Steroid Nation

So who exactly will be at the game when Bond's hits #756

Barry Bonds recently knocked out home run #741 of his long and contaminated baseball career.  As we write, that home run leaves Bonds 14 short of Hank Aaron's career mark of 755 home runs, and obviously 15 short of becoming the holder of the most revered record in baseball.  What celebration does MLB plan for the memorable occasion?  Let's start with who isn't going to be there:

1.  The Commissioner of Baseball Bug Selig doesn't know if he will attend the record-setting game.

2.  Old record holder Hank Aaron says he will be golfing rather than attend and watch.

3.  MLB Player's Union boss Donald Fehr recently announced (North Jersey.com via the AP) announced he will not attend Bond's triumphant occasion.

So the MLB Commissioner, the old career home run record holder, and the Player's Union boss will not attend the game when the most important record in baseball goes down.  Excuse us if we say 'that's weird'.  Might Bonds connection to PEDs, and to BALCO be scaring the big boys away?

Maybe. That and TV.  Fehr blames cable TV, (apparently):

He (Fehr) speculated that a cable-television culture could be the reason.

"They're going to say, with everything else that was going on America, between global warming and a war and 9/11 and the collapse of health care and everything else, why did we spend all this time on steroids and Anna Nicole Smith and whether Britney Spears did this or that or the other and all the rest of it? And yet it dominates the news, it just dominates it," he said.

Who else is not going to the party?

This guy from Georgia who got drunk, stumbled into the wrong apartment, then was arrested screaming profanities about Bonds as an elderly couple cowered inside. No he won't be at the game.

Barry's friend and trainer, and steroid dealer Greg Anderson likely will be in jail yet.  He will miss the historic game.

So who will attend the historic Bonds' HR #756 game?

MC Hammer.
Barry Zito.
Giant's owner, Peter McGowen.
Bond's lawyer Michael Rains.
Jeff Novitzky, IRS Agent, and BALCO lead law dog.

We will try to think of more fans who might be attending the historic game.  Stay tuned.

Russian swimmer: hung like a horse?

And from the world of swimming comes a story about, who tested positive for boldenone, an anabolic steroid used in veterinarian treatment of horses.  Swimnews.com:

Anatoli Poliakov, the Russian butterfly specialist, has tested positive for doping.

The 26-year-old provided the problem sample on January 23, the same day as Anastasia Ivanenko produced the test that returned a diuretic find and turned into a two-year ban one week before the Russian nationals. The substance found in Poliakov's sample is reported to be Boldenone, a steroid commonly associated with use in the equestrian world - not by the riders but the horses!

European cycling crashing hard

The entire sporting world appears to be falling apart piece by piece.  Each day brings new sporting scandals in North America.  Not only is that busy scene difficult to cover, but add in the hot world of doped cycling in Europe.  Floyd Landis' ship slowly sinks off the coast of France, as new evidence points to his Tour de France derailment.  Each day implicates more cyclists doping on the continent.

Former Tour winners Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso remain hounded by charges of doping.  Ullrich retired, however last week doping charges continued around Europe involving the German superstar.  Unlike the USA, where authorities appear to believe that attacking the drug sources is key, Europe prosecutes athletes too, under sports fraud laws.

The Wizard --Ozzie Smith-- is down on Bonds and down on juice

Former St Louis Cardinal shortstop Ozzie Smith spent the weekend at Freed-Hardeman University.  The local paper caught up with the Hall of Famer for opinions on baseball.  According to the Jackson Sun, the Oz said this about 'roids and about Barry Bonds:

Smith is troubled by baseball's steroid issue.

"It's hard to talk about because it's something you don't know about," Smith said. "I couldn't tell you who was involved in steroids, but it has changed the game from a standpoint."

Smith notes how little excitement there is about Barry Bonds' pursuit of Henry Aaron's home run record.

"I think it's tainted," Smith said. "We can't say that Barry (Bonds) or (former Cardinal) Mark (McGwire) used steroids, but something's different."

Smith also commented on the decline in African-American MLB players:

Smith said that, and the influx of international players, are the reasons the number of African-Americans in baseball has declined.

"The process is too long," Smith said. "For the Latin players, this is a way out and a way of life because they do it 2 4/7.

Going to play in the NFL? Get set for pain and depression.

Interesting piece from Earth Times, abstracting a University of Michigan study that examined the health of former NFL players.  Michigan researchers sent out a questionnaire to former NFL players.  Of around 3400 surveys sent, about 50% responded.  The results appear to The Nation to be somewhat surprising.

Harmon Killebrew loves current salaries, classic players and hates steroids

The Bismark Tribune caught up with former Minnesota Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew the other day.  The Killer flew into Bismark to attend a charity  golf tournament.  Hey Harm. how were salaries back in the day?

Killebrew, whose image graces the MLB logo, hit 573 home runs in his 22-year career, topping the 40-mark eight times. His top salary? $120,000, which he was awarded following his American League MVP season of 1969.

"I had to lead both leagues in home runs and win an MVP award to get that kind of money," Killebrew said during a visit to Bismarck on Friday. "But those were the days when $100,000 was top money and a player's salary was based on the previous year's performance. You don't see that anymore. Now, there's free agency, long-term contracts, and players are making an amazing amount of money. But then, baseball's making a lot more money today than when I played."

How deep does Steroid Met-gate go

How deep does this BALCO-2, Long Island, New York Mets batboy, 'Murdock' Radomski scandal go?  Deep.  Radomski pled guilty to one count of money laundering, and one count of conspiracy.  Does that sound like a plea bargain gained with cooperation in the on-going BALCO investigation?  Sure does.

According to the Washington Post, Radomski, known as 'Murdock' sold anabolics for a number of  years.  However, the business must have boomed when BALCO shut down.

Although Radomski's steroids-distribution business apparently began after he left the Mets in 1995 -- the federal search-warrant affidavit filed in December 2005 listed 23 personal checks allegedly from players or other baseball figures that were deposited into Radomski's personal banking account from May 2003 to March 2005 -- he built it using contacts he had made in the clubhouses at Shea Stadium.

Met bat boy Radomski, latest steroid leak, remembered

Update: The Smoking Gun has a legal affidavit.

Who is this Kirk Radomski who emerged 27-Apr-07 as a key witness in the ongoing BALCO scandal? (really BALCO, the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative Operation has probably ceased describing the on-going steroids and anabolic investigation, apparently headed by IRS Agent Jeff Novitzky, and whomever is the Head DA in the San Francisco DA's office now)  The Washington Post says:

Kirk J. Radomski was known as "Murdock" in the clubhouses at Shea Stadium, under the mysterious, seemingly random system by which nicknames are doled out in baseball. But Radomski, at least by the early 1990s, looked different than most of the other New York Mets clubhouse assistants, or "clubbies" -- the collection of teenagers and young men in every big league locker room who scrape mud from cleats, set up the postgame spread and run errands for the players.

