TUESDAY CAT COUNTRY COMMENTARY

(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary at 9:50 am and 5:20 pm on Cat Country 98 FM)

GOING COMPLETELY OFF THE BOARD TODAY.

OBVIOUSLY, THE PANDEMIC HAS BEEN A BOON FOR TELEVISION AND LIVE-STREAMING SERVICES. VIEWERSHIP IS UP BY AT LEAST 50 PERCENT AND NETFLIX HAS BECOME SO POPULAR THAT YOU’D ALMOST BELIEVE THEY’RE BEHIND COVID-19.

ONE OF THE BEST THINGS I’VE WATCHED OVER THE PAST 82 DAYS IS ESPN’S 2-PART DOCUMENTARY ENTITLED “LANCE”, CHRONICLING THE LIFE OF CYCLING ICON LANCE ARMSTRONG. IT’S AIRED IN CANADA ON TSN A WEEK OR SO BEHIND.

ONCE VIEWED AS THE PRIDE OF AUSTIN, TEXAS AS THE 7-TIME CHAMPION OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE, LANCE QUICKLY BECAME THE MOST HATED PERSON IN SPORTS AFTER IT WAS DISCOVERED HE’S THE FACE OF THE MOST SOPHISTICATED PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUG SCHEME OF ALL-TIME.

HE’S BEEN CALLED, “THE KING OF THE JERKS”.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I’VE LONG BEEN SO FASCINATED WITY LANCE ARMSTRONG, BOTH IN THE GOOD DAYS AND THE BAD. PERHAPS IT’S BECAUSE WE’RE OF SIMILAR AGE AND I HAVE A LOVE AFFAIR WITH TEXAS. I DON’T KNOW. BUT AS HE WAS MAKING HIS COMEBACK FROM CANCER THAT RAVAGED HIS BODY EVEN BEFORE HIS TOUR WINS, I WORE THE BRIGHT YELLOW LIVESTRONG BRACELET IN SUPPORT OF THE MAN BACK IN THE 90’S AND EARLY-2000’S.

IN THE DOCUMENTARY, ARMSTRONG SHOWS LITTLE REMORSE FOR HIS WRONGS AND STATED THAT WHEN HE BEGAN DOPING, EVERYBODY WAS DOING IT AND IT WASN’T ILLEGAL. ONCE IT WAS, HE JUST KEPT GOING WITH THE FLOW.

WHAT HE DIDN’T KNOW WAS THAT HIS COMPETITORS AND CERTAIN MEDIA MEMBERS WOULD NOT REST UNTIL THEY BROUGHT HIM DOWN WITH PROOF AND IN 2012, THEY EVENTUALLY DID.

THE LESSON WE LEARN IS THAT IN LIFE IT’S BEST TO OWN UP TO IT RIGHT FROM THE START BECAUSE EVENTUALLY, THE JIG IS ALWAYS GOING TO COME UP.

THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY ON CAT COUNTRY 98.