Sunday Roundup

News
NPR/WNYC On the Media interviews LA Times Michael Hiltzik for 7-1/2 minutes about the apocalyptic coverage of doping at this year's Tour (tip from an emailer). He thinks sports reporters are ill-tempered to cover of doping issues, who take all reports of positives as gospel. Is it doping McCarthyism? Well, they have a clear interest in maximizing the threat they are facing. On Landis, making the evidence public showed the lab work sloppy at best, and there is doubt it would ever have gotten to a jury if it was in American court. But there isn't yet a ruling...

The Philadelphia Inquirer, among many other papers, sees fit to note Phonak's firing of Floyd Landis one year ago today in its' "today in history" feature.

The Lowell Sun Online reports that in New England doping scandals have not hurt the grassroots cycling movement.

The Montreal Gazette will be sad to see outspoken drug cheat crusader Dick Pound go as chairman of WADA:

Here are two of his all-time zingers. C.J. Hunter, an American shotputter, finally has to withdraw from the Sydney Olympics in 2000 after it is revealed he has failed four tests for steroids. He wails his innocence and engages Johnnie Cochrane, O. J. Simpson's lawyer.

Pound retorts: "Athletes always say, 'It can't be possible,' followed by, 'There must be a mistake in the sample,' followed by, 'I must have got it from the toilet seat,' followed by, 'Here's a writ for $12 million from my lawyer.' It's a classic profile."

Another, from last year's Tour de France, when the apparent winner, Floyd Landis, turned out to have a testosterone level that was off the charts. "You'd think he'd be violating every virgin within 100 miles. How does he even get on his bicycle?"

AP via Yahoo reports Colombian Libardo Nino as having tested positive for EPO at the Pan-Am games, where he got silver in the time trial. He's a 3 time winner of the Tour of Colombia, now in progress where he sits ninth in the GC.

He said he was prepared to immediately submit to a blood test. His team's trainer said officials in Brazil with the Pan American Games, which ended last week, were being asked to put the questioned sample to a second, independent lab test.

As we know, the WADA rules do not permit testing by an independent lab.

Blogs
From the Copper Triangle, we have reports...

Why Howard Laughed (probably not Jacobs), has pictures with members of Club Hypoxia and Landis.

Healthy Altitudes insists they finished ahead of Landis. Never mind the different start times.

Derec was behind Landis the whole day and never saw him, but gives a good description of the route and ride. Looks like a nice day's workout.


Chain Driven Ride wants to "tag" Floyd and Ned, but doesn't think they'll play.

Rant looks back to last year at this time when information about the the "B" Landis sample became known. A lack of real science reporting on the issue at that time is noted, along with the diminishing attention paid to the case by all by the truly hardy. Rant feels that with the amount of time being taken by the Landis arbitration panel a couple of conclusion might be drawn

TOTT in an entry largely devoted to baseball and Barry Bonds, does explain a host of PEDs and what they are supposed to do for an athlete.

The Burton Review is catching up, and liked "Positively False" for many reasons. But waiting in the LONG line at the Lancaster book signing in June for Floyd's autograph was another thing.

The Real Estate Journal draws an analogy between the current mortgage market and the pro peloton and cycling.