This fanpost was promoted to the front page by Tim Burke.

Early one Pacific Time Zone morning in 2006 I flipped on stage 17 of that year's Tour de France.  My horse, the gutsy American Floyd Landis had lost over 8 minutes to rivals the day before, dousing all but the faintest ember of hope for a win in that year's race.  Going into stage 17 Landis could theoretically win back enough time in the day's 199 km mountain stage to be back in contention for the yellow jersey, but it was even less probable than a ball team taking the last 4  games to win a 7 game series.

Still, just as you watch game 4 to see your favorite team get swept from the playoffs, I tuned in to that day's race to confirm the inevitable.  As sleep cleared from my eyes and I began to make out the dulcet Liggett/Sherwen play-by-play it became clear that Landis had broken away early in the stage and was making up major chunks of his previous day's utter collapse. 

Floyd Landis' harrowing stage 17 ride was the stuff of sports legend--at least until his labs came in.

For those who only remember the fallout of the doping scandal that followed, what happened that day was the single most moving athletic performance I have ever witnessed. Although I'd only followed cycling for a few years, I was pretty sure I was seeing an effort for the ages; Cyclingnews.com's race report from that day confirms this:

Without a shadow of a doubt, today will go down as one of the finest stages in modern Tour de France history. Today, a 28 year-old American by the name of Floyd Landis, written off by most after his collapse of yesterday, staged a comeback that defied logic... His stage win was reminiscent of Charly Gaul's 100 km breakaway in the Alps in the 1958 Tour...

This is weighty praise for a UK-edited magazine, especially in the wake of Lance Armstrong's 7 year run of race dominance which had used up cycling's allotted hyperbole for the decade. 

Unfortunately, the miracle we witnessed that day was a sham; this son-of-a-Mennonite's ride did "defy logic".  Although Landis would go on to seal his overall victory over the last three days of the race, the warm fuzzies of this post-Armstrong French domination would soon turn to cold pricklies as news broke that Landis had failed drug tests.

Without delving into the technical aspects of Landis' failed tests, what set this case apart from the common cycling scandals of the day was that Landis' case immediately appeared to revolve around testosterone. 

Testosterone? Like having a hairy back?  What?  Because a 21 day 2000 mile race is by nature 99.9% aerobic, it was the oxygen-enriching blood doping drugs and techniques which had dominated PEDs in cycling in recent decades; preceded by the clunkier steroids and stimulants before that.  That testosterone seemed to be the Hulk Smash elixir of choice for Landis truly seemed to come out of left field.  While several cases of prominent riders abusing testosterone have surfaced since Landis' case, at the time it was quite unique.  I remember poring over forums and articles at the time and there were many more questions than answers.

While I certainly can't offer any answers in particular, the discussion in MMA lately sounds a lot like the cycling discourse of 2006.  I have isolated 3 relevant points that I will frame in the context of Floyd Landis' dud-to-stud (sorry, I had to get all Mike Walker there) 24 hour recovery of 2006.

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After sifting through tens of nominations, Bloody Elbow's most creative and memorable screen names (and in some cases just people's favorite posters) have been narrowed down to an elite final field of 35 names. OK, actually I tried to include every nomination but my eyes hurt so I hope I don't hurt anyone's tender feelings.

Please vote for your favorite!

Oh wait, I did leave out ElliotMatheny (one of my favorite posters--which btw was not exactly the point of the poll) because his avatar wields too much power.

Enjoy!

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I can think of a few but I don't want to leave any out...please nominate your favorite BE Screen handles for a forthcoming poll.  The winner will get a three month extension on his unemployment insurance.

A few to get you started:

"nottheface" because I laugh every time I read it.

"Farthammer" because the BOOSH signature is so right.

"Urijah Bieber" because the hair, height, and iambic pentameter so harmoniously combine I can't tell where one supple crooner ends and another nubile prize fighter begins.

Discuss.

To many, Jon Jones is a prospect that represents the state of the art in terms of technical and physiological potential.

(Photo: nbcsportsmedia4.msnbc.com)

Because so many factors define a fighter’s efficacy in battle, it's forgivable that we settle for terms like "good cardio" and "bad cardio" to describe an athlete's fitness.  Nevertheless, when one is truly seeking to cast a thoughful appraisal, a term like "cardio" simply falls short of capturing the various nuances of human output.  Given the trend toward fighters with increasingly elite athletic pedigrees, we trainers, fighters, and fans would do well to move past the term "cardio" and become more familiar with the fundamentals of human physiology as defined by sports science.

Admittedly, this article is at best an overview of fight physiology.  Additionally, your author is more construction worker than sports scientist, therefore, please don’t expect this piece to be more than a jumping-off point for your own study. 

Nevertheless, in the spirit of expanding our collective physiological vocabulary; let's take a peek beneath the tattoos and see how the flying knees are made.

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