A call-up and a smackdown

~ Patrick O'Grady

Floyd Landis — yes, that Floyd Landis — got a call-up at the start of yesterday’s 50th edition of the Nevada City Classic. Oooooooooo-kay.

I heard more than a few people booing as I watched via streaming Innertubes video and wondered idly whether they were (a) opposed to a self-confessed dope fiend, cheater and liar getting a call-up; (2) opposed to a self-confessed dope fiend, cheater and liar being there at all, or (iii) opposed to a self-confessed dope fiend, cheater and liar being a rat-fink tweetie-boid stool pigeon and a Friend of Cancer.

The field wasn’t as deep as last year’s, with Big Tex and his sidekicks having a previous engagement, but there was still some muscle there — Bissell’s Ian Boswell and Paul Mach, who went one-two in the finale, and 2005 champ Burke Swindlehurst (Team Give-Blackbottoms).

And Landis was a player, helping reel in what looked to be the race-winning move by Swindlehurst and finishing just off the podium in fourth. Don’t s’pose they dope-tested him or nothin’ afterward to see whether he was getting his testosterone from his balls instead of a bottle these days.

7 thoughts on “A call-up and a smackdown”

  1. I was on the start line of the NC Classic yesterday, and I can report that the sentiment was about 70/30 split in favor of Landis. Yes, there were quite a few boo-birds; I’m going to assume that those were Lance fanboys leftover from last year’s race. Humans need their heroes pure and their villains evil; so there is no place for the reality of someone who spans the two sides of that equation. Sure, Landis f’ed up big time, and then lied about it for years; but at least he’s trying to come clean now. The fireball created when Big Tex blows up is going to make Landisgate dim in comparison.

  2. Personally Flandis has ruined Popeye (the Sailor man) for me–I see Flandis’ mug superimposed on Popeye and now the 2 faces are inseparable in my mind…I used to like Popeye, sigh.

  3. Jonny, if the feds (the real ones) can get any traction on an investigation it will make the Deepwater Horizon explosion look like a baby fart in a bathtub. Meanwhile, watching these guys ’fess up one by one is like watching solo attacks out of a peloton in pursuit of a break up the road. Ain’t nothin’ much gonna happen until a bunch of ’em get organized. Can you imagine the hue and cry if a few teams’ worth of guys — riders, directors, soigneurs, doctors — all came clean at the same time? Yeah, me neither.

  4. At least with Flandis we finally know were we stand. Well, maybe. With everyone who has remained mum so far, they are all tarred with the same brush. That’s unfortunate.

    I was vacuuming the living room yesterday while watching the end of the Tour de Switzerland time trial coverage and mentioned to my Significant Other that TCWSNBN scampered into second place, 12 seconds off of Frank Schleck. Her sardonic reply was “must be all those steroids”.

  6. Gee, I wonder if Richard Virenque would get a call up at a minor league event in France? I’m thinking he would. Do you think anyone would boo? Ah, it’s good to see Floyd plugging along.

    As for Lance and hormones…Jesus Fuck! The dude apparently regrew his nuts and fathered a couple of illegitimate kids! In the Annals of Medicine, that is his greatest triumph!

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