One of my favorite openings, of one of my favorite books, is in Philip K. Dick’s Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. A ridiculously popular TV host awakens to find, after a fight with a former lover, that he no longer exists. He’s real enough — except now he is living in a seedy hotel room with no form of ID, which in Dick’s dystopian future means a trip to the work camps…
Don’t know why that made me think of Lance Armstrong (did I mention that Dick’s hero is part of an elite group of genetically engineered individuals who have greater privileges than the ordinary person?). One day he has seven Tour de France trophies and the next day…
Not that Armstrong’s world disappeared; Nike, Anheuser-Busch and others companies who use him as a spokesman are standing strong. “Lance has stated his innocence and has been unwavering on this position,” a Nike spokeswoman told the New York Times, and that is not just a river in Egypt talking. By their lights, Lance is an icon of survival and endurance and perhaps his battles with the US Anti-Doping Agency will just be perceived as another obstacle to overcome. Those yellow Livestrong bracelets are still out there, and when my son had testicular cancer I used the man as an example of life after treatment: “Seven Tour de France titles and he’s banging Sheryl Crow like a rented tambourine!” I believe were my exact words.
I met Armstrong for a nano second years ago. Nike was filming an ad that showed great athletes in their own alternate realities, ones in which they were equally great: Randy Johnson as a pro-bowler, Marion Jones as a gymnast, Michael Vick playing hockey (what, no Huskies?) — and Lance was world title boxer. “This guy can do anything!” the announcer proclaims at the end, as they put the championship belt around the “Texas Tickler.”
I was doing a story about sports and advertising for SI and wanted just a moment of his time, but a nod and a handshake was all I got: After a morning’s ride and a day of filming Lance was “cooked” his handler told me. Stewing in his own juices, I guess.