In a land of forgiveness, we still choose denial

August 2nd, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

gatlinlandis.jpg

In one corner, we have Floyd Landis. The Mennonite from Pennsylvania, a demon on the velo and champion (for now) of the Tour de France. In the other corner is Justin Gatlin. Thick, strong and explosive, he’s arguably the fastest man on the planet.

Both men are at the height of respective sports. And both men are most likely (gasp!) cheaters.

It’s already been pointed out by MJD and Pat Forde that in the cycling world (and one could assume, by extension the land of track and field) drugs, doping and testosterone is all just part of the game. Fair enough. I don’t feel confliction towards the sports when I realize this sad truth, it is what is and I’ll accept it.

But what continually confuses me is why these guys presumably continue to hide behind ill-conceived lies (sabotaging masseuse/alcohol). Now, if I was in a similar situation, I might choose the same sort of tactics.

But if recent history is any indicator, Floyd and Justin should take a page out of the Jason Giambi book.

Let’s take a look at some of the ballplayers entangled in the steroid/HGH baseball circus:

Rafael Palmeiro. Dude went in front of Congress, pointed and said he “never took steroids.” Later that year, he tests positive and tries placing the blame on teammate Miguel Tejada. Public perception on this guy is extremely low.

Same thing with Mark McGwire. Although never testing positive for any steroidal business his “not here to talk about the past” routine in front of Congress dropped him from heralded slugger to whimpering, little girl in the court of public opinion.

Jose Canseco. Say what you will about the guy for a being a snitch, but in my mind he comes out looking a lot smoother than McGwire and Palmeiro.

And lastly, Jason Giambi. Guy admits to a grand jury he knowingly used the cream, the clear etc. etc. does an apology without necessarily implying exactly what he was apologizing for and he went on his merry way.

Now, I’m not saying Jason Giambi is a revered figure across the land, but don’t you think he’s leaps and bounds ahead of guys like McGwire and Palmeiro - character and perception wise?

America is a land of second, third and even forth chances. Why not admit wrongdoing (presuming they are both guilty) in a sport we all know is pretty tainted anyways and save face a bit?

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7 Responses to “ In a land of forgiveness, we still choose denial”


  1. Jason
    August 2, 20063:15 pm

    I agree with your analysis of Giambi. I hated the guy for a while. However, now that time has passed and he did admit his wrongdoing, you kind of forget sometimes that he did actually use performance enhancing drugs (or cream, or whatever it was). It’s not like I like the guy, but I hate Bonds, McGwire, Palmerio, etc.. a lot more than I hate Giambi. At least Giambi decided to admit his drug use and move on.

    And not to be “that internet guy,” but you’ve spelled McGwire’s name with a “u” instead of a “w” in some places. Just thought you might like to know.

  2. PostmanR
    August 2, 20063:18 pm

    Yeah, fixed that. Thanks, dude.

    I also had something else spelled wrong in there, but it’s been fixed. Can you guess what it was?!?!?!?

    We really need a copy editor for this site. Any takers?

  3. Phillips
    August 2, 20064:39 pm

    let’s not forget the only reason Giambi admitted what he did was because his testimony to the grand jury got leaked. he denied it publicly at first but then came clean when it became obvious he was lying. so let’s not paint him as a good guy in this scenario. people in new york have jumped on his bandwagon again because he’s hitting homeruns again. and who says he’s clean? read game of shadows and you’ll understand that nothing has been done to clean up baseball. the wealthy, top players can still get substances that baseball doesnt even test for (human growth hormone for example). the drug makers are so far ahead of the testers that it takes an average of 4 years for the testers to discover what drugs are being used, then develop a test to detect it. i mean sure i like that some moves towards improvement have been made by the owners, but dont kid yourselves, its mainly to appease congress and get them off their back, nothing more.
    i hate to sound like an endorsement for something, but read game of shadows, it will open your eyes to the whole steroid issue, not just the bonds/giambi/balco thing.

  4. PostmanR
    August 2, 20064:49 pm

    Phillips -

    My point wasn’t to say Giambi wasn’t still taking his daily HGH requirement (which with his recent resurgance, it’s an easy assumption) but rather to say, ‘hey, at least this guy admitted something unlike a lot of his counterparts and for that he comes out looking better, whether he’s a cheater still right now or not.’

    And yeah the testimony leaked, but he still at least admitted something. A lot of others haven’t done that.

    I wouldn’t go so to far as to say I’m calling him a ‘good guy’, but rather a ‘better guy’ than some of the other HGH/steroid players in the bigs.

  5. Mas Nennis
    August 2, 20064:55 pm

    Couldn’t agree more with the sentiment. Why lie - you are fucked anyway. Might as well come out of it smelling like roses.

    Or you could just create a more elaborate lie, like “You’re never going to believe this,” says Landis. “Lance injected me in my sleep. Him and Ullrich are close - you know: TOO close - and he wanted me to get caught after I won to deflect the blame. Then, dinosaurs told me Ullrich’s first born was an extra in the hilarious Disney comedy classic “Air Bud” dressed like a clown.”

  6. Phillips
    August 2, 20065:06 pm

    R,
    understood, i wasnt addressing you specifically, just the topic in general. the thing that really pisses me off (aside from the yankees and their fans in general) is the whole gary sheffield thing. we know he took steroids and worked out with bonds and his gremlin-looking henchman, greg anderson yet no one has ever gone after him or booed him or anything. why does he get a free pass?

  7. John Larsen
    August 2, 200610:55 pm

    Floyd Landis is not stupid. He has tested clean all year until stage 17 of the TDF. So, it would appear up until then he was not doing testosterone. Testosterone does not provide any overnight results, and would do nothing to improve his succeeding day performance. What point is there in taking testosterone. I believe there is no reason he would knowningly take it on the night before stage 17. The only effect taking testosterone in the 24 hours leading up to stage 17 would be to cause a positive doping test.

    I ask you to consider the cut tire found immediately before the start of the prologue leading to a last minute wheel change. This cost him a 6 second delay at the start. Then his aero bar position was found to be out of rule compliance immediately before the start of the stage 7 time trial which lead to his needing a bike change in the middle of his ride. The positioning of the aero bars had been acceptable all year including the tour prologue. Couple this with the French distain for americans winning their beloved race and it makes you wonder if testosterone could have been illicitly placed into his food, water, sunscreen or sheets. It is clear he gained no benefit from its introduction.

    His knowingly using testosterone makes absolutely no sense.

    John Larsen MD

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