Let's travel back a dozen sports summers. Back to 2005. Back to the days when Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong ruled as supreme commanders of sport.
Tiger, just 29, won the Masters, again. He had romped to Masters wins four times since 1997 and looked on his way to becoming the greatest golfer in history, and we're talking forevermore.
Lance won the Tour de France, again. He had dominated the ultimate bike race, winning seven straight times. He looked on his way to becoming an American icon, a personality who transcended sport. He had beaten cancer. He dated rock stars and movie stars. There were whispers, mostly in Europe, he was cheating, but those whispers were drowned by thunderous American applause.
Unless you've been living in a cave, you know Tiger has hit bottom. He was found asleep at the wheel of his car on Monday. His mug shot revealed a tattered 41-year-old who looks 51, or maybe 61. His body gave out on him, and his reckless lifestyle caught up with him, and we can only hope he someday again finds his way.
Lance's final battle to keep from joining Tiger at the bottom is still ahead.
In November, Armstrong is scheduled to do legal battle with your Uncle Sam. The U.S. Postal Service wants repayment of the $32.3 million it paid to sponsor Armstrong and his Tailwind cycling team. The Justice Department teamed up with the Postal Service in 2013. That's a serious tag team to face.
In the summer of 2014, I wrote a column detailing Armstrong's sad, yet inevitable fall. He had been a world-class cyclist. He also had been a world-class doper and world-class liar about his doping.
Armstrong read the column, and surprised me by calling to voice his views. Mostly, he just wanted to apologize, to me and to the world. We talked for several minutes while he emphasized, over and over, how sorry he was about his doping and his lying.
He was calling from his home in Aspen.
Let's pause there for a moment. Even after paying out at least $20 million to settle lawsuits, Armstrong still was able to afford homes in Austin and Aspen. In case you don't know, homes in Austin and Aspen are staggeringly expensive.
The five-bedroom residence in Aspen is worth an estimated $9 million. The Austin estate runs $2.7 million.
Your Uncle Sam might seek far more than $32.3 million from Armstrong. The feds might seek a payment of up to $100 million. The feds will not feel pity for Armstrong, no matter how remorseful he might be.
If Armstrong, once the ultimate winner, loses to the feds, it would break him financially. The loss would be the final public humiliation for a man who once seemed destined to rank alongside Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan and Hank Aaron as a Great American Sports Hero.
In our phone conversation, Armstrong told me he regrets his attacks on journalists who told the truth about him. He called them liars. He called on his followers _ and he had a multitude of followers _ to assail his highly accurate critics.
There's a lesson here.
Be fearful of anybody _ doesn't matter who it is _ seeking to lead an attack on truth-telling journalists.
