Random thoughts from a random mind

Having had hot dogs and been to the drive-in in the last week, it is now officially summer — no matter what the calendar says. Now I just need the kids to get out of school and the real Leffler family frolicking can begin. Yes, we frolic … as should you.

I’ve been lucky enough to get out on my bike the past few weeks and see Eastern Niagara County from a slower vantage point than I usually do. I’ve made trips as short as a couple miles and as long as 22 miles. It feels good to do it and I’ve noticed that when I put a few miles on the bike, I’m more inclined to eat better, too. Maybe I’ll be healthy some day. Maybe.

Over the course of the past few years, I’ve gone from around 220 pounds to about 180. In fact, the photo that accompanies this column doesn’t even look like me, I’m told. I guess that’s a good thing. I’ll have a new one soon. The weight loss is due to a combination of a better diet and exercise. But mostly stress. Seriously, not eating will do wonders for your figure.

I was hoping to lose about another 10 pounds before next Saturday in hopes that I’d look better in my dress, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I got donut sticks the other day … and my oldest daughter spends all her money on ice cream and then forces me to eat it. She’s such a bully.

Oh, yeah, you read that right. I said dress. I’ll be wearing a dress. Again.

For the third year in a row, I’ll be one of a couple dozen guys participating in the “Peaches and Creme Fashion Show,” a fundraiser put on by Anne Scinta LaSota, team captain of Maurice’s Relay For Life. The fundraiser, held at Lockport’s Palace Theatre at 7 p.m. on May 18, will hopefully be bigger and better and bolder than the previous ones, which were already pretty incredible events, I might add.

Tickets for the show are available from any of the guys in it — including me — for a mere $10. Or you can get them at Maurice’s. They’re also available at the door the night of the show for $15.

Please come out and watch me make a fool of myself. I usually do it for free, but since this is such a good cause, help us raise money to fight cancer? Please?

I mentioned the drive-in earlier. I saw “Oz, The Great and Powerful” and “Iron Man 3” with my girlfriend and her wonderful children. Iron Man was pretty decent, but I was really blown away at how much I like the Oz prequel. I truly appreciate unique adaptations of things that we think we already know. It’s why I’m equally excited about The Great Gatsby. Also the new Star Trek movie which comes out next week. Zachary Quinto is perfect as Spock.

I hope there will be plenty of movies in my near future. It is summer, after all. Let the frolicking begin.

Scott Leffler is a Doctor Who fan whose columns run on Fridays now. Fridays are cool. Follow him on twitter @scottleffler.

Was USADA ‘victory’ in Armstrong stripping worth it?

In a time when the world needs heroes, I don’t understand the witch hunt that’s been perpetrated against Lance Armstrong, the seven-time victor of the Tour de France and inspiration to millions.

I’ll be quite honest; I don’t fully understand the charges against Armstrong, but from what I can gather, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has accused the cyclist of using performance-enhancing drugs in 2009 and 2010. Armstrong, who fought his way through cancer and back onto his bicycle in 1996, had become a symbol to the world of what people can achieve with hard work and dedication.

Despite testicular and brain cancer, he was able to not just compete, but win. It was a modern-day fairy tale with Armstrong serving as central figure.

The thing with Armstrong is, he didn’t just win, he did it with a smile. And he became the poster child for success-despite-hardship. Lance Armstrong was a living motivational poster — just add poster.

It truly makes me wonder why the USADA seems to have tried so hard and gone out of its way to try to discredit him and strip him of the titles he had won. Do they not like fairy tales? Are they jealous? Or is there just a curmudgeon in charge who wants to see the mighty fall?

I’m not about to endorse cheating. I think athletes who juice their bodies in order to game the system should be barred from their sports. It’s akin to chief financial officers caught with their hand in the cookie jar. If you can’t follow such a basic tenet of your career, you should obviously have a new career.

So am I saying that Armstrong is innocent? No, actually I’m not. Truth is, I have no idea. He has said he’s innocent. But I wasn’t there and I don’t know the science of it. So I’m actually going to assume that he’s guilty.

Even assuming he is guilty, I think the USADA should have left him alone — for the sake of his image and for the sake of what his image has meant to millions of people.

If Lance Armstrong was doping and cheated his way into seven victories in the Tour de France, that surely affected the world of cycling and potentially cheated his fellow competitors. There are potentially seven people who could have titles that don’t because of his blood doping. For those seven people, his potential cheating is a life-altering event and assuming they now get their titles, this is vindication.

But are those seven people’s vindication worth the effect it may have on the — literally — millions of people who had looked up to Armstrong?

Could it be that those who were convinced that they could do anything now believe that it was all a lie? Could it be that in bringing down Armstrong, really the USADA has upset cancer survivors around the world? Could it be that in “winning,” the USADA has made losers of not only Armstrong but everyone who was a fan of his?

And if any of those are true, was it really worth it?

Scott Leffler can ride his bike with no handlebars. Follow him on Twitter @scottleffler.