MeyerBros

we probably won’t have the official results of floyd landis’ B urine sample until later this week, but things aren’t looking good. the testing lab has leaked that his A sample tested a testosterone:epitestosterone ratio of 11:1 (normal person is around 1:1, bikers are allowed up to 4:1), and the IRMS test showed that there was exogenous testosterone (synthetic testosterone that wasn’t made naturally by his own body) in his body in the A sample. the test is thought to be inaccurate by some analysts, but apparently the world cycling association trusts it enough to use it. there are still a few questions about whether his thyroid medication, cortisone for his hip, beer he was drinking, or simply the amount of strenous exercise he was doing could have affected the test. for those of us who were hoping that “the world’s dirtiest sport” had perhaps become slightly cleaner, it’s not looking good.

my theory is that 80 or 90% of the riders in the tour de france (at least most of the team leaders) are all taking something illegal to boost their performance, but 70% or more are still getting away with it. maybe you can’t compete in professional cycling with doping anymore, so your choice is either to not dope and to suck, or to dope and be on “equal” footing with everyone else. hmm…

don’t worry, i’ll keep you posted.

what? guilty pleasures? no, i feel no guilt for being addicted to the indianapolis colts and american football. ok, i’ll come right out and say it — i’m really pumped for the Hall of Fame Game (Oakland vs. Philadelphia) next weekend, and even more the nationally televised preseason opener (Indianapolis at St. Louis) on august 10.

for those of you who follow american football (mainly carl, i suppose), i think the colts are going to be a big contender again this year. Edge was a great player, but Addai has speed and the ability to make big plays, and i think he’ll be impressive. i suppose it depends somewhat on his intelligence and how quickly he can pick up the crazy audible and offensive game-plan system that the colts use (according to Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz, it’s “more complicated that the federal tax code”).

in short, i think dominic rhodes and joseph addai can carry the ball, block and receive as well as edge could, at least by the end of the season and into the playoffs, which is (i hope) when it will really matter.

in other (similar) news, wide receiver reggie wayne showed up to training camp wearing former teammate edge’s new arizona cardinals jersey.

and now, changing sports, floyd landis has been (unofficially) accused of doping in his amazing stage 17 win of the tour de france. his first test was positive for having an abnormally high level of testosterone, and we’re still awaiting the backup sample to see if it shows the same thing. landis claims he has naturally high testosterone levels, which is possible but unlikely. hmm, we’ll see what happens…

—your local sports geek

so after downloading 17 widgets off of the dashboard top 50 list (check it out Mac users — there are some cool ones there), david told me about last.fm. it automatically “scrobbles” (records) the music that you listen to on your computer, which…hmm…has some helpful purpose i’m sure. but it’s fun, and you can see what music your friends are listening to and find people who listen to similar music. you can also create custom streaming radio stations. and best of all, you can successfully waste an entire afternoon and not feel guilty about it.

in other news, floyd landis lost the yellow jersey today, but not to a main competitor. i think he’ll be able to get it back this week.

so i’ve been following the Tour de France every morning (it’s actually afternoon in France), and finally today Floyd Landis took the yellow jersey! that means he’s now 1st in the overall individual time classification after the 11th stage. today was the second mountain stage so far, and all of the favorites to win finally come to the front once they reach the mountains, which is exactly what Landis did. he’s well known as a top-notch bicycle sprinter and climber.

not like most people care, but Landis was born (and grew up) in Lancaster, PA in a conservative Mennonite family. his parents didn’t think bicycle racing would be an adequate profession, so he would ride at night after work, sometimes until 2 or 3 am. his family finally bought a TV in 2002 so they could watch him ride in his first Tour de France. he was on Lance Armstrong’s team for 3 years and helped Armstrong win the Tour each time. in 2005 he became the team leader of Phonak Hearing Systems, and he finished 9th in the 2005 Tour.

most of the riders who were supposedly going to be Landis’ main competition this year were suspended from the 2006 Tour because of their involvement in the Spanish Doping Scandal. most analysts say that Landis is favored to win this year.

i was cheering for him last year as well, so i’m really pumped that he achieved the maillot jaune today!

tomorrow’s stage finishes in Carcassonne. that makes me want to play games…