Lance Armstrong

OMG! another 'poster boy' from the world of sports has fallen from grace. There was Barry Bonds. Then came Mark McGuire. Now its Lance Armstrong.

The common thread that runs through these athletes is not what we think it is, being a champion, but something else...being a cheater. Another thread that knits them together is, they all got caught.

Like Barry and Mark, Lance made his bones by taking performance enhancing drugs - PED's. And, like those guys, he was punished for his misdeeds - stripped of seven Tour de france cycling titles by the anti-doping commission.

But the thing I don't get about Armstrong is, he wants the same commission that stripped him of his titles to grant him the right to compete in another sport - the tri-athlon. Can you imagine that? He was caught red-handed cheating, yet he wants to be granted the right to compete again? There it is, children, 'Drugs will cook your brains.'

But all is not lost for Lance. I believe he still has redeeming value (once he comes cleans about how he cheated). Remember Frank Abagnale? He was the guy portrayed in the movie, 'Catch Me If You Can.' 

Frank ripped off the government for a cool two and half million dollars by passing fraudulent checks. He got away with it for over four years by impersonating different profesionals, including an airline pilot and a doctor.

In the end, Abagnale made amends with the government by helping the FBI track down and catch check fraud criminals. Lance Armstrong can do the same and turn a tarnished life into a positive new start. He certainly has the credentials. If anyone can dupe the doping commission and go on to win seven world cycling titles along the way, Lance can.

So I ask the question. Does Lance want to erase his claim to shame? If I were him, I'd take the job.