Over the last week I’ve been following the trials and tribulations of Floyd Landis, the would-be Tour De France champion. His doping arbitration hearings began a week ago Tuesday in Malibu, California at Pepperdine University’s school of law. Since they started things have just gotten weirder, weirder and WEIRDER. You would think with so much on the line, with cycling and sports enthusiasts the world over watching, this kind of high school immaturity (threatening phone calls to a famous cyclist testifying against him, made by Floyd’s business manager no less) would be the last thing you would see.
I’m going to admit– probably to my detriment — that from the beginning of all of this mess, and even now I believe Floyd did not dope. But I will say that given his testimony today about how he handled this recent stupidity, I am struggling to keep the faith, because faith is mostly all we got left here. The science is incomprehensible, the politics petty and vicious, and the rules ambiguous.
Dear Floyd, we’ll stick with you until the end, but please, let it be quick and merciful.
September 20, 2007 at 11:25 am
[...] previously declared myself in the camp of Landis supporters, and the lone arbitrator dissent (It was a 2 to 1 vote against [...]
July 1, 2008 at 8:11 am
[...] charges against him and that is that. I’ve hung in there for Floyd over the past two years (here, here and here) but my loyalty has now been fully and decisively exhausted. I know, maybe it was [...]