~Dick Pound, World Anti-Doping Agency Chairman trying to discredit Tour de France winner Floyd Landis
I think we need to get a new WADA Chairman. The case against Floyd Landis hasn’t even been heard yet and here we get Pound “dicking” around, and this is not the first time. :dubious: I personally don’t have a very good impression of Pound because of his very public disregard for a proper judicial process. This is the guy who is suppose to oversee one of the most important institutions in sport.
Does anyone have something positive to say about this man?
I officially have no use for the WADA or Penis Thump. Any organization that thinks taking a DayQuil is going to give you an unfair advantage is well beyond the bounds of rational thought.
And yes, his only job seems to be casting as much blame as possible. Remember when he accused half the NHL of being on steroids?
Have you ever seen NHL players? They’re hardly Adonises. Lots of them are actually quite slender.
The drug of choice for hockey players is generally pseudoephedrine.
That’s true, but if you’re going to accuse half the NHL of taking steroids - and let’s be perfectly honest, the NHL has never had the steroid flavour, connections or insider tales of baseball or football - you should at least explain why you think that. Pound never has. He doesn’t have a sliver of evidence, and admits it. His argument was, basically, “They don’t test for it and all athletes cheat unless I test them.”
Pound is serving a noble cause and does so sincerely, but he is, unfortunately, an absolutely monumental asshole who likes to make accusations that the facts don’t support. That repeatedly places the WADA and the entire effect into constant doubt; you can’t help but think that if Pound is saying things about hockey players he can’t back up with any evidence, what else might he be bullshitting about?
That would be Dick Ring, who I remember as the hillside prime announcer at the Killington stage race criterium. Apparently he was fairly popular in the New England cycling community.
According to WADA’s laws, an athlete who tests positive has the right to a hearing and appeal process to try to explain why the test is positive. If the athlete revokes this right, then they are automatically deemed positive. However, Landis believes he is innocent and so do a large number of other people. If you read the link I provided in the original post, you will see that Landis’ people claim
They also have other evidence they want to present to WADA. If they fail in the appeal to WADA, they have other courts of sport that they can appeal to. The basics are quite similar to a criminal case. Innocent until proven guilty.