1st Tests Back: Landis Tests Positive

On Thursday, everyone was shocked to find out that recent American Tour de France winner, Floyd Landis, tested positive for high testosterone levels during the Tour de France. Not only is this a blow for doping in sports in general, but also a blow towards Americans in the Tour de France since the French were just waiting and hoping to find an American that tested positive in their tour.

Here are the 3 reasons that Landis said might have caused the higher levels of testosterone in his system:
1. The medicine he needs for his thyroid disease
2. The cortisone he took for his injured hip (that needs to be replaced)
3. The Jack Daniel's he drank before Stage 17

I would understand that he needs to take medicine for his thyroid disease. Since the thyroid gland is responsible for the production hormones in our bodies, this could work. However, I would assume that the medicine he takes for this has been documented with doctors and hopefully cleared by the Tour.

He then mentioned it could have been the cortisone that he took for his injured hip. First of all, this guy needs a hip replacement, yet he still won the Tour de France?!?!?!? Did anyone stop to think about this for a second. How many times did they have to shoot this guy up with cortisone? I mean, in cycling your hip is one of the main things you need. That puts up red flags for me right there.

Finally, he said it could have been the Jack Daniels he drank before Stage 17. Why is this guy drinking Jack Daniels in the first place? Wasn't someone there to tell him that he should have been drinking bourbon? Maybe Woodford Reseve would have been in order for such a big race, or at least Makers.

Whatever it might have been, Landis is going to have to be able to explain himself with proof of what caused it if his second test comes back positive. None of this, "it could have been ______" will work. He has to know exactly what did it.

Am I surprised that he tested positive? No. Cheating is something that has gone on forever in sports. What I am surprised at is how shocked the fans and media are when something like this happens. I'm not saying that everyone is out there taking illegal substances, but there are some that do. Just like how pitchers used to grease the ball, some batters put cork in their bats, etc. Nobody questions them until they get caught, until now. This generation of sports fans, myself included, will be taught to scrutinize every single great achievement in sports. Are we right in doing so? Absolutely. But the bigger question is: do we even care?

The first and foremost reason that we watch sports is to be entertained. Leagues, teams, and even individual teams produce a product, that we the fans consume. If the owners and players feel like the fans demand more home runs, then they will do their best to supply them for us. This is capitalism at its best folks. What is going to make us more popular? Well then let's do it. If the coolest thing to do in baseball was to hit a double, you'd see a heck of a lot of players doing whatever they could to hit doubles. The bottom line is: did we get what we paid for? Were we satsfied with the product given to us? If the answer is yes, then we have no grounds for complaint. If the answer is no, then we have no ground to stand on when it comes to complaining.

Sometimes you can't have your cake and eat it too.