Remember disgraced American cyclist Floyd Landis? He ostensibly won the 2006 Tour de France, but was stripped of his title shortly after the conclusion of the race when a French lab said that he tested positive for banned substance (i.e. performance enhancing drugs).

Well, Landis swore up and down that the lab results were faulty, and the case went to court (or arbitration), where Landis lost. He then appealed with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a process that took more than three months from beginning to end.

Today, the Associated Press reports that Landis lost his appeal, as the three-person panel decided to uphold the original decision.

There is still one appeal avenue left to Landis — the Swiss Federal Court — but it’s unclear if he’ll exercise that option.

I don’t follow cycling all that much, but in nearly every mainstream article I read, there are talks of the widespread use of PEDs. Was Landis guilty of using illegal substances? I have no idea, of course, but it certainly seems as though these appeals are getting him nowhere. His reputation is basically ruined and he’s lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, endorsement opportunities, and salary (he’s banned for 2 years, remember?).

On the one hand, I feel like he should give up. It might be a European vs. American bias (ask any European if they think Lance Armstrong doped up during his Tour days) or it could be that Landis really was guilty. Either way, it doesn’t look like he’ll get a ruling in his favor. So why go to the extra time and expense of another appeal?

On the other hand, leaving things as they are would disgrace Landis for life and ruin what bit of a career he might have left. This is the “nothing left to lose” approach, which obviously could backfire if the Swiss Federal Court finds the lab tests valid as well.

If Landis was guilty of doping, he’s probably wishing he had just ‘fessed up on the spot and not gone through the last two agonizing years of arbitration and legal wrangling. Yikes.

Houston Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon was placed on waivers today, following a well publicized incident in which he grabbed the team’s GM Ed Wade around the neck and threw him to the ground. According to Chacon, this happened after Wade started yelling and cursing at the player in public (in the team’s cafeteria or something). Apparently, Wade got in Chacon’s face and wouldn’t back down even after Chacon repeatedly asked him to stop.

Nevertheless, there’s absolutely zero excuse for what Chacon did, and I’m glad to see the team take this kind of action. Hopefully no one else will claim this piece of trash off the wire by Monday, at which point the Astros will be free to terminate his contract without pay.

The sooner Chacon is out of the league, the better.

I’m not too familiar with the NHRA Top Fuel series, but I just wanted to post about the fatal crash that occurred on Saturday. Scott Kalitta, a 46-year-old veteran and past champion of the series, died when his funny car burst into flames during a qualifying round of the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals. This happened at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in New Jersey.

Kalitta was driving a Toyota Solara funny car at speeds of up to 300mph when it suddenly caught fire and crashed. In the AP report I read, no cause for the fire was cited.

Kalitta is survived by wife Kathy, and two sons Corey (14) and Colin (8).

What a sad story. As the wife of someone who participates in an “extreme sport”, this kind of thing hits a bit close to home. Thoughts and prayers to Kalitta’s family in this time of need.

(AP Photo)

Tiger Woods sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at Torrey Pines to tie Rocco Mediate at -1 and force a playoff for the U.S. Open championship tomorrow. Woods entered the final round with a 2-stroke lead, but inconsistent play on the front 9, as well as a bogey on the 13th, gave Mediate a 1-stroke lead. Mediate held on and entered the clubhouse with that same 1-stroke lead, where all he could do was sit back and hope that both Tiger and Lee Westwood, also 1-stroke back, would just par out and not get any closer.

But that was unlikely to happen with Tiger on the prowl. Woods has pretty much owned the 18th hole at Torrey Pines all week, so thee was even a chance that he would eagle (again) and win the tournament outright.

Unfortunately for Tiger fans, Woods’ first shot off the tee at 18 went into the left bunker, and his second shot didn’t fare much better, heading into the right rough. But he is Tiger after all, and was able to spin his third shot to within 10 feet of the pin.

