Dopes on Wheels

It is amazing how Belgium loves shooting itself in the foot over cycling. While every Frenchman is smiling over the Floyd Landis situation and still wishing they could have nailed Armstrong in time, the sports news in this country is flooded with cyclists who bent or broke the rules late in their careers (Johan Museeuw), team bosses who "forced" their members to shoot-up (Patrick Lefevre) and team doctors who were "there but did not participate" (Yvan Vanmol).

The unfortunate thing about all of this is that there is so much good news for Belgians to be found in cycling today. The World Championship in "Field Cycling" was won by a dark horse Belgian (Erwin Vervecken) who beat the favoured Belgians (Sven Nys & Bart Wellens) and Tom Boonen has continued his winning ways in Qatar having won the last two stages at the writing of this post.

Yet here we are, with Jean-Marie Dedecker throwing all the latest dirt and even top riders such as Boonen finding themselves on the defensiven while a lawsuit brought by Lefevre against Dedecker for defamation enters the courts.

Why has cycling become the poster-child for performance enhancers? What is it about this sport that brings out the worst in our athletes, or is it just a witch-hunt making a lot of innocents look bad?

An article on about.com touches on the reasons cyclers are motivated to use performance enhancing drugs and, particularly, EPO. The distances of major races means any ability to increase the oxygen in the blood gives a certain advantage. This is the primary benefit of EPO.

There might be some out there who say we shouldn't care less who cheats. If they want to open their bodies to the 70 or so possible side-effects of drug use just to have more chance of winning, who are we to stop them? The problem with this attitude is that it unfairly tilts the balance in sports making it increasingly difficult for those who don't cheat to have any chance of winning, motivating them to consider cheating to have a chance and continue and increase a vicious cycle that will result in a lot of top athletes with messed-up futures.

Totalbike.com ran an interesting, albeit encyclopedia-style post about the history of doping in sports. It is hardly a new problem and will not go away quickly, but I'm starting to think the news about it has more place among stories of frauds and thieves than in the sports section.

It was like the week I looked at the college sports page on Yahoo! and there were 6 stories of athletes in trouble with the law or for breaking NCAA rules than there were actual sports stories. It is time to rededicate the sports pages to honest athletes and put the criminals in the columns where they belong.

The Fiasco of the Golden Shoe (Boot)

For a quick change of direction, I want to comment on something from the Belgian World of Sports. The yearly award of the Golden Shoe ("Boot" if you are English).

The Belgian football league has an award that it presents every year to the best football (soccer) player in the Belgian league. An "MVP" award. On the surface you might say "Big Deal". What sport doesn't have such an award? However, there are some peculiarities to the award here in Belgoland.

First, one team completely dominates the award. This year marks the third time that all winners (They also have an award for best Rookie and best goaltender.) came from R.S.C. Anderlecht. The other two times were in 1965 and 2000. All in all, Anderlecht has had the winners of 18 trophies since it first was awarded in 1954. Only Club Brugge (10) and Standaard de Liege (6) have more than a couple of wins. The joke this year is that the top 4 contenders were all from Anderlecht despite the fact they don't even have the lead in the competition. Racing Genk is 3 points in the lead after the first half of the season.

The other rarity of this award is that it is not based on a player's performance during a season, but during a calendar year. This year's winnar Mbark Boussouffa, a Dutchman with Morokkan roots, earned most of his points for his performance during last January - June while still playing at AA Gent. An irony as the official winners-listing puts him only down for Anderlecht.

I was rather surprized at this year's awards ceremony as it was so "Flemish". French was only spoken when interviewing players who didn't speak Dutch. While it would be fair to say that most of the money in the Belgian First Class and National Team comes from the Flemish side (11 of the 18 teams are clearly Flemish with 2 Brussels teams including Anderlecht), such an oversight seems to ostricate the French-speaking fans. Maybe there is a separate competition in Wallonia, but I'm not aware of it.

In any case, like much of Belgian Football (soccer), the overhaul needed to clean up this mess probably crosses too many cultural boundaries to even be considered and the final loser is the Belgian sports fan who hasn't seen more than 4 different teams vie for the championship in the last decade. In the last 20 years, Anderlecht has won 10 titles, Club Brugge (7), Genk (2) with Lierse (1997) and Mechelen (1989) the only outsiders from this exclusive club. Even Standard de Liege, once a powerhouse, hasn't won a championship since 1983 although they have come close a number of times.

As stated in my last post, European sports leagues including the Jupiler League could learn something from America. Salary caps, shared TV ratings and even things like the draft and farm systems help our leagues remain more competitive with more possibilities for any team to "win it all" than in most European Soccer Leagues and I'd look forward to the day they adopted some of these practices.

The Belgian Options

The average American moving to Belgium might be very surprized to find out that not only is there a league for American Football and for Baseball in Belgium, but it is possible for them to play the real version of their favourite sport while living here.

In the U.S., especially for American football, High School is the only age you have the chance to play. You have to be pretty good to play at a college level and you have to be real good to play pro. Organized, competitive football is not accessible for everyone.

Here in Europe, due to the league structure in sports, it is possible for anyone to start playing their favourite sport. Somewhere, some team has a place for you.

