ON THE MARK.

DID LANCE TRY TO PUT ONE OVER ON OPRAH?

Suppose you are Lance Armstrong and you're looking to salvage your image.   You want to confess your sins to a sympathetic interviewer, but in such a way that the public feels sorry for you.  You have your choice.  You can call "60 Minutes" and risk getting grilled by Scott Pelley or Leslie Stahl or Steve Kroft.  You could call Barbara Walters and be part of a prime-time network show that will eventually make you (and the viewers) cry.  Or you could call Oprah.   This was a no-brainer for Armstrong, who agreed to be interviewed by Winfrey on Monday at HIS home in Austin, Texas.  Oprah says she prepared over 100 questions for Armstrong in a wide-ranging interview that will be broadcast in two parts, on Thursday and Friday nights.  On "CBS This Morning", Oprah responded to the Armstrong interview by saying
"I would say he did not come clean in the manner I had expected. It was surprising to me."
       Hmmm.  Hearing that, I'm not sure I want to watch this supposed "confession" by Armstrong.   How did Oprah let him off the hook?  Remember, we're dealing with a guy who cheated, then lied, then cheated some more, then lied, then denied and NOW he wants to come clean, but under HIS terms.   Apparently, Armstrong would be willing to testify to the Department of Justice (blow the whistle) on cycling officials and official's from the U.S. Postal Service team because he wants to compete in recognized triathalons and other events (not cycling).    The World Anti-Doping Agency, which suspended him for life and stripped him of his 7 Tour De France titles, said today that he must confess under oath if he wants to seek a reduction to his lifetime ban from sports.  Hey, if you're a cheater and a liar, is it really a stretch to become a stool pigeon or a rat? 
    But back to the Oprah interview for a second.  Ms. Winfrey is a pretty smart cookie.  She knows that the Armstrong interview was much coveted, and she got it.   The interview has been recorded, so now the marketing begins.  CBS This Morning got some tidbits today.   A few leaks from unidentified sources have caught the attention of the public, and now the speculation begins in earnest.  What happens to the millions of dollars that the Postal Service spent sponsoring Armstrong's team?  Does Armstrong have to return that money? (According to CBS News, he is in talks to return money to the Postal Service).  During the Winfrey chat, according to sources who were not authorized to speak about the interview, Armstrong rebutted the claim that he was the leader of a doping program.  He said he was just doing what his teammates were doing.   Of course, these are the same teammates who blew the whistle on Armstrong (see Landis, Floyd) in 2010.  Will Armstrong cooperate with the Department of Justice and finger those cycling officials and sponsors who turned a blind eye during all those Tour De France titles?
    There are so many questions that need to be answered, but the big one should be the first question:  Did you take performance enhancing drugs?   It's like when Jay Leno had actor Hugh Grant on the Tonight Show a few nights after Grant had been arrest for lewd conduct after hooking up with a call girl.  Leno asked the question everybody wanted the answer to:  "What the hell were you thinking?"     I'd like to believe that would be the first question Oprah asked Armstrong on Monday.   Somehow, I get the feeling she couldn't or wouldn't muster up the courage to ask that right off the bat.   Pity.



During his interview with Winfrey, Armstrong rebutted the claim that he was a leader of the doping program, saying he just did what his teammates were doing, according to the two people who did not want their names published because they are not authorized to speak about the interview.

Now Armstrong and possibly his longtime agent, Bill Stapleton, are seeking to repay several millions of dollars of the more than $30 million the Postal Service spent sponsoring the team, as part of their cooperation as witnesses in the case, said the person with knowledge of the matter. (CBS News first reported Armstrong was in talks to return money to the Postal Service.) The Department of Justice is considering whether to join the case as a plaintiff and is close to making that decision, the person said.