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Landis: It’s a conspiracy! C-O-N… spiracy



Ugly ass uniforms caused
my high testosterone

By now, you know that Floyd Landis’ second blood sample came up positive for synthetic testosterone and he’s been stripped of his Tour de France title and his career is over. Well, Landis is now grasping onto the railing of the Titanic of excuses. In addition to naturally high testosterone. thyroid medication, cortisone cream, Jack Daniels, and dehydration, you can add conspiracy to the list.

There’s some kind of agenda there. I just don’t know what it is. I put in more than 20,000 kilometers of training for the Tour. I won the Tour of California, Paris-Nice and the Tour de Georgia. I was tested eight times at the Tour de France, four times before that stage and three times after, including three blood tests.

Only one came back positive. Nobody in their right mind would take testosterone just once. It doesn’t work that way.

Or, Floyd, perhaps another way to look at this is that you didn’t get caught during the Tour of California, Paris-Nice or Tour de Georgia. We shouldn’t be asking whether there’s a conspiracy but what’s wrong with the testing system in those three races. Man, you got caught. All this protestation in the media isn’t going to help your cause at all. Just slink away and let us get back to real sports.

Links:
[MSNBC]: Landis claims ‘agenda’ behind test results
[Reuters]: Landis begins campaign to win hearts and minds

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Invent the world’s stupidest sport!

Lately, Trevor has been talking a lot on the podcast about marginal sports and creating a World Series of Beirut. Well, the folks over at Mental Floss have a contest to invent the world’s stupidest sport. Unfortunately, WSOB violates the rules:


Your sport must be (a) so new that it’s never been played before, at least on this earth, (b) consistent with the laws of physics, (c) relatively cheap to play, with equipment that can easily be obtained by anyone, and (d) an actual physical sport involving at least two players. We want to see some calories getting burned. Extra points if your idea is explained in great detail, based on some weird historical activity we’ve never heard of, or steeped in facts and assorted trivia.

But any sport deemed “stupid” must include some sort of drinking. Because if you’re not putting more calories back in than you’re burning, then it just becomes a real sport.

(Before we go to some ideas for sports, does anyone remember playing “suicide”, “homicide”, or “marine ball” as kids? We know that suicide and homicide are universally known but we are beginning to suspect that marine ball, which was basketball but it was every man for himself and fouls were encouraged, was invented by one of our sadistic friends. Anyway…)

Here are three ideas for stupid sports:

1. Unextreme soccer: Two people sit on rocking chairs at opposite sides separated by 10 feet. There is a small goal about 5 feet wide behind the chair. Players cannot leave the rocking chair. Everytime a goal is scored, the person who let in the goal must chug a beer. First one to pass out loses. Falling out of the chair is a yellow card. The second time you fall out of the chair, you lose.

2. The Running of the Hos: This is a very simple game. A bunch of players get together and dress up like pimps. Platform shoes are necessary to make sure it’s a level playing field. One person is designated as the slapper (roshambo, draw straws, cut cards, whatever). The group walks up to a bunch of hos and the designated slapper slaps all of them. Everyone then takes off. The loser is the first person caught. After rescuing him/her from the hos, the loser buys the beer.

3. Rat dog punting: You know those dogs that are basically the size of a rat and yap a lot? Well the goal is to punt the dogs as far as you can. Because we here at Sportscolumn do not condone violence to animals, all dogs must be wrapped in foam or bubble wrap. This sport is too satisfying to need any sort of drinking but it’s encouraged.

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Danica Patrick throws a hissy fit

We can’t decide whether showing a video of Danica Patrick throwing a hissy fit after running out of gas with two laps to go is contributing to the ridiculous Danica Patrick hype or not. But it’s a fairly amusing video. As the folks over at Fark pointed out, she looks exactly like Dark Helmet in Spaceballs.



“Hey Danica, don’t tear down the cones, baby.”

Now, to be fair, a lot of racers are know for getting all mad and stuff when they lose a race so it’s not just because it’s “that time of the month“. What is it about non-athletic “sports” that cause their competitors to act more frustrated about losses than real athletes? Check out the WSOP sometime if you want to see a bunch of drama queens.

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Poker Playing Chimp denied entry to WSOP

Remember that publicity stunt we told you about last week where a company was training a chimp to play poker and wanted to enter him into a WSOP event for $10,000? Well, the WSOP people have nixed it.


He will not be registered, nor will he play,” said Gary Thompson, spokesman for the World Series of Poker. “We are not letting any chimpanzees in. It would be cruel to the chimpanzee and unfair to our players.

Too bad this didn’t happen. It would have been hilarious to see one of the poker “stars” get knocked out by a chimp or get some feces thrown on them. By the way, who are these people lining up to get autographs of poker players? It’s not a sport, people!

Speaking of chimps…

[Miami Herald]: Nick Saban turns down invitation to have dinner with Bush

In other news…

[Yahoo]: Kellen Winslow says he’s misunderstood…blah blah blah

[NY Post]: Jeremy Shockey calls Tom Coughlin an “ass”

[Sports Chanting]: Top 10 Hottest Female Sportscasters

[10000 Takes]: Brett Favre Is Like A Snow Globe

[Subway Serial]: New Mets Team Rules

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Say goodbye to Floyd Landis



Negative branding for Oakley

99.9% of the world couldn’t have picked Floyd Landis out of a lineup prior to this year’s Tour de France. And now we imagine he’s going to start growing a beard and sporting dark glasses like Rafael Palmeiro to avoid recognition in public. Despite his protests that the doping allegations were unfounded, it seems he did in fact cheat.

Just last Friday, Landis claimed that it was a natural occurence and the testosterone in his body was “natural and and produced by my own organism.”


I don’t know what the explanation for it is, whether it was a mistake or whether it’s an occurrence from some other circumstances that go on in the race or something I did.

