Double, maybe triple standard?

Why is it that when Brian Cushing, the Houston Texans' star linebacker gets suspended for four games after getting caught using performance enhancing drugs (something that takes quite a bit of stupidity given the NFL's incredibly lax and easy to get around policy), no one mentions the possibility of taking away his Defensive Rookie of the Year award?  Yet Floyd Landis can come out and send out a bunch of rather crazy emails after destroying much of his credibility and a Federal investigation is triggered and people everywhere start jumping to conclusions and accusing the sport of being full of cheaters.

Now, let's get one thing straight, I think cycling is full of people that are using PEDs, micro-dosing EPO and doing anything they can to keep their jobs and perform at the highest level.  The incentives for good performance and the demands on their bodies continue to encourage these practices, often more so for the guys trying to make it than for those with the freakish talents at the top.  I do think the sport is cleaner than it has been, I think Lance was as dirty as most of his rivals during his reign at the top, but the guy was in the middle of the best run and most well thought out doping program in sport at the time.  He was also in the middle of an era in cycling when there was no test for EPO.  So why wouldn't you do it if you knew that your rivals were doing it and you couldn't compete with them if you didn't?

But back to the point.

Cycling likely does more than any other sport to catch dopers.  The blood passport program is leaps and bounds ahead of the testing program in Track and Field, arguably the next toughest on doping.  The MLB, the NFL, the NBA, all of them lag far behind, yet when a star gets caught, no one really seems to get too upset and the story quickly blows over.  Remember when another rookie of the year was suspended for steroids?  That Shawne Merriman guy who hasn't ever seemed to recapture that incredible form?  Why doesn't anyone question that?  Why don't we talk about whether or not that amazing season was the result of the fact that he was jacked up on steroids?

Eric Allen's take on the suspension?

I don't understand how a professional athlete in this day and age could take steroids when there are so many consequences. Sure, I understand the great deal of money that is to be made if you're able to get away with it. But is it worth what he's now going to go through? This is a kid who presumably wanted to one day be mentioned in the same breath as luminaries like Mike Singletary, Dick Butkus, Ray Lewis and Lawrence Taylor. Now he stands a much better chance of being mentioned in the same breath as Brian Bosworth and Tony Mandarich.

 What is it that he had to go through?  He is still getting paid millions and millions of dollars, and though he has struggled now that he isn't quite as jacked up as before, still plays well and will likely have a nice career.  He won't be Lawrence Taylor, but without the drugs, he never was.  And was Lawrence Taylor using PED's?  Well, he certainly wasn't concerned about using a lot of drugs.

And Eric Allen, very successful NFL athlete doesn't understand how a professional athlete in "this day and age" could take steroids when there are so many consequences?  What are the consequences besides accolades, rookie of the year awards, a bigger contract and likely a better career?  The testing program really isn't that stringent and clearly there is a huge incentive to recovering faster, getting stronger and faster, and so why would it be so hard to understand why a pro athlete would use PEDs?  So why is it so hard for Eric Allen to understand why this happens?

Given the recent suspensions of Roethlisberger and other incidents like that of Donte Stallworth's killing of a man while driving his Bentley drunk and serving only 30 days in jail, what are the consequences?  Why wouldn't players be using drugs or abusing alcohol when the consequences for them are nearly nothing.  This side of drug abuse isn't really that different from "recreational" drug use in cycling, but cyclists aren't really famous for killing people in their cars, getting caught with guns and knives and bazookas, or incredibly boorish behavior while drunk or sober.

Tom Boonen, arguably the biggest star of the classics and pretty good elsewhere too, and certainly the biggest cycling star in Belgium was busted for testing positive for cocaine.  It wasn't his first time, and he got a slap on the wrist but was allowed to keep racing.  This is because cycling has very clear rules about what is performance enhancing and what isn't.  This isn't quite the case in other sports as athletes can be suspended for marijuana use, or cocaine and other narcotics.

So why the dismissal, in other sports, of the drugs that do actually affect the game?  Why is it that rookies of the year who play linebacker can use steroids and get caught and the media will quickly paper over the incident as soon as the player has served their suspension.  No one questions the sport at large for being incredibly brutal and unconcerned with the health of its players and the long term consequences of the drug use they choose as the only way to make it through a season.

I don't get it.

The Shangri La of Bike Rides?

Having just had a conversation with a friend about all the nastiness floating around in the "Vino Velo" group, I am reminded of a vision, or maybe it was just a dream that I had recently.  If you've ever ridden your bike in Philadelphia with a group of folks concerned mainly with looking good, hating anyone that might actually be stronger than them, and being very sure to maintain a certain distasteful distance from any new guy for at least five years or until they somehow ingratiate themselves into your crowd somehow...  Well, how about I just tell you about the dream?

Ok.  So I wake up (in the dream) pretty darn early, so it's not impossible that this isn't a nightmare start.  I force myself to eat as much as I can, try to pet the dog and tell her how much I will miss her all morning (but she quickly decides I'm worthless once it is clear I am not taking her for a run and heads upstairs and back to bed) and slather on some sunscreen and make sure I am not forgetting something important, and hop on my bike and head to a parking lot.  This parking lot is close to my house and I get there in the very quiet stillness of a weekend morning without even a hint of traffic or the nastiness that usually accompanies most intersections of traffic and bike riding.

Was this parking lot Nirvana?  I doubt that, but even though I recognized it perfectly in my dream, I am hesitant to share the location because there is a small chance it was real.  There is a small chance that all of what I am about to relate to you happened and what if I told everyone about it and Vino Velo showed up to ruin everything?  Well, that wouldn't do so I will just keep the location to myself.  Let's just say it is near a big-box home furnishing store, a grocery store, someplace that sells bagels, and yeah, so just about a million locations near Philadelphia.

I roll into the lot and am greeted by someone.  I can't quite believe they know who I am, because in the dream I know I just met them once on a ride perhaps a few weeks prior.  I know that group riding folk do not remember names, even if you ride with them on multiple occasions, not here in Philly.  If you aren't one of the Guys, you aren't one of the guys.  But these guys remembered me, asked how I was doing, and generally appeared excited that I had joined them for this morning's festivities.

After some ball busting and chatter, we headed right out, a route had been decided on, we just worried about pedaling, and catching up and getting to know each other.  There were some new guys I hadn't met before, strangely enough, they introduced each other all around, made sure to say hello on the ride, checked to see if we had any common acquaintances, it was rather friendly.  Check that, they were really friendly.  One big clue that this must have been a dream.

As we rolled out into deeper suburbs and beyond, we went hard up some hills, people made "attacks" but were happy to sit up and wait for folks to catch back on.  After all, we were riding together, this wasn't about showing off or showing someone else up.  Everyone did some work, everyone had a nice time, and before you know it, we reached the 40 mile point and some guys headed home as they had kids and other obligations.  A few of us added on another 20 miles or so.

In this dream, after 150 miles in three days (a lot for me, not for some) I actually got back to my house after saying goodbye and chatting with the guys for a few minutes, and I felt great.  I was tired, sure, but I had enjoyed riding with these guys, looked forward to joining them again, something I'd rarely experienced in past rides in the Philly area.  The mental energy one usually expends dealing with the shenanigans of the riders as they get in over their heads, curse each other out, yell at you for going too hard (and putting them in the hurt locker) and basically make nuisances of themselves was still in reserve...

And I was home at 10:00 am with 60 miles under my belt.  Was it really just a dream?