Lance Armstrong: No regrets about interview with Oprah Winfrey

In this Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, file photo provided by Harpo Studios Inc., talk show host Oprah Winfrey, right, interviews Lance Armstrong during taping for the show "Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive" in Austin, Texas. Armstrong confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France cycling during the interview that aired Thursday, Jan. 17, reversing more than a decade of denial. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Harpo Studios, Inc., George Burns, File)

Lance Armstrong thought about bypassing the media and making a confessional video for the Web that would have detailed his substance abuse and included an apology to his fans. But instead he sat down with Oprah Winfrey, and he doesn't regret the choice, Armstrong told a writer for Sports Illustrated in a column that was published online Tuesday.

Armstrong spoke to the writer, Michael McCann, at length last month, but only on the condition that he not be quoted directly. McCann, a sports law expert, is a part-time legal analyst and writer for the magazine and its website.

His column is a summation of his conversation with Armstrong, including the fact that Armstrong almost sat down with Tom Brokaw, the former "NBC Nightly News" anchor, instead of Winfrey. Brokaw is now a special correspondent for NBC News.

"He had also weighed the possibility of producing a four- to five-minute video that would have been available on his official website, as well as YouTube, Facebook and other sites," McCann wrote. The video would have allowed Armstrong to look straight into the camera and apologize! -- and would have allowed him to avoid Winfrey's questions.

"Ultimately he concluded that a conversation would be a more natural vehicle than a scripted speech, and the choice was between Winfrey and Brokaw," McCann added.

Sports Illustrated billed the interview as Armstrong's second, since Winfrey's interview was televised six weeks ago. It came about rather serendipitously,

after McCann noticed that Armstrong had started following him on Twitter. McCann struck up a conversation with Armstrong via Twitter's direct message feature and eventually suggested that the two men meet. Armstrong invited him to his home in Austin, Texas.

The ensuing meeting took place on Feb. 27. There were no restrictions placed on it, other than the no-direct-quotations rule. McCann said Armstrong "displayed a range of emotions, from conviction to sorrow."