http://bit.ly/ibqzHr

http://bit.ly/eE4JtW

However, point was not whether I believe all of Landis’s post confession allegations, I agree he has little credibility. I think the “dishing” part of his interview is of little value here. It’s is sour grapes, yes.

The lesson from his story is that in the instant he denied doping that day in the tour (and if I recall correctly, he continues to deny, still blaming the lab for bad science), in that instant that he chose to go down that path he set in motion a series of events that inevitably led to losing everything he had.

He, like Tyler Hamilton, by choosing to defend the lie, lost all their money, lost their wives, their best friend, many close friends, their personal credibility, and even their sanity and mental health. Look at Jan Ulrich. His life is, or was, in shambles. Look at Frank VDB. Pantani. That kind of public humiliation and public scrutiny can crush the strongest mind. Better to own it. To accept it, to accept the punishment, and to rebuild your life with some shred of credibility, rather than dig the hole deeper, making it that much harder to climb out of.

What took place with Landis recently is really unrelated to what I was speaking to, and in fact is just further fall out from that initial decision.

They chose to deny, and then they are forced to rationalize and “drink their own cool aid” to keep a handle on their sanity. And it never works out. It always leads to ruin. That is the story that other pro athletes in that moment should read, should be aware of.

That is the lesson that I am trying, quite unsuccessfully, to teach to my kids. Own up to your mistakes, learn from them, and earn my respect by having the courage and integrity to admit fault.

J

People who would rather see the the entire sport of cycling burn down suddenly come running to the defense of landis based on some alleged new found credibility.

Why?

Because he’s telling them what they want to hear. For his part, this is nothing more than a revenge tactic for getting slighted from the ’09 tour of california, and Kimmage and all the lance-haters have all gotten sucked into his subterfuge.

The thing people now lying prostrate at the new Alter of Landis keep forgetting is that he’s still playing the vicitm. He’ s making specious allegations of participating in a mass doping program under Brunyeel, he’s lashing out at he perceives have wronged him, and invited those zealots to rally around his newly adopted cause célèbre.

Face it Jerry, we wouldn’t have heard from landis if he had been allowed to race in the TOC. If they had simply let him enter his team, he would have kept quiet.

That should tell you something.
1) Landis is not above blackmail – but then should we be surprised since he duped over $1M from his fans?
2) He issued the threat to TOC and armstrong before he did it. They were aware of what he was intending. If the culture of corruption surrounding armstrong is as vast as landis alledges, how hard could it have been to coerce the TOC to let landis race? Unless of course, they already knew landis was completely full of shit.

So landis has not only gotten lost in the argument, he has in fact created a completely new argument to deflect his own wrongdoing, and managed to create the culture of personality around himself that was lost after he was stripped of his tour title.

It’s up to us parents to hold the firm line with our children, and not let a temper tantrum or a politic of distraction divert us from the real issue at hand – that our child did something wrong and needs to be held accountable. If we do, it’s our own goddam fault and our kids will become little psychopaths who blame everyone else for their actions.

It’s up to us as rational adults and fans of cycling not to let the landis suck us into a vortex of revenge and hatred. If we let the likes of him dictate the rules of the game, many innocent riders will get hurt along the way, and landis won’t give a flying fuck as long as he has his little cadre of zealots cheering by his side.