Ah, little Dickie Pound. He's slicker than a greased pig. But Dan at Rant Your Head Off has taken the time to shine a light on Mr. Pound using this weekend's New York Times article and finds that advancing his name as the arbitrator of clean living and sport doesn't actually use facts to prove his point. If the facts don't support his stance, he'll just make them up.
Again, I have to ask, what price must be paid for clean sport? Are we subscribing to the old adage of "You can't make an omelete without breaking a few eggs?"
The problem for me is that the man who the media uses as the authority on anti-doping because he is the head of WADA. But, in this case, it's like using Charles Foster Kane as a luminary for journalistic integrity because he owned a few papers (that he's fictional isn't really something we should consider).
Once again, where does the truth lay in these doping cases? And how does history end up viewing dopers.
Turns out, according to some cycling fans, if you die on Mount Ventoux while doped to the gills on speed, you can still be a hero (and get a monument, for that matter). If you are Eddy Merckx, it doesn't matter if you tested positive twice in your career. You're still the king. And Jaques Antequil? Well, hell, he liked to say you can't win the Tour de France on mineral water alone. Richard Virenque? Still a national hero. Johan Museeuw? Actually banned from working in cycling because of doping. Yet, somehow he still gets to work for Patrick Lefevre and is still vaunted for his brilliant rides in the classics. Patrick Lefevre? Well, he can employ his old pet and still get to argue about the ethics of hiring Ivan Basso. Go figure.
These guys all are considered giants in cycling. No one questions their results in other races and, in some cases, their past infractions are swept under the rug. But Floyd Landis? He comes up with a strange Testosterone ratio and cycling whipes his record clean, drums him out and destroys his career. Paris-Nice? Of course, he had to dope there. In fact, when he rode in his first mountain bike race as a kid, wearing sweatpants, you know he couldn't do that on Tang and Flintstones vitamins alone. Right? He's a cheat. Dick Pound says so.
What is it cycling? Is doping a problem the plagues the sport? If so, aren't all dopers doing harm to the sport? Event the legends?
Doping is a problem in sport. It has been for some time now. And the guilty should be punished accordingly and the innocent should have a fair chance. Tests should not be considered infallable and the accused deserve a fair chance to defend themselves.
One would hope that the man who punishes the guilty would have a closer relationship to the truth than Mr. Pound.
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