What kind of confession will Lance Armstrong make?

“It is with a great amount of shame I stand before you and tell you I have betrayed your trust,” said Marion Jones while admitting to using steroids in 2007. “Making these false statements to federal agents was an incredibly stupid thing to do… I have no one to blame but myself for what I have done.” Added Jones, who declined to answer questions and departed in a black limousine with her attorneys: “I want you to know I have been dishonest and you have a right to be angry with me. I have let my family down, let my country down and let myself down. I recognize that by saying I’m deeply sorry, it might not be enough and sufficient to address the pain and hurt I have caused you.” Carefully chosen words. Her voice cracked as she spoke the words. And by the end of it, many had forgiven her. She was wrong but she was finished and she was broke. Now, Lance Armstrong can choose this route or he can go the Bill Clinton way. The Monica Lewinsky scandal damaged his reputation but he chose to play it straight. [caption id=“attachment_589219” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] What’s Armstrong’s confession going to be like? Getty Images[/caption] “Even presidents have private lives. It is time to stop the pursuit of personal destruction and the prying into private lives and get on with our national life. Our country has been distracted by this matter for too long, and I take responsibility for my part in all of this. That is all I can do. Now it is time – in fact, it is past time – to move on. We have important work to do – real opportunities to seize, real problems to solve, real security matters to face,” Clinton had said in a statement . “And so tonight, I ask you to turn away from the spectacle of the past seven months, to repair the fabric of our national discourse, and to return our attention to all the challenges and all the promise of the next American century.” Ben Johnson’s confession was a more of a ‘I didn’t know what was happening’ kind. Will Armstrong go that way and play the ‘innocent’ lamb? “If he gave me something to take, I take it. No one told me they were banned. Charlie was my coach, and he said to take it,” Johnson told the hearing into drug use in sport, which was set up after his disqualification created the worst scandal in Olympic history. Johnson said he first knew of steroids when Francis approached him at a 1981 training session and said: “The whole world is using drugs, and the only way I’m going to get better is to take it. At the time I didn’t say yes or no. . . . He said think about it and let me know. I didn’t come up to him and say I want to go on it.” Baseball slugger Mark McGwire eventually admitted he used steroids when he broke baseball’s home run record in 1998. His race with Sammy Sosa – to beat the home run record now goes down in history as the steroid age of baseball. Everyone did it, so he did it as well – pretty much what Armstrong has been ‘allegedly’ saying as well. “I truly believe so,” McGwire said. “I believe I was given this gift. The only reason I took steroids was for health purposes.” During a 20-minute telephone interview with the AP shortly after McGwire released his statement, his voice repeatedly cracked. “It’s very emotional, it’s telling family members, friends and coaches, you know, it’s former teammates to try to get ahold of, you know, that I’m coming clean and being honest,” he said. “It’s the first time they’ve ever heard me, you know, talk about this. I hid it from everybody.” Tiger Woods said he was sorry for cheating on his wife in a televised speech – it helped him get his game back on line. It helped him put his game in focus. It helped him get on with life. Lance Armstrong is pretty much attempting to do the same thing – only his use of steroids has tarnished the sport of cycling forever. There have been reports of how Armstrong’s lawyers have been speaking to the the US anti-doping agency (USADA) to figure out a way that will allow him to compete in ‘other’ athletic events like the triathlon. Paddy Upton, who was formerly the Indian cricket team’s mental conditioning coach, has said on his blog : “The unavoidable truth is that psychopaths exist in sport, as players and as administrators. They not only exist, but also thrive. With massive self-belief, they will not stop at anything in order to win, are excellent strategic thinkers and can spot and exploit weaknesses in opponents. They play and win mind games.” “Armstrong’s first public statements since his banning will be aired on Oprah’s show on 17 January 2013, via a pre-recorded interview with her. Whatever the world hears, it will be very clever, very strategic and very much on Armstrong’s terms,” Upton added further. And whether we like it or not – this is about Armstrong alone. He isn’t doing it for his fans or for cycling or for his conscience and while he is at it, he will shed a few tears too. But will he have his forgiveness? Will he get his life back?