Cheater
I just saw on TV that Floyd Landis' B sample came back positive. It appears that he cheated during this year's Tour de France. This saddens me. Why? Because I love the Tour. I can remember watching the tour in the late 80's.
I remember watching Greg Lemond win the Tour in 1989 by a mere 8 seconds.
I remember hearing about a young American cyclist in the early 90's who was going to do great things in the Tour. His name was Lance Armstrong.
I remember watching the tour every year to see how Lance was doing.
I remember turning on the TV one day to hear that Lance had cancer.
I remember when Lance announced his comeback.
Finally, I remember watching the Tour the last seven years, watching Lance dominate every year in the tour.
Last year I was sad that Lance decided to retire because I loved watching him dominate in the tour. I loved watching him climb the mountains with ease, and dominate the time trials. But this year, he wasn't at the tour.
So, who was going to be the next winner. This year, I watched the tour like I always have. I watched every stage, except the week I was in Mississippi. I watched the cyclists battle it out, and was excited that Floyd Landis was near the top. I got excited when he claimed the yellow jersey. And I was really excited when he won.
But now my excitement has turned to disappointment. Why? Because I do feel Floyd has cheated. And today, the results of the B sample confirmed that. I know Floyd is trying to explain the results of the tests, but so far his explanations have been pretty weak. Now I'm to the point where I want him to tell the truth. And I think the truth is he took something.
So, where does this leave me and cycling? I don't know if I will spend every July watching every stage of the tour. Which is sad, because I love watching the Tour. But to be honest, I'm tired of watching cycling only to hear that the top cyclists cheated. I was mad this year when Jan Ulrich, Ivan Basso, and others were tied with the big doping investigation in Spain, and dismissed from the Tour. I was mad when I heard about Floyd's first positive test. So maybe I'm done for a while. I'm done watching cycling. I will still read about it, but I think I'm done giving it the attention that I used to.
9 comments:
I'm with you on that Dave. What a huge disappointment. Something will have to change drastically to get me to watch every stage again next year. Booooo...
Boooooooooooooooo...
To be honest, I'm tired of watching a pharmacutical (spelling???) convention travel around France every July!
I just don't understand though because it doesn't seem to add up. The test he failed wouldn't have helped him in this instance. The only thing remotely plausable that I've been able to come up with is that the testasterone was taken to mask something else but that's a wild guess.
I wish we could know the truth in these things. It really hurt when Tyler failed and it's even worse with Floyd. If they really took something I wish they would say it but if they really didn't then how can they even prove it?
Dopers Suck. I've never taken anything and I never will.
Dave, I don't check your blog for a few days and you go on a writting rampage, and with a Goth background no less. If you want to watch a sport without cheating try baseball. There's no cheating in ... oh wait a minute. By the way, we have a nice looking alarm clock out on our deck that someone we both know gave us.
Chris, I agree with you. I want to know the truth - that is the main issue. Are these guys dopers or not? I want to know if what I'm seeing on TV is real. I too was sad when Tyler tested positive. One of my greatest memories of cycling was the day Tyler went on a 100 plus mile breakaway, and won a stage in the Tour. But, how do I know if that was real?
I guess the thing that saddens me the most is I thought I was watching a clean Tour, but I guess I wasn't. I don't know what to make of the tests either, because if he was taking something wouldn't have shown up in prior tests during the tour? I don't know.
All I know is dopers suck, and I'm done watching the tour for a while.
Bob & Jackie - at least that outdoor alarm doesn't make a lot of noise because it is very difficult for wind to get through all the trees in the backyard.
That's it ... I'm not going to watch the Tour either. Oh wait, I never did in the first place! :) JG
Post a Comment