Lance Armstrong Saga Finally Over

As reported by ESPN, the federal government has elected to close it’s investigation into whether Lance Armstrong doped while riding professionally for the US Postal Service team.

I’ll admit, I thought this outcome was unlikely.  Jeff Novitsky was the federal agent who decided to open the newest investigation.  You might recognize his name as the guy who investigated Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.  The guy’s a bulldog, and not in a good way.  I could give or take Barry Bonds, and even though Roger Clemens is a Yankee, there’s a lot of baggage there.

But Lance’s contributions to society, along with his professional accomplishments, just screamed for everyone to let this die.  Unfortunately, it took way too long.  The guy hasn’t raced professionally in almost 2 years.

His foundation has raised over $325 million dollars.  That’s over a quarter BILLION dollars, folks.  And the federal government just lit a huge pot of money on fire to try and prosecute this guy.

I’ll admit I’m biased.  I’m a huge Lance Armstrong fan.  His story strikes me as a remarkable one, and he’s the reason I follow the Tour de France religiously.  Couple that with the fact that my family’s life has been touched by cancer in too many painful ways, and you’re not going to hear me say too many good things about the people trying to prosecute him.  And, after $325 million in fundraising, I think it’s time we just stop asking whether the guy doped or not.  Isn’t there a 3-legged dog we can kick instead?  That might be less painful to watch.

Here’s hoping that part is finally done.  I’ll be thrilled to see LIVESTRONG make it to half a billion dollars.  And, I’ll be excited every time we make another advance in the war against cancer.  We might not win it in my lifetime, but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure we do.