"He was the guy who was in better physical condition than the others," said left-handed pitcher Pete Schourek, who pitched for the Mets from 1991 to '93. "He looked like he worked out."

Documents list Radomski as 37.  Listed a Met from 1985 to 1995, means he was 15 to 25 years of age when he apparently roamed the Met's clubhouse.  However, many of the Mets can't remember 'Murdock'.

Although Radomski, as part of his plea deal with prosecutors, said he had worked as a bat boy, clubhouse assistant and equipment manager for the Mets, a team spokesman said yesterday afternoon at RFK Stadium -- where the team opened a three-game series against the Washington Nationals -- that Radomski had never been an equipment manager and, in fact, never had a titled position.

According to the New York Times Dave Magadan remembers Murdock:

Dave Magadan did not remember Kirk Radomski. But as soon as Magadan, the batting coach for the Boston Red Sox, learned that Radomski’s nickname was “Murdoch,” he immediately recalled the former Mets clubhouse attendant and bat boy.  “He was huge,” Magadan said. “I mean, huge.”

Other Mets, not so much:

Al Leiter, who played for the Mets after Radomski left the organization and now works as a broadcaster for the Yankees, said he had a vague recollection of a burly individual with the “Murdoch” nickname. Leiter said that he found out about Radomski’s guilty plea in a call from Gene Orza, who is the chief operating officer of the Players Association.

“I think he was calling some former Mets to tell them about it,” Leiter said. “Not to tell them that they have been implicated, but just to make them aware of it.”

Howard Johnson, the Mets’ first base coach, and Ron Darling, one of their announcers, played for the Mets while Radomski worked in the clubhouse. Johnson called him a “nice kid” who he did not know much about. Darling did not recall him.

Former Met, and now Cub outfielder Ciff Floyd doesn't remember Radomski:

Cubs outfielder Cliff Floyd worked the phones Saturday to find out whether he or any of his former New York Mets teammates knew the former Mets clubhouse worker who pleaded guilty Friday to providing ''dozens'' of major-leaguers with performance-enhancing drugs since 1995.

''No idea who he is,'' said Floyd, who indicated he got similar responses from former teammates.

Buster Olney says Radomski worked as a personal trainer:

As a clubhouse employee for the Mets for 11 years, and then in his later work as a personal trainer, Radomski would have had contact with literally hundreds and hundreds of players. A source said Friday evening that the federal case involved "dozens" of players, and someone who has seen an investigation affidavit indicated that Radomski told investigators -- to paraphrase -- that if they thought the allegations in Jose Canseco's book were explosive, they would be blown away by what Radomski could report.

Don't mess with the IRS: Agent Jeff Novitzky leads BALCO probe forward

According to the San Jose Mercury, the lead agent in the BALCO investigation continues to be IRS agent Jeff Novitzky. Don't mess with Novitzky.  Don't even look at him.

The San Francisco Fed Prosecutor announced a guilty plea by a Mets worker who must be involved in a huge anabolic distribution ring today.  Novitzky was there.

Novitsky played a paramount role in the original BALCO investigation that resulted in charges and convictions of Victor Conte, Greg Anderson and others; athletes who testified included Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, and Marion Jones.

Novitzky (pictured below) also led the raid in former MLB player Jason Grimsley last year.

Lead Balco investigator Jeff Novitzky of the San Jose office of the Internal Revenue Service took over the case in 2005 after receiving a tip from the Federal Bureau of Investigations. It fell under the IRS's jurisdiction because of the charge of laundering money from the illegal sale of steroids...

The drug issue didn't seem to resonant with fans until after federal agents raided Balco Laboratories in Burlingame in September 2003. Of the more than 30 athletes subpoenaed to testify in front of a grand jury investigating the Balco case, about a third were baseball players. Bonds and the New York Yankees' Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield were the most prominent...

IRS agent Novitzky continued his work as well. Last summer he led agents into the Arizona home of journeyman pitcher Jason Grimsley, who was caught accepting a $3,200 shipment of human growth hormone. The Diamondbacks pitcher ended his career after news of the raid.

People say Novitsky is out to get Barry Bonds.  He may or may not be out to get anyone. 

The Nation sure doesn't want to get on the wrong side of the IRS, so just move along.....

Breaking News: Met clubhouse worker admits to distributing steroids (and other anabolics). Better have a witness protection program ready.

This news appeared a couple hours ago in Washington Post/San Jose Mercury--News sites.  We go to the lead periodical in the BALCO investigation, the San Francisco Chronicle:

A former New York Mets clubhouse employee pleaded guilty Friday to distributing performance enhancing drugs to major league players and agreed to cooperate in baseball's steroids investigation, federal prosecutors said.

Kirk Radomski, 37, admitted providing anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, Clenbuterol, amphetamines and other drugs to "dozens of current and former Major League Baseball players, and associates, on teams throughout Major League Baseball," San Francisco U.S. Attorney Scott Schools said in a statement.

The Nation will track this down more, but we have read this fellow (?felon) distributed anabolic steroids (deca-durabolin is nandrolone), HGH,  amphetamines, and clenbuterol to dozens of MLB players.

"The distribution of anabolic steroids to professional athletes cheats both the paying public and the clean athletes and is a serious crime," Schools said. "This investigation shows that distribution of performance-enhancing drugs continues to be an issue for sport in America. This office is dedicated to pursuing those who benefit from such crimes."

Radomski pleaded guilty earlier Friday in U.S. District Court to felony charges of distributing steroids and laundering money, charges that carry sentences of up to 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

Radomski also agreed to cooperate in the federal probe, Schools said. That includes meeting with investigators from baseball's own steroid investigation, led by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell.

"This individual was a major dealer of anabolic steroids, including human growth hormones, whose clientèle was focused almost exclusively on Major League Baseball players," Prosecutor Matt Parrella said outside court.

Parrnell said Tomsk was in business for about 10 years, but he declined to name any of his clients.

One wonders if this isn't the huge break needed to make the BALCO case really stick.  Radomski looks to have turned state's evidence.  We hope he is in protective custody tonight.....

For the love of the 'U', give us some steroids!

We at the Nation stand, profoundly proud of the American educational system, as we are part of that bastion of independent progressive thought.  But, we can't beat this.

