Oh, Fat Tony

You know it is bad in sports, when even the cars are juicing. This week Joe Gibbs Racing and Co. were fined points and suspended for their dirty dealings in the Nationwide Series. This includes Sprint series driver and all around lovable guy, Tony Stewart.

Masking horsepower with magnets makes no sense to me, but funny, I don't really see anyone being outraged over this. I guess your sport has to end in "Ing" for anyone to care. You know, like swimming, cycling, running, things like that. We sure know no one really cares if the sport ends in ball. Football players look perfectly normal, and Barry Bond's head is naturally that large. (Okay, that one may be true)

We are all so quick to call someone a cheat, as long as it doesn't mess up the line on the game. Now, how do we react to cheating in NASCAR's step-brother? Nothing. Barely a blip outside the confederate flag set. Come on sports, get real. Cheating is cheating is cheating. A sports popularity or lack there of shouldn't matter. If we care about this, then someone has to start caring about other sports too.

Magnets as performance enhancers. I always knew "The Fridge" was up to no good.

Oh, Cousin Floyd!

In the interest of full disclosure, Floyd Landis is not actually my cousin. This was a name we gave him years and years ago, before he was anyone, as my unmarried name is Landis. There is no evidence that he is related to my clan. My family didn't raise a bunch of cheats. I've never needed synthetic testosterone. I get mine the old fashioned way. (wink wink)

But, I have to say, Floyd has disappointed me. I wanted to believe him so much when all the shit with the Tour de France went down. I wanted to believe it was all sabotage, but that is terribly unlikely. So, I'll just have to accept the fact that my (non) cousin is a damned cheater, just like many before him. Cycling is a great sport, and it is a shame that this kind of thing keeps people from watching. Because it is awesome, and yes, it is something you could never do. No matter how many times you took your banana seat down to the malt shop.

So, check out the Tour when it starts in a few days. The favorite this year? Cadel Evans, a fine Aussie looking for the country's first win. Good luck to him, and all others who ride clean. I know Phil Liggett and I will be watching. You should too.