7 Days in May

It was billed as the "Fight to Save Boxing," Oscar "Golden Boy" De La Hoya versus Floyd "Pretty Boy" Mayweather, Jr.

Judging from the post fight reactions, the pretty version tarnished the golden one in an entertaining fashion, but the fight fell well short of placing boxing back on the sporting world map.

So here we are, one week, 7 Days, from the arbitration hearing of Floyd Landis, which might be appropriately billed as the "Fight to Save Cycling."

On one side, there is the belief (hope) that extraordinary athletic achievements aren't predicated on extraordinary means, that standards should be governed by ethics rather than politics, and that justice should be objective rather than subjective.

On the other side, there is the belief that cycling is inundated with those who would use any means possible to attain fame and glory, that their expungement is a justifiable sacrifice to save the sport (sacrifice the few to save the many), and that their own testing processes are not only valid but infallible.

The Tale of the Tape
Floyd Landis - the 2006 Tour de France champion, on the road. After what was portrayed as a herculean effort on Stage 17, his urine samples were allegedly found to possess exogenous testosterone. From resigned disbelief to steadfastedly denying any drug use, Landis has barnstormed the country raising money for his defense while lobbying for transparency of scientific and legal materials. In between, he's found time to have his hip replaced for a condition known as avascular necrosis.

Arbitrators -
Chris Campbell - former Olympic wrestler, who is now an attorney in San Francisco. He was Landis' choice for the panel. It would be safe to say that Campbell is an advocate for the athlete against the "strong arm" tactics of the anti-doping agencies. His was the lone dissenting opinion on the Tyler Hamilton arbitration case.

Richard McLaren - selected by USADA. An attorney from Ontario, Canada who served USADA in the Tyler Hamilton case, McLaren has served as an arbitrator for the NHL and the Olympic games.

Patrice Brunet - chosen to serve as the panel's chairman by the other two arbitrators. He also hails from Canada. Brunet is an attorney specializing in immigration and sports law.

The Case
Essentially this case will comes down to discrediting the practices (both scientific and ethical) of the lab at Chatenay-Malabry (LNDD) versuses the upholding of the positive findings of Landis' "B" sample. All the inappropriate requests or the withholding of certain documents seem to be legal posturing.

The Verdict
Given the high profile and political nature of this case, let alone holding it for public consumption, the case will come down to one thing, or rather one person, Patrice Brunet. He will ultimately have to decide whether the sub-standard testing procedures and the less than ethical standards used to accuse Landis of testosterone use outweighs the actual positive findings.

Why will it come down to Mr. Brunet? With the public arguments that the Floyd Fairness Fund has brought to light regarding the treatment of his samples, Mr. Campbell will most assuredly rule for Floyd. His dissension in Tyler Hamilton's case came about from very similar reasoning. While Mr. McLaren will hold the infallibilty line of the anti-doping agencies, USADA and WADA.

Regardless of the verdict, a potential black eye for Floyd or for the LNDD laboratory and WADA, the sport of cycling itself will come out victorious in the long run. Proponents for WADA and for cleaning up the sport will proclaim that they've rid the sport of one more cheater. While a victory for Floyd may finally place an impetus on the testers to follow stricter guidelines.

Oude Granny's Take
Coming from a purely scientific view point, the mistakes and the unethical standards of the LNDD laid out in Dr. Arnie Baker's presentation are enough to call into question the actual positive findings, even the spectrometry analysis to differentiate endogenous from exogenous testosterone. However, this case won't be about fairness for Floyd as logic rarely has a place in the minds of those that deal in absolutes.

For those of you at "ringside" on May 14th, feel free to tote around the arbitration scorecards found in the most recent Bicycling magazine. But keep this fact in mind: Roy Jones Jr. somehow found his way into a silver medal during the 1988 Olympics.

Tranquilo

Floyd has two final appearances on the schedule before his arbitration hearing: a fundraiser in his hometown of San Diego on May 7th, and a "Keep the Faith Ride" in New Holland, PA on May 12th.