The Oprah Winfrey - Lance Armstrong Interview Part II

Part II of the Lance Armstrong interview just ended.  Again, it's something everyone must see to form their own opinion about Armstrong.  He was more emotional when talking about the effect it had on his children.  His son defended him to his classmates over and over.  He finally had a sit-down conversation with him and his other kids during the holidays, and told him to stop defending him.  Just to tell the other kids that "dad is sorry".  After facetiming with his mom, he could visibly see that his mother was a "wreck" over this.  He never really understood how his actions affected other people until he had to tell his mom and kids that he had been lying all these years.

Armstrong stated that he didn't "deserve" the death penalty, but did deserve to be punished.  He felt that when he came back in 2009-2010 that the sport of Cycling was "clean" and that he was competing on an even playing field.  He had promised his ex-wife that if he did comeback, that he would do it without PEDs.  There is evidence to the contrary. 

Although, Armstrong was a bit more emotional tonight, he didn't shed tears.  Some people who know him well said that it was the most emotion they have seen out of him, others who do not know him, wonder if he wasn't emotional enough.  It's hard to say.  I believe, that when talking about his kids and mother, that his emotion was genuine.  It was probably the most genuine moment of the entire interview. 

I don't think Winfrey's performance was as good as the first installment of this two night event.  There were questions she should have followed up on that she didn't.  When he said that he didn't think that the PEDs caused his cancer, she needed to follow up on it.  When he denied ever offering USADA money and he denied doing it, she should have pressed him harder on it.  USADA CEO Travis Tygart, in his interview with 60 Minutes Sports, was adamant about that it was offered.  She should have pressed him more on Tygart and their relatationship.  I believe Tygart in that Armstrong indeed did.  He denied offering money to USADA to "paying him off", as Winfrey characterized it.  He didn't deny not just offering the money to USADA in general.  Winfrey never pressured him on that point.  Big whiff, in my opinion. 

Armstrong said he is in therapy, on and off, for awhile.  He admitted that he should be in it regularly.  I don't think the second part of this interview did him any good.  Jeffrey Toobin, of CNN, says that he will spend a lot of time in court and should not have done this interview.  In my opinion, he shouldn't have done the interview at this time either.  Reason being, he didn't seem forthright in all of his answers.  He, admittedly, has a long ways to go in this "process" of honesty.  He clearly didn't come fully clean in everything, especially in not addressing the hospital room confession in which Betsy Andreu, and her husband, were present, when he admitted taking PEDs. 

My final take on the interview...I get that people can be unemotional at times.  I am unemotional at times when you should be.  I get it.  But, his body language...the rubbing of the hands, the crossing of the legs, the constantly looking down and not making eye contact in certain situations when you need to...I get that...He never leaned forward, he didn't make eye contact at times when he should have to convey important points...I am not a body language expert by any means, but I know how I act when I am trying to be contrite.  Everyone is different, but there are certain "tells" that everyone has that convey truth and contrition.  He didn't show that at times during this interview.  He may have to do more interviews along the way that brings out more details in this scandal.  Only time will tell if he does more interviews.  There is a lot to digest from this interview.  Again, I implore everyone to watch and judge Armstrong for yourself.  As soon as I can find the complete interview, I will post it.  I believe there is a lot more to this story to come...

The Oprah Winfrey - Lance Armstrong Interview Part I

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...

The Fraud that is Manti Te'o?

Deadspin reported today that Manti Te'o's girlfriend who died of leukemia just hours after his grandmother, was actually not his girlfriend...In fact, she wasn't even real.  The shocking revelation that Deadspin, who seemingly thoroughly investigated this (article found here: http://tinyurl.com/b29k3pd), shows that it was either an elaborate hoax that Te'o was oblivious to or something he could have been a part of.  Notre Dame Athletic Director, Jack Swarbick, who just held a press conference moments ago, is totally behind Te'o in the sense that he was the victim.  He repeatedly called Te'o a victim of a hoax.  The univerisity did conduct their own investigation but never turned it over to law enforcement.  They were made aware of this, by Te'o, on December 26.  Swarbick talked to Te'o on the 27th where he laid out his relationship with the alleged woman posing as his "girlfriend".  Many inconsistencies in Te'o's story remain.  He said he had met her after a game at Stanford and even vacationed together.  He never said it was exclusively an on-line relationship.  He said they had talked on the phone almost everyday.  What is the truth? Swarbick said that Te'o received a phone call on the 26th, when he was at an ESPN awards show, from a number he recognized, and a voice he know.  It was supposedly from the woman who had "died" and said she was indeed alive.  While the university investigated, Te'o remained silent, and has remained silent since the National Championship game loss to Alabama.  Swarbick said that Te'o was going to address the media on this next week.  Now he says that Te'o will have a press conference tomorrow.  Will we ever get the truth from this? Was this an elaborate hoax by some sick people or was Te'o actually in on this? I doubt Te'o will admit he was in on this and will play a victim.  What do we believe?  The same day when we finally will allegedly hear that Lance Armstrong lied about PED use, will we get the whole truth from Te'o? I doubt the whole truth, but then again as sports fan, do we ever? One thing I know...I guess I have to watch the show "Catfish" to get any context of how something like this could even supposedly happen...

