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July 27, 2006
A Refreshing Reality Check
Not about this horrible news...
Tour de France winner failed drug test in race
Team to dismiss Landis if excessive level of testosterone confirmed
...but about his mother's reaction to it.
Arlene Landis, his mother, said Thursday that she wouldn’t blame her son if he was taking medication to treat the pain in his injured hip, but “if it’s something worse than that, then he doesn’t deserve to win.”
Posted by tree hugging sister at July 27, 2006 12:10 PM
Comments
"excessive level of testerosterone"?
What if he's just an excessively manly man?
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at July 27, 2006 12:55 PM
Well, he does have more balls than Lance...
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at July 27, 2006 01:17 PM
I know little about the science, except that it seems to follow a pattern I've noticed elsewhere - namely, that if you imitate the effect, you can sometimes duplicate the cause. For example, if something makes you happy your brain releases a certain chemical; introducing that chemical can actually cheer up a person without the happy effect.
I'm wondering if anyone has ever checked to see if the reverse is true. Say a person does some extraordinary physical feat without any artificial stimulant. If you took a test of him then, would his body exhibit a similar chemical profile to someone who had taken the stimulant first and then did the feat?
In other words, did Landis cheat to win Stage 17, or did his body respond to the challenge and naturally produce the testosterone in the process of winning the stage unaided? (Or more accurately, did his body naturally produce the aid?) Is that possible?
I may be 100% off-kilter on this; it looks awfully fishy that he looked so horrible the day before and suddenly unbeatable the next. But then I think about it - does drug use of this sort carry such an immediate payoff? A lot of these drugs take time to clear out of a system - how did he fail only this test? Did he pass the testing for the stages immediately before and after? If so, does all of this imply a natural response rather than an artificial?
Posted by: Nightfly at July 27, 2006 01:30 PM
How many times have I TOLD you NOT to mention KILTS around BINGLEY?!!
Posted by: tree hugging sister at July 27, 2006 01:57 PM
Three cheers for Mama Landis!
Posted by: Mike Rentner at July 27, 2006 02:50 PM
So...when Barry Bonds hits a homer, he just feels all tingly inside? ;-)
Posted by: DirtCrashr at July 27, 2006 03:01 PM
Those Mennonites are pretty straightforward about these things, and we like that about them.
Did you read how she & Pa Landis went to church instead of staying home to find out if Floyd won the tour? They figured it was in God's hands and he'd probably win, and you don't keep the good Lord waiting.
Refreshing is right.
Posted by: Susanna at July 28, 2006 08:09 AM
Nightfly:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,206001,00.html
Posted by: Gunslinger at July 29, 2006 01:19 AM
Sweet. Thanks for info, Gunslinger.
Posted by: Nightfly at July 31, 2006 11:03 AM