Well, most people that know me know I'm a cycling fan. I never did drugs but many a 100 mile ride was fuelled with alcohol.
Which brings me to my namesake - Lance Armstrong.
He has been lambasted, humiliated, stripped of his glory by the testimony of so-called team mates.
Well, my view is that, Not only was Lance the best cyclist of his era but he was also a better doper than the others. If you were to disqualify all the dopers in the Tour de France then the winner would be the Lanterne Rouge!
And whilst we're on the subject, imagine if, overnight, the albums of say - Art Pepper, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Hampton Hawes, Tubby Hayes, Pete King and a hundred others were deleted from the catalogue for the same reason?
Jazz, just as cycling is,would be the loser.
Oh yes and you could add The Stones, The Beatles and just about every other pop band that ever played!
Maybe dope should be legal bought over the counter - the gang wars would end!
Lance.
4 comments :
Mmmm!I've never been a fan of "dope" - booze was quite good enough for us when I was a lad, thank you! On the wider issue, just taking a few example of my favourite jazz musicians, I note that Louis Armstrong was high on marijuana most of his life, whereas Bix Beiderbecke and Bunny Berigan managed to drink themselves to death at 28 and 33 respectively. Prez lasted to 50 in spite of much alcoholic excess, and Coleman Hawkins made it to 64, in spite of inhaling three bottles of Remy Martin daily, with one chinese meal a week to stretch the stomach walls (he actually probably died of malnutrition plus Korsakovs syndrome - a form of dementia brought on by excessive drinking.....). Just off to get another can of Strongbow....
As long as fans and sponsors are under no illusions then there's certainly something to be said for liberalisation and de-regulation, although I can't help thinking that the systematic and ruthlessly goal-oriented approach of Bruyneel's trams killed off a lot of the romance of individual heroicism which characterised past generations. The last great TdF solo break in the Alps that I can remember was Floyd Landis's infamous career ending escapade, yet Hinault and Merckx would do it every race.
Lance Armstrong by all accounts is/was a nasty and highly egotistical piece of work who bullied to manipulate situations to suit his ends. His treatment of Bassons and Simeoni was reprehensible, and the way he has treated former team mates who (literally) gave their own blood to support his ambitions is sickening.
I say good riddance to the Armstrong lie, but desperately hope for a more exciting brand of racing in the future. Maybe this year's exciting but 'too good to be true' Vuelta shows what might be possible?
Jazz on the other hand, that's something creative...
Such gifted artists created so much despite their addictions. How much great music was never created because of their shortened &
disrupted lives we will never know.
Brian (banjo) Bennett said...
Someone said the real danger is that Lance Armstrong will send a powerful message to young dope users that cycling is cool.
Talking about dope habits, have you ever heard the story of Willie the Weeper?
Just ask Margaret Barnes.
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