The Fraud that is Lance Armstrong

Like many people, I wanted to believe. I wanted to believe in a man who was on his death bed with testicular cancer.  I wanted to believe that the seven Tour de France races he won after being so close to death was done legitimately.  But fairly tales are only in books.  Cycling is a dirty sport and has been for years.  It was naive of us believers to think that in a sport that is so dirty and corrupt, that Armstrong would have won cleanly.  It's a sad story that we cannot have heroes in sports anymore because he could of been it.  Performance Enhancing drugs have been used rampantly in Track & Field, Cycling, Baseball, and many others.  Who can we look up to anymore?  Maybe that's the problem.  We invest so much time in sports and it's players.  We look for good guys that we can like and follow, and even idolize, especially as kids.  As parents (which I'm not one), how do you explain to your kids that their favorite athlete might be a cheater?

I know in 1998, during the great homerun chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, I, along with a lot of my friends, wanted to be a part of history.  So we took a trip to Milwaukee to see Mark McGwire make history.  He did hit homerun #65 in one of the games we saw that September weekend.  We were elated that we got to see history.  Then steroid rumors began.  I gave McGwire, Sosa, and others the benefit of the doubt at first.  Then I came to the sad realization that these rumors were indeed true.  McGwire admitted to steroid use.  Sosa has not yet, but evidence is strong.  Needless to say, I was devastated at first.  Then I came to acceptance.  Acceptance that it wasn't just those two guys that used, but many of the era.  So I have accepted the era.  Now I watch sports with caution and skepticism.  When I watch a sporting event, I don't think about who uses PEDs and who doesn't.  I just am not surprised anymore if someone tests positive.  While the testing has become much better over the years, the cheaters are still ahead of the game.  My first introduction to steroid use among athletes was in 1988 during the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.  Canadian track star, Ben Johnson, obliterated the record in the 100 meters and beat American Carl Lewis.  Shortly there after, Johnson tested positive for steroids and was stripped of his Gold Medal.  I didn't really understand it then at age 9, but I understand now why athletes try to do it.  Everyone wants to be bigger, faster, and stronger.  They feel cheating is the only way to do it.  What they should take note of, is the rise and fall of Lance Armstrong.

When Armstrong was winning, even amongst the loud whispers of doping, people didn't want to believe it.  I didn't want to believe it.  He denied it over and over again.  He was defiant and was hard not to believe.  You wanted to give this cancer survivor the benefit of the doubt that he was clean.  He started the Livestrong Foundation for cancer research.  They yellow bands became a symbol of the cause.  I have worn a yellow Livestrong band for years.  In light of Armstrong reportedly admitting to his use of PEDs in an interview that he will do with Oprah Winfrey that will be taped Monday and aired on Oprah's OWN network and Oprah.com, I've been struggling with the fact if I should still wear the yellow band or not.  Armstrong has distanced himself from Livestrong.  Resigning as it's CEO and not doing anymore appearances.  But the organization still does great things in the fight with cancer; a disease that has affected all of us in some way.  After a lot of thought, I've decided to keep wearing the band...not in support of Armstrong, but in support of the fight against cancer.

In an interview with 60 Minutes Sports, the head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Travis Tygart who investigated the Armstrong case, said he found strong evidence and testimony from fellow team members of Armstrong, that the United States Postal Service team, had a very sophisticated system of illegal drug use, lead by Armstrong.  He said that bullying tactics were used to get other team members to use, and imposed a strict code of silence that was equal to the code of silence you would see in mafias.  The details and testimony are damning.  Armstrong refused to fight it.  It has been reported recently that he has reached out to USADA in hopes of lifting his lifetime ban so he can compete in other sports, like triathlons and marathons.  We'll see what comes of that.

Armstrong's rise and fall has been an epic one.  One that every athlete should take note of and think twice before using PEDs.  I hope it will lead to less use, however, we all know that won't happen.  Cheaters will always try to be ahead of the system.  I'm hoping that in his interview with Winfrey, that he will address every single question she poses.  I think Winfrey won't be as tough a questioner as say a Bob Costas or a Dan Patrick who would be more qualified to ask such questions, but I do hope, that whatever she asks he answers honestly and candidly.  In a text to the Associated Press, he said he put no limits on what she could ask.  I just question that she will ask all the right questions and hard follow up questions that need to be posed to him.  I'm sure some clips and quotes will be leaked out from that interview tomorrow and I'm looking forward to watching the full interview on Thursday.

I hate to judge someone before hearing it from them no matter how things look, however, the evidence against Armstrong is so damning that it's hard to not pass judgement.  While we may never get all the answers, I hope the answers that Armstrong does provide will shed light on why he did it and the culture he himself set among his USPS team.  We will see.  Stay tuned...