Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Lance and Oprah ... yawn

In April of 1997, Ellen Degeneres came out as being gay ... which pretty much everyone knew already.

What caused me to think of this long-ago, completely unsurprising story? The news that Lance Armstrong would be talking to Oprah Winfrey on OWN "in his first no-holds-barred interview," which will air Jan. 17 from 9 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern.

"Armstrong will address the alleged doping scandal, years of accusations of cheating, and charges of lying about the use of performance-enhancing drugs throughout his storied cycling career."
Of course, the drug question is the only remotely interesting part of the interview, but really, how interesting is it?

If he continues to deny that he took drugs, even after being stripped of his Tour de France titles, it's something that he has already said hundreds, maybe thousands of times. 

If he finally admits he did drugs, he's acknowledging something that everyone already knew -- even most of the dead-enders have finally come around -- just like when Ellen Degeneres came out.

Some people have made their peace with Armstrong because "everyone did it" or "he has done so much good" or "I like him." I've already made my thoughts on this line of reasoning known, and I've long thought of him not just as a cheater (it was either that or Superman, given that he had cancer that doctors thought would kill him but came back to dominate a sport where everyone else was doping), but an outwardly arrogant jerk.

But however people feel about Armstrong, one interview with Oprah isn't likely to change that.

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