Floyd Landis is a Moron

(BOD - Katheryn Winnick)

Initially, I had no idea what to write about this morning. I was meandering through a selection of admittedly weak topics; I couldn’t even comment on Game 2 of the Suns/Lakers series because I was in bed before halftime.

I toyed with the idea of writing a lackadaisical review of Robin Hood which I saw last weekend (it was great by the way. I strongly recommend it).

Not convinced, I decided to make a last ditch effort and check out ESPN.com. What headline immediately caught my eye? Floyd Landis Admits to Using PEDs Most of His Career.

Fantastic.

I’m not even going to comment on the fact Floyd Landis used performance-enhancing drugs. He’s a professional cyclist. All of those guys are on something that’s not exactly street legal. More to the point, I would say the majority of professional athletes are involved in PEDs to some degree (maybe not curlers).

The world of professional sports is too lucrative and there is too much money on the table for people to try to get by on hard work and clean living. That seems cynical, but it’s true. I’m not even particularly bothered by it anymore. It’s just a rational response to being a sports fan in the 21st century.

Back to Mr. Landis: again, the story isn’t the fact that he used drugs. It’s the fact that he so vehemently denied using them for so long, to come clean now seems somewhat pointless and arbitrary. Not to mention the fact it makes him seem like an idiot.

Back when he first tested positive, Landis made denials about his positive test, derided the testers for screwing up the results, saying the entire saga was one big conspiracy. Then he waged a lengthy legal battle that carried on for months which involved Landis telling every media outlet in the world that he was, without a doubt, innocent.

In his recent statement, Landis said that he decided to come clean now because he was haunted emotionally by his years of deceit. His life has been ruined and the psychological stress of his lies has taken an unimaginable toll. Boo-hoo, Floyd. I’m playing the world’s smallest violin right now.

The cherry on top of his four-years-too-late mea culpa was that the most difficult phone call he had to make was to his mother to let her know that he is a lying scumbag.

Truthfully, this is where the story should end. A disgraced Floyd Landis rides off into the sunset, never to be heard from again.

But wait, there’s more!!

Along with his admission, Landis has apparently sent emails to cycling and anti-doping officials charging dozens of other athletes and team officials with doping also. Does he have any proof of such claims? Nope. He has zero documentation proving these statements. Way to throw as many people as you can under the bus, Floyd. You’re a real class act.

We’re supposed to believe these accusations from a guy who has so freely lied to the public for four years? My favourite part of the story is this sentence: “He said he knows his credibility is in tatters and that many people will choose not to believe him now.”

No shit.