After watching Westwood choke on his birdie attempt, Woods, under more pressure than I could ever imagine, drained his birdie attempt to force the playoff.

Woods and Mediate will tee off at 9am Pacific tomorrow morning. I’m not sure if they’ll start at 18 or at 1, but I hope for Woods’ sake it’s at 18. He has not done well at No. 1 this week!

Edit: Thanks to reader Ben R. for telling me that the U.S. Open has an 18-hole playoff formula, which is why they have to wait until tomorrow to get to it. It’s the only major that uses this format.

I’m not going to pretend I know anything about women’s basketball or the WNBA, so let me start off by saying that I had no idea who Becky Hammon was prior to reading an article about her today on ESPN.com. Apparently, she’s one of the best players on the San Antonio Silver Stars and in the WNBA (she was runner-up in MVP voting last season, but is not good enough to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team as they head to Beijing this summer.

At 31, Hammon could feel her dream of playing in the Olympics and winning a gold medal slipping away, so she decided to take a drastic step. She applied for — and received — Russian citizenship, and will now play for the Russian national team.

This has led to some pretty extreme responses, including some people going so far as to call Hammon a traitor.

While I think labeling Hammon a traitor is completely out of line when we’re just talking about sports here, I definitely do not agree with her actions. I think it’s a joke that someone can secure citizenship in a foreign country without living there or anything and then compete in the Olympics for that country. Hell, I should go start a table tennis team in Tonga and make a bid for the 2012 games.

Call me petty, but I hope Hammon and her Russian comrades miss out on medals altogether.

The Chicago Bears released troubled running back Cedric Benson yesterday, shortly after the former first-round pick was arrested for a second alcohol-related offense in as many months. This move ends Benson’s disappointing three-year career with the Bears, and leaves the team looking for answers at the RB position with training camp set to begin next month.

I agree 100% with GM Jerry Angelo’s decision to cut Benson. The guy wasn’t producing on the field and clearly had lots of problems off the field. He was proving to be a distraction that the team certainly doesn’t need.

Benson now officially joins a long list of first-round running back busts that the Bears have picked over the years, one that includes the likes of Curtis Enis and Rashaan Salaam.

As Jay Mariotti of the Sun-Times recently wrote, the Bears now have no running backs, quarterbacks, or wide receivers — essentially no offense.

Wow, the 2008 season is already shaping up to be pretty damn brutal.

When was the last time both the Cubs and the White Sox were leading their divisions on June 9? I can’t remember, but that’s exactly what’s happening right now! The White Sox defeated the Twins 12-2 yesterday for their sixth straight win — all coming after manager Ozzie Guillen blasted the team’s sluggish offense the week before. The Sox are now 36-26 on the season and are 5.5 games ahead of the Twins in the AL Central.

Meanwhile, the Cubs beat the Dodgers 3-1 yesterday to raise their season record to 40-24 — best in the majors! They lead the NL Central by just 2.5 games, as the Cardinals have also been playing well this year. I think it’s actually better that the Cards are that close because that slim margin won’t allow the Cubs to get too comfortable and lax in their play.

Anyway, I haven’t been this excited about baseball in a long time… it’s so cool to have the Cubs and Sox both playing well and both in first place. Bring on the Crosstown Classic!

(AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Luc Bourdon, who appeared in some 27 games for the Vancouver Canucks this season, died earlier today after crashing his motorcycle near Shippagan, New Brunswick, Canada. Bourdon was just 21 years old.

I don’t know anything about him as a player, but I guess he was considered one of the top prospects in the Vancouver system. He was drafted in the first round (10th overall) in 2005 as an 18-year-old, and had very high expectations surrounding him.

It’s too bad that so many young pro athletes decide to spend their money on motorcycles — particularly when they have zero experience riding the things. Remember how Kellen Winslow Jr. tore his ACL in 2005 after crashing his bike? Or how about Ben Roethlisberger’s accident in 2006? I’m sure there have been several others that I just can’t think of right now.

