What Larry King didn't ask.

Known for his softball questioning why wasn't Floyd asked about his wearing of the (now defunct) OUCH Racing polo shirt (verses perhaps a Rock Racing polo)? Well the video (below) doesn't start from the beginning of the interview so we may never know, but from the transcript (also below, if transcribed correctly) shows that what Larry doesn't know is that Dr. Kay is from OUCH Sports Medical Center (verses Outsports Medical Center as stated).

Also gotta wonder why Larry didn't press about Floyd's knowledge of the alleged Moroccan hacker and the apparent connection with info. to Arnie Baker's computer? Certainly it's clear that Floyd didn't personally hack the AFLD computer, but what of those fervently on his defense team working on his behalf (or an overzealous Will Geoghegan)??

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/02/19/lkl.floyd.landis.warrant.cnn

Next, first he was stripped of his Tour de France win, now he's a wanted man in France.What's going on?Cyclist Floyd Landis is here.We've got the exclusive next.(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KING: Floyd Landis is a talented American cyclist stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after a drug test came back positive. And now, there's a French warrant out for arrest in connection with the suspected hacking of an anti-doping lab center -- or computer, rather.Dr. Brent Kay is the executive director of Outsports Medical Center. He's also Floyd Landis' doctor, treating him for a hip injury.First, quickly, Floyd, do you feel any kinship with Tiger Woods being a celebrity in the public spotlight, even though he's not under a warrant?FLOYD LANDIS, AMERICAN CYCLIST: Well, I do feel for him, yes. I know what it's like to be on the adverse side of the press and it's not fun. So I -- I wish him the best.KING: All right, now, what does this mean?You can't go to France?If you go to France, you'll be arrested?LANDIS: You know, Larry, I don't really know all that much about what's going on. I know mostly what everyone else has read in the press. And just to be -- to be really clear about a couple of things that I think have been misreported, for one thing, at no time -- I mean and from the outset of case, we spent hundreds of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars just trying to get access to the documents from this lab.But at no time during any of these hearings did we ever use any document that wasn't provided to us directly from the lab.KING: You never tapped into a computer illegally?LANDIS: I wouldn't know how to do that, first of all. But, secondly, there's been an assertion by the -- by the lab director, Mr. Bordry, that at some point in -- in these hearings, we somehow used some documents that we obtained in some other way in my defense. And that's just a -- that's just plain not true.KING: And you're completely denying it?LANDIS: Well, it's on the record. I mean that's the -- the one thing about -- some of these things, I can't -- I can't speak to, because I don't know. But I do know that on the record in these hearings is the fact we never used anything like that.KING: And who -- Arnie -- Arnie Baker is your co-cycling colleague right?He's also under indictment, apparently and there's a warrant out for him, too?LANDIS: Yes. These big words -- indictments and warrants. I really don't know anything about that.KING: All right. We asked the French anti-doping agency, AFLD, to comment on the Landis story. We were told AFLD's president does not want to answer questions about a case now before French justice.We were given this statement, which we have translated, reading, in part: "On November 7, November -- on the 7th of November, 2006, AFLD filed a complaint for hacking into the computer system of the national anti-dope laboratory. The judge who's handling this complaint has summoned Floyd Landis, who, to this day, has not replied to him. AFLD has no comments on this case until a verdict has been reached."Why haven't you replied, Floyd?LANDIS: I've never been contacted.KING: You've never been contacted?LANDIS: Just -- no. I've never been served any sort of warrant. This is all news to me.KING: So you're replying tonight by saying you didn't do any anti-doping, right?LANDIS: I did not do hacking.KING: Or any hacking?LANDIS: Certainly.KING: Nor did you do any doping, you deny that?LANDIS: I don't think they did any anti-doping either, but.KING: You deny doping, too, right?LANDIS: Absolutely, yes.KING: So you're denying everything here.(CROSSTALK)KING: What's your position on this, Dr. Kay?DR. BRENT KAY, FLOYD LANDIS' PHYSICIAN: Well, I think there's a number of things. I mean, it -- it's crazy that he's never been served a warrant, that he's never been notified and, yet, at the same time, this lab director is stating, you know, that -- that he is under indictment.And the other, you know, big issue is that Floyd was the first athlete to ever make his anti-doping case public. All these documents are out there. Everything that we obtained through discovery, through the U.S. Anti-Doping Association is everything that we used to the trial. It's everything that, you know, we presented in a public format. And it's all still out there. It's still out there for everyone to see.And when you go through all the documents we used in the trial and otherwise, you'll find that everything was provided to us from the (INAUDIBLE).KING: So what do you make of these charges?KAY: Well, I think it's a matter -- it's a means for them to go after Dr. Baker, who did a tremendous amount of work in Floyd's defense. It's another means to try to make Floyd look bad, particularly in light of the fact that their star witness this week was convicted of drug trafficking. You saw the star witness that they used to testify against Floyd in his hearing was convicted in federal court this -- this week of drug trafficking. And this is the person that they used, you know, to say that Floyd utilized these different products during the Tour de France.KING: Simply put, Floyd, why don't you just go to Paris, answer the warrant?Have you received the warrant?LANDIS: That's what I'm trying to tell you.KING: No.LANDIS: No, I haven't received anything.KING: You haven't received anything?LANDIS: No.KING: Did you -- where -- if you received it, would you go?LANDIS: I would have to see what it says. I mean, I -- from what I can figure out by reading what I see in the press, it's a -- it's some sort of warrant for a failure to appear in the first place. And I...KING: And you never...LANDIS: -- I was never told to appear in the first place.KING: (INAUDIBLE).LANDIS: I would be glad to answer questions. I don't know that I would be able to pay for myself to go to France for a week to do so.KING: But tonight, you flatly deny, one, ever doping, right?LANDIS: Yes.KING: You're saying that. And, two, ever tapping into a computer, which you would not know how to do?(LAUGHTER)LANDIS: I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but...(LAUGHTER)KAY: I can tell you for sure, he couldn't do that.KING: I couldn't.So that's what he's apparently charged with, right?KAY: That's what's in the press.KING: And the title was taken away?LANDIS: It was taken away by the -- by the very lab that's making these allegation. And it's odd to me, again, Larry, even more so now, having read the statement they made to you. The reason the story is out there in the first place is because of an assertion made by this very lab that now says they don't have a comment. So they started this story and now they don't want to comment on it. And I'm here to defend myself and I've been put in the position again, once again, where I have to defend myself.KING: I'm going to have you back.Thanks.LANDIS: Thanks, Larry. KING: If you go to France, we'll tag along, too.LANDIS: All right.