A graduate student in Sports Medicine at the University of Miami, looks at her high tuition, then looks at the rather mundane physiques on campus.  She concludes that for the high tuition, 'U' President Donna Shalala should be handing out gratis 'roids.  The supply should be good in Florida with all the Internet pharmacies, right?

From the Miami Hurricane Online come this (note the gratuitous compliments; and I doubt she has been in J-School):

First of all, congratulations on running the upstanding facility we know as the University of Miami. I have to give you props for what you've accomplished in your tenure thus far. Your ambition in raising millions of dollars for this institution is commendable. And while I appreciate the lovely campus and gorgeous weather, allow me to take this opportunity to suggest to you an alternate campus beautification plan: steroids.

Steroid shorts

1. Fox News asks if Bud Selig is to blame for the Bonds mess?

2.  The San Jose Mercury-News carries the story of Victor Conte getting back into supplements.  We carried this last week.  Conte drives a 180,000.00 Bentley.

3. Speaking of MLB Commissioners, or former, USOC boss Peter Ueberroth wonders if the world needs new anti-doping strategies?  TSN.Canada.  That Ueberroth, a big picture thinker.

4.  Former head of Florida Corrections, James Crowsby, sentenced to 8 years in a corrections facility himself.  Apparently the Florida system went to heck with his leadership. Kickbacks, officers on steroids, they did it all.  Gainsville.com.

5. Deadspin reports Michael Vick sponsors both cock fights and dog fights (our stories on cockfighting, and dogfighting).  Despicable. Haven't fans had enough of the brainless behavior of the Ron Mexico Vick Brothers?

Jose Canseco tees off at the 'Bunny Golf Classic'

Couple of days ago we posted on Juicing Jose Canseco's role in a poker movie. Now, Jose pops up in an LA blog: LA Weekly. The author of this LA Weekly column hired on to bartend a charity golf event held in the Simi Valley.  Apparently this occurred on the last weekend in March.

She reports on the cavorting of Playboy Bunny-wanna-bes (The girls of golf), and ta da, Jose Canseso turns up, or rather turns over (photo from the event; from Film Magic).  Sounds like Jose is still 'juicing', only with jello shots.

Then, a golf cart pulled up, and out walked a strapping Latino with the arms of a Valkin Warrior. Someone said that it was Jose Canseco. I got on my cell and called my friend Joe, who told me all about Jose’s controversial steroid abuse, his book that outed his teammates, and his batting average. The man hit 462 home runs. I began pouring him shots and didn’t stop for a good 25 minutes. Throughout the day, gossip leaked in through the Golf Girl grapevine... a Bunny was carted off for smoking rock on one of the greens. Bad Bunny! There was also a rumor that Canseco, after leaving my watering hole, tipped over his golf cart, causing his wife to sprain her wrist. Oops. Was that my fault?

At least Jose didn't behave like this:

One of the actual Playmates got so wasted she pulled aside her G-string to squat and pee right next to my tiki bar.

Or did he?

Apparently a New York Giant player made a good impression on the bar tender:

Then a man the size of a refrigerator who was said to play for the Giants (appropriately) decided it would be funny to tackle my tiki bar. He knocked the whole thing down around me like a bad spaghetti-Western set. When I asked him if he was going to clean up the mess, he looked at me like I was from another planet.

Was that Giant Jason Bell, who shows up in the photo shoot we reference above, who tackled the bar?

LA Times Sportswriter switching hormones

A columnist for the Los Angeles Times today announced 'he' is switching genders to become 'she'.  Mike Penner will become Christine Daniels.

During my 23 years with The Times' sports department, I have held a wide variety of roles and titles. Tennis writer. Angels beat reporter. Olympics writer. Essayist. Sports media critic. NFL columnist. Recent keeper of the Morning Briefing flame.

Today I leave for a few weeks' vacation, and when I return, I will come back in yet another incarnation.

As Christine.

I am a transsexual sportswriter. It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words. I realize many readers and colleagues and friends will be shocked to read them.

That's OK. I understand that I am not the only one in transition as I move from Mike to Christine. Everyone who knows me and my work will be transitioning as well. That will take time. And that's all right. To borrow a piece of well-worn sports parlance, we will take it one day at a time.

Transsexualism is a complicated and widely misunderstood medical condition. It is a natural occurrence — unusual, no question, but natural.

I am not sure of the science behind the new part.  Maybe it's an LA thing?

Recent studies have shown that such physiological factors as genetics and hormonal fluctuations during pregnancy can significantly affect how our brains are "wired" at birth.

As extensive therapy and testing have confirmed, my brain was wired female.

The response of his/her editor is a classic:

When I told my boss Randy Harvey, he leaned back in his chair, looked through his office window to scan the newsroom and mused, "Well, no one can ever say we don't have diversity on this staff."

California suspends license of psychiatrist involved in BALCO

From Sign on San Diego comes the AP story about the Bay Area psychiatrist who covered track sprinter Kelli White when she was nailed with modafinil at a track meet.

The former medical director of the clinic involved in a sports doping scandal has been suspended from practicing medicine after investigators found he prescribed a stimulant to a sprinter without examining her.

Dr. Brian Halevie-Goldman, a psychiatrist who was medical director for the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative that provided steroids to top athletes, was suspended for 90 days by the state medical board.

Halevie-Goldman covered White for modafinil (or Provigil) which really isn't a stimulant, but is used for narcolepsy and sometimes ADHD.  According to Game of Shadows, White tried modafinil at the suggestion of Victor Conte, who promoted the drug to his charges.  Several tracksters used the drug, as well as Barry Bonds.  White ran well with Provigil (and other PEDs) winning the 100 and 200 at the 2003 World Championships; Conte and his group believed the drug wasn't going to be tested by the anti-doping measures.  However when White's urine was tested, modafinil turned up positive.

The doc in questions above covered for her, with an excuse saying that he was treating White for narcolepsy.  Guess that didn't work out.

Halevie-Goldman also was placed on five years' probation and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation for allegedly providing the drug modafinil to the athlete at the request of BALCO founder Victor Conte, who served four months in federal prison for dealing steroids.

Goldman told the board Conte provided him with false information about the sprinter's medical condition in order to obtain drugs for her. The doctor had no immediate comment when contacted Wednesday by The Associated Press.

Another thread here, on Goldman.

People who cheat and...

