Pedaling Backwards: Can Oprah Save Lance Armstrong?
Phillip Cortez
You may want to make a drinking game out of this one: take a shot of tequila every time Lance Armstrong uses the word "sorry" during his interview with Oprah Winfrey this Thursday.
In case you've been living under a rock, today's the big Armstrong interview taping. It's when the lights will come on, cameras will roll and Oprah will waddle to her throne next to a stone-faced Armstrong as the beleaguered former cyclist is expected to finally come clean about being dirty - using performance-enhancing drugs to help propel him to 7 Tour de France titles and a slew of endorsement money. Check your local listings. There may even be tears.
This, of course, isn't the first time a former athlete or celebrity has turned to Oprah for instant absolution. From couch-jumping actors to drug-addicted starlets, Oprah has been the go-to queen of turning around public perception, helping Hollywood stars save face amidst scandal. Oprah's a publicist's dream: If Oprah forgives you America and the world will forgive you, too.
But how bad is the timing for Armstrong? Here we are, almost a decade since his last Tour de France title, and he decides to confess a mere week after Major League Baseball announces that it will be inducting zero former players into the Hall of Fame due to their involvement with steroids. One of those players, Mark McGwire (12-time All-Star, 10th all-time with 583 home runs), may never sniff a HOF ceremony in his lifetime. Yet he has maintained a presence around baseball since he retired from the game in 2001. McGwire will start the 2013 MLB season as the hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
As for Armstrong, he tried coming back to cycling in 2009 but he never enjoyed the same success he had during his 7-year Tour run. And I'm all for someone trying to move on with their lives; Armstrong admitting he was a cheater might lift a huge burden off of his shoulders, but here’s to...
