Say it ain't so, Floyd.

I've written at length about the degree to which I have become an absolute sucker for the Tour de France and, by proxy, a shill for OLN, the TV network that covers the Tour here in the U.S. I've written all manner of flowery tributes to the Tour generally, and Landis (and his predecessor, some dude named Lance), specifically, over the past few summers. So what's on my mind this week is the report that Landis tested positive for increased levels of testosterone after his legendary stage win a couple Thursdays ago, where he rescued himself from obscurity and locked up an incredible Tour win. Landis has been suspended by his team, and will undergo a serious investigation over the coming weeks that may result in him being stripped of his Tour title.

Bummer.

It should go without saying that we shouldn't trust anyone in sports. They're all glory-hungry hound dogs who'll run around on us like Elvis on Priscilla. It should go without saying, but sports fans (and American sports fans in particular) are suckers. I am a sucker. Give me a heartwarming tale, say, of a guy who needs hip-replacement surgery who still somehow manages to contest for the world's hardest bike race, and goes out and does something that looks nominally heroic? I'll wax rhapsodic, I'll blow trumpets to the heavens and (perhaps most relevantly and unfortunately for you) I'll write a whole bunch of flowery articles in tribute.

But we don't know these people. How many reminders do we need that we don't know these people? They're human, and they're cutthroat, and they'll do anything to gain an advantage. I'm not saying Landis is guilty...I don't believe we'll ever really know that for sure. It's possible his testicles are simply producing an undo amount of testosterone these days (one look at his wife, Amber, and I can understand why). But it's also possible that he wore a testosterone patch around his balls that fateful Wednesday night, as he stewed believing he'd lost the Tour. How can we ever know for sure?

Landis may clear his name, at least nominally. He may get to keep his Tour title. But the specter of drugs is there, and it's pretty well ruined all the exhilaration Landis created over the last month. We're back here at Ground Zero, where all athletes are selfish assholes who don't give a crap about anything but themselves and their own success. The truth is: we never left. So why do I get so surprised and heartbroken when this stuff keeps happening? Why do we all?

NFL Training Camps are finally here. Can you give us a couple of season over/under bets for team wins that you think have a good chance of coming through? Any numbers on the season-win over/under board that look like sucker bets to you?

BoDog Bookmakers, BoDog.com: Detroit Lions to go Over 7 wins on the season. One word about the Lions that should make people pay attention to them: schedule! The Lions open up at home versus the NFC champion Seahawks, but after that they only play two playoff teams from last year. Teams change a lot in the NFL during the offseason and the Lions appear to have gotten much better. They've added Jon Kitna, who is a very capable quarterback, and offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who engineered all of those explosive St. Louis Rams' teams. On paper, the Lions look like a lock to be a .500 team - at least.

What do you think about all this flap over Alex Rodriguez in New York? Do you think this spells the beginning of the end for the Yanks in '06?

BB, BoDog.com: The Yankees have a ton of talent, so you can't give the Red Sox the division just yet. As for A-Rod, he should take some flack for slumping. That's part of being a pro athlete, especially one playing in New York.

Did you watch much of the Tour de France? Did you see Floyd Landis pull his incredible heroics at the end of last week? What are your impressions?

BB, BoDog.com: Tour de France? Sorry, it's been tough to even watch this event with Lance out - not to mention all the stars that got the boot for not passing the drug test. I think it'll be a long time before cycling can gain back the fans that came with Armstrong.

Finally, with Tiger winning the British Open, can you clear something up for me? Is it good or bad for the books when Tiger wins a big tournament?

BB, BoDog.com: Tiger is never a big-money maker for the books, though his odds to win give such small payouts that it never hurts either. Tiger, however, brings a lot of attention to the tournaments and that is never a bad thing. It's the popular guys who are long shots, like John Daly, who can really sting.