Tuesday Roundup

News
The IHT reports today that Oscar Pereiro will be formally presented with the maillot jaune as winner of the 2006 Tour de France. The ceremony will take place on October 15th in Madrid. The VeloNews posts the AFP version of the story.

The CyclingNews notes that the German parliament may be getting into the anti doping business as it wants to explore the complete bloodwork of rider Stefan Schumacher. Schumacher was found to have had blood values that were suspicious, but were determined to be caused by diarrhea. Parliament member Peter Danckert says that taking the word of experts working for the athlete may not be good enough and he wants more blood work values submitted for inspection.

ESPN reports that T-Mobile will end its' race season early due to two rider firings from positive PED tests this summer.

The Boise Guardian says liars and perverts are usually forgiven, and though they may claim the contrary they are not victims.

The Los Angeles Daily News says there may be an upside to all of the cheating athletes in the news, and that is that they can be role models to kids of what NOT to do.

The Leaf Chronicle says that Marion Jones, and her ilk, may be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to athletes who have used steroids.

Bicycling posts a ForaTv video of Floyd Landis speaking about preventing cheating in cycling filmed at the Book Passage "Positively False" tour stop in early July.

The Reflector contends that PED is realtively unimportant compared to the negative press a sport gets when one of it's own is caught cheating, and Marion Jones is complemented for aplogizing.

Blogs
Reggie Marra, author of "The Quality of Effort", thinks that with all of the doping in athletics going on, perhaps we need to look at the use of PEDs in a different way:

Athletes are often motivated by loyalty to a team or tribe (school, community or other organization); by a self-centered desire to satisfy personal needs by any means necessary, regardless of consequences; by a willingness to work and sacrifice for a greater good (God or country); by a desire to be one's best by working hard, setting goals, and discovering the optimum strategic approach to achieving them; or even by a desire to be in community with others who enjoy the same sport. The best coaches (and athletes) are aware of each of these motivators at some level, be it conscious or not.


It is possible that one's loyalty to team, tribe, or greater good might be so strong that cheating appears on the horizon as a viable option, but it is within that second motivator above, that self-centered desire to do what it takes without guilt or remorse, that drug-enhanced performances emerge. Understanding the issue requires a more complex, integral approach than many sports administrators and journalists have taken. I do not mean this in the sense that we should feel sorry for those who cheat; they should be held accountable according to the relevant criminal and civil laws and organizational bylaws. I mean it in the sense that anyone who is truly interested in addressing and stopping this type of cheating in sport needs to understand the array of individual, cultural and social factors that lead athletes to cheat.

USA Today Sports Scope picks up the Pereiro getting the yellow jersey on Monday story, and reminds us of something.

Go Faster Jim is sick and tired of the double standard he perceives when it come to doping and cycling vs doping and all other sports. He posts a "conversation" that he had with a friend about the Floyd Landis case that may ring a bell or two:

I sense a double standard here. Why is cycling considered to be rife with cheating but baseball, track and so on are crystal "clear," I mean clean. People assume Floyd Landis doped, but know nothing about the details.


Non-cycling friend: So, Jim do you think their all doping?
Me: Who?
NCF: You know, bike racers?
Me: I don't know, I hope not.
NCF: Well, Floyd Landis doped.
Me: Why do say that.
NCF: He was found guilty.
Me: If you look at the decision it raises more questions than it answers about testing procedures and the rights of riders.
NCF: That's just a technicality.
Me: Not exactly. If the tests are bogus, then the results are bogus.

HockeyAdventure.com reports on the relative lack of doping in hockey, despite what Dick Pound has said.

Three and Out writes about what it means to be a fan.

Angrygayblackcanadianman wonders how long it will be now before Floyd Landis rolls over and tells what he knows about Lance Armstrong.