Elvis Has a Hero - Maybe

Could this man, Bradley Wiggins become Elvis' new hero?

Could Cofidis rider Bradley Wiggins become cycling's biggest hero? Wiggins, a 26 year old rider from Great Britain has said this regarding Landis' behavior at the Tour, "I was really angry with Landis. It sickens me. He tested positive and then he was denying it. He took us riders for fools". And more importantly he has said this, "Doping problems affect everyone in the peloton, I've got children, a wife and a house and I could lose my livelihood because someone who tests positive finishes ahead of me. It's about time someone had some balls and told it how it was. There are enough of us who think the way I do. They say it's only one or two but I'm sure more people are doing these things. So it's my role as a role-model to expose it and not pretend it isn't happening. I don't think it's right I should come up in front of everyone and put up a smokescreen and say everybody is OK and there are only one or two people doing this. My big motivation this year is to prove that you can win clean." (Read HERE)

Mr. Wiggins, you have an amazing opportunity right in front of you. If you do what you can to expose the dopers and their activities and if you stay clean Elvis Kennedy promises to name you the first annual Elvis Kennedy Man of The Year. I'm pulling for you. Really, I am. Cycling desperately needs someone to stand up and call things the way they really are. Especially because the current tolerance of ignorance has created a dysfunctional environment.

I don't know much about Mr. Bradley Wiggins but I did read his profile HERE and learned that he once rode for Linda McCartney's cycling team. I had no idea that Sir Paul's first wife sponsored a cycling team. I here forward and forever after forgive Linda for her terrible singing voice. It also gives me an excuse to include a racy photo of Sir Paul's current ex-wife; Heather Mills (see photo, below).

To give you and idea of what Bradley Wiggins is up against Elvis provides for your enjoyment these items;


Doper Floyd Landis continues his web of deceit. At the same time that he's traveling the country on his Girl Scout Cookie Tour (acting like a little girl, begging for money) he has refused to provide samples of his urine to the U.S. Anti Doping Agency (read HERE). If you'll recall Landis and his lackey's have consistently been claiming that the testing that showed testosterone in his urine was faulty. This would seem like the perfect defense for a guy who claims to be clean wouldn't it? Have the U.S. lab test his urine under controlled circumstances. If I'm a clean rider I would have been demanding re-testing from day one. But wait! Landis' knuckle-headed advisor/coach/spokesmouth (and retired doctor, as if that somehow makes him a urine testing expert) Arnie Baker now says, ""The sample was clearly contaminated and mislabeled. I'm not sure whose urine I'm looking at here". Ay, carumba! They've got an excuse answer for everything. Why don't they just go back to their original excuse; it was the beer. I mean the whiskey. I mean the hip pain drugs. I mean that I'm naturally high on testosterone. I mean...

And here's another Landis spin on truth; Landis tells ESPN (HERE) that he is increasingly pessimistic that he'll race professionally in 2007. He continually tries to portray himself as the victim. But it was Landis himself who requested that the hearings in his case be delayed. Originally set for February 8th, today, Landis requested that the US Anti Doping agency delay the hearing - now set for May 14th. He also requested that the French delay their hearings too. So here we have Landis crying that his 2007 season is lost when he was the primary factor in that outcome.

Then comes this nice little snippet from Velo News;

"Sadly, Hamilton's last day as a pro serves as a painful reminder of just what the sport has suffered through in recent years. That day's stage was won by Roberto Heras (stripped of the 2005 Vuelta title and suspended for EPO), who knocked Floyd Landis (facing the loss of the 2006 Tour de France title on a testosterone charge) out of the leader's jersey. Finishing second that day was Santiago Perez (suspended for blood doping), who finished ahead of third-placed Francisco Mancebo (named in Operación Puerto and ejected from the 2006 Tour)."

