I, like millions of others, have just watched part 1 of the Lance Armstrong interview that he did with Oprah Winfrey. While he did admit to use of EPO, testosterone, and other PEDs, in all seven of his Tour de France wins, the manner in which he admitted though was no less astonishing. Winfrey, the day after she conducted the interview with Armstrong, made an appearance on CBS This Morning, and characterized the way he admitted use, as not the way she expected that he would do it. There is so much to this interview and it is hard to summarize. It's something that you just have to watch and come to conclusions on your own.
My take is, that while he did admit to using PEDs, he still was defiant and smug in some of his answers. I think that's just a part of his character, which obviously, are not good qualities. While admitting use, he denied being the king pin and in charge of the doping program. He said he was a bully, yet, he said he lead by example, and not by threatening to kick other riders off the team if they didn't dope. His answers were contradictory in some respects, and you could tell he was holding back in others. He flat out wouldn't talk about conversations he had in a hospital room when he was being treated for cancer. He refused to apologize to certain women he had called "a bitch" or "a whore", although he said he regretted saying it. Winfrey gave him plenty of opportunity to apologize, but he didn't. I really don't think this interview has done him a whole lot of good so far. While it shows a little remorse, it still shows his arrogance and defiance against other key players that were involved in this doping scandal. You could tell he was still trying to either cover for close friends, or soften the blow to their involvement in this. It really is just unbelievable, and again, hard to summarize for anyone who did not watch. It's something that you have to see and decide on your own.
On Winfrey's performance in her questioning of Armstrong. Her opening line of questioning, asking him to answer "Yes" or "No" to key questions about if he did or didn't dope was brilliant. Other questions where she should have followed up more on certain things, or was leading on with possible answers to a question she asked, was a mistake. Her job isn't an easy one. Overall, she did a lot better than what I thought she would. She clearly did her homework and was well prepared. Winfrey has called this the biggest interview she has ever done in her career. This would be the biggest interview of anyone's career, even someone like Winfrey. I still would have liked to see someone like Scott Pelley of CBS, or Bob Costas and Dan Patrick of NBC conduct this interview, but clearly, Winfrey, overall, did a great job tonight. It will be interesting to see part two tomorrow night and what else will come out. He is supposed to talk about his kids, his mother, and what he would say to all the people who believed and who wear the yellow Livestrong bracelets (which he wore during the interview). I will be interested in hearing about the latter.
While Armstrong is trying to clear his own conscience with this interview, he still is not doing himself any favors by still bringing his arrogance into some of his answers. I will say this one more time, watch it for yourself and come to your own conclusions on Armstrong.
Part II of Winfrey's interview will air Friday night at 9pm on OWN and Oprah.com...
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