 Friday, July 27, 2007
Barry Bonds Is Lucky Not to Be in the Tour De France
Steve commented on Wednesday about Bud Selig doing the right thing and following Barry Bonds to San Francisco in his pursuit of Hank Aaron's mark. I think Selig was in no-man's land -- damned if he did, damned if doesn't. Like Steve, I have and will boo Bonds. For instance, Medford Bob and I were at the Giants-Mets game at Shea where Lastings Milledge hit his first MLB home run last season.
Imagine a different scenario if Bud Selig went to San Francisco and kicked Bonds off Giants. He could not break Hank Aaron's record. That's not going to happen in MLB because the players union is too strong but it just happened in cycling. For instance, Mark Rasmussen was in the lead after Wednesday's stage when his sponsor, Rabobank, kicked him off their team and the Tour de France.
As Steve noted, Bonds has NOT been indicted or even convicted, much less formally charged. Therefore, he has a right to play on. Reading between the lines and reviewing various media outlets, Bonds is winning the game of chicken. Bonds knows he took steroids but knows MLB is even dirtier. If MLB presses him, Bonds will take MLB down with him. If there is an explicit gentlemen's agreement between thieves, MLB will let Bonds break the record in return for Bonds stepping aside after the season is over. I don't have confirmation from Bonds and/or MLB offices because this is something they would never admit to.
If Bonds doesn't step aside at the end of the season, don't be surprised if the feds step in and try to bring up the fact that Bonds may have perjured himself. With the 2008 Presidential Election upon us, you don't want politicians of all stripes tampering with baseball, especially MLB's anti-trust monopoly exemption. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) needs an issue to energize his lagging presidential campaign and don't be surprised if he redoubles his past commendable efforts in cleaning up steroids, the perfect non-partisan issue that doesn't go against special interests like campaign finance reform does.
As Steve blogged a couple of months ago, cycling has been plagued by doping performance enhancing scandals but is trying to clean it up. Both sports need to be cleaned up and cycling is taking the right steps in cleaning up its image. If Selig, MLB owners, and the players union are smart, they'll do the same because they don't want to play chicken with Senator McCain, a man who spent seven years in a North Vietnamese prison.
Posted by the Tank in NY.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Cycling needs to clean up its act!
The 1996 Tour de France winner, Danish cyclist Bjarne Riis, finally admitted Friday he used performance-enhancing drugs during the 1996 tour. (True fans always knew this to be true.) The second and third place finishers in 1996 were also dogged by drug allegations. The uber cyclist and Armstrong arch rival Jan Ullrich of Germany was second and Frenchman Richard Virenque was third. Ullrich retired in February after being implicated in Operation Puerto, the Spanish investigation into an alleged blood doping ring. Last month, German authorities matched Ullrich’s DNA sample to blood bags seized in Spain. So who should the 1996 title go to, the 4th place guy? He was probably doping too.
Lance Armstrong has always faced allegations and last year Floyd Landis failed a drug test after his victory, his innocence or guilt not yet determined.
You think Professional Baseball has issues, Professional Cycling has a major problem. If Cycling does not clean up its act, it will lose all its fans. I think that there has to be independent oversight since so many people seem to have been getting away with doping. The International Cycling Union seems to have been asleep at the wheel.
Posted by a raging mad Steve in New York.
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