Lance vs Lieto - Kona smackdown

Maybe it's not enough?

I was chuckling to myself yesterday when asked to join the cause United Airlines is Ridiculous to Charge $175 Each Way to Travel With a Bike on Facebook.

Who would you rather travel with at such a price? Think you can find a rental bike that fits & performs like yours at a quality bike shop wherever you're traveling to?

This charge is not specific to bicycles, but over sized luggage in general - into which category most bike cases fall. Each airline determines what the value of the limited space in their cargo hold is worth. Don't like that particular charge, fly somebody else! Or find out what the real cost of driving is. Take Greyhound or Amtrak! like I tell my kids - you have choices.

Everybody bitching about what the airlines have turned into, verses what they once were - have their heads buried in the sand. Ticket prices have changed little, while costs have soared; thus the advent of a la carte pricing. Make a reservation over the phone verses the airlines web site - pay more. Want free booze and more legroom - pay more. Walk up at the last minute, with no baggage, and explosives in your underwear - pay more. Why should a somebody traveling light, subsidize somebody who has body bags full of crap or a bicycle to check?

BTW, United is a longtime supporter of USA Cycling and offers up to a 15% discount on tickets purchased more than 30 days in advance.

Tip O the Day - save some $$ and ship it ahead of your trip via FEDEX or UPS to your hotel or nearby bike shop. Yeah it takes a little more of your precious time to drop it off at their shipping office, but they're in the cargo business, not the passenger-by-air business.

Racing with our wallets

The road racing season starts in early March (actually later this month with some TT's) and I've got to comment on the lack of incentives offered. And/or the lack of specifics on incentives offered.

Several races have said upfront that there are no prizes. No money, no merchandise, no primes, zip, nada, zilch! That's fine I guess, it's not my personal preference as a promoter; but then why charge such a high price ($25-30) to compete?

