Moral dilemna: was Landis' cheating worth it?

[BillChin]

Landis has been fired from his team, and will likely lose his Tour de France title. Only extraordinary circumstances will prevent the latter.

The poll question is whether it was worth it? Landis, a journeyman professional for most of his career, got a big opportunity when all the big names withdrew from this year's race due to doping charges and failed tests. Landis at the age of 30 facing major surgery is probably at the end of the road and this was his last real chance.

Landis knew he would be tested. Every stage winner is tested. The yellow jersey wearer is tested. In my mind, he probably knew the test would flunk him, and that he made the mental calculation that it was worth it. Making the proverbial "deal with the devil" for a week of fame, to have it all taken away after the test results came back.

So that is the question. Would you make a similar bargain in whatever field you are in, for short lived fame, only to have it handed back to you when the chickens come home to roost?

[lenf]

I voted, but I don't believe that Landis cheated knowing he would be discovered. If he introduced, or had someone else introduce, synthetic testosterone, I tend to expect there was some sort of error in using masking agents, or a mistaken dosage, or some other error to allow the use to be discovered in the tests.

And, of course, there is still the chance that he is innocent, and there is some other explanation for the test results, though that seems increasingly unlikely.

[dwinterfield]

I don't follow bicycle racing and never heard of Landis until a few weeks ago. That said, prior to this year's race I saw or read a few stories that suggest there is a great deal of animosity toward Americans. I gather because of their success. Lamond trashes Armstrong. Most Europeans think Armstrong cheated. Top riders withdraw because of doping issues. I gather there is some sort of corporate ownership or sponsorship of the Tour that may suggest some conflict of interest and on and on and on. I bring all this up because Landis seems so very straight and the idea that he would cheat in this manner seems out of character and obviously stupid. My impression as an outsider is that cheating and sabotage have both been known to occur in big time bicycle racing. From here, it just looks like a dirty sport. Fun to watch once a year but never believe anything anyone says. On any given day, someone might be fixing a race. Do people bet on this?

[brewerpaul]

I know it's a naive concept, but I always thought that the idea of a sport was to be the best that YOU could be, by your own efforts. Not by taking drugs, hormones, or using extraordinary techniques like blood doping. I'd think that the satisfaction comes from knowing that you play the game by the rules and succeed.
Alas, for many atheletes it's not really about the sport these days. It's about money, prestige,scholarships and product endorsements. Get'em whatever you have to do to get them. Makes the whole thing pretty meaningless.

[Joseph E. Smith]

When will it finally get through to these atheletes that they will lose every time if they cheat? Hello, wakey waaaaakey muscle brains.

[Loren]

I'm taking steriods right now, in an effort to become the World Champion Flute and Whistle Maker. I know Dale will be showing up randomly at my workshop, to collect blood and urine samples, but if I stack and cycle my steriods properly, I believe I'll be able to avoid detection.

Looking forward to Fame, Fortune and Glory.....



Loren

[Byll]

I live very, very close to where Landis grew up. I bike the same roads he biked - albeit, with less speed, endurance, and class. When he lived here, he was always a true straight-arrow. His history in all biking and sport parameters is diametrically opposed to what I read of him at this point. The entire situation is very confusing to me. My biggest emotion as this whole thing has unfolded is simply a feeling of disappointment. I am having trouble finding a focal point for that disappointment, however. I wander back and forth between mentally defending/being disappointed in Landis, and wondering why the pathological need to 'win' has taken the positive edge off sports in general...

I am getting old.

Best.
Byll

[LeeMarsh]

I think it's amazing that we expect athelets to excell in sports and still have the same blood chemistry. From what I've read, they haven't found synthetic in this latest case only indications that his levels of testosterone were very high. It is my hope that he can prove that this is a natural occurance. Would it be that amazing to find that his physiology is little different from the norm? It might also put some brakes on the guilty once accused behaviour that the media seems to spawn. However, in all likelyhood if he's inocent, he probably won't be able to prove it. Maybe someone will conduct a study of the natural blood chemistry variance from non-atheletes, regular atheletes, and exceptional atheletes.