If Americans want to put the pads on again, move to Belgium. The Belgian League is split into two divisions with 7 Flemish and 7 Wallonian teams. They have a Fall and Spring season with a championship held in May. Many of the Web Sites are in English and teams tend to welcome Americans with open arms.

If Baseball is your thing, then there are more than enough teams on both the Flemish and Wallonian sides of the country. Just as with football, it doesn't matter what level you play, there is likely a place for you.

I've long been of the opinion that Europe could learn something about structuring professional sports from the States. The business module in the U.S. seems to make more sense and leads to more competitive leagues where different teams win championships every year. However, it would be great if Americans could learn from the amateur ranks of Europe. It probably would lead to better health and would certainly let many continue to enjoy the sports they grew up loving to play.

Championship Blown

Like everyone I expected a blow-out Monday Night. It was...Except it was Florida handing it to OSU.

Let's face it; the Big Ten hates bowl season. 2 - 5 this year. I underestimated Wisconsin and only picked Penn State because they're not really Big Ten. I picked Michigan because I'm obligated to pick my favourite team, but if you had required me to put my life's savings on a team in the Rose Bowl, I would have taken USC.

The Buckeye's were supposed to be the exception. Dominating all year including two wins against number 2 teams (Texas & Michigan) with a Heisman Trophy winner and one of the best scoring defenses in the country, they were supposed to walk in and pick up their trophy and leave the rest of the country to debate who really should have been there for the beating.

Heisman Jinx? Big Ten Woes? Too much Hype and expectations? Take your choice, the OSU team that showed up in Arizona did not at all resemble that other team. They looked clueless, out of sync and were completely outclassed by a Florida team that looked very much like everyone thought the Buckeye's should look.

51 Days. That's the longest lay-off between a last game of the season and a bowl game ever. The problem is, the Big Ten will always have this as long as the system stays like it is. They end their season at the minimum a week before everyone else and they have no play-off or championship game. Some might think a long lay-off is a good chance to get those injured back into service, rest and plan for a tough opponent. Michigan and Ohio State are proof that it is the opposite. It takes you out of your game. Your edge is gone.

A recent article I read pointed out that the Big Ten commissioner, Jim Delany, was against a play-off system because it didn't serve in the best interests of the Big Ten. I wonder how many times the conference has to look like fools on bowl day before he changes that frame of mind? If I am a top player looking for a chance to shine and win Championships, I'm looking at the Southeast Conference and even the Big East right now. Forget the Big Ten. Sure, I can have a fun season, but my Holidays are going to stink.

Being gone from the U.S. for so long, it all is strange anyways. The rivalries and bowl match-ups are different. We might as well change everything and get it close to right. With so many schools and a sport that cannot sustain a 64 team field, it will never be perfect, but so many signs are pointing to the need to sort out these championships on the grass and not through an imaginary and imperfect vote.

My future posts will be more about American sports in the Benelux, although major events like the Superbowl and other championships cannot avoid attention. I hope you'll all check us out every now and then and don't hesitate to post questions if you want to know how you can enjoy your favourite sport while over here in Europe.

Ready for Monday Night Football (College Style) ?

With only two small games remaining until the "Championship" game between Florida and Ohio State it is time for me to make my final prediction of this year's bowl season. I'm pretty pleased with my totals as I'm 19 - 10 with these 3 games remaining and I'm pretty confident I'll see a 20th win.

Last year, USC lost to Texas in what was probably the best BCS Chapionship Game to date. USC was the defending champ having knocked off Oklahoma to end the 2004-05 season. The year before that, LSU beat Oklahoma to claim the championship (although the coaches gave USC the nod marking the only time the coaches poll differed with the BCS rankings for the number 1 spot). Ohio State was the champion for the 2002-03 season knocking off Miami (FL) much to the enjoyment of most of the country.

Until Ohio State managed the impossible against the Hurricanes, the Number 1 Team had always won the championship. Since then the BCS underdog manages to pull off the upset every other year. If this trend continues, the Buckeye's will get their championship.

We also have to consider the Heisman jinx. Heisman winners have participated in 5 BCS championship games and only Matt Leinart of USC came out on top (2004-05 season). He then lost the following year while sharing the field with that year's winner, Reggie Bush, meaning all Heisman trophy winners that have participated in a BCS championship game have lost. Since Troy Smith is a senior and not coming back, he could be the Ronald Reagan of college football breaking the curse of the Heisman for championship teams.

It is hard to look at this game and think of Florida as a winner, but to overlook their accomplishments this year would not be justified. Their only loss this year was a 27-17 road game at (Nr. 10) Auburn. They beat Tennessee (13), Arkansas (8) & LSU (4). LSU will likely be the number 2 team at the end of the season. Bowl winners Kentucky, South Carolina and Georgia were also among their victoms. To go through this schedule with only 1 loss is certainly impressive. Other than two Nr. 1 -vs- Nr. 2 match-ups against Texas and then Michigan, Ohio State has had a pretty easy road to the championship, at least comparitively speaking.

Nonetheless, I have to give OSU the win and it probably will be by 10 points or more. Florida was good enough to get to this game, but the Buckeyes are not a big-headed team and they won't be looking past the Gators to the trophy. That is bad news for Florida fans and they should just hope they can keep it close like Michigan did. That's the best that can be expected.