The Nation doesn't know how long this post can stay up, but here goes.  We laughed out loud for over 5 minutes last night when we read the Technoratic tags.  From Monkey Do:

Seriously, how many of you out there believe ol' Lancey Boy won all those Tour De France races without some kind of doping or performance enhancements? In our opinion he did something to get the edge and if you don't like that I said it Lance, then come sue my ass. Your punk Texas ass doesn't scare me, I could care less that you cozied up to bush or you slept with Sheryl Crow, to me you are a cheater and now you are taking up for another cheater your boy Floyd Landis.

From the Associated Press:

Armstrong backs Landis in attacking French lab
April 25, 2007
NEW YORK (AP) -- Lance Armstrong applauds Tour de France champion Floyd Landis' decision to publicly share his mistrust of the French lab involved in his doping investigation.
"I think it's a good tactic to share that with the public," the seven-time Tour de France winner said Wednesday. "I believe in Floyd, I believe he hasn't had a fair shake. I don't trust the lab."

With Texans like you and your pal bush running around giving us Americans a bad name, no wonder so many people hate us.

Posted by eventsnoted at   5:19 PM                          

Labels: another Texas asswipe, cheaters, Lance Armstrong, people who cheat and who have slept with Sheryl Crow, Tour De France      

              

James Ferentz follows brother Brian Ferentz, to play for dad Coach Kirk Ferentz

You can't tell the Ferentz's without a program.  Iowa City is in a Ferentz-y.

Hawkeye Report is stating that Iowa City, City High linemen surprisingly committed to in-town Big Ten Iowa Hawkeyes, coached by his pop Kirk Ferentz. Press-Citizen story here.

Iowa’s first in-state recruit in the Class of 2008 is no surprise, as the head coach’s son, James Ferentz, gave his verbal commitment to the Hawkeyes after receiving an offer earlier this month. The 6-foot-2, 250-pound Ferentz attends Iowa City High School, where he plays for head coach Dan Sabers...

Talk about nepotism (smile).  James Ferentz' coach at City High is Dan Sabers, who's son Michael Sabers is a tight end on the Hawkeyes.  James Ferentz' brother is Brian Ferentz, who started 4 years on the Hawkeye line, and whom spent some time with the NFL Atlanta Falcons. 

Here is the Ferentz clan.  Brian is the tall one.  Kirk is the old one.  And young James is on the left;  he obviously has bulked up since then.  The boss --Mary Ferentz-- is sitting next to James.

In between fathering linemen, Kirk Ferentz coached at Iowa, Maine, for the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens, and currently head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Wonder if there are any more linemen crawling hitting people around the Ferentz house?

Let's hope the Coach hasn't text messaged the recruit too much.....

Double amputee athlete would like shot at the Olympics

From the BBC comes a story of a track athlete, a double leg amputee, who would love to compete at the Olympic level; however Olympic rules prohibit his participation.  The Olympic committee considers the prosthetic devices he wears to run, called 'Cheetahs', performance enhancing.

Oscar Pistorius is the runner's name;  he currently holds 3 Paralympic world records in the 100, 200, and 400.  Using the double prosthesis, Pistorius is known as 'Blade Runner':

His coach, Ampie Louw, says Oscar is "a natural champion - born that way".

The 20-year-old South African is one of a handful of runners around the globe who could make the Olympic qualifying time. He is less than a second away.

But Oscar's Olympic bid is like no other - he is a double amputee.

How good is he?  His 100, 200, and 400 times are not equal to winning times at the 2004 Olympics.  However, he recently finished second in the South African National Championships.  That was second against non-amputee athletes. (see comparison chart to the right for Pistorius' times)

400m times (in secs): 46.56 - Pistorius world record 47.8 - 1928 Olympic gold 44.00 - 2004 Olympic gold 200m times: 21.58 - Pistorius world record 22.0 - 1920 Olympic gold 19.79 - 2004 Olympic gold 100m times: 10.91 - Pistorius world record 11.2 - 1906 Olympic gold 9.85 - 2004 Olympic gold

The blades are made in Iceland:

The manufacturers, Ossur, say the blades are "passive devices", which lag way behind what biological legs can do.

They insist the Cheetahs are not performance-enhancing, but simply give amputee athletes a fighting chance.

However the IAAF rules look skeptically on artificial devices in athletes:

Senior officials have "suspicions" about his performance on the Cheetahs.  Oscar says his critics are only looking at the advantages of the blades - "if there are any" - and not the disadvantages.  "There's never been a disabled athlete running in the Olympics," he says.  There's a fear of change."

Sports by Brooks (scroll down) researched this issue more.  There were suspicions at one point, that Psitorious used longer prosthesis to his advantage.

Mark Perry, Iowa NCAA wrestling champion arrested for public intox

Mark Perry, an NCAA champion wrestler with the Iowa Hawkeyes, developed an unusual way to prepare for finals at the school: party hard.  Perry also enjoyed the fun police ride to the jail.  Story in the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

NCAA champion Iowa wrestler Mark Perry Jr. pleaded guilty Tuesday to public intoxication hours after police arrested him for the crime.

The court ordered Perry to pay $182 in fines and court costs. Perry won the 165-pound title last month at the NCAA Tournament.

According to Iowa City police:

It was about 12:56 a.m. when officers responded to Muscatine and Iowa avenues for a report of a man standing in the street and yelling profanities. Officers arrived to find Perry, 22, of Coralville, standing in the street with his arms crossed and yelling. Perry told officers he was drinking downtown and at multiple house parties.

Police said Perry smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and had trouble keeping his balance. Perry also had a small abrasion on his right foreman and told officers he did not know how he got it. Once in the patrol car, Perry was singing and rambling. A post-arrest breath test showed Perry's blood-alcohol level at .20, more than twice the legal limit of .08.

So what is this public, non-driving  'legal limit' of alcohol, of which they speak?

Wonder what Iowa assistant wrestling coach Dan Gable will say about this?

Six Austrian Olympic dopers banned for life

Six Austrian Olympic hopefuls received lifetime sporting bans today.  Story at WRAL.com.  The Austrian athletes also saw their Turin Olympic marks erased from the books.  USA Today names names.

Six Austrian athletes were banned for life from the Olympics on Wednesday for their involvement in a doping scandal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

The decision was announced by the International Olympic Committee executive board after an investigation into alleged blood doping violations by the Austrian cross-country and biathlon teams.

The Austrians also had their competition results from Turin annulled.

That type of action might be a major deterrent for athletes thinking of drug-cheating.  Imagine if Barry Bonds knew his records would be wiped from the books; might he think twice or three times about cheating?  'But, but, but Barry Bonds has never been caught with roids in his urine.'  These dudes didn't test positive for PEDs:

It's the first time the IOC has punished athletes without a positive or missed doping test. The Austrians were found guilty of possessing doping substances and taking part in a conspiracy, based on materials seized by Italian police during a raid on the athletes' living quarters.

