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Article: Armstrong a replaceable American hero In our society we feel compelled to make champions into superheroes. Yet deep inside, we know it's b.s.
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- July 27, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2005 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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Better get some things off the old hairy chest before vacation:
Excuse me, but when did Lance Armstrong become a patriotic/
medical/secular saint, a person no one is allowed to have mixed
feelings about?
Call me a skeptic, but he didn't beat cancer by riding a bike. He
didn't beat cancer by winning the Tour de France a record seven
straight times.
If I'm not mistaken -- and I read his book, It's Not About the
Bike -- he beat cancer because of good diagnosis, good treatment,
good attitude and blind, roll-the-dice luck.
In our society we feel compelled to make champions into
superheroes. Winning has to equal virtue.
We make that equation because it is hard to do otherwise. If
winning doesn't ...