<< Previous day Blog posts in this category Next day >>
<< Previous year (same day) (if any) Next year (same day) >>
August 2, 2006 [LINK]
Did Floyd Landis use steroids?
After Lance Armstrong retired last year, I figured the American dynasty of winners in the Tour de France would come to an end. Without a hot rock star like Cheryl Crow accompanying our team, it just wouldn't be as exciting. Greg LeMond became the first American to win that competition in 1986, inspiring many Americans (including me) to achieve great feats of cycling endurance. During the 90s, Europeans reclaimed the Tour de France, most notably Miguel Indurain. Then came Lance Armstrong with his record-breaking seven consecutive Tour triumphs from 1999 to 2005: the Americans were back! It was hard to know what to make of the accusations of steroid use by Armstrong, which seemed at first like sour grapes spitefulness by the French, but the possibility cannot be ruled out entirely. With the fanatic training regimen and vitamin supplements that most world-class athletes take these days, it's hard to draw a sharp line between cheating and fair play. Almost all championship-level cyclists take some kind of dietary supplement, apparently.
So, the news that this year's Tour de France winner, Floyd Landis, tested positive for steroid use is both distressing and not entirely unexpected. The sports doping problem may extend well beyond Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Jose Canseco. Landis comes from a Mennonite family in rural Pennsylvania, and cheating would seem quite out of character for someone with such a background. I have given him the benefit of the doubt up till now, but I may have to rethink that. A chemist blogger named Derek Lowe (via Instapundit; Glenn is on vacation) explains why the blood test casts a dark shadow on Mr. Landis. He says that his testosterone level is naturally elevated, but that does not account for the high ratio of testosterone to isomeric epitestosterone in his blood system. "[T]oo high an imbalance is physiologically unlikely and arouses suspicion." Dr. Lowe explains how carbon isotopes (C-12 vs. C-14, etc.) are used in the dope tests, which is very intriguing.
Every once in a while, I deign to comment on pop culture news. So, here goes:
Is Mel Gibson anti-semitic?
It sure looks that way to me. At the very least, he seems to be an alcoholic in need of major behavior modification. Meanwhile, culturally conservative Catholics are mortified at his lapse of judgment, and the movie Passion of the Christ is likely to be reevaluated by many other people. That being said, Mel's episode has gotten about ten times as much attention in the press as it deserved.
Does America really have talent?
Absolutely. It has a severe shortcoming, however, in terms of understanding the meaning of the word reality.
Brad and Angelina: Who cares?
Not me.
Posted (or last updated or commented upon): 02 Aug 2006, 8: 36 PM
(unformatted URL) .
ALL blog posts today
New blog post entry
This post is over a week old, so comments are closed.
© Andrew G. Clem. All rights reserved. Your use of this material signifies your acceptance of the Terms of use.
Hits on this page (single blog post) since July 2, 2007:
Category archives:
(all years)
Baseball
Politics
Latin America
War
Wild Birds
Culture & Travel
Science & Technology
This (or that) year's
blog highlights
January 7, 2006 ~ DeLay gives up majority leader post
January 12, 2006 ~ Alito withstands Dems' "torture"
January 16, 2006 ~ Michelle Bachelet wins in Chile
January 19, 2006 ~ Views on Iran's nuclear ambitions
January 24, 2006 ~ Fallout from Canada's election
January 31, 2006 ~ Second (& third) thoughts on Iran
February 1, 2006 ~ The State of the Union, 2006
February 8, 2006 ~ D.C. Council votes "yes," but...
February 18, 2006 ~ Checks and balances in wartime
February 22, 2006 ~
Neocons & Neolibs: chastened alike
February 28, 2006 ~
The Dubai Ports World uproar
March 14, 2006 ~ New D.C. baseball stadium unveiled
March 24, 2006 ~ In the footsteps of France?
April 7, 2006 ~ Immigration compromise fails
May 16, 2006 ~ Bush militarizes Mexican border
June 6, 2006 ~ Alan Garcia triumphs, once again
June 9, 2006 ~
Zarqawi: The death of a terrorist
July 3, 2006 ~
Election in Mexico: too close to call
July 5, 2006 ~ North Korea goes ballistic
July 28, 2006 ~ Garcia prepares to lead Peru, again
August 4, 2006 ~ Israel invades Hezbolland
September 6, 2006 ~ "Crunchy conservatives": for real?
September 25, 2006 ~ Nationalists thwart conservation
October 3, 2006 ~ Nationals: Year in review
October 29, 2006 ~ Virginia's marriage amendment
November 7, 2006 ~ The people render their verdict
November 8, 2006 ~ Republicans lose big time
November 9, 2006 ~ Allen concedes / Election post-mortem
November 13, 2006 ~ Toward consensus on Iraq?
December 1, 2006 ~ Realism and our goals in Iraq
December 6, 2006 ~ Latin America & U.S. trade policy
December 8, 2006 ~ Iraq Study Group reports
December 22, 2006 ~ Yuletide political roundup
Blog highlights have been compiled for the years 2010-2012 thus far, and eventually will be compiled for earlier years, back to 2002.
Explanation
The "home made" blog organization system that I created was instituted on November 1, 2004, followed by several functional enhancements in subsequent years. I make no more than one blog post per day on any one category, so some posts may cover multiple news items or issues. Blog posts appear in the following (reverse alphabetical) order, which may differ from the chronological order in which the posts were originally made:
- Wild birds (LAST)
- War
- Science & Technology
- Politics
- Latin America
- Culture & Travel
- Canaries ("Home birds")
- Baseball (FIRST)
Also see: My blog practices.
Blog errata (Nobody's perfect.)