Doping, swimsuit farce and USOC network issues are back

(Clothes make the man: Germany's Paul Biedermann in the soon-to-be banned suit he said was a key factor in beating Michael Phelps at the World Swimming SHAMpionships. Photo: Martin Bureau / Getty Images)

Back from vacation and catching up on new and ongoing stories.  Here are some of them:

1. Watching Universal Sports' live stream of the World Swimming Championships, with picture quality that is clearer than ever, also makes it clearer than ever that the U.S. Olympic Committee should have thrown in with NBC-owned Universal rather than create its own U.S. Olympic Network (referred to hereafter as USON).  Not only did the USOC get on the wrong side of the International Olympic Committee on the network issue, it likely will spend at least $25 million a year -- with no return in the near future, if ever -- on the USON.  That could quickly wipe out the $100 million cash surplus with which the USOC began the 2009-2012 period and be even more telling after 2012, when USOC revenues are expected to be substantially lower than the current quadrennium.

 

2. I asked USON major domo Norm Bellingham, the USOC's chief operating officer, for comment about the financial risk involved (and five other questions), and he politely declined comment on any of them in an effort to "work quietly and effectively with our Olympic partners.''  That clearly referred to problems with the International Olympic Committee, which had blasted the USOC for going forward with the network announcement after being told to hold off.  "Since the announcement of our network, there have been several conversations and exchanges of information between the USOC and the IOC,'' Bellingham told me in an e-mail sent the day before I left on holiday. "Both sides have expressed a determination to reach a solution that is in the best interests of the Olympic movement in the United States and worldwide.''

Vande Velde update: more tests needed on injuries from Giro crash

Here is the Garmin-Slipstream team's update on injured Lemont cyclist Christian Vande Velde, which tempers a bit the enthusiasm he expressed over the phone to me three days ago about making it to the July 4 start of the Tour de France, in which he finished fourth last year:

Team Garmin-Slipstream’s Christian Vande Velde, who crashed out of the Giro d’Italia during stage three (Monday), continues to undergo examinations at home in Girona (Spain).  The results so far have confirmed that he sustained one rib fracture, a severe contusion and sprain to his mid-back and a hairline fracture to his pelvis, but team doctor Prentice Steffens cautions, "We need to continue to run tests, so it is still too soon to speculate on the extent of his injuries or how they will affect racing and training.''

Vande Velde is in pain but optimistic about Tour de France

Christian Vande Velde has broken one arm and several ribs and fractured his collarbone more times than he can count in cycling accidents.

And he said he has had scarier crashes than the one Monday that knocked him out of the Giro d’Italia.

"But as far as pain, this was the worst without a doubt," he said Wednesday from his European training base in Girona, Spain. "The best part was I didn’t hit my head, and no organs were damaged. But I have never had any pain close to this. I wouldn’t wish this pain on my worst enemy."