This is why we should never trust any athlete when they deny the use of the juice. After Floyd Landis “won” the 2006 Tour de France, he was stripped of his title for using performance-enhancing drugs. What followed was a 320-page book, “Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France.” Obviously, we now know this was a true work of fiction.

No, this was not an autobiography. The sole purpose of the work was to declare Landis’ innocence. The cheater did not exactly write this book by himself, either. Enter Loren Mooney, the “ghotswriter”, a.k.a. the real author. Sure, she got paid. Still, you have to feel bad for a woman who spent months gathering information and being lied to in her efforts to tell Landis’ fabricated side of the story. While she did no wrong, she must feel like an idiot for devoting so much time to a total farce.

If Landis had come clean immediately after being accused back in 2006, maybe it would have been more acceptable for him to name the other cyclists who he knew were dirty. Now, however, is the time that he has chosen to throw Lance Armstrong and others under the bus. That’s pathetic. Who cares if he’s right?

You cannot blatantly lie to the public, stand by your story and convince someone to write an entire book about it, and then do a 180 and pretend you care about the integrity of the sport. Actually, Landis probably couldn’t care less about integrity. He’s just trying to divert attention away from himself. That is even sleazier.

Speaking of sleazy, Jose Canseco’s book, “Juiced” has been a major source of controversy in Major League Baseball. However, Mr. Canseco’s story has not turned out to be a work of fiction by any means. In fact, as more users are coming out, Canseco seems to have been right on in terms of who he accused of juicing.

Sure, Canseco’s intentions behind writing his book may be solely monetary. He may even be as deplorable as Landis. However, Canseco didn’t hide behind his steroid use and write a book to deny it before he called out fellow users. Seriously, Floyd, we all now know what a bonehead you are. But you at least could have prevented some of that by learning a little thing called “jerk etiquette”. It’s an athlete’s best friend.