Lance Armstrong was such an important cultural figure — someone whose gritty determination in beating cancer became a metaphor for a record-breaking athletic career — that, with each painful revelation about his doping history, the public has given him the benefit of the doubt. First, denial; then, disbelief; finally, the sense that he was just following the crowd, doing what so many Tour de France competitors were doing.
Then, last week, the US Anti-Doping Agency issued a 200-page report detailing how Armstrong used just about every means imaginable to take the banned blood booster erythropoietin and then to conceal it. The facts are so difficult to deny, the details so sweeping, the evidence so persuasive that only one conclusion can be reached: Armstrong’s success was a massive fraud.
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They just couldn't let a true hero retire. He's been an inspiration to cancer patients everywhere. No, in this day of "everyone has to know everything" me must know it all. How many cancer patients will give up now, knowing their hero lied.
Yes, Armstrong should come clean. But he probably won't, unless forced to, and then only to help himself look good again. Armstrong is like your prototypical narcissistic personality, should anyone be interested. His goal was always to make himself look good, be seen as the best, no matter the price to others or to the sport. Manipulating, bullying, misleading, deceiving, punishing, depriving others was all an essential part of his game. Don't expect him to admit to any of this--that would make him look bad.
All narcissistic personalities, I think, also have what Freud called "a destructive impulse"--aimed mostly at others, yet also aimed, without distinction, at themselves as well. Yes, he excelled in his career and in his sport, but in a way that now destroys his career, his reputation, his sport, and those who competed both with him and against him.
Narcissistic personalities begin by feeling bad, themselves, inside. When they succeed in making themselves look good, to people on the outside, they then, I think, communicate how bad they really feel by making others feel terrible inside also. Count on the narcissistic personality, even if your friend or hero, to make you feel terrible in the end. As they themselves have really felt all along.
n.
-
- An inner or interior part.
- Inward character, perceptions, or feelings: felt good on the inside about volunteering to help.
- An inner side or surface.
- The part away from the edge; the middle part.
- insides Informal.
- The inner organs; entrails.
- The inner parts or workings: the insides of a TV set.
- Slang. Confidential or secret information.
adj.- Inner; interior.
- Relating to, known to, or coming from an exclusive group: inside information; an inside joke.
- Baseball. Passing on the side of home plate nearer the batter. Used of a pitch.
adv.- Into or in the interior; within.
- On the inner side.
- Slang. In prison.
prep.- Within: We'll be there inside an hour.
-
- On the inner side or part of: inside the package.
- Into the interior of: going inside the house.
idioms:inside out
- With the inner surface turned out; reversed: wore the sweatshirt inside out.
- InformalAs completely as possible; thoroughly:knew the city inside out. As completely as possible; thoroughly: knew the city inside out.
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Sorry for the junk included with and following my comment. It wasn't visible to me when I posted it. Don't know how that happend.
Yes, Armstrong should come clean. But he probably won't, unless forced to, and then only to help himself look good again. Armstrong is like your prototypical narcissistic personality, should anyone be interested. His goal was always to make himself look good, be seen as the best, no matter the price to others or to the sport. Manipulating, bullying, misleading, deceiving, punishing, depriving others was all an essential part of his game. Don't expect him to admit to any of this--that would make him look bad.
All narcissistic personalities, I think, also have what Freud called "a destructive impulse"--aimed mostly at others, yet also aimed, without distinction, at themselves as well. Yes, he excelled in his career and in his sport, but in a way that now destroys his career, his reputation, his sport, and those who competed both with him and against him.
Narcissistic personalities begin by feeling bad, themselves, inside. When they succeed in making themselves look good, to people on the outside, they then, I think, communicate how bad they really feel by making others feel terrible inside also. Count on the narcissistic personality, even if your friend or hero, to make you feel terrible in the end. As they themselves have really felt all along.