tyler hamilton
I suppose I should post something about Tyler. I’m not sure what to say that hasn’t already been said (by his wife, by reporters, by random non-cycling reporters, by fans – by Tyler himself). I was shocked and surprised, but I believe he doesn’t dope.
Now I don’t have a foot to stand on in this matter, but I just can’t believe he would. To me, it’s like accusing Brad McGee of doping. People who pretty have said they’d quit riding before they’d dope.
As for the transfusion thing? I don’t understand it. I majored in English in college (although I started as a biology major) so for the most part it goes over my head. But I get that they’re either accusing him of using someone else’s blood or recycling his own (or maybe it’s just using someone else’s). What bothers me is all the mess ups with the tests. His Athens results were screwed up and now Phonak is having his blood retested. But that’s as far as my understanding goes. Results differ and so we don’t even really know what’s going on. Articles say he doped, others say tests are inconclusive, still others say something completely different.
It’s kind of heartbreaking that people are so quick to accuse Tyler, even before his ‘B’ results were back. It was as if it no longer mattered that he could be innocent. It seems that the common trend is that if people could be doping, they probably are. We (the cycling fans and pros alike) see this over and over again. From Pantani to Lance to Jurgen van Goolen. Sure, maybe they’re doping, but whatever happened to giving people the benefit of the doubt? And it’s not just cycling, it’s all sports. Just because someone comes back from an injury or wins the tour six times doesn’t mean he’s doping.
We (fans and the media — and even other professionals) like to jump to conclusions. Apparently we like to see the worst in people. Maybe we like reminders that our heroes are human, that they make mistakes. But at the same time, we hold them to a higher standard than the rest of the populace. And then, when they fall from grace, we feel betrayed. Well, who gave us the right to put these people — who, when it comes down to it, are just as human as the rest of us — on such a high pedestal? We don’t have the right to treat them as gods, they’re not. They are human. Somehow that fact has been lost.
I don’t know if Tyler doped and part of me just doesn’t care. He did or he didn’t, I can’t change it. And I can’t change the fact that he’s an amazing cyclist. These things happen and it sucks because if he is suspended, his career is probably over. But it doesn’t mean I lose respect for him, or for David Millar or Richard or anyone else whose doped. People do funny things under pressure. People cheat, people lie, people are people. And if we accept that and let them be people again, maybe they’ll dope less. Or maybe they won’t, who knows?
But it’s about time we started to show a little respect.
