I am begging you Lance, DON'T DO IT!  Change your mind.  Start having second thoughts.  Reconsider.  Reevaluate.  See things in a new light.  Sleep on it.  For God's sake, think twice Lance, and don't do it!  Cancel the interview.  Call in sick.  Do whatever you have to do to stay away from Oprah tomorrow, because I don't want to know.  I don't want to hear it!  I don't want to hear those words come out of your mouth.  I'd rather live in blind denial than to hear you admit to doping yourself.

That is reportedly what Lance Armstrong will do tomorrow when he invites Oprah Winfrey into his Austin home for an interview that will air Thursday on her network.  Numerous sources, including USA Today say it will be a "no holds barred" interview, and that Armstrong will admit to doping charges throughout his cycling career, although he likely won't get into intimate details.

I'm sure Lance has his reasons, but I don't think they are well thought out.  I'm sure he probably feels like "well, I once was 'America's Golden Boy', and if I tell the truth, I can be again".  In my opinion, if that is the case, he is far too trusting of the American public and their ability to forgive and forget.

In a sense, admitting his guilt to try to turn public support back to him is anything but humble.  It is quite self-egrandising to me.  It's Lance thinking, "well, I was so great an athlete, and meant so much to American culture, that people have to forgive me".  I don't think I am alone in thinking this, which will be a grand miscalculation on his part.  If anything, I think admitting to doping throughout his career will make him even more disliked.

For years, Lance Armstrong repeatedly and vehemently stood in our faces and denied doping.  Even as more and more evidence came in.  Even as more and more former teammates and friends came out with eyewitness testimony of his doing so.  It became a broken record.  So why start owning up to it now???

At least if Armstrong continued his denials, there would always be that remnant of doubt in people's minds.  Like Barry Bonds steroid use or OJ killing Nicole, we may be 99 % sure, but a part of us yearns to hang on to that one percent.

Look at Pete Rose for an example.  For years he denied betting on baseball.  Despite all the evidence, betting slips, eyewitness testimony and so on, Rose continued to deny.  Finally, after years of doing so, he admitted it, albeit to sell a book.  What happened?  Did the public immediately say "Awwww Pete, we really feel for you and appreciate your honesty.  Thanks and we all forgive you"?  Heck no.  If anything, Rose became even more reviled a figure than he was before, and still for the most part, remains that way.

I could be wrong, but I think the same fate awaits Armstrong.

Truth is a good thing in life....most of the time.  We all wanted to believe that a clean cut Texan, who was a cancer survivor could overcome the odds, recover, and achieve greatness like never before seen.  We loved the story.  We all fell in love with it.  Writers named him the Male Athlete of the Year four straight years, from 2002-2005.  We couldn't get enough.  After all of that, who wants to hear the truth?  I sure don't.  In this case, truth is a very bad thing, and I don't want to hear it.

I hope in the short time before he meets with Oprah, that Lance changes his mind.  I found out the truth about the Easter Bunny when I was nine.  I found out the truth about the tooth fairy when I was 11.  I found out the truth about Santa Claus when I was 12.  I certainly don't want to find out about this truth now that I am 46.

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