"This shows the IOC's clear determination to fight doping with zero tolerance," said IOC vice president Thomas Bach, a German lawyer who led the investigation.

Juiced dogfighting in Dogpatch

Last week The Nation carried a story looking at the rise of dog fighting in the UK.  Pit bulls put on 'roids  and intense training battled it out, sometimes with fatal results.  Seems that the US isn't far behind.

The Gulfport Sun-Herold carries a story about dog fighting in the USA.  Federal officers seized over 40 pit bulls, many sick, from a Louisiana farm.  Officials discovered all the sick accouterments of dog fighting including steroids paraphernalia and treadmills.

Federal agents raiding a country home Monday seized 43 pit bull terriers used for fighting; they believe the dogs - some injured, malnourished and parched - will have to be euthanized.

Before his 7 a.m. arrest Monday, 28-year-old Maxwell Landry of Vidalia Road was raking in at least $5,000 a month for dog fighting, authorities said. Officials say he bred and trained the dogs inside a pen on his property on the 14000 block of Vidalia Road, and then transported them to St. Charles Parish, La., to fight...

From the two properties authorities seized steroids and treadmills used for weighing the animals before matches, among other dog-fighting paraphernalia.

This idiot caused major problems in other ways:

The DEA initially was investigating Landry for his involvement in a large-scale drug operation. They would not comment on the amount of marijuana and cocaine seized from his home, only that he was charged with conspiracy to possess the drugs.

Unbelievable the stupidity and cruelty of some people.   Perhaps the Feds should design a prison with the same conditions the perpetrators kept their animals held in.

When agents arrived, they found the dogs restrained by heavy four-foot-long chains attached to 55-gallon drums used as doghouses...

"You've got 43 animals here that will probably, once they are evaluated, will more than likely have to be put down," said Harrison Sheriff's Major Wayne Payne. "That's just sad... I don't care who you are."

Some of the dogs had scars on their muzzles and legs. Others had bite marks all over their bodies.

And how many new books on Floyd Landis will be furiously printed this summer?

Good report from the New York Times on Floyd Landis.  (Why is no one asking what masking agent Landis used to fly below the radar in the T:E ratio?)

Tests on seven backup urine samples taken from Floyd Landis at the 2006 Tour de France have revealed traces of synthetic testosterone, according to a report yesterday by L’Équipe, the French sports newspaper.

Landis, who won last year’s Tour but tested positive for doping in the race, and his lawyers did not confirm or deny the report in a teleconference yesterday, saying they expected to receive the full results of those tests shortly from the French lab that conducted the testing.

The samples taken during the Tour had been deemed negative last year, but the French lab conducted a more sophisticated test on each sample this time, to determine the presence of man-made testosterone. The new round of testing was done at the request of the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

“First of all, I won the Tour fair and square,” Landis said on the teleconference yesterday afternoon. He added that he was disappointed, but not surprised, that the results were leaked to the French newspaper. He blamed the French lab or the United States Anti-Doping Agency for revealing the results prematurely.

Those are the facts in brief.  However, it is becoming increasing more and more difficult each day to regurgitate them.  How long will this case drag out?  Likely a long time as there is not only a hearing in May, but appeals processes possible following that hearing.

Are cycling fans ready to drag the Tour de France forensic case out years?  Does anyone think this situation really benefits the sport, the race, or the people involved?  Every one at this point appears to be losing.

It is exceedingly clear to fans that the entire process is pathetic.  Someone needs to ensure a dirty sport comes clean, and in a way that doesn't appear to resemble the OJ Simpson trial 'on steroids'.

      

Rocky saved by the bell in Australian court. Round 4 next

This story continues to 'grow'.  Sylvester Stallone, backed into a corner by Australian Customs officials last month who found 48 vials Human Growth Hormone they say he brought illegally into the country, was given a several week reprieve today in Sydney.  Story here in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"Medical material" sent to Australia by Sylvester Stallone needs to be analysed before an illegal importation case against the Hollywood star can proceed, a Sydney court heard today...

Stallone doesn't appear to have the Mick in his corner.  However he isn't playing chicken, or is he?

The US-based Stallone was represented by barrister John Chicken and did not appear before Downing Local Court this morning on the charge of importing a prohibited import.

The star of the Rocky and Rambo films was due to enter a plea today, but the magistrate, Alison Viney, heard that "medical material" sent by Stallone to Australia needed to be analysed by Customs first.

A document from the US also needed to be received before the case could continue, the court heard.

Mr Chicken said the matter would be finalised soon.

"We're certainly seeking to move to a resolution,'' he said.

Customs alleges that officers found the boxes of human growth hormone when Stallone alighted from Qantas flight QF8 from the United States on February 16.

Allegedly Stallone's drug was Jintropin, a Chinese brand (not legal) of HGH.  The actor could be fined $22,000.  Big deal.

Is Stallone bothered by all the sparing?  Doubt it:

Stallone has not entered a plea and was excused from attending when the matter returns to court on May 15.

Are A-Rod's balls juiced?

The New York Yankee's Alex Rodriquez continues on the hottest home run hitting tear since Walter Johnson dusted back Ty Cobb.  Could the balls MLB pitchers serve up to A-Rod be juiced?

Relax. Two professors at the Univ of Massachusetts-Lowell make sure MLB's balls are tightly wound, but not too tight.  Story here in Wired.

Professor James Sherwood stands in a dingy little basement room on the campus of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. The tests he runs here — in a 4-foot-wide bulletproof plastic cube that usurps considerable loor space — aren't as sophisticated as the work he does in his modern lab upstairs. Yes, there are the heavy computations and the strict control measures you'd expect of a mechanical engineer, but it's so much less than Sherwood could do if the powers that be would just give him a chance. All he does down here is shoot baseballs at a plank of wood.

Sherwood and Patrick Drane are director and assistant director, respectively, of the university's Baseball Research Center. They spend most of their time conducting complicated tests on the performance of college and pro baseball bats, but twice a year it's their job to certify the balls used in Major League games. The league first approached the center in 2000, hoping to quash conspiracy theories that it had intentionally produced the home run barrage of the late 1990s by juicing the balls. At the start of each season, and again just before the World Series, Sherwood and Drane receive a batch of 72 to 96 balls from the Rawlings warehouse. They strip down a dozen, layer by layer, weighing and measuring everything as they go. Then they fire two dozen more at a slab of ash, the wood used in most bats, recording their rebound speed.

