Saturday Roundup
News
The Los Angeles Times' Michael Hiltzik writes an extensive story on the Landis defense, centering on the LNDD lab:
Douwe de Boer, former science director of WADA's laboratory in Lisbon, Portugal, wrote that the Paris lab had failed to verify "according to the minimal WADA requirements" that its measurements of testosterone and epitestosterone were not skewed by the presence of other compounds in the urine sample.
"Therefore, any official conclusion regarding to the T/E ratio…. is and will be premature," he wrote in notes he provided to Landis and the lab.
CyclingNews talks to Leadville organizer Ken Chlouber. Doesn't sound like there's much reason to doubt Landis will be able to run:
If the positive test is upheld, Landis will be suspended from competing in sanctioned races, but Chlouber said Landis will be welcome in Leadville.
"Without question, Landis will still be able to compete in our race. We are more than grateful for him to accept our invitation to race.
Palatka Daily News columnist picks "Elite Eight" sport stories, puts Landis as #3 under the title, "An American (Scorned) in Paris", behind #2 Steelers Super Bowl and #1 Texas Rose Bowl.
Jim Litke of the News Sun is nicer about Landis than he was a while back. (For some reason, the TBV post with his earlier piece still draws huge traffic. Go figure.) In his "Somebody Has to be Best" column, he says,
Not Floyd Landis, whose too-good-to-be true comeback win at the Tour de France apparently was.
He takes the Rose and Super Bowls too.
CyclingPost has a brief quoting Armstrong as supporting Landis, and even briefer allusion to Eddy Merckx doing the same.
Last week's Daily News story by Pete Coffey is now hitting the wires, picked up for example by the Barre Montpelier Times Argus.
Blogs
FloydLandis.com has a post with the press release for Leadville, dated Dec 19th. I think it's been stuck in some bizarre purgatory for a few days. Oops.
Team Swap is happy to correct their version of the "Landis is Retiring" story.
Matt Jones at Sports Talk on KentuckySportsRadio has a Christmas shopping list that includes a book about Lance with a reference to FL's TdF.
ConcurringOpinions, a legal blog, looks at the LAT article and considers Wiki Defense in general; thinks it may get oversold and pollute jury pools.
Apple Project excitedly reveals Landis uses a Mac.
DerailedUK snarks with the Tour as done by Gilbert and Sullivan. Ho. Ho.
Dutch Mamie-cartoon snarks with, duh, a cartoon. Ha, ha ha.
Stay Free says of the Floyd Fairness Fund,
And I'm thinking of starting a charity to raise money for my property investments, and I wouldn't mind a new TV too! The stupid thing is that people will actually donate to his fund.
At Fat Cyclist, they'll let Landis into the Banjo Brothers’ Big Bad Bulky Biker Bodyfat Challenge, with qualification:
Floyd, yes, you can compete, but you’re going to have to FedEx a urine sample to Botched at least once a month, more often if Botched decides he likes that kind of thing.
Forums
At DPF, there is sniffing that there's nothing new in today's LA Times article, and quibbling about various attributions. There may be some Aspies there. What kind of idiot would follow something that obsessively?
[end]
8 comments:
I have a crazy feeling that USADA will settle 'out of court' with FL by the end of the year. Everything that is coming out in public via Hiltzik's articles and Landleuz's case is going to make it very difficult for USADA to penalize FL. The simple fact that the lab broke protocol and whited out sample numbers should be enough for FL to win. All his lawyers have to ask is: Prove to me/us what numbers were whited out on the test and prove to me/us that you tested the proper sample.
And the media is going to look like smucks for persecuting FL before his case was complete - Thanks to the UCI and WADA leaking the results.
ORG here ....
I see duckstrap was outed. His life will never be the same again. Do his parents still love and support him?
A fifteen second brush with fame, at best. My wife is exasperated, my kids are embarrassed, and my parents are amused--and that was before any of them ever heard of Floyd. A small point of clarification, however. Although Michael Hiltzik did get my quotes straight, his description of my profession was a little vague. I am not a chemist. My training is in biochemical and biomedical engineering. I have also spent (done?) time as a biostatistician, and currently work as a clinical pharmacology consultant.
More importantly, I think we should all take heart that word "duckstrap" was published in a large newspaper. Think of all the people sitting over their cornflakes wondering what the hell a duckstrap is. I think it's great.
Duckstrap, as a pharmacist, I'm proud that you work in clinical pharmacology. As a Floyd supporter that goes double!!
org here ....
TBV:
A comment I've wanted to make for some time ... This Landis affair is incredible in that their always seems to be something everyday.
Just this week, months after Morzine and a week before Christmas, we get the legal fund, Landaluze and the latest LA Times article.
I know you think things will slow down and I wonder when the day comes that you will have no update. I now think the answer is never. I hope Mrs. TBV and your employer are understanding.
Merry Christmas to your family and thank you for this blog. For all of us interested in this case, you have performed an invaluable service.
Here's hoping for good news in 2007.
I'm not one of those at DPF, but as a general comment, I agree we Aspies can get way lost in the rabbit hole. The thing of it is, you've got a double whammy in this situation. Aspies abhor injustice, it messes with our ironclad sense of logic and order. We have special interests that we're obsessive about, and naturally, for some of us that's cycling. So, if there's an injustice, and it's in our special interest, well, that s***'s gonna gnaw at us until our dying day. On the upside, we're often smarter than the average bear and can spot patterns and inconsistencies like nobody's business, so the more of us looking out for Floyd the better!
Dear Julie,
Very well put, couldn't have said it better myself!
Happy Holidays,
Sandra
(Mrs. TBV)
Post a Comment