Busy and recovering from a rare bout of flu in the summer. On top of that the sports world has not held my attention during the past week. Here is a short summary of what has been happening.
Doping
So Floyd Landis was getting a little help on that day he came back from eight minutes behind to gt back into contention to win the Tour de France. Well, that is the story we are getting now. Despite Landis' deft working of the media and his denials the New York Times is saying that a source close to the testing process indicates there was some synthetic testosterone in Landis sample. The "B" sample currently being tested will likely confirm this result and if that is the case expect two things to happen: (1) Landis will be stripped of his Tour de France title and banned for two years and (2) Americans in general will conclude they really have better things to do than watch cycling since whatever result you witness can be overturned a week later.
Landis is not alone in his dilemma as Justin Gatlin who shares the world record in the 100 meters has also tested postitive for banned substances and is on the chopping block for a lifetime ban. He is also up for the "Most Creative Excuse" award by blaming a masseuse who vindicatively rubbed steroid cream on Gatlin's legs prior to the Kansas relays which resulted in a positive test. This might be plausible if Gatlin was not associated with Trevor Graham who has been linked to so many tainted atheletes I am surprised he has a job in track and field.
MLB
The Braves are done. They hosted New York for three games and got swept, fell 15 back of first place and sealed their own fate which is missing the playoffs for the first time since 1990.
The trade deadline passed and for reasons that pass understanding the Washington Nationals held onto Alfonso Soriano instead of trading him and getting something in return. Well at least they got to keep Soriano whereas the Philladelphia Phillies trade Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle to the Yankess and got pretty much nothing in return except some minor league players who are nowhere near big league ready. No wonder Philly fans are the way they are. The Cubs traded Greg Maddux to the Dodgers and I agree with Deadspin.com on this. It is strange to see Maddux traded.
ACC Football
I will hopefully get into this more in depth in the near future. The writers made their picks last week and the four ACC schools in the great state of North Carolina are bringing up the rear in the Atlantic and Coastal divisions. UNC and NC State are fifth in their respective divisions followed by Duke and Wake Forest. Miami and Florida State are the (boring)picks to win each division and battled in the second ACC title game. There has been a lot of talk about Clemson being the cool pick to win the division but when the chips are down the writers go with what they know which is more of the same.
Then again, I am not sure if there is any value to picks made before fall practice opens. A lot of these schools have QB issues which will go a long way towards determining how well they play. I would think seeing two weeks of practice might shed some light on who will really be bringing it come September.
The ACC also tightend up the rules on how far down the standings a bowl can go to take a particular team. Last season Boston College(5-3 in theACC) got shipped to Boise for a bowl game while closer more lucrative bowls took 3-5 teams from the ACC. The rule is that a bowl cannot go more than one game down in the standings. So this year if BC is 5-3 they get sent to Boise in favor of someone who is 4-4. I am sure that will make them feel so much better.
BTW, the ACC has 8 bowl bids and 850's Adam Gold said yesterday he is waiting for a team with a 2-6 league mark to make a bowl game. I agree that would be pathetic and funny all at the same time(even if it is UNC.)