If Oprah couldn’t make him do it, who could?

Shamed cyclist Lance Armstrong taped an interview with Oprah Winfrey on Monday in which he confessed that he did, in fact, use performance enhancing drugs to achieve his many victories over his remarkable cycling career.

Armstrong, who won the Tour de France seven times, has denied doping for years.  However, in October 2012, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a report that painted Armstrong as the leader of a “long-running doping scheme.”  He was stripped of his titles as far back as 1998, banned for life from competition, and canned by his sponsors.

He sat down with Winfrey following an emotional visit to the staff of his former charity, the Livestrong Foundation, whose board he was forced to leave after the USADA’s report.  In what was characterized a “heartfelt and sincere” talk, Armstrong apologized to the gathered staff for the controversy around his rumored use of performance enhancers.  Reports say he made no confession to the staff.

Winfrey told CBS This Morning that Armstrong was “prepared,” “emotional” at times, but “did not come clean in the manner [she] expected.”

The interview will air on OWN, in two parts, this Thursday and Friday at 9:00 pm ET.

Photo:  Dominic Chan/WENN.com

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Miami Heat center Chris Bosh and his Team Tomorrow Foundation spread a ton of holiday cheer to local youth when “Santa Bosh’s Workshop” opened its doors on Tuesday.   He and his team set up at Game Time in Miami for an evening of fun, food and giveaways for the kids.  Chris’ wife Adrienne and daughter Trinity were also on hand to help out.  Burger King co-sponsored the event.

Photo Of The Day:  Wendy Williams Spreads Christmas Joy To Kids In Need

Photo: Johnny Louis/WENN.com

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More tragedy has struck the NFL.  Dallas Cowboys practice squad linebacker Jerry Brown was killed in an Irving, Texas auto accident early Saturday morning.  His teammate, Josh Brent, who was driving the car, has been charged and charged with intoxication manslaughter.

TMZ reports Brent’s car hit the curb and flipped, landing upside down in the middle of the road.   When police arrived, the car was on fire and Brent was pulling an unresponsive Brown away from the vehicle.  Brent failed a field sobriety test and was taken to the hospital for a blood alcohol test.   Brown was also taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.   He was 25 years old.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones gave this statement today:

 ”We are deeply saddened by the news of this accident and the passing of Jerry Brown. At this time, our hearts and prayers and deepest sympathies are with the members of Jerry’s family and all of those who knew him and loved him.”

Brent remains in jail where he is being held without bond.   He evidently missed a booking hearing on Saturday at 10:00 am because he was still too drunk.

Intoxication manslaughter is a second degree felony.  This is Brent’s second DUI charge.  In 2009 he plead guilty to DUI in Illinois and was sentenced to 60 days in jail and 2 years probation, which he completed in July 2011.

Brown’s death comes just a week after Kansas City Chiefs player Jovan Belcher killed himself and his girlfriend.

Photos:  MSNBC

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The family of Jovan Belcher has released a statement expressing their sorrow and confusion following this weekend’s tragic murder-suicide that left Belcher and his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins dead.  Belcher, a linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs, shot himself in front of his coach at Arrowhead Stadium shortly after killing Perkins at their home.

The family’s statement to TMZ read in part:

“As a family, no words can express the sorrow we feel over the loss of Jovan and Kasandra.  The impact that this inconceivable tragedy has had on our heart is immeasurable; we are overwhelmed with both sadness and confusion.

“Jovan was our son, brother, uncle, cousin, nephew, grandson, and friend and we will miss him and Kasandra dearly.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the Perkins family as they mourn.

“…we will cherish the wonderful memories we have of Jovan and we pray that those memories will bring us peace as we grapple to understand the unpredictable and tragic ending of his life and the life of Kasandra Perkins.”

The family asked for privacy as they grieve.

Even those closest to Belcher are unsure how to understand his actions.  Coach Romeo Crennel told reporters that he was “surprised by the events of the last few days,” and that he didn’t know “what made [Belcher] snap.”

Photo:  ABC

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Details continue to emerge regarding the horrific murder-suicide of NFL player Jovan Belcher and his girlfriend on Saturday morning in Kansas City, Mo.

The Kansas City Chiefs linebacker shot and killed Kasandra Perkins, the mother of his three month old daughter Zoe, after an argument.  She had come home late, around 1:00 am, from seeing a concert.  Belcher was reportedly upset that she’d come home so late, and several hours later, she was dead.  His mother, who was staying with them, witnessed the murder.

Belcher then drove to the practice facility area of Arrowhead Stadium, where he encountered Chiefs’ general manager Scott Pioli and coach Romeo Crennel.  He “thanked them for all they’d done for him,” and shot himself in the head while they tried to stop him.   Police had been called, and they evidently heard the gunshot.  Belcher died at the hospital.

Officers had arrived to the couple’s home on Crysler Avenue ten minutes earlier to find Perkins with multiple gun shot wounds in the master bathroom.  She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Her family released this statement to the press on Monday:

“Our hearts are truly broken for Kasi was a beloved daughter, granddaughter, sister, mother, cousin and friend.  [Please] respect our privacy during this difficult time.  Please keep us in your hearts and prayers as well as the Belcher family.”

Baby Zoe was given into temporary custody with her maternal grandmother, police said.

Belcher is the sixth NFL player to commit suicide in the past year.  At least two were found to have a degenerative brain condition that results from the kind of repeated blows to the head a player would receive when being tackled.   Belcher had reported short-term memory loss following a game on November 18th, and according to an anonymous source at Deadspin, he “could not remember the events that had taken place prior to that game.”   He did not play in the team’s game on November 25th.

