themselves with daily. I hope they become, what they should be--what they could be.

That would be people, who make the world a better place.

It's why I'm a fan of Lance Armstrong. He sent me a magazine, which only cost a few dollars, and postage could not have been much either. But he did something that meant a great deal to me.

He is, without a doubt, an athlete I admire.