Positive

It hasn't been the best week for American Olympic sports. First Floyd Landis and now Justin Gatlin have both tested positive for performance-enducing enhancements. After winning Stage 17, Landis's A sample revealed an "abnormal" testosterone ratio. He will have his B sample tested in the next couple of weeks. There are a lot of questions to be asked about Landis's positive:

• Though we shouldn't be surprised, but why was this leaked by the French, again? The dopee is supposed to remain anonymous until both samples are tested. I bet you if Laurent Jalabert, Richard Virenque, or even Bernard Hinault had a positive A sample, it wouldn't have been leaked.
• Was the positive test a cause of other things? Landis has been taking cortisone shots for his hip which would affect the ratio, as well as the beer and whiskey he supposedly drank after stage 16. The test reportedly revealed that Landis's testosterone levels were normal, but his epitestosterone levels were low.
• Why didn't his other tests come up positive? When you use the patch or get injected with testosterone, it stays in your system for several weeks. Landis took drug tests the days he was in the yellow jersey before stage 17, why weren't they positive? The designer of the test said this was an unusual positive since testosterone stays in your system.

Gatlin tested positive for the use of testosterone or its precursors, or anabolic steroids. His coach now claims that it was a conspiracy, that it was someone they fired, then rehired that sabotaged Gatlin. Gatlin's coach though has been linked with other athletes that are linked to the BALCO case. If the US Anti-Doping Agency confirms the result, Gatlin faces a lifetime ban because he has already been suspended for using Adderall to help with his attention deficit disorder, but Adderall is on the banned substance list.

Not good, not good.

Oh, what else is there:

• Once again, I'm sick of hearing about T.O. in the end of July. I swear the sports world has revolved around the Yankees (specifically A-Rod), Red Sox, and the Cowboys. These really are the dog days of summer sports-wise.
• 2nd round, Wednesday night, Tennis Masters Toronto tournament, the family and I will be there.
• Two friends came up for the Muse concert in the old State Theater in downtown Detroit. Believe it or not, this was my first live rock show and it was amazing. Muse is British, so when they finished their set, it turned into a mini-soccer game with the British and English flags waving and the chants of "Ole, Ole" getting the band to come back out and play a little more. The lead singer/guitar player can also play the piano very well, which added to the quality of the show. Sometimes it was hard to concentrate on the music with the crowd-surfing and people running into each other (is there a term for that?) on the floor. We were in the lower balcony, so we didn't have to mess with it.
• Last night I got to spend with a special friend in Ann Arbor. I was pleasantly surprised with how nice UM campus is. For a big campus, it doesn't have that commuter school feel like so many of the bigger ones do (sorry OSU). We ate at Cottage Inn, great lasagna, and had milkshakes at Pizza Bob's. It was a great evening.

That's it for tonight, have a good one.