Actually, I did believe a couple of things Lance Armstrong said. He called himself an “arrogant prick.” Highly believable.  Then when he began an answer by saying, “Why would anyone believe me now?”

Indeed, Armstrong knows he has as much credibility as Jon Lovitz’s liar character on SNL. Do you believe him when he said he wasn’t doping in his last two Tour de France races? If you do, I’ve got a story to tell you about Manti Te’o’s girlfriend.

You couldn’t believe a word Armstrong said Thursday during part one of his big interview. The guy is a serial liar and always will be.

Still, it made for good TV. Oprah Winfrey did a good job for the most part. Opening with quick yes-no questions on the key issues was solid scene-setter. I do think Winfrey missed the opportunity for some follow-up questions, especially on Armstrong’s Italian doctor.

But Winfrey did make Armstrong squirm. There was some satisfaction in watching his humiliation. I’ll tune in for round 2 tonight.

Here’s a round-up of what they’re writing today:

Richard Deitsch, SI.com:

It was interesting theater, at least for those who could find the  little-watched network, and a night where the interviewer came off far better  than her subject.

Winfrey wasted little time in asking Armstrong a series of yes-or-no  questions, including whether he had used the blood booster EPO, whether he had  used cortisone and HGH, and whether he doped for each of his seven Tour de  France victories. He answered “yes,” to each of her first five questions and  then said he did not believe it would have been possible to win the Tour seven  times had he not doped. On the surface, it was curious choice by Winfrey to opt  for such closed-ended questions at the start, but it worked. Armstrong’s  affirmative answers shifted immediate power to Winfrey and she controlled most  of the 90-minute interview, even if the former cyclist was often light on the  details to queries.

Bonnie Ford, ESPN.com:

It was a typical Lance Event, although it was about as far from the bike as it gets. It was about spectacle and managed production and trying to craft another chapter in a punctured epic that has lost its helium and sunk to earth.

It was about what it is always about with Lance Armstrong: hubris and control, the same tightly intertwined strands of his DNA that convinced him he would never be exposed, that the dozens and dozens of people privy to his pyramid scheme would remain muzzled forever.

It was desperate. And huge chunks of it ranged from disingenuous to unbelievable. There was far too much defiance and contradiction of evidence and abdication of responsibility to respond to in one column, although I will start by saying that I don’t believe for a minute that he was clean in his comeback. And we’ve seen only half the footage from the Oprah Winfrey interview.

Philip Hersh, Chicago Tribune:

Armstrong’s admissions in many areas were incomplete, and that failure to tell the whole truth for whatever reasons — legal protection or more defiance — will continue to impugn his credibility. His failure to make a public apology for the lies he told about other people also undermined Armstrong’s attempt to turn the interview to his benefit.

Christine Brennan, USA Today:

If it was possible to like Lance Armstrong even less, his 90-minute interview with Winfrey on Thursday night went a long way to accomplishing that fact. If he was hoping to win over some supporters in the court of public opinion while trying to return to some semblance of public life less than three months after being officially banned and stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, it’s hard to imagine how he might have accomplished that.

He was even more unlikable than one might have imagined. He was smug. He was curt. He was cold and unfeeling. And he doesn’t yet seem to get what he’s in for if he ever wants to even consider having a chance to come back to compete someday in age-group triathlons and marathons.

Will Leitch, Sports on Earth:

Rather than pile on Lance Armstrong after watching Part One of his interview with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday night, I decided to do some math.

Yes/No Questions Asked By Oprah in the first 20 seconds: 6

Times Lance touched his chest: 7

Times Lance said the word “technically”: 2

Times Lance said “biological passport”: 3

Times Lance said “absolutely not”: 5

Times Lance denied something: 27

Times Lance admitted something: 28

Times Lance said “I deserve this”: 2