I also wonder that all these american bikers are only showing positive in a french race. What about all the other races with tests. Yes, the french race is probably the bigest, but it seems unlikely that an athelete would test okay in 50 races and then have a problem with this one.

[Jerry Freeman]

From what I've read, they haven't found synthetic in this latest case only indications that his levels of testosterone were very high.

According to what I've seen in SportsIllustrated.com, they've run a carbon isotope test that showed there is synthetic testosterone in the samples. That was supposed to be the definitive test that would settle the matter.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/m ... index.html

Best wishes,
Jerry

[Jack]

I have to take synthetic hormones to stay alive, so I sympathize with him on some level. I don't know a lot about racing and I never heard his name until he used testosterone medicines, but I do feel sorry for him.

[gonzo914]

I think it's terrible because I don't think Jesus would ever take synthetic testosterone, even it if made him able to run faster from the centurions and jump higher and carry more sins. But then, I've checked the scripture, and I'm pretty sure there is no evidence Our Lord and Savior ever rode a bicycle, either. Maybe if he had ridden a bicycle, then he would have taken some steriods, and then he could have kicked some Roman ass on the way to the Golgotha, which by the way, means "Place of the Skull."

[bepoq]

Doping has been around in cycling since at least the fifties. Jaques Anquetil, one of cycling's gods that won the tour five times once said, "You don't climb the Alps on mineral water." Tom Simpson died on the slopes of Mont Ventoux while chasing the yellow jersey when his heart gave out from amphetamine abuse. Cycling has long struggled with performance enhancing drug issues and continues to do so, and is certainly dirty in that respect, although how dirty in comparison to American football and baseball would be an interesting debate. As would one about which sport is trying the hardest to move away from that dirt. However, that and the animosity toward Americans in cycling are two different issues. The two favourites for this year's race, neither of them American, were thrown out in connection with drug use before it began. Greg Lemond (not Lamond) is, by the way, an American and three time tour winner and first American winner of the Tour and (unlike Armstrong) a man who beat more than one previous winner of the Tour in those he won, including Bernard Hinault, another of the five time winning gods. He can therefore criticize Armstrong or Landis or whoever else he likes without contributing to any notion of anti-Americanism. The anti-Americanism as regards cycling on the other hand, make sense when you think about it as far as any supporting of sport goes, and goes along with some fairly vigorous criticism of their own athletes. It comes from envy of the amazing success of a nation that "really doesn't follow cycling and never heard of Landis until a few weeks ago" (and only just about notices the Tour de France) and dismay at the performance of their own riders from nations that follow cycling as a religion. (France, Belgium, Holland, etc.). Don't you always dislike the most succesful sports team or nation when they are the ones that keep defeating you? I find it a bit odd that such a strong opinion should be put forth from someone who begins by confessing to almost no knowledge of the sport, but I suppose that is the internet.

[rebl_rn]

I'm another "don't follow cycling and never heard of Floyd Landis until a few weeks ago" person, so of course I have an opinion.

If he did purposely take performance-enhancing drugs (and it's looking more and more like he did), I believe that he did it thinking he wasn't going to get caught.

Probably the only thing that's more prevalent in pro sports today than doping is large egos. That's not all bad; you need to have a healthy ego as part of the psychology needed to excel in many things. But a side effect sometimes of that ego is the invincibility belief, that "I'll never get caught." So if he did it on purpose, I'm thinking he thought he could get away with it.

[bepoq]

I completely agree with that, but there you are offering an opinion on the psychology of sportsman in general and applying it to a particular example, which makes a great deal of sense, requires little knowledge of the particular sport, and doesn't put you in the position of making factual errors, rather than characterising a whole sport based on such little knowledge that you misidentify your own country's (arguably) greatest competitor.

[brewerpaul]

I have to take synthetic hormones to stay alive, so I sympathize with him on some level. I don't know a lot about racing and I never heard his name until he used testosterone medicines, but I do feel sorry for him.

Taking steroids like prednisone for legitimate medical reasons is one thing. Taking performance enhancing steroids solely for fame/glory/money is quite another. I feel sorry for anyone who feels they need to do that.