Commentary: Don’t pin hopes on sports figures

For a lot of reasons, people want to believe the story of cyclist Floyd Landis. He sure seems like the most earnest of souls, his Mennonite upbringing in Pennsylvania serving as a purifying backdrop to his alibi.

When Landis tested positive after Stage 17 of the Tour de France, there was this gathering of momentum in Americans’ minds that a flaw in the testing system would exonerate him, that somehow, the champion didn’t cheat.

It’s fascinating how little cynicism runs through the minds of a public burned over and over, how they still want to believe in fairy-tale dashes through the Alps, that a so-called miraculous run from 11th to third in the grueling 17th stage of the Tour could be fueled by nothing but good old American grit and determination.

Now, an International Cycling Union official, with knowledge of the French anti-doping lab’s results, told the New York Times that urine samples show the rise in Landis’ testosterone level had been the result, at least in part, of an outside element entered into his body. This would be a discovery that would puncture Landis’ defense that he had produced the doubling of testosterone levels in his body himself. The results will be officially released Saturday.

Of course, cycling is one of the most corrupt sports on the planet. Clearly, there is a belief within the cyclist ranks that it’s impossible to be a championship racer without drugs. Listen, everyone ultimately gets thrown under the file of “doping” when someone tests positive, but of course there are degrees of use. If Landis loses this Tour title – and he will – he’ll get thrown under the same heading with everyone else: fraud.

Nevertheless, Landis’ circumstance doesn’t deliver the appearance of a relentless, systematic abuser, but that of a fading, desperate competitor. He had dropped to the brink of championship elimination after a sluggish performance in the 16th stage, and most of us can imagine the choice he wrestled with about trying to give himself an edge for that 17th. It’s the kind of choice people make every day in life, the kind of now-or-never moment of truth that comes for everyone.

This time, it looks like we know what Landis decided to do.

The French were always desperate to get a positive test out of Lance Armstrong, but it never happened. Seven tour titles include a lot of circumstantial evidence against Armstrong, but no blown tests. And Landis can’t make it back to the States for the Letterman show before he’s busted.

Anyway, here’s the thing in sports, which, as you know, is kind of the thing in life: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. That’s why so many people – here and overseas – still don’t buy the Armstrong transformation after cancer, that someone supposedly clean could dominate a sport that is so dirty.

All of it, everything, is jealousy, just a complete global conspiracy to smear Armstrong? All of it? Come on. Inside sports and out, we don’t question enough things. We don’t ask enough questions. We don’t do it of our government, our schools, and we sure don’t do it enough of our sports.

Make no mistake: We need to stop turning to sports for the virtue in our society. Do yourself a favor and treat sports like it’s entertainment, not a canvass to find the fair play and righteousness that we think is missing somewhere else in this world.