Floyd Flunks

Super doper Floyd Landis is now giving us excuses for why he was giving us excuses. In this article HERE he explains that the only reason that he resorted to giving us excuse after excuse is because the lab that showed that his urine was full of dope leaked (no pun intended) the test results to the press and he (Landis) was forced to respond without ample time to be thoughtful.

Well, you had three days and what did you come up with? Let's see; there was the drinking a beer the night before his fateful ride. Then the beer became Jack Daniels whiskey (can you get that stuff in France?). Then he was dehydrated. Then he was naturally high on testosterone. Then there was the cortisone shots for his hip. And of course the drugs to control his mysterious thyroid problem.

This won't hurt a bit, and tomorrow you'll ride like the wind

And then the second shoe dropped; the testosterone was not from a natural source. In other words, he took something artificial to give himself a boost. And that is where he dropped all of the silly excuses since none of them would account for a synthetic substance being in his system. Which brings us to his excuse for the excuses. He wants us to forget all of those lies so that we won't be bothered by the new ones coming down the pike. Ones like this from the article linked above, "based on the results I see a couple of possible explanations. Either the test doesn't work at all, or something happened to the urine sample, I don't know which ... I'm not going to speculate." Wait a minute Floyd my boy, isn't that speculation? Oh, I see. The testing was bad or someone tampered with the sample, either or. Of course.

As to the lab leaking the results let's all understand that this is not something being prosecuted in the U.S. criminal justice system. This is not subject to the U.S Constitution and that crazy thing called the Bill of Rights. We're dealing with team rules, cycling federation rules and race rules.

It's so tedious reading and hearing all of the Floyd backers talking about, "innocent until proven guilty", "due process" and "beyond a reasonable doubt". Landis isn't going to jail for cheating. None of his personal liberties are in jeopardy. Therefore, all of that crap you see on Law and Order regarding legal technicalities afforded to criminals can be thrown out the window as far as cheating in cycling is concerned. The lab announced the results, so what?

All licensed professional cyclists agree to be bound by the rules of the UCI as well as the rules of the cycling organization of their country. And of course they also agree to abide by the terms of the contracts that they have with their teams (which explains why Phonak could fire Landis as soon as the "B" sample came back positive. His contract with Phonak evidently stipulated that an "A" and "B" positive was grounds for dismissal, whether or not Landis has a defense).

Really, just stick the testosterone patch on your scrotum and in the morning... Bam!

Here is how the UCI rules go with respect to proving that a doping violation occurred (sample taking and testing procedures are also defined in the rules); If the tests show that a prohibited substance was found in the sample(s) the UCI and the National Federation (USA Cycling in this instance) convene a "hearing body" to review the evidence and the allegation. The people that make up the hearing bodies must be convinced that a violation occurred. The burden of proof is, "greater than a mere balance of probability but less than beyond a reasonable doubt". In other words, somewhat higher than more likely than not. Since the "B" sample was tested with Landis' representatives present, along with representatives from two independent testing labs, it didn't take much else to be convinced that a violation had occurred. Simply put, the tests are valid, the lab followed proper procedures and the results consistently showed levels of testosterone many times over the allowable limit as well as synthetic testosterone that cannot be produced by the human body. To most independent observers this would meet the even higher Law and Order reasonable doubt standard. For more on the rules see the UCI Regulations - Part XIV, Anti-Doping, Sections 15 and 16.

But does anyone really care about the minutiae of the rules? Floyd Landis has learned from Lance Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton; it's not the "hearing bodies" that need convincing, it's the American public. We forgive and forget very easily and very quickly and if a cheater can throw enough crap up against the wall something will stick with us Americans. Just give us something to hang on to. Yea, it was the bottle of Jack. Those Frenchies are out to get us. We've had, 'beyond a reasonable doubt' drilled into our skulls. Toss enough 'reasonable' reasons why the tests came back positive and we're likely to fall for one of them. Plausible deniability.



Look at all of the fools who still believe that Tyler Hamilton is clean. This guy has lost hearing after hearing, appeal after appeal. Hundreds of disinterested third parties have reviewed his case and all have agreed that he cheated. But knuckle-heads still buy and wear those stupid "I Believe" buttons and hats because, well, Tyler's cute dog sadly died during the Tour and gosh, his wife is so cute and everything - he just isn't the kind of guy who would cheat. Fools.

And now Landis is following suit with his Keep the Faith garbage. I just can't wait to get my hands on a cool, "I Have Faith in Floyd" shirt. Ay, carumba!

Floyd, let me give you one piece of advice; when considering an attorney to represent you in a doping violation, pick a person who wins once in a while. Your guy (Howard Jacobs. Read his "No comment" HERE as to why he bungled the Montgomery case) got creamed during both of his high profile cases - cyclist Tyler Hamilton and sprinter Tim Montgomery. Both athletes received two year suspensions. Shouldn't that have told you something about his skill-set and his ability to win? Take a close look at your Blackberry messages. Lance has been offering to assist because his legacy requires that you be vindicated, take him up on it.

Later this week I'll delve into my question from this post asking why Landis' doctor was in France for the Tour. Also, why does doping matter to the rest of us?

In the meantime you can read THIS from rider Bobby Julich regarding the Landis case, doping and the state of cycling. What a cry baby. Hey, Bobby. If you really cared about the sport of cycling you'd expose the riders, coaches, managers, owners and doctors that make all of this cheating happen. You know who they are.