If Landis Is Taken Away From Us, What's Left For Fans?

July 28, 2006 — -- To quote Everclear, so much for the afterglow.

We barely got to know Floyd Landis -- barely got to celebrate his stunning Tour de France triumph -- before he was plugged in alongside the rest of the sketchy characters in sports' alleged doper lineup. One day, he's the gritty Mennonite with the bad hip and a taste for beer, surprise successor to Lance Armstrong, America's freshest jock hero. The next, he's gone from yellow jersey to scarlet letter, helping perpetuate the reputation of cycling as dirtier than Pigpen's fingernails.

But it's hardly the only sport we can't trust.

Off the top of my head, I'd exempt curling from skepticism. That's about it.

We see the headlines that say Landis is suspended by his team, Phonak, after testing for excessive testosterone after Stage 17 of the Tour, the stage where his miraculous bounce-back performance propelled him back into the race. The immediate reaction is: No way. If our boy Floyd is dirty, who isn't?

Second reaction: Well, of course there's a way. This is cycling, and this is modern athletics.

Of course Floyd could be dirty, pending a test of his "B" sample that could either confirm or refute the original test. What do we really know about him, beyond his charming and unique backstory, and the dramatic way in which he won the Tour? Not enough, of course.

The bottom line is that almost every athlete in almost every sport could be dirty. And that raises some grim questions:

Who can we cheer with any kind of certainty? What too-good-to-be-true story is legit? Where does hopeful belief end and rampant cynicism begin?

That line gets muddier every day, with every discouraging story.

The Landis news comes as Barry Bonds' buddy and former personal trainer, Greg Anderson, is busy stonewalling the feds. It comes not long after the HGH bombshell blew up on Jason Grimsley. It comes as Baseball Hall of Fame voters begin considering what to do with Mark "I'm Not Here To Talk About The Past" McGwire.