At any rate, my condolences go out to Bourdon’s family. It’s always a tragedy when someone this young loses their life.

What’s wrong with the Seattle Mariners this season? Many analysts predicted that the team would have a pretty solid year since they added ace Erik Bedard to their pitching staff and all of their younger players would have some more experience under their belt.

But that hasn’t been the case at all. The M’s are tied with the Padres for the worst record in baseball (18-32), and are currently mired in a 5-game losing streak. Nothing is working for the team, not the pitching, hitting or coaching, and there doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. They’re not waiting for a superstar to get off the DL or anything like that; they just suck.

In fact, since winning the AL West with a 116-46 record in 2001, the team has pretty much been in a tailspin. The closest they’ve come to winning the division again was in 2003 when they finished 3 games out of first. After that, they ended up 29 games out in 2004, 26 behind in 2005, 15 behind in 2006, and a more respectable 6 out last year.

The Mariners are already looking at a double-digit deficit this season, and it’s still just May!! No one on the team is doing well, not even the usually reliable Ichiro Suzuki, who’s batting .286 (low for him).

I’m all that upset about the Mariners since the Cubs and Sox are both doing so well, but their poor play is truly baffling. They’re much better than their record indicates, so what’s going on over there???

Are NFL rookie contracts getting out of control or what?? Former Boston College QB Matt Ryan, the first-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons, has signed a 6-year, $72 million contract that makes him one of the highest paid players in the league. $34.75 million of that money is guaranteed, which means it comes in the form of signing bonuses and other measures not related to on-field performance.

That amount of money for a 23-year-old unproven rookie is simply mind-boggling. The NFL should place a cap on rookie contracts and signing bonuses to eliminate these kinds of deals. I mean, come on! Ryan’s deal, Jake Long’s deal, Jamarcus Russell’s deal…. they all came with $30+ million guaranteed. That hardly leaves any room for motivation, now does it? I’m surprised the owners haven’t addressed this stuff at their annual meeting, since they’re the ones that stand to get burned if the players tank.

Good for Ryan, though. He hasn’t even stepped on a pro football field yet, but he’s already financially set for life. And people wonder why college athletes don’t give a damn about academics….

Fresh off a Kentucky Derby win a couple of weeks ago, Big Brown easily won the Preakness at Pimlico in Baltimore. The 3-year-old, who was the heavy favorite for this race, finished about five lengths ahead of Macho Again and Icabad Crane, setting the stage for a Triple Crown attempt at the Belmont Stakes on June 7.

I have to say that I wasn’t particularly interested in this race, especially because of what happened to Eight Belles after the Derby. I didn’t want to see another horse possibly go down, so I skipped it and decided to just read about it after the fact.

I’ll probably tune in for the Belmont though because seeing a horse win the Triple Crown is a pretty rare feat that has only happened 11 times in the past. Affirmed was the last thoroughbred to do it, way back in 1977.

(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Yesterday Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians performed one of the rarest feats in baseball: he completed an unassisted triple play. That has only happened 14 times in major league history, so when fans get to see it, it’s pretty cool. I obviously wasn’t watching the Indians take on the Blue Jays, but fortunately the highlights are already available on YouTube. Here’s the video so you can see it for yourself. I love how the announcer knew it would be a triple play as soon as the ball left the bat. Yeah, when you start two runners like that and the batter hits a hard liner — well, see for yourself!

Edit: Crap, it looks like MLB has come down on YouTube and requested that the videos be removed. That sucks… it’s just a highlight of one play, FFS!!!!

Well, the 2008 NFL draft is now in the books, and the Bears managed to pick a bunch of players that I’ve never even heard of. I guess that’s not too difficult to do since I don’t follow college football all that much, but still… it would have been nice to see a familiar name or jersey number in there.

