Much copy has been devoted to the epilogue to Floyd Landis’ book, Positively False, with some sources (such as the New York Times) suggesting that the story told by Floyd Landis in the book was different than the one told when he was questioned about it during the arbitration hearings in May.
Since I’ve now got my copy of the book, I decided to read the epilogue first in order to see if there was any substance to the New York Times’ and others observations that Floyd had changed his story. As Edward Wyatt wrote in the Times (registration may be required):
A new book by Floyd Landis, the American cyclist who is facing charges that he used a performance-enhancing drug en route to winning the Tour de France last year, sheds new light on Landis’s actions during a hearing over the doping charges last month as well as during last year’s Tour.
In the book, which is scheduled to be released June 26, Landis appears to contradict some of the testimony he gave last month at an arbitration hearing on the doping charges. That testimony concerned his reaction to a phone call that his manager, Will Geoghegan, made to Greg LeMond, a former Tour de France winner, the night before LeMond was scheduled to testify against Landis.
Perhaps Wyatt read a different book. Here’s my take on the epilogue: The story’s the same, only with more detail, perhaps, than in the hearing.
The only difference between the hearing and the story in the book that I can find is that Floyd says he went to Will’s room shortly after the infamous call to help him pack his bags. I don’t remember that from the hearings, but I also haven’t had time to go back and check. We also get a bit more detail about what kind of “rehab” Will was encouraged to enter. But Floyd pulls no punches. He says it all, and he says it directly.
A few days into the hearing, at a point when my team was confident that there was nothing damaging that USADA could throw my way, Will cracked.
The aftermath was what we saw play out at the hearings and since. Landis, in the brief time that I spoke to him in March, seems like a sharp guy. So it’s no surprise to me that he says in his book that at the moment he realized what Will had done, he knew that Will needed to go. But Will wasn’t fired until the next day. Whether that was a smart move or not will be debated until the cows come home.
Will showed up the next day at the hearings, knowing full well that LeMond would speak about the call, and to his credit made the effort to apologize to LeMond. Would that it had never happened, both for Will’s sake and for Floyd’s. And because it turned into the hearings into the media circus that USADA was seeking by bringing LeMond into the mix.
Landis shows true character, in my opinion, for being able to forgive someone who caused so much heartache and so much damage to his case. It takes a big person to be able to do that. And while what happened can’t be changed, we can only hope that Will has received the care he needs and that the help will make him a better person. The one time I met Will he was lively, gregarious, and someone who seems like he’d be great fun to hang around — although perhaps a bit unpredictable.
The epilogue to Positively False follows the story we already knew, with a few extra details thrown in. Like the fact that Brent Kay suggested that Will seek treatment for his anger and stress.
The New York Times reporter, whose review sparked a brief controversy over whether Landis told the truth at the hearing, completely mischaracterized the book’s ending. Landis’ story stays the same, even though the great lie being spread through the media and elsewhere is that it’s changing.
As Ronald Reagan is purported to have said, “If you tell a lie five times, it becomes the truth.” Or, to quote Joseph Goebbels, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”
Perhaps that’s the most frustrating thing about the Landis case. Many in the mainstream media have been involved in perpetuating so many distortions and untruths about the case that what they’ve said has become the truth. Those who have done so have seriously shirked their duty as journalists to look at and objectively report both sides of the story.
Rant, I’ve read my book. I remember Floyd saying that he went to Will’s room and helped him pack his stuff. The only thing I read that was different than I remembered was that Brent Kay came into the banquet room when Floyd realized what Will had done. I thought Floyd did an excellent job with the book. Although he doesn’t tell the story of what happened to his bike at the final ITT, when his handbars broke off his original bike that He was riding.
You know, the media talk about the “blogospere” like it’s a bad thing to proper journalistic reporting. But from what I can see, the media can’t seem to get Floyd’s story right!!!
Theresa,
Thanks for pointing that out, I wasn’t sure if he’d said that originally or not. Just started reading the beginning of the book last night. Looks to be a good read, and a fairly quick one. Perhaps I’ll have it done by the end of this business trip.
– Rant
Landis’ testimony in regards to Will starts at reporter page 1322 line 3 (PDF page 1114) of the official transcripts, which can be downloaded via http://trustbut.blogspot.com/2007/06/hearing-official-transcripts.html
I just got my copy of the book but haven’t started reading it yet. Thank you for incidentally warning me not to read about it in the media. They’re just not going to get it right, are they?
I really think that Arnie Baker’s eBook entitled “The Wiki defense“, which is intended to be a companion to Floyd’s book “Positively False”, should be required reading for all journalists who want to weigh in on this doping case.