Testosterone? Schmestosterone!

An article in the Science section of the New York Times, dealing with science in the courtroom, offers up this quote about the role of science in the courts:

… without a method of providing courts with reliable scientific information, scientific research has an uncertain role in the courts, and especially the Supreme Court, as David L. Faigman put it in “Laboratory of Justice” (Times Books, 2004). Justice Antonin Scalia made this point on Wednesday, in a way, when he was corrected on where in the atmosphere carbon dioxide ends up.

“Troposphere, whatever,” Justice Scalia said. “I told you before I’m not a scientist.”

Let’s hope that Justice Scalia isn’t a member of the American Arbitration Association and won’t be serving on the panel hearing Floyd Landis’ appeal. I can just picture Scalia in a setting like that.

Testosterone? Schmestosterone! I told you Mr. Jacobs, I’m not a scientist. I just need to know if your client doped or not. And on that score, my mind’s made up. Don’t confuse me with the facts!*

* “My mind’s already made up. Don’t confuse me with the facts!” — First uttered in a political context by Rep. Earl Landgrebe, R-Indiana in 1974. Landgrebe was defeated in the 1974 elections by Floyd Fithian, a history professor from Purdue University.

Someone like that, we don’t need hearing Floyd’s case. We need arbitrators who will be open-minded and look at the evidence objectively. And the good news is, that’s a pretty likely possibility. The rules of engagement may be stacked against the accused, but the people making the judgment may actually turn out to be more fair than the system.

And that’s got to be a prospect that terrifies Travis Tygart and the honchos over at USADA. Their perfect record of no athletes winning an appeal may well come crashing down when the Landis case is decided. Especially when you consider Duckstrap’s arguments about the validity of the CIR/IRMS test interpretations by LNDD.

Which leaves me wondering: Is the delay that’s occuring right now because the anti-doping side is stalling for time, trying to figure out their next move? Are they, perhaps, looking for ways to get out of this mess, save face and in some way declare victory even with an acquital?

My guess is that’s exactly what’s going on. And I can just picture Dick Pound being quoted in the media after the CAS decides against the anti-doping brigade:

Well, the best evidence we had at the time made it look like Floyd was guilty. I have no regrets for what I’ve said about him or how we pursued this case. We need to be tough on the dopers. But as the court showed today, the system works. Landis is free to race wherever and whenever he would like.

Let’s just hope that the attention that this case has drawn will be the impetus for real change in how anti-doping cases are handled, and that those changes are for the better (which in my book almost automatically rules out anything suggested by Sir (?) Richard of the Pound.) If we’re going to demand fair play on the field, we need to also demand fair play in how the sports authorities treat athletes accused of wrongdoing.