UPDATED: Mike Creed on Doping and Sport

I believe that pro cyclist Mike Creed is saying something much more profound than what other commentators have attributed to him after his recent interview with Cyclingnews.com. That is, for him, and by extension, many of his colleagues, doping is not something that they view through a moral or ethical lens. And by extension, when someone tests positive, Creed is not interested in excoriating them for supposed moral-failings. Rather, he sees doping primarily as something to be avoided because of a fear of medical complications, and accepts the fact that his decision not to dope came not from any high-minded moral principles, but rather, simply from being scared.

Cyclingnews heavily edited the original interview to create that article, and Mike would have been better off just doing it with NY Velocity again, whereby they transcribe everything that's said.

Anyway, what's most noteworthy to me, and what I thought more people would pick-up on, was the reference to Creed's being benched for two months without explanation by Team Type 1 management. For those of you who follow Pappillon, you also know that Creed was wrongly accused of being a bitter insider leaking embarrassing details of the poor leadership within that organization that saw at least five staff members quit the team in frustration. Despite the fact that it was impossible for Creed to be the leaker, because I was in conversation with him on one line, and effectively receiving messages from the leaker on another, the team's mgmt won't even answer Mike's queries. I'm not entirely surprised by that, however, as my experiences interacting with Phil have seen him reply only when it was convenient and not when the rules of decorum suggested it.

Creed's not a doper and never has been, though he's got balls for trying to suggest we drop the fake moral outrage, so to speak. That didn't translate in the article, and he should have gone with a different format that would have allowed us to read Creed's comments Verbatim (he's an engaging interview, for sure, and a funny guy to be around). But regardless, being honest about how the peloton has not - in general - viewed doping as a moral problem and still doesn't (although some PC riders are too scared to admit that right now, so they tow the line and call for the application of the death penalty for cases of doping) shouldn't be reason for him to be shunned by his employer.

UPDATE: Thanks to a different Mike for both the friendly, encouraging comment, and a reminder to highlight Mike Creed's home-made aero helmet! WTF?! Someone ask him (MC) what the heck's up with that!?! Nothing like slummin' it in the ghetto on a team that claims to intend to ride the Giro, but which can't manage staff (or talent) any better than your local Masters/Cat.3/Wednesday-Night-World's team, allegedly.

If you're trying to think of a gift for your favorite future-euro-team-pres., consider getting him and his colleagues copies of "The Etiquette Advantage in Business - Personal Skills for Professional Success" (suggest chapters, "Executive Etiquette" and "The Written Word" - especially the part about communicating electronically, sending email - always respond, keep it short, don't get emotional).