Today I read a great article in the USA Today about forgiveness. Rick Hampson penned the article, headlined "Can You Forgive?" with a drophead of "America's about second chances. Will Lance get his?" It was, of course, dealing with Lance Armstrong and his admission to using blood doping and performance enhancing drugs during his unprecedented run to seven Tour de France victories.
Hampson contends that, while we Americans are willing to turn the other cheek (see Bill Clinton, Martha Stewart, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Vick, seemingly every baseball player to his a steroid-powered home run a country mile), Armstrong "tests even Americans' capacity for forgiveness."
Is it because he denied it for so long? Is it because we wanted to badly to believe that a once cancer-riddled body could ride so hard for so long? Is it because his crimes went beyond simply doping, but extended to bullying other riders and suing anyone who dared to question him? Hard to say, but I'm going to have to agree with Hampson's assessment.
That's what makes the situation Manti Te'o so difficult. Was he duped in an elaborate hoax in which he thought the girl with whom he had a long-time online relationship had died on the same day as his grandmother, or was he PART of the hoax in an effort to gain the sympathy vote for the Heisman Trophy? Because so many have lied only to be found out and humiliated later, we have a tendency to doubt. But, we also come back and forgive.
As journalists, we are trained to be skeptical and to question everything. It is difficult to turn that off, but maybe that's why I wasn't a great journalist. I am the eternal optimist. I WANT to believe Te'o. Hey, I've had several friends who started relationships online and ultimately ended up married. If you never meet the person face-to-face, how do you know? But then, I wanted to believe that Mark Maguire wasn't using steroids, I wanted to believe Lance Armstrong was clean (I fell hook, line and sinker for his, "What am I on? I'm on the bike!" line). I wanted to believe Pete Rose.
It will be interesting to see what happens here. Will Armstrong ever be forgiven? What is the truth in Te'o's case? My guess is Armstrong will find redemption at some point and, if he was part of the hoax, Te'o will too.
I just wish our celebrities would quit putting us in these situations!
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