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Phil Sheridan | Worse than cheating? The lying that followsBy Phil Sheridan
Inquirer Columnist
Cheating is bad for sports. That's obvious. It's the reason leagues and associations and Olympic committees work so hard to catch dopers. What's not quite so obvious is that lying about cheating is even more damaging than the cheating itself.
And that brings us, unfortunately, to Floyd Landis.
His wide-eyed portrayal of outraged innocence may earn him an Emmy Award, but it probably won't let him hang on to his Tour de France title. When news broke that Landis tested for abnormally high levels of testosterone after his breakthrough Stage 17 performance, the cyclist from Lancaster County pleaded with the public for the benefit of the doubt.
He deserved it. Everyone does. The principle of presumed innocence is vital to the way our democracy operates.
A lot of things have happened since that first shocking news hit. None of it makes Landis look particularly good.
First, he and his team of doctors and lawyers ventured a series of explanations, each sillier than the one before it. Landis' levels were out of whack because of medication he took for a thyroid condition, or the cortisone he received for pain. He drank Jack Daniel's the night before. His levels are naturally high. Or he was dehydrated. Yeah, that's it. Dehydrated.
The second and most devastating development was a New York Times report, since confirmed by Landis' camp, that he tested positive for synthetic testosterone. That blew a hole through every possible excuse.
The science behind the testing is complex. The meaning is breathtakingly simple.
Floyd Landis is busted. Stone-cold, flat-out busted.
Cheating to win the Tour de France is wrong. Lying and lying and lying about it is infinitely worse for all sports and for every athlete.
Use Landis' own logic. He said he knew it would be hard for people to believe him because of all the lying and cheating that had gone on before. Landis acknowledged that he would have trouble believing someone else in the same situation.
Why? Because they all lie when they're caught.
So what did Landis accomplish? Next time an athlete tests positive and looks wide-eyed and innocent into the camera, it is going to be that much more difficult to believe him or her. The list of athletes who were caught, and who toyed with the public's trust by denying they cheated, just got one name longer.
Shot putter C.J. Hunter, the former husband and coach of Marion Jones, said he took legal supplements tainted by illegal compounds. A lie.
Sprinter Kelli White said she took a medication to battle narcolepsy. A lie.
Sprinter Ben Johnson said he must have been the victim of sabotage. A lie.
Rafael Palmeiro scolded Congress and said he'd never used steroids. A lie.
Landis should learn from the mistake of Barry Bonds. If Bonds had come clean when the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative story broke two years ago, his name and reputation likely would be saved by now. Instead a grand jury is considering whether he committed perjury.
You can imagine a scenario that explains why Landis might have decided to cheat back on July 20. It doesn't excuse cheating, but it allows for some compassion and understanding.
On July 19, Landis had a terrible day that he admitted made him feel tremendous pressure. He was the leader of the Phonak team, and that one awful day had taken him and his mates out of contention. He felt so bad and so far out of the race that he skipped his usual regimen and drank beer and whiskey with his friends.
Remember, this was probably Landis' one and only chance to win this race. Lance Armstrong had dominated the Tour for the previous seven years, and Landis is planning to have surgery on his arthritic hip. There's no guarantee he'll ever be as strong a rider as he was last month.
So with all that on his shoulders, in that moment of weakness, you can imagine him deciding to cheat just this one time. A little testosterone patch and maybe he could earn back some of the lost time in the mountain passes of Stage 17.
He won the stage.
Afterward, according to the Associated Press, he said, "I didn't expect it to work quite that well."
Those words have a whole different shade of meaning now.
You can understand the pressure to cheat, especially in a sport in which it's reasonable to assume everyone else is doing something to gain an edge. You can understand and even forgive someone who gives in to that temptation.
There is no scenario that excuses the lying and the damage it does to the credibility of every athlete in every sport. They can take Landis' title away, but there is no penalty for his most serious offense."