Other races mention "CASH" to placings such and such deep, but lack details. Not only is that against the USA Cycling rulebook, it also can lead to a bait & switch situation. I fully understand the issue of offering up a certain prize package and having a weak field represented; but that's a lesson learned when thinking about offering prizes to that field next year (if offering that particular field a race at all), and the price of promoting a race (no guarantee of sufficient entries covering the cost of the race).

I cannot point to anybody racing solely in the PNW that relies on this sport as their source of income; we all pretty much do this for the fun, upgrade points, and/or bragging rights until the next weekend.

But I can point to those who will race selectively based on the perceived value for their hard earned dough; in effect boycotting selective races that offer "nothing"* or are short on specifics for their high entry fee.

From my perspective race promoting was for the love of the sport with a large enough prize package (both cash & merchandise) to provide enough of a carrot for every field to chase; while making sure my race staff was cared for, covering expenses and putting a little money towards my kids college fund.

I applaud all those who thrust themselves into promoting racing as it gives us all a chance to get out and compete; but you also have to strike a balance between what is a fair value for what is charged. A no-frills race certainly has its place, just not expected to come with a premium price. Though the basic tenet that something is worth what someone else will pay for it; is true until that someone has buyer's remorse & refuses to get fooled again.

*what I mean by "nothing" is that participants get the standard safe race with corners marshaled diligently, total or rolling road closure, and Officials monitoring and scoring correctly; but without any frills. Typically the promoter puts in as little an effort that is required to get by, while trying to maximize their bottom line.

The Biggest Boeing...

...is not the 787 Dreamliner (though that has promise to be a big seller).

Rather it's the 747-8 & the first test flight lifts off Paine Field at 10AM PST today.

STS-130

Flew into Orlando last night for work and noticed that a Space Shuttle launch was scheduled to go early the next morning (Sunday @ 4:39AM EST) which was also going to be the last scheduled nighttime launch. So my FO & I rented a car and went east toward the KSC & waited with the throngs at the Astronaut Hall of Fame only to have the launch scrubbed at T minus 9 minutes due to low clouds.

Low clouds? They launch rockets through the stuff all the time but for the Shuttle the weather can affect the possibility of an emergency return should they need to. This has also caused delays when weather in FL was nice but transatlantic emergency landing sites had bad weather.

Since we're taking off in the early Sunday evening to fly back to SEA I won't get to see the attempted launch rescheduled for tomorrow morning -DOH! As the Shuttle program winds down I hope to be back with the family sometime later this year to witness history before it just becomes another page in the NASA laurels.

BTW - didn't see any mention of Lisa Marie Nowak when walking around blurry eyed this morning when at the AHoF? I think more people would've showed to hear her speak instead of some guy Bob Stringer (who last flew a shuttle mission in 1990) but my guess is that she's the Pete Rose of the astronaut program.

Idiot Congressman of the Day - John Duncan, R - Tennessee

The Federal Air Marshal Service was profiled on CNN today outlining some of the concerns that the agency has faced recently.

Rep. Duncan, R-Tennessee, is one of FAMS' harshest critics.
"It's just a total waste of money, I know that any time you create a federal bureaucracy, it just grows and grows, and the appropriation just goes up and up, but ... look at the record. They haven't done anything. I had the statistic from last year, they made four arrests for an appropriation of $800 million. It came out to more than $200 million per arrest. It's just ridiculous."

They haven't done anything? A total waste of money?? While your at it why don't we also do away with the Secret Service (with a yearly $1.4b budget) because nobody has attempted to assassinate the President since Hinckley shot Reagan almost 30 years ago.

What Rep. Duncan doesn't understand is that FAMS' is a layer in the overall security structure. Just as there are not armed pilots on every flight, the Air Marshals cannot have a physical presence on every domestic or international flight either; but the possibility that they are is a very strong deterrent. The bad guys are literally playing Russian Roulette. And as we've seen on numerous flights, starting with UAL 93, passengers will not hesitate to involve themselves to intervene in dangerous and/or life threatening situations.

Or we could go with the Archie Bunker method (which perhaps dimwit Rep. Duncan would approve of), "Well, I could stop hi-jacking tomorrow . . . if everyone was allowed to carry guns them hi-jackers wouldn't have no superiority. All you gotta do is arm all the passengers, then no hi-jacker would risk pullin' a rod."

2/7 followup thought -
How many folks do the Secret Service protect verses how many folks do the FAMS' protect? If you compare the budget on a per capita basis the value is lopsided toward the FAMS'.