Landis' last gasp

Bro Deal

Americans are pretty forgiving.

The route that Landis chose is a hard one. Hamilton is already the constant butt of jokes among cycling fans. Everytime the mainstream press writes about doping, they throw in a bit about FLandis. It is going to suck to go through life as the unrepentent cheater who won the TdF.

__________________
"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

Bro Deal

Armstrong improved a lot. He was practically inarticulate in 1999. He reminded me of the interview after the basketball game in the movie Bedazzled.

__________________
"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

helmutRoole2

I like it. I think he could dope with impunity, really. Seriously, though. He could be the Reggie White of the cycling world. The Reverend Floyd Lanids.

__________________
"Bait in 08" --nns1400

Crankyfeet

I think you are right about Americans being pretty forgiving perhaps in the long run if you show remorse. As you say, they will be much less forgiving if they find that you have lied and not shown any remorse, and are subsequently found guilty.

My points though are, that the normal human reaction when plunged into a huge potential loss situation is to cling to the chance that you can ride the storm unscathed, which is what he did. Once you protest your innocence and get your friends and family behind you... it becomes exponentially harder to fess up subsequently.

The second point is that you allude to the general public perception of him as now being very negative. From his perspective however... by fighting the conviction and standing by his claim of innocence... he still probably has a close group of people around him who still believe in his integrity. If he had say reacted to the initial news of a positive test the way he did... like "This was all a mistake... and I am a clean rider blah blah"... and then fessed up when the B sample came in positive... he would have difficulty retaining his integrity with those people close to him. People that he had probably told for a decade that he rode clean.

I don't think he really cares about our opinions that much. We are certainly not going to be invited to any of his birthday parties.

earth_dweller

You know, I think it would work. Just throw in an addiction to alcohol, blame his friend Will for leading him astray... et voila. He can write a book and go on the talk show circuit.

Crankyfeet

That is only because they haven't managed to buck the charges. When they initially stuck their sword in the ground though, they had every intention of getting out of the whole mess without a blemish. In hindsight it seems like a foolhardy strategy... but in FL's case, before the results of the arbitration came out... we weren't all entirely certain of the outcome. Once the swords were stuck by FL and TH though... it was even harder to backtrack and change the story thereafter.

Post edit - Shit - I see this is the second time I've responded to your same post. I need to find my Alzheimer's medication...

fscyclist

+1. This may actually be his strategy if he loses the CAS case. Wait 6 months after the verdict, have a confession (legally parsed to avoid prison), then tour the country. Jose Canseco, Bill Romanowski, and others are doing the same. I also agree that throwing in a little religious sentiment goes a long way.

If he wins the CAS case, he'll of course be vindicated, so it's probably worth it at this point to stay the course.

kennf

I'll take a stab at this. Here it goes.

THE BEGINNING?

__________________
"Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things"

-- Some dude

nns1400

Which is why no one's ever heard of you...

__________________
If someone really bothers you, think about walking a mile in their shoes...then, you'll be a mile away, and you'll have their shoes.

kennf

Not the only reason!

__________________
"Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things"

-- Some dude

Bro Deal

I'd load up with everything. I like to think I could do a better job if I were caught.

__________________
"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

Crankyfeet

Bro...If you did as good of a job with your dope masking as you do with your IP proxy masking... you'd be the last one in the peloton to be caught.

And would you go straight for the break-down-and-ask-for-God's-forgiveness confession... if you did get caught... or would you have plans A, B, C, D and E in the ready...

jimmypop

Deep down, Americans hate successful people. We love it when rich, famous or otherwise successful and ambitious individuals fall from grace.

nns1400

I don't know...it depends on why they're famous. I think it's a particular situation when it's a famous athlete like Clemens or McGwire...they are admired and looked up to and it's a thrill to see, and then people feel foolish when it turns out the guy was a cheat. But, conversely, there is the smug satisfaction that they really weren't that great after all, and we can feel better about our own mediocrity.

When it comes to other moral situations, however, Cranky's already touched on the fact that people feel relieved and better about themselves, that they are better than the "other guy" who failed.

I remember Bill Maher talking about Mick Jagger once, saying everyone criticized him for all his affairs with models, etc...and said people were hypocrites because Jagger wasn't less moral than those people (men) he just had options....

__________________
If someone really bothers you, think about walking a mile in their shoes...then, you'll be a mile away, and you'll have their shoes.