Yellow Bellied

I interrupt my regular happy family related blog posts for this little rant.

I am a big fan of cycling. My whole family is. During the month of July we all watch the Tour de France everyday. And we try and catch any other race we can. The Tour de California is going on right now, and I am sure that my brother and sister will get out to watch it. They do every year.

In 2006 American Floyd Landis won the Tour de France. He was stripped of the title very quickly after his win due to doping allegations, which he vehemently denied. He even wrote a book about it called Positively False. Landis won the Tour after American Lance Armstrong won for a historic 7 times. It was my belief that after American dominance in a largely European sport, after Armstrong retired the French were ready for a European winner. I felt that when Landis won, continuing the American winning streak, a conspiracy was hatched to have the titled removed from the American cyclist, Landis. There seemed to be a lot of evidence to support my theory and many cyclist, including Armstrong, came to his defense. I am not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I really believed this.

I was so sad today when I saw that not only had Landis admitted to doping, but he was taking others down with him. He accused Lance, Hincampie, Zabriski, and Leipheimer, all prominent American cyclist, in he mea culpa. I am a bit (okay a lot) of a Pollyanna. I want to believe the good. I cling the the denials that there was any wrong doing. Especially when it is some one I respect. I really believed Landis, especially when his devout Mennonite parents were constantly on his defense. I want everyone to be innocent. I was truly saying that Tiger Woods didn't do it until around the 7th mistress came forward. I am more willing to believe a conspiracy theory than that some one could be so corrupt.

The excuse I hate the most is the "everyone was doing it," line. We don't except that line from an unruly child, why would we except it from a professional athlete. He didn't say those exact words but something like it. Like the only way to be competitive is to dope. And maybe we are to the point where that is true. I remember during the summer Olympics there was constant speculation into how these athletes could compete at such a high level. I was so annoyed with those pundits who felt that anyone with an outstanding record had to be doping. I don't want to become jaded and cynical. But when someone who you really believed and believed in turns out to be a liar it gets a little harder to remain a Pollyanna. But for my own sake I will continue to see as much of the good in people as possible. And I will still enjoy watching the Tour de France every morning this July.