Doping Item #3:

Tour de France runner-up Oscar Pereiro (and eventual Tour winner if Floyd is found to have doped) was cleared (read HERE) of doping charges by presenting the French anti-doping agency with a medical excuse for using salbutamol (a banned substance). He claims that he forgot to send the paperwork in. Are you kidding me? In this day and age of cyclists getting hit with doping charges a Tour favorite somehow forgets to file such critical paperwork? He had apparently forgotten until he tested positive and then he quickly remembered. Plus, salbutamol is used by asthma sufferers (having asthma is a plus for endurance athletes, right?) to do what? Open breathing passageways to allow for more oxygen to enter the lungs. How lucky for Pereiro to suffer a disease which allows him to take a drug that actually helps him cycle better. What are the odds? I know what you're thinking; Elvis, you're not suggesting that pro riders and their doctors falsify medical documentation for a competitive advantage are you? YES! I am. Pereiro is a doper. There I said it. You have to stop listening to the teams and riders and look at the facts. Is it really possible for an asthma sufferer to be one of the best cyclists in the world? Wouldn't that be an impediment in a sport that relays so heavily on proper breathing and unworldly oxygen capacity? We don't need experts or testing to tell us that Pereiro is a doper. That fact that he takes a banned substance that, if honestly needed, would have prevented him from ever rising through the cycling ranks is a big chunk of obviousness.

And how is it that cyclists can find dishonest doctors willing to lie and cheat on their behalf? I'm not sure, but you might want to query Lance Armstrong on this. He spent six years working with and paying large sums of money to Dr. Michele Ferrari, convicted of malpractice by providing dope to cyclists. Armstrong will want you to believe that in those six years he and Ferrari had never spoken of or discussed anything in any way related to doping. All while Ferrari was providing dope, doping schedules and doping advice to his lesser known clients. Again, don't believe what these culprits are saying - believe your own eyes, ears and logic. Cut through the smoke, haze and mirrors that the cycling community/industry has throw up and understand that doping is rampant, especially by our heroes.

Landis, Pereiro and Armstrong are great examples of the axiom that; What matters is not what you can establish as true but what you can confuse people into thinking might be true.

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Some quick hits from the non-cycling world;

It didn't take long for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to show her duplicity, did it? While campaigning she loved to point out the wastes and abuses of the Bush Administration. Now that she's got some power she's demanding an Air Force One type aircraft to ferry her, her staff, her family and lobbyists (what does that tell you about Pelosi) to her home state of California as well as to personal speaking engagements and other non-goverment related destinations. Read about it HERE. Just as bad, Congressman Jack "give government contracts to my brother" Murtha warned the people at the Pentagon who could approve or deny Pelosi's request that they'd better give in to her request because both he and Pelosi, as members of the House Appropriations Committee, decide on allocations for the Pentagon. Or in other words, give us the luxuries that we want or you won't get what you need for our troops overseas. Read HERE. Real class acts, Pelosi and Murtha.

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The Florida Supreme Court, in a wildly activist decision, decided that a guy who was duped by his tramp wife into believing that he was the father of her child, must continue to make child support payments even though DNA evidence proved that we was NOT the father. The court found that "policy considerations favoring protecting the best interest of the child" override the interests of a sucker defrauded by his ex-wife. Maybe the court should take it one (minor) step further and say that the best interests of the child out-weigh those of Elvis Kennedy and that he, too, should send money to the ex-wife who got knocked up by cheating on her husband. The court also said that the husband was, or should have been aware that in today's world there is a high incidence of infidelity and that in-effect, the husband should have seen this coming. Read all about this wacky but possibly landmark decision HERE.

While I whole-heartedly agree in protecting the "best interest of the child" I cannot agree that taking money from a guy who is not the biological father and did not legally adopt the child is the correct outcome. The alternative course is for the ex-wife to find and sue the biological father and/or go on welfare to protect the child. Probably not good outcomes in either case but certainly better than what the court decided. All of this is the tramp's fault, why isn't she being held responsible for anything? If you live in Florida, beware. You have a supreme court that just might rule to garnish your wages for things you have no relation to.

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Elvis' impatient thought for today; When is the future going to get here?

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Promised photo of Heather Mills (ex-Mrs. Sir Paul McCartney)