The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Jan. 16, 2013

It's an interesting time to be a professional athlete to me.

Trying to find a couple of players worthy of going to the Baseball Hall of Fame, voters couldn't decide on a single player and won't induct anyone later this summer.

Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong - who's claimed he didn't take performance enhancing drugs for years, has admitted to doing it, albeit a few years too late.

IT MIGHT be tough for Edgar Martinez, or any other marginally successful baseball player, to find themselves in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., anytime soon.

Not because of his statistics, or because he was a designated hitter for most of his career, but because a handful of players from the early to mid-90s clouding the game from the mid-90s and beyond due to the influence of performance enhancing drugs.

In their first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame, players like Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds didn't receive enough votes, nor did Rafael Palmeiro or Mark McGwire, who were in their second try.

Sure, Martinez hit the double down the left field line that saved baseball in Seattle, making it a lot easier for taxpayers to pass a bill to get Safeco Field built.

Since he was the first one to retire, Martinez will be talked about for the next couple years as the next Mariner to be elected.

He probably won't be the next one to make it to Cooperstown, but by no fault of his own.

Martinez just played his spot the best he could in the time he was there.

Good enough for some, but apparently not everyone.

MEANWHILE THE world of competitive cycling will get what they've been looking for out of Lance Armstrong later this week.

Armstrong, who has long denied his involvement with using PEDs, will finally admit to using in a taped interview with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday and Friday.

A friend and I were discussing if I was disappointed that Armstrong represented the USA in the Olympics and if I was discouraged knowing now that he’d cheated — to which my thought is, not really.

Considering that a handful of racers in the Tour de France — which Armstrong won multiple times, were eventually accused of doping, or cheating, does it really matter?

Sure, when Armstrong kept saying he was innocent, it was easy to believe him.

However, with the more accusations that surfaced, the less you really knew who was telling the truth.

Once Armstrong’s interview is shown, it might be tough to tell if he’s being honest, or just trying to protect himself.

Much like players like Bonds and Clemens, protecting his image shouldn’t be on Armstrong’s mind right now.

Because he will have to try fixing it once the truth comes out.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com.