The technology used in the lab tends to be dated:

... Though MLB pitches often eclipse 90 mph, league code dictates that balls in this test travel at only 58 mph and rebound with a coefficient of restitution of between 0.514 and 0.578. That translates to a speed between 29.8 and 33.5 mph.

As long as new baseballs continue to rebound within this decades-old range, fans are supposed to feel reassured that the balls have not been manipulated to make them livelier...

Sherwood would love to bring the testing procedures into the modern era. Upstairs, his computerized machines can control a baseball bat with the precision of Barry Bonds. He has air cannons that can fire a ball at 180 mph. But the league doesn't like change. Sherwood estimates the MLB hasn't altered ball design since Babe Ruth played.

Sherwood says there's some evidence that firing a baseball at 58 mph may not be fast enough to accurately determine its liveliness.

"Has there actually been data on that?" Drane asks.

"Yeah," Sherwood says, "We're just going to explore looking at the higher speeds and present that to the league. Maybe they'll change their minds."

Although the testing procedure assures that MLB balls perform at the low end, they have never been tested for the high end of velocity.  Interesting, in that the ceiling speed of pitched balls may be higher these days due to several reasons...including juiced pitchers.  We, the fans, will never know.

 

Cheryl Hines gives Jose Canseco the royal flush

The Nation catches up with Jose Canseco to find the man appearing in a soon-to-debut poker mockumentary called The Grand.  Apparently Canseco's male parts have shrunk so much due to juice, he gets capped by Cheryl Hines (Larry David's wife in Curb Your Enthusiasm). This marks Canseco's second foray into movies; in his first role he played himself in Mail Order Wife.   From L'avion's interview with Hines:

Zak Penn’s hysterical mockumentary The Grand (which debuts April 27) starts with the simplest premise: celebrity-poker improv. Penn gathered a bunch of famous funny people—Woody Harrelson, Judy Greer, Richard Kind, Michael McKean, Jason Alexander, and others—and had them play a real poker tournament as fictional characters. And though he outlined basic character traits, it was up to the actors to improvise the vicious trash-talking and Best in Show–ish backstage psychodrama. Not surprisingly, Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Cheryl Hines is one of the most cruelly hilarious players, undermining her loser brother (David Cross) and pathetic househusband (Ray Romano). She spoke with Logan Hill...

Was Jose Canseco upset when you beat him?
Jose Canseco may have been one that was really not pleased … But the poker pros are the ones that really may not enjoy me as much, the ones who’d rather sit in silence calculating odds.

Canseco now spends time working on his poker game (here at the Pokerpages.com)... 

Don't think $100 is worthy of your time? Notable poker afficianado and full-time movie star, James Woods, played in the event. As did Jose Canseco! If stars like this are showing up for just the first few, small buy-in tournaments, it's going to be interesting to see who comes out in later events!

..and his golf game (The Desert Sun).  He better; seems he's getting stradled by everyone.

<>

The Gridiron Golf Classic has added more star power, but went to a different sport to get it.  Jose Canseco, the baseball player who also wrote a tell-all book, "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big," was added to the field of former NFL greats.  Canseco's book led to a congressional hearing.

The Grand is part of a Tribeca/ESPN indie film festival featuring sports theme movies.

Perhaps this Landis thing is a big deal

More on the Landis leak from today.  A former administrator in the UCLA lab (Don Catlin) isn't happy.  Of course he is a Landis advisor.  Story here in Bike Biz:

Paul Scott, former director of client services at the UCLA lab, is now working as a consultant to the Landis team. He was one of the experts appointed by Landis to watch over the LNDD retesting. However, Scott claims he was denied full access to all of the retesting, a breach of WADA's rules.

“In my years at the UCLA lab, I’ve never seen anything like what I experienced at the LNDD yesterday. The limitation placed on me and Simon [Davis – an Isotope Ratio Mass Spectometry expert also selected by Landis to observe the retesting] demonstrates the lack of objectivity in this process.

"USADA’s interest in controlling and limiting our observation of the retesting is an example of one of the most egregious problems in the fundamental science of anti-doping that I have experienced."

He said he was denied entry to the LNDD yesterday. As such, the analysis of two samples was conducted without a Landis representative as witness. Why were the two Landis experts refused access to key tests? Because the two experts from USADA decided not to be present: and instructions had been left that, if the USADA bods were missing, the Landis bods would be excluded.

"Such behaviour constitutes a clear and direct infringement of Landis’ rights while casting severe doubt on the integrity of an already dubious process," said a statement from the Landis camp.

Scott said: “Good science does not fear being an open book. Any science that is not neutral and objective is not science at all. Labs acting under the direction of prosecuting Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) are, by definition, not independent. As service providers hired by ADOs, they have a vested interest in the results desired by their client. In this case, the client is USADA and the lab is the LNDD. From what I have witnessed so far, I have significant concerns that their analysis will render results that are scientifically invalid.”

All the B samples have now been destroyed in the retesting and Landis cannot have them independently evaluated.

L'Equipe on Landis; BBC: Landis 'infuriated'

Here is the translated L'Equipe report on Landis.  Further Landis information here: L'Equipe translation and Landis' response.  Trust but verify, summarizes the bizarre reports out today.

Cycling - Doping - overpowered Landis

The analyses complementary carried out on the seven samples of Floyd Landis, taken at the time of the Turn of France 2006 and classified negative initially, would clearly let appear, on several occasions, of the synthetic testosterone traces. The runner American, victorious of the Outer Loop but controlled positive officially first once at the end of the test to this same exogenic testosterone, must appear next on May 14 before the panel of the American Agency antidopage (USADA) and risks a two year old suspension.

From now on, after having been first of all opposed to the principle of retroactive analysis, Landis, having confronted with the new overpowering results establish by the laboratory of Châtenay-Malabry (LNDD), will have to readjust its strategy of defense as fast as possible. Because these new positive samples, proven by the means of the technique of the IRMS, which distinguishes the origin from detected testosterone - natural or synthetic -, will consolidate the charge, in the event the USADA (and the UCI). Moreover, Floyd Landis, who has évertué itself for several months with décrédibiliser the French laboratory, will have well evil, this time, to use of this argument: the new analyses, carried out last week and enclosed this weekend, were carried out in the presence of two experts appointed by the American runner, and of two representatives of the USADA.

The BBC reports Landis is 'infuriated':

Floyd Landis says he is "infuriated" at US anti-doping officials over what he calls a "malicious series of actions" over his Tour de France B samples.

Tests on the samples at a laboratory in Paris concluded on Sunday with French paper L'Equipe reporting they showed traces of synthetic testosterone.

Landis's consultant Paul Scott was excluded from witnessing the tests, in the absence of two USADA experts.

