Floyd Landis speaks...

[snapdragen]

Dammit. I still like Floyd. I'm sad, disappointed, I pretty much have stopped watching bike races, I don't trust any of them when they way they are clean. But, for some unexplainable reason, I like the guy. Maybe because he has corgis.

I like this from the article jobob posted:

"So burn down Babylon. Burn pro cycling down. There will still be racing, there will still be races. Burn it down, so we can build it up again new. I condemn Landis' original decision to participate in a corrupt, immoral system. But I'll stand in front of the flames with him and watch it burn."

[kenyonchris]

"So burn down Babylon. Burn pro cycling down. There will still be racing, there will still be races. Burn it down, so we can build it up again new. I condemn Landis' original decision to participate in a corrupt, immoral system. But I'll stand in front of the flames with him and watch it burn."

EVERY system has some corrupt aspects, and opportunities to do the wrong thing. That does not mean that the entire thing is corrupt. Landis made "wrong decision" in deciding to cheat. The problem is, he then did it again. THEN he lied about it, took people's money under false pretenses (which is stealing), perjured himself (several times), and tried to leverage others to get what he wanted. He did not participate in an immoral system, he made the system immoral by participating in that behavior. HE IS A CRIMINAL (on at least one count, he has admitted to lying under oath at the least). Standing next to a criminal and burning the system does not make him accountable. I think that quote is ridiculous.

Landis's "original decision" to dope is just the tip of the iceburg. That affected a small group of people. To lie, to steal, to perjure, to effectively attempt to blackmail...the list goes on. Far beyond a "wrong decision."

Corgis or not. He's a criminal.

[AMP]

Here are some jumping off places for blood doping in professional cycling:
*David Walsh, sportswriter for The London Times co-wrote
L.A. Confidentiel: Les Secrets de Lance Armstrong. I don't believe this book has been translated from the French.
*He also wrote From Lance to Landis.
*I also watched an hour-long interview with Greg Lemond on YouTube. The man is an artless speaker and not particularly charismatic; there was no slick "spin," but he convinced me of the problem of doping. I watched him and cried.

*www.velocitynation.com has a 4/20/2009 article with physiologist Michael Asheden that lays out the EPO testing ol Lance Armstrong.
Also same site today: Armstrong's former wife is cooperating with the invesigation.
These are just the briefest of starts.

Frankly there's just too much written on the subject of blood doping for me to ignore, pretend, or try to blame the French (which alarmingly keeps popping up.)

It is sad. But I would rather take the guy who came in dead last clean than a winner who cheats.
I don't buy the jealousy angle. Anger, yeah. But why isn't anyone attacking Michael Phelps if this is all about jealousy? Are cyclists the only jealous athletes?
The more I read about this, the more the subject of Omerta keeps coming up. There's just too much money involved. My husband read that the difference between doping and not doping is competing in world class races and million dollar deals or working in a bike shop.
I'm glad this spotlight is on the sport. I hope it does the good it's meant to.
My hero at this point is special agent Jeff Novitzky who led the investigtion against Barry Bonds and Marion Jones and will be lead on this one.
The professional racing side of the sport needs a thorough scrubbing.
'Nuff said.

[tctrek]

I think if Floyd was compelled to 'fess up and admit he was doping, that's fine. What I hate is that he is talking about 16 other riders that he says are doping. He didn't need to do that. I don't know what his angle is or why he's doing it, but that was over the top and unnecessary.

[Tri Girl]

i think if floyd was compelled to 'fess up and admit he was doping, that's fine. What i hate is that he is talking about 16 other riders that he says are doping.

+ 1

[maillotpois]

Here are some jumping off places for blood doping in professional cycling:
*David Walsh, sportswriter for The London Times co-wrote
L.A. Confidentiel: Les Secrets de Lance Armstrong. I don't believe this book has been translated from the French.

I read the book when it came out. I wasn't all that impressed, honestly. It was a lot of innuendo and trying to link Lance's cancer with his alleged prior drug use.

[Thorn]

*www.velocitynation.com has a 4/20/2009 article with physiologist Michael Asheden that lays out the EPO testing ol Lance Armstrong.

Fascinating read. Thanks.