SiriusXM’s Rio Report on Ryan Lochte and his apology: “It’s taken a turn for the surreal”

If you’ve been living under a rock, in a cave, on Mars for the past week, Ryan Lochte and his teammates have found themselves at the center of a swirling and convoluted tale of being out too late and causing some kind of a ruckus and then attempting to cover up the ordeal by making a disputed claim about –at first– being robbed at gunpoint, only to cop to what really happened after an independent investigation by the Brazilian government and Rio police. On Friday morning Lochte opened up and apologized for the indiscretion, his behavior and his lack of candidness. Upon the release of the apology, SiriusXM’s own Jim Noble and Chris Spatola were quick to chime in on the casualness of Lochte’s apology. “It’s not really the crime, it’s the cover-up. It’s embarrassing for America, it was initially embarrassing for Brazil,” says SiriusXM Rio Radio’s Jim Noble addressing the mess Ryan Lochte and his US Swimming teammates found themselves in this week. 

“‘I was less than candid’ is sort of a milquetoast way of saying ‘I don’t bear all the responsibility’ and I think he does bear all the responsibility,” Noble continues while dissecting Lochte’s apology. Something that was very interesting about Lochte’s apology and that was revealed in a tweet from the esteemed USA Today writer Christine Brennan was this juicy tidbit:

I am told an apology was the only way Lochte wouldn’t be banned for life by no-nonsense USA Swimming. Don’t expect decision during Games.

— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) August 19, 2016

If Brennan’s remark via social media is true (and there’s little reason to question Brennan’s judgement or assertion), the end of this strange tale may be months away. It’s difficult to consider a lifetime ban for any athlete, particularly one as decorated in international competition as Lochte, but as Jim Noble mentioned on Rio Report this morning: “I’m all for kids will be kids, but Lochte is 32 and at some point people need to know better.”