Landis said it was "yet another in a series of malicious actions by USADA".

"How can I be expected to prove my innocence while USADA (the US Anti-Doping Agency) endeavors to break their own rules at every turn?" he questioned on his personal website.

"Together, they have turned this proceeding into a full-scale attack on my civil rights and a mockery of justice.

"I'm infuriated by the behavior of USADA and the (French anti-doping lab) LNDD," he added.

News Flash: Floyd Landis tests positive for synthetic steroid...again

Just in from news outlets (L'Equipe reference here):  Floyd Landis' urine samples, undergoing secondary testing show synthetic anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone).

As everyone breathing knows, Floyd Landis won the Tour de France in 2006.  However his urine samples tested for a high T:E after one of the stages.  Later, synthetic testosterone was found in a follow-up test.  Landis' Tour title was held in escrow as officials tried to sort the entire imbroglio out.

Since then Landis has gone public with his Wiki-defense, claiming any number of Tour screw-ups.  The USADA ordered testing of Landis other urine samples.  And....(from the LA Times) this just in.  Realize these tests DO NOT REPEATS of the Stage 17 of last year.  The LNDD compiled tests on other stages of the Tour where Landis T:E ration was under 4:1; those samples would not be normally be referred for synthetic steroid testing (SFGate).

Synthetic testosterone found in Landis’ “B” samples
by Philip Hersh, Special to The Times

Evidence of synthetic testosterone has been found in "several" of the other urine samples Floyd Landis gave while winning the 2006 Tour de France, the French newspaper L'Equipe reported on its website Monday.

The arbitration panel hearing Landis' case approved in March a request by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to allow testing of the other samples. The tests were done in the same Paris laboratory that found Landis positive on the sample given after the dramatic mountain stage victory that wiped out a substantial time deficit and put him in the race lead for good.

According to L'Equipe, which did not cite the sources of its information, two representatives each of both Landis and USADA witnessed the retests on the "B" portions of the urine samples.

Landis was tested eight times during the Tour de France; seven of the eight, on which only the "A" portion was analyzed, originally were declared negative. Those seven had not been analyzed with the more sophisticated carbon-isotope ratio testing until last week.

Landis held a press conference just minutes ago.  Report here.

Landis' hasn't gotten any official results, and hopes to get them in a few days. As noted in the earlier press release, they complained that USADA ran the analytical process, with their expert and attorney "over the line", while Landis' expers Scott and Davis were kept on the other side. They said that they were denied visibility into the critical parts of the analysis.

...Landis believes the leak could only have come from LNDD or USADA, an issue they expect to take up with the arbiters this week.

At the conclusion of the prepared remarks, Floyd gave a blistering attack, saying that he won the Tour fair and square; that is disappointed but not surprised by the leaked results, which show that what few rights athletes have are routinely ignored, reflecting a lack of ethics by the agencies. He thinks what happened at the LNDD borders on deliberate falsification and destruction of evidence.
 

(CBS report after the jump)

Rampant steroid speculation in baseball

Deadspin carries a piece on how rampant the speculation of steroid use in MLB rides this year.  The latest casualty of 'speculative steroids caused injury' is Eric Gagne, who pulled up lame this spring.  We discussed Mark Prior in an earlier post.  The Hater Nation weighs in too.

As they say over there:

...And that's just the pitchers, and we're not even counting Roger Clemens yet. It is comforting, in a way, to be able to act as if injuries have some natural, reasoned ancestor, particularly if it's a salacious one. This is the mess we have been handed, so it's little wonder we grasp. We're probably right more often than we even realize.

Governor Schwarzenegger's appontments to State Board of Chiropractors has California in 'roid rage

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of the great state of California clearly takes political juice to another level.  Arnold greased the way for his gear-popping bodybuilder buddies to control the California Board of Chiropractors.  The gang still suffers from 'roid rage because the CHIPs were called to settle down the gang during recent Board of Chiropractic meeting (from Mother Jones)

Who needs to watch "Conan the Barbarian" when there’s the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners? The board, which includes two friends from Schwarzenegger’s bodybuilding days, one of whom played a part in the film, has launched a coup. They’ve ousted the board’s executive director and ejected their own lawyer, a deputy attorney general, from a meeting. The board is so mired in controversy, reports the Sacramento Bee, that five California Highway Patrol officers were called into a meeting last week to keep the peace.

The Midway Driller get down to the nitty gritty of the gear-grinding government:

...Schwarzenegger still doesn't understand why California has a state government. That became clear the other day, after his appointees to the state Board of Chiropractic Examiners - including two of his old steroid-popping bodybuilding buddies - pushed the board into utter chaos by firing its executive director and claiming chiropractors can cure earaches, when there's no evidence to suggest this is true.

A Terminator appointee kinda goofed-up says the Sac Bee. 

Acknowledging "gross errors in judgment," Tyler, appointed to the (Chiropractic) board by his longtime friend, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, began the meeting with a contrite statement reflecting on the board's actions in a meeting earlier this month.

In that March 1 meeting, the board fired its executive director without due notice, ejected a deputy attorney general, endorsed a controversial procedure involving anesthesia and accredited a college despite the lack of an active application.

Wow.  That's more trouble than doing hang cleans on a soapy wood floor.

Arnold appointed longtime friend, Mr Olympia,  Franco Columbo to the board.  Controversy ensued when someone found out Franco's degrees are somewhat bogus.  How about that, a bogus degree was obtained under bogus cover.

One of two personal friends Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed to the state Board of Chiropractic Examiners last year had received a cease-and-desist letter in 2004 from the board ordering him to stop advertising a doctorate from an unaccredited correspondence school (Franco Columbo, shown below apparently treating a patient with neck pain).

Columbo, who trained with Schwarzenegger and was best man at his wedding, is one of four board members facing legislative scrutiny after they admitted running afoul of open-meeting laws and declared they wanted the board to better serve chiropractic interests. Board Chairman Richard Tyler, also a former friend of Schwarzenegger from his bodybuilding days, apologized at a recent legislative hearing for the panel's actions.

The head of the Chiropractic board, has his own educational credibility:

Another board member appointed by Schwarzenegger in February, Frederick Lerner, claims a Ph.D. in electromedical sciences from City University Los Angeles on his biography at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

CULA is unaccredited and is no longer approved by the state Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education. The school maintains a Web site on which it cites recognition from Nigeria to operate.

What a mess.  However, The Barbarian Governor didn't stop at cracking up Chiropractic;  he now is getting drilled for appointing his own dentist to the State Dental Board.