But it was not from an exogenous outside source of testosterone.

Well, today, reports are that the urine sample that showed some of the testosterone in his body was from an external source.

How did Landis actually think he could get away with this? I guess when you’re already past the point of no return, why not just start lying your ass off? Some people take the “I didn’t know my massage therapist rubbed me with testosterone” route, Landis decided to take the ‘I didn’t do it’ route. The results of the second test are expected this Saturday.

All the pundits are claiming that Landis has ruined the Tour de France. But can you really ruin something that no one cares about? It’s like saying the slam dunk ruined the WNBA.

Links:
[Sign On San Diego]: Devastating news for Landis in report
[NY Times]: Testosterone in Landis test is said to be not natural

[BBC ]: Landis B result set for Saturday

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No Happy Ending for Justin Gatlin



Victim of bad massage

On Saturday, Justin Gatlin (record sharer for the 100 meters) revealed that he failed a drug test after a race in Kansas City on April 22. Gatlin picked exactly the right time to do so as it came on the heels of the Landis doping controversy which is a much bigger story. However, Gatlin and his coach Trevor Graham are claiming that he was sabotaged by a massage therapist.

According to Graham, a therapist rubbed testosterone cream on Gatlin’s knee without his knowledge.


We know who the person is who actually did this. Justin is devastated. Myself, too. We’re extremely [upset] right now. We are trying to go out and make sure we can prove his innocence, and we hope this individual has the guts to come forward and say he did it.

This sounds suspiciously like the “I was told it was flax seed oil” defense. If he is unable to prove his innocence, Gatlin will be banned from competition for life. Graham said he’s hired a private investigator to follow around the therapist and will seek criminal charges. Considering that Graham has been linked to 6 athletes accused of doping and is being investigated as part of the BALCO scandal, we think this is just a smokescreen.

Links:
[Washington Post]: Gatlin’s Coach Blames Massage Therapist

[Pure Pedantry]: Floyd Landis and Testosterone Testing: All the Background You Want and Need
[Telegraph UK]: Champion Gatlin fails drugs test

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Odds and Ends: Canadian Cannonball Championship


The Canadian Cannonball Championship was held yesterday and there’s some grumbling about the champion. Mark Russel is about 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds yet he came away the winner for the second year in a row. Of course, all the fat guys are saying that the competition is more about style than substance now.

I felt the judges were giving more credit to the costume than the actual size of the splash. I was booming them over five metres high and I’m getting a 7. If I had a wig on and a pair of balloons in my shirt, I would’ve got an eight or a nine.

We love controversy at second rate sports competitions.

In othew news..

[USA Today]: Harold Reynolds doesn’t want his job back

[Digital Golf]: Inside Phil Mickelson’s head

[Hudson]: IT CAME FROM JAPAN: Crazy Japanese Baseball Fans!

[ESPN]: Chuck Klosterman: Reality and fantasy don’t mix

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So much for Floyd Landis — Latest American Hero



Hold the champagne

Floyd Landis tested positive for excessive testosterone after stage 17 of the Tour de France. The organizers will test another sample and if that one comes up positive, If he will be stripped of his victory. Landis and team have a chance to do a counter analysis to determine if there was a mistake. But considering that Landis has disappeared and pulled out of two races in the past two days, he probably knows the jig is up.

The only positive to come out of this is that we absolutely know that cycling’s governing body isn’t a corrupt agency. It’s bad enough to suspend a couple of favorites before the race but it’s absolutely catastrophic to have to strip away a victory. This scandal will cost cycling the 16 fans they have left.

Landis career is over as well. For all the accolades and newspaper and magazine fluff pieces that came out in the past week, there will be more roastings as writers get revenge for being embarassed writing articles like this and this.

Links:
[Reuters]: Tour de France winner Landis tests positive
[Guardian UK]: Landis positive test final blow for Tour de France

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50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days

Have you ever heard of Dean Karnazes? He runs ultramarathons, which are 50 or 100 mile runs. He’s not just an ultramarathon man, he’s the ultramarathon man. He’s run continuously for 350 miles, ran across Death Valley and ran a marthon in the South Pole at -40 degrees. In a word, he’s insane.

This fall, he’s doing the North Face Endurance 50, which is 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states starting. Some aren’t actual events, he’s just running marathon courses in those states. (If you’ve ever tried to plan a cross-country ballpark tour, you know how hard this is to coordinate…) In total, he’ll run over 1,300 miles in 50 days, which is more than most people run in their lifetimes. We get tired just thinking about it.

Links:
[Endurance50]: The official North Face Endurance 50 site
[Ultramarathon Man]: About Dean Karnazes

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Jockey apologizes for head-butting horse


The AP headline for this story is so hilarious that there really isn’t a reason to change it. In London, jockey Paul O’Neill is being investigated for headbutting his horse. It’s gotta be the funniest thing we’ve ever seen. A 120 pound jockey going up against a 1200 pound horse. The horse just takes it and goes about his business. You can see the jockey getting upset with the horse like a parent does with a child. O’Neill was angry with the horse because it was being unruly before the race and threw him.


I would just like to say to the public that I’m very sorry they had to see such a thing. I’ve never done it before and it will never happen again. When I got to the start he headed straight for a car with me, stopped five feet from the car, whipped round and dropped me. I landed on my feet, but a bit awkwardly for my knee and I was a little bit angry then, but I’ve never done anything like this before and I’m glad to say the horse is OK after it.

You knew that there would be a followup headbutt to the Zidane incident. Perhaps like celebrity deaths, it would happen in threes, but no one expected it to be a jockey and a horse.

Here’s the video for you (Windows Media Player).

Links:

[Fox Sports]: Jockey apologizes for head-butting horse