Floyd Landis on Leno
Last night, embattled cyclist Floyd Landis appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Overall, he came off fairly positively, I thought. He seemed mostly confident, but on edge.
As Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald(and a frequent guest host on ESPN's PTI) said several times, if you failed a drug test and had no idea how, you might have a lot of different guesses/excuses as to why. Therefore, I don't necessarily think that his different excuses everyday is a bad thing.
Also, from an interview I watched, one person said something to the effect that there have either been very few or no cyclists that have appealed this type of drug test and not had the ruling overturned. Which means, if Landis's case is similar to others, he might be found not guilty due to weak evidence.
On the Tonight Show though, for anyone who saw it: How uncomfortable did Landis look with Bill Maher there? Maher made one comment along the lines of "Why are we making such a fuss over a sport no one gives a shit about?" And Landis from that point on seemed almost like he wanted to really trash Maher but was uncomfortable, due to the fact that he wasn't sure what to say. Obviously someone who is in Landis's situation right now doesn't seem to go after some random political commentator right now over a comment made in jest. He needs all the public support he can get.
For now, I'm still on Landis's side. The way he carries himself, the way he has come out publicly(just as many people have said McGwire should have post-Congressional hearing), I can't imagine he intentionally did anything against the Tour's rules. However, I'm very skeptical at the same time. A good PR team could have basically set up this strategy for him and told him, "Get out there, it will make you a more sympathetic figure if people see you and get to like you."
I guess we'll see what the International Cycling Union does, but who knows whether that will tell the whole truth.
As Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald(and a frequent guest host on ESPN's PTI) said several times, if you failed a drug test and had no idea how, you might have a lot of different guesses/excuses as to why. Therefore, I don't necessarily think that his different excuses everyday is a bad thing.
Also, from an interview I watched, one person said something to the effect that there have either been very few or no cyclists that have appealed this type of drug test and not had the ruling overturned. Which means, if Landis's case is similar to others, he might be found not guilty due to weak evidence.
On the Tonight Show though, for anyone who saw it: How uncomfortable did Landis look with Bill Maher there? Maher made one comment along the lines of "Why are we making such a fuss over a sport no one gives a shit about?" And Landis from that point on seemed almost like he wanted to really trash Maher but was uncomfortable, due to the fact that he wasn't sure what to say. Obviously someone who is in Landis's situation right now doesn't seem to go after some random political commentator right now over a comment made in jest. He needs all the public support he can get.
For now, I'm still on Landis's side. The way he carries himself, the way he has come out publicly(just as many people have said McGwire should have post-Congressional hearing), I can't imagine he intentionally did anything against the Tour's rules. However, I'm very skeptical at the same time. A good PR team could have basically set up this strategy for him and told him, "Get out there, it will make you a more sympathetic figure if people see you and get to like you."
I guess we'll see what the International Cycling Union does, but who knows whether that will tell the whole truth.
posted by Matt at 1:55 PM
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