Dick Pound and Victor Conte meet: The Odd Couple redux

This is a great tale of two mismatched men: One, a disorganized, sloppy sportswriter; the other a fastidious meticulous writer/photographer.  They live together in New York, sharing misadventures, and joviality, thus coming to learn great lessons about life and love.  Couple guys hanging out for laughs and tears.

No, the tale is not quite Neil Simon's 'The Odd Couple'; however the two men seem just as mismatched.

The New York Post reports that WADA's soon-to-retire-boss Dick Pound will meet with BALCO's chief executive the infamous Victor Conte this Wednesday in New York.   For years, BALCO's Conte bedeviled WADA's Pound with illegal PEDs including the cream (T and EpiT) and the clear (THG), supplied to world class athletes against the WADA regulations.  BALCO corrupted Olympic athletes including Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Kelli White, and many others.  Pound chased Conte like a keystone cop.  Good times. (from The Post)

He knows who's been naughty and nice - and Victor Conte is going to share that knowledge with World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound on Wednesday in New York.

As the Daily News has reported, Conte has already provided some information on what he calls "rampant drug use in elite sports" to WADA officials and will offer more details in the meeting with Pound, the drug-monitoring agency's outgoing president.

Conte, the mastermind of the BALCO laboratories at the center of a federal steroids investigation that has already ensnared several elite athletes, served four months in prison for distributing steroids and laundering money. The BALCO investigation has brought charges against the recently indicted Barry Bonds and Marion Jones, the sprinter who pleaded guilty last month to lying to federal investigators.

Conte has been critical of Pound and other anti-doping advocates as being soft on catching drug cheats, but says he believes he can help clean up sports.

"It's my hope that this will help with the effort to create a more genuine level playing field for the competitors and to enhance the perception of integrity for the fans," Conte said. "I'm also doing this for the young athletes of the future. Ironically, I feel it's some of the poor decisions and past mistakes I've made that uniquely qualifies me to make a contribution.

"I plan to share specific knowledge of past and present Olympic-caliber athletes, coaches and suppliers involved with doping around the world and how they've been able to easily circumvent the anti-doping procedures in place."

Victor Conte, proffering public service by snitching on the athletes he lured into drug-cheating, monitoring their blood and urine, to allow them to slip by the WADA PED testing.  Feel-good story of the season.

Dogs and Cats, Wolves and sheep.  Felix and Oscar...