The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Carolina Panthers on Sunday 27-21 in their second win in what has been described as a “dismal” season for the team.

Photos:  Instagram; KC Chiefs

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Looks like Danica Patrick‘s marriage to Paul Hospenthal has hit a wall.    The NASCAR driver and GoDaddy girl announced the split via her Facebook page, saying:

“I am sad to inform my fans that after 7 years, Paul and I have decided to amicably end our marriage. This isn’t easy for either of us, but mutually it has come to this. He has been an important person and friend in my life and that’s how we will remain moving forward.”

Patrick and Hospenthal, a sports physical therapist, married in 2005; they met when she sought his services to treat a yoga injury.  In 2010, Hospenthal told The New Yorker that it was often hard being a sports spouse (“Mr. Danica Patrick”) but that ultimately, it was all good.

“…she’s Danica Patrick, for Pete’s sake.  I carry her helmet at the racetrack, and if the guys want to snicker at me, well, it’s my wife. That’s what you do. I really think that’s one of the biggest things that make us work.”

Too bad that’s not working out any more.

Patrick was recently named 2012′s Most Popular NASCAR Driver.

Photo:  Judy Eddy/WENN.com

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Famously outrageous boxer Hector Camacho passed away on Saturday in San Juan, Puerto Rico.   He was removed from life support following a serious injury on Tuesday when he was shot in the face.   He was 50 years old.

Camacho and a friend, Alberto Mojica, were sitting in a car outside a bar in Bayamon, a San Juan suburb, when another car drove up, opened fire and took off.  Mojica was killed and Camacho was hit in the jaw; doctors said the bullet fractured two vertebrae and lodged in his shoulder.   He was taken to and treated at the Rio Piedras Medical Center in San Juan, where he suffered a heart attack on Wednesday morning.  After extensive testing, the boxer was declared brain dead on Thursday.  On Friday, his mother Maria Matias announced her decision to remove him from life support once his children arrived from the United States to say their goodbyes.  She said:

“I lost my son three days ago. He’s alive only because of a machine.  My son is not alive. My son is only alive for the people who love him.”

Dr. Ernesto Torres of the Medical Center reported that Camacho had another heart attack and died a short time after being removed from support.

Over his 30 year career, Camacho earned major boxing championships in three weight classes (super featherweight, lightweight and junior lightweight).  He was known for his trash talking and flamboyant style, entering the ring in outfits including a fur coat, a diaper and a roman gladiator uniform.  Camacho had a history of substance issues and legal trouble, and had been shot once before in an attempted carjacking.

Police reported that ten small bags of cocaine were found in the car where Camacho was killed.

Camacho will be buried in New York, where he was raised.

Photo:  Shannon Livingston / WENN.com

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Barbara Walters has compiled her 10 Most Fascinating People of 2012, and we’ve got a partial preview of the annual list.

British boy band One Direction made the cut, as well as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and actor Ben Affleck. Other folks who fascinate Walters include funny guy Seth MacFarlane, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas, and the author of 50 Shades Of Grey E. L. James (seriously?).

The remaining three picks – which includes the number one spot – will be revealed on Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2012, airing December 12 at 9:30/8:30c on ABC.

What do you think of Barbara Walters’ picks?  Do you find them fascinating as well, or just ho-hum?  And, whom did you find most fascinating this year?  Sound off in the comments.

Photos:  Dan Jackman/WENN.com; Michael Carpenter/WENN.com; Andres Otero/WENN.com; Carrie Devorah /WENN.com; FayesVision/WENN.com; C.M. Wiggins/WENN.com

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BMX rider TJ Lavin has made an honest woman out of his longtime love Roxanne Siordia.  The couple, who have been together for eight years, were married on Friday, November 2 in Las Vegas.

The groom tweeted a photo of himself jokingly trying to escape while Siordia pulled him back.  “Tried to get away but to no avail!” he quipped.

She evidently succeeded, because later one of Lavin’s sponsors, Headrush, also tweeted a photo of the couple’s ceremony.

Lavin seems to be doing well since his life-threatening BMX crash during the Dew Tour event in October 2010.  He suffered injuries so extensive that doctors kept him in a medically-induced coma to help his healing.  He spent a month in the hospital recovering, and went home almost exactly two years ago – on November 16, 2010.

Congratulations to the newlyweds!

Photos:   DJDM/WENN.com; TJ Lavin/Twitter; Headrush/Twitter

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Lance Armstrong is scrubbing his twitter bio after he was stripped of his Tour de France titles this week.

Armstrong, who has denied the allegations, has changed his personal description to “Raising my five kids. Fighting Cancer. Swim, bike, run and golf whenever I can.” It previously read: “Father of 5 amazing kids, 7-time Tour de France winner, full time cancer fighter, part time triathlete.”

The profile change comes in the wake of the International Cycling Union’s decision to take away the seven Tour de France titles Armstrong held after the United States Anti-Doping Agency issued a report citing “conclusive and undeniable proof” of Armstrong and his teammates use of performance enhancing drugs.

The report includes testimony from 26 people, financial payments and emails the agency says details “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.”

Armstrong’s lawyer, Timothy Herman renounced the report stating it was “a one-sided hatchet job . . . rehashing old, disproved, unreliable allegations based largely on axe-grinders, serial perjurers, coerced testimony, sweetheart deals and threat-induced stories.”

The 41 year-old who stopped fighting the agency because he said it was “one-sided” was dropped by his long-time sponsors. Nike, Trek Bicycles, Anheuser Busch and 24 Fitness Center are just some of the corporations bailing on Armstrong. He also stepped down from his charity organization LiveStrong.

[image: Dominic Chan/WENN]

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