The Bears chose OT Chris Williams from Vanderbilt with their first pick (14th overall) in the draft. This fills a huge need on the aging offensive line, and is generally regarded by analysts to be an excellent selection.

In the second round, GM Jerry Angelo kept his focus on offense by selecting running back Matt Forte from Tulane. I’ve never heard of the guy, but apparently he put up some good numbers in college despite being the only threat on the team (and therefore someone that opponents could easily key on). I like the idea of having an alternative to Cedric Benson in the backfield, so I hope this pick works out.

The Bears then drafted wide receiver Earl Bennett — another Vandy alum — in the third round. Again, I don’t know anything about this player, but read that he led the SEC in catches and had a 3.2 GPA in school. To me, that’s a much better choice than Michigan’s Mario Manningham and his score of 6 on the Wonderlic test. Yikes.

Angelo switched up to defense in the next three rounds, selecting DT Marcus Harrison, S Craig Steltz, and CB Zackary Bowman. If the Bears had done any market research before the draft, they would have known that fans were clamoring for a QB prospect, but obviously teams don’t make their picks based on what fans want. The team definitely needs added depth on D, so I don’t have a problem with the way Angelo picked here.

I haven’t been following the late round picks, but know that the Bears have 5 coming to them in Round 7. Maybe Angelo can score something good from there, but I won’t be holding my breath.

The next step now is to get these guys signed and get them into camp on time. I can’t wait for July!

The 2008 NFL draft will be held this weekend in New York, so sports forums all over the ‘net are lighting up with speculation about which teams will select which players. So far, Jake Long is the only “sure thing”, as the Miami Dolphins have already signed the former Michigan OT to a five-year deal worth a staggering $57.5 million — $30 million of it guaranteed.

So the St. Louis Rams will be on the clock first, and most experts think they’ll use their pick on Chris Long, DE from Virginia and son of former Raiders great Howie Long.

My favorite team, the Chicago Bears, have the 14th pick and nobody seems to know what they’ll do with it. Despite needing help at QB, everyone pretty much agrees that the Bears won’t draft one in the early rounds. Instead, the latest projections from ESPN show the Bears taking RB Rashard Mendenhall (Illinois) with their pick.

I don’t know anything about Mendenhall, but if he’s better than Cedric Benson, I’m on board!

After an injury-plagued season last year, the defense needs help as well. The Bears slapped the franchise tag on Lance Briggs in 2007 and then managed to sign him to another contract, and with Urlacher recovering from his chronic neck and back injuries, the linebacking corps seems to be in good shape. But the D-line and secondary are still problematic, so I’m sure GM Jerry Angelo will pick up a couple of defensive backs or linemen as well.

I don’t have much going on this weekend, so I might tune in and watch a few teams make their picks. Hopefully the Bears will come away with some solid players!

I know I said I usually don’t start watching baseball in earnest until May, but it’s hard not to get caught up in what the Chicago Cubs are doing. They just beat the Rockies 7-6 in 10 innings, after first blowing a 3-0 lead through 5, and then coming back from a 5-3 deficit to take a 6-5 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.

Closer Kerry Wood came on and struck out the first two batters he faced, but then gave up a single to pinch hitter Scott Podseknik, followed by a triple from Ryan Spilborghs to send the game into extras.

Ryan Theriot then came through with an RBI single in the top of the 10th to put the Cubbies back on top 7-6, and Carlos Marmol pitched the bottom of the 10th to close things out.

Wow, the Cubs are winning in ever conceivable way so far this year: blowing teams out, coming from behind, giving up leads and still winning…. Personally, I would have preferred a blowout tonight so I could have gone to bed at a reasonable hour. As it is, I’m probably going to need to take a couple of energy pills to make it through the day tomorrow!

At any rate, the Cubs look unbelievable through 21 games and are now 15-6. But the season is way too long to start talking about the World Series, as Ronny Cedeno reportedly did a few days ago.

That sure would be awesome though!

(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)