Monday 15 October 2012

Being the parent of a cheat

I do not have strong opinions on sports, so I do not blog about it.  I used to watch soccer when Singapore was still in the Malaysia Cup in the 1990s, and hey I was at the Singapore stadium in 1994 with 3 of my classmates when Fandi Ahmad scored a goal to make it 1-0 against Pahang. I enjoyed watching any of the tennis grand slam finals, and yes it did not hurt that Andre Agassi was pleasing to the eye :)
What caught my eye out of the whole Lance Armstrong saga of dope, cycling, sports, cancer and cheating was this comment made by his 1998-2001 teammate Christian Vande Velde.  “More painful than coming clean to the public will be coming clean to (my) father” said Vande Velde.  You see, Vande Velde’s father is a 2 time Olympian.  From the age of 5, Vande Velde woke up daily to the familiar hissing sound of a bicycle pump as his father inflated the tyres of their bikes so that they could ride around their Chicago neighbourhood.
My heart breaks for Vande Velde’s father.  Ah but a silver lining ...Vande Velde recognizes that his systemic sustained cheating has broken his father’s heart.  I wonder what Vande Velde's father would say to him at that chat over the dining table......

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