'Roids in the Ring

Nice piece in Ringside Report about 'roids in the boxing ring.  The author Lee Purchase starts out this way:

The notion of a professional athlete using drugs to enhance their performance is a thoroughly shameful one; some sport fans would prefer to think that their idols would never consciously perpetrate such a contemptible act of dishonesty, and in most cases believe the hastily issued statements blaming general neglectfulness or unwitting participation. Others are a little more open to the minute but ever-present evils that lurk in the background of professional sports. It's easy to see the reasons behind employing these deceitful tactics but difficult to comprehend the relaxation of all principles and complete disregard of integrity.

Wow.  Purchase goes on to discuss some of the more famous boxers who juiced:

Fernando “Ferocious” Vargas, the youngest ever champion in his weight class and one of the better sub-middleweight fighters of the past decade, tested positive following his grudge match against Oscar De La Hoya in 2002..

James Toney is the other name of note who provided a positive test, coming after his world title “win” over 2-Time WBA Champion, John Ruiz, in 2005. Toney (briefly, it was eventually returned to the former champion) captured the WBA Belt from the sluggish John Ruiz in a superb display of defensive aptitude and counter-punching, triumphing with something to spare on the scorecards, but the result was nullified when traces of Nandrolone were discovered in his sample.

And the recent Holyfield gear grind (our posts here) makes the column, although thepunches are pulled:

Although these are the only two high-profile occurrences of proved steroid abuse in boxing in recent times, fighters such as Shane Mosley and Evander Holyfield have all been the subject of rumors involving drug abuse but have never actually tested positive.

 

Does foam asterisk reflect fans roid rage for Barry Bonds?

Story in the LA Times (may require registration) discusses a recent fan movement: displaying a foam asterisk at MLB games to protest the steroid-injected home run king Barry Bond's assault on Hank Aaron's record.  Apparently sold online, the foam asterisk can be worn like the #1 fingers that get in your line of sight you see at college football games.

A baseball fan who points a finger at Bonds --Tom Wilson-- lugs these things all over MLB-dom, with a good response.  Seems some fans are 'foaming at the mouth...or finger'

Tom Wilson doesn't buy it. He's a fan, a producer from Los Feliz. He loves nothing more than a day at Dodger Stadium.

Baseball sacrificed its integrity, he says, and there ought to be a way for fans to express their disgust without depriving themselves of a trip to the ballpark. He has just the way, or so he hopes.

He'd like to sell you a foam asterisk — same as those foam fingers fans wave, except in the shape of a star. Booing isn't enough, he says, and throwing a syringe on the field is too much. Wave the asterisk, and take a stand.

He lugged 100 of them to Dodger Stadium two years ago, on a day the Giants were in town. He says he sold out, before guards shooed him away. He carted 1,000 to Shea Stadium in New York last year, on a day the Giants were in town, and he says he sold out there too.

Despite the novel idea, MLB must feel that the foam asterisk is too in Bond's face.  Would MLB go 'roid rage at the vendors?

He (Wilson) approached two major novelty manufacturers last year and said both refused to make the asterisk, for fear of losing huge accounts with Major League Baseball. After he found a guy in Texas to make the asterisk, he called around the country but could not find a sports store that would carry it, for the same reason.

Thus, baseball will be left with a tainted record.  The fans will be left still searching for a way to make their protests known.

Link: With Leather.

Steroid jockey Sauerbrun signs with Denver Broncos

The NFL Wire carries the following item:

P Todd Sauerbrun signed a one-year, incentive-laden deal with the Broncos. The same issue the Broncos had with him a year ago, when they released him, still remains, and that’s a looming one-year suspension if he again violates the NFL’s policy on anabolic steroids and related substances. Sauerbrun was released last year when he was coming off a four-game suspension for a positive test. This time around, Sauerbrun wants to make good with the Broncos. “Just immature, stupid,” Sauerbrun said about his past mistakes. “What else can I say? It was just dumb. You learn. Either you learn, or you’re done. It’s pretty simple.”

How many opportunities does Sauerbrun get?  Arrests, steroid busts, etc.

OK, the NFL is a business, thus they need the best players available at positions.  But Sauerbrun, who used steroids, ephedra, and God-knows what other banned substances?  As he said "immature, stupid...dumb".  How can the NFL discuss character in draftees --a popular subject this draft season-- then re-sign this guy?

Cricket coach poisoned/murdered by snake venom?

Over the past year Cricket, a very popular sports worldwide, suffered numerous scandals involving steroids and match-fixing.  The controversy appeared most intense in cricket-mad Pakistan.  Pakistan first banned, then reinstated two of the best cricket players for steroid use.  Then word of match or point fixing leaked out of the country.  The scandal appears to have led to the murder of Pakistan national coach Bob Woolmer during the World Cricket Games in Jamaica.  Woolmer appeared ready to write a book about these issues following the games; perhaps he planned to expose the match-fixing.

Woolmer was found strangled in Jamaica on 18 March, a day after Pakistan suffered a shock loss to minnows Ireland in the Cricket World Cup - a result which knocked them out of the tournament.

Image if Bob Knight were murdered in Puerto Rico during the Olympics, because he knew of point-shaving.  This is the magnitude of the Woolmer incident.

The Daily Mail suggests that Woolmer was poisoned by snake venom.

Police investigating the death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer have told his widow he may have been drugged with snake venom.

A friend of the family said Gill Woolmer has been informed that her husband was probably subdued by a 'natural toxin' which left his body by the time of the forensic examination.

Cobra venom?  One more weird turn in a bizarre and lethal tail of drugs, betting, and money in cricket.

Barry Bond's trainer -Greg Anderson- a prison celebrity

Gwen Knapp in the SF Chronicle profiles Barry Bond's trainer Greg Anderson's stay in federal prison.  Anderson stands convicted of steroids conspiracy; he sits in prison because he will not testify against Bonds to the Grand Jury.

Anderson appears to be a celebrity.  Apparently anyone with a connection to the home run king rules:

"Totally respected," Wolf said, describing the other inmates' impression of Anderson as if he were delivering a baseball scouting report. "He is in there for refusing to talk about someone that most of these guys would consider one of their heroes. ... Everyone would show up and say, 'Oh, Greg's here. I want to meet that guy.' A lot of them talked about asking for his autograph."

Was there any evidence Anderson is keeping mum because Bonds will make it worth his time?

Most people assume that Anderson has made a lucrative trade-off for his hardship, expecting Bonds to reward his silence. Wolf won't pretend to know what has been said or implied between the two, but he said Anderson didn't act like the carefree beneficiary of a multimillionaire.

"He