Saturday, June 28, 2008

Saturday Roundup

In an article we didn't post yesterday, the AP/Eddie Pells reports Gatlin's appeal to the 11th circuit was rejected, and he's chosen not to try the Supreme Court. It's over for him for this year's Olympics. The AFP has a story where other runners are glad he's not there at the trials.

Eugene Weekly, home of this week's US Olympic track trials, notes doping is the elephant in the room. Jones, Landis, and Gatlin are targeted by dubious statements that probably reflect popular sentiment. Then it rips into one of Gatlin's erstwhile competitors who is happy Gatlin isn't there -- because it is his turn.

The Register-Guard takes a sympathetic look at the therapist, "one of track's great healers", alleged to have spiked Gatlin.

The AP runs a pre-Tour puff piece that touts ASOs efforts to ensure a clean race.

VeloNews catches up on the Monday release of the Landis award.

Velocity, to which we linked recently, discovered us in return. He "doesn't want to argue technicalities" about the Landis tests, because he made his mind up with the improbability of the Stage 17 ride. He cites Stewey O'Grady as his source of unquestionable judgment on the matter.

BikesnobNYC watched the HBO "Real Sports" on Millar and Slipstream, and came away less than impressed by the journalism -- perhaps warranting a "seal of disapproval."

Racejunkie says

Floyd Landis at least gets to enjoy The Crappiest Weekend Ever, as CAS kindly announces that they're gonna wait to formally announce their near-inevitable decision to jack him til Monday, giving a good two days for an alcohol-induced blackout to take effect before he has to hear the verdict.

We believe there are a lot of cheap bars near the border in Mexico should he disappear for a while. Anyway, RJ goes on with a confession:
I'm not a paid troll for disgusting dopers like Jan Ullrich and Roberto Heras, as those who believe I'm part of the cabal of amoral pro-doping sport-destroying scuzzbags might suggest--I do it for free-

And so do we, though we mostly limit our sympathy to those who have experienced procedural and fairness related problems once in the sausage making machine that is a doping accusation.

Since we do it for free, and have been doing it daily for nearly two years, our nerves are growing thin. We haven't decided exactly what were going to do post-verdict, but we've warned before that we're likely to become progressively more sporadic.

We do expect to provide analysis of the award, and will follow any subsequent legal action that may happen. We also hope to get access to the exhibits etc. from the CAS appeal once the award has been made, as there should be no reason to maintain tight-lipped discretion.

Obsessive-compulsives that we are, we'll probably at some point update references, indexes etc. that we expect to have long-term utility to those who may look at the case for various reasons. It ought to remain of interest to policy makers, law students and scholars, and web surfers with too much idle time.

Beyond that, we'd like to get out of the unpaid grind, except for special occasions when we're so moved.

Things do have a natural lifespan, and this is about over.

Remember the TBV Triathalon in October!



10 comments:

Unknown said...

Velocity has to be right. I’ve never known an Aussie to exaggerate or just make s%*t up !?!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Some other Eugene Oly Trial Articles: Trials athletes will be subject to blood testing,http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=119019&sid=1&fid=7
Gatlin case victim?: One of track’s great healers quietly suffers http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=118447&sid=50&fid=1

Unknown said...

You know, as I was cleaning the garage today, I wondered:

Could the CAS panel conclude that the evidence against Landis is reasonable, but ambiguous? I mean, world class experts on these tests disagree about whether they are reliable as performed by LNDD. And if they conclude that, could they decide formally against him, but take his suspension down to one year (from the end of the 2006 Tour)? And if they do that, wouldn't the ProTour add on just be one year also? In which case, he would be (officially, although perhaps not politically) cleared to compete in anything after this years Tour.

Is that even a possible scenario?

Anybody know?

syi

Unknown said...

You are trying to let us down easy, I see, TBV. I suppose all good things must come to an end. There is a time for everything under heaven, and all that.

It sure would be nice if we had some good news to talk about in the waning days of TBV. Maybe even a Sports Illustrated cover for the winner of the 2006 TdF. We will see. We will see.

Thanks Dave. Thanks Paula. And thanks to all the rest.

syi

wschart said...

As much as I will be glad when the decision finally comes out, or at least as glad as possible under the circumstances, I will be sorry to see TBV come to an end. THis has become part of my daily routine. What will I do when things come to an end? But I do understand why all those involved here wish to dial back, if not end, their contributions here. But thanks for the time and effort you all have spent keeping us informed.

racejunkie said...

Don't do it--aaaaiiiggghh! Cycling coverage everywhere will be phenomenally lamer without you, let alone the doofus one-note abuse that passes for Landis coverage elsewhere. Then again, I never have been able to figure out how with all your incredibly hard work and extensive analysis you ever actually manage to get any sleep....

highwheel said...

Thank you for all your effort. I will miss your page and long-headed view to cycling. Now we will be left alone with the main streem cycling coverage? And, what shall I do while drinking my morning coffee????????????

MWesty said...

I got a chuckle out of TBV's comment on the Eugene Weekly article. Not because of the comment, but because of the way it displayed his name:

Trust But Verify (not verified)

Chuck said...

You link to my blog post, "To Dope or Not to Dope," but not my "elephants on the track" essay on the Olympic Trials. That URL is here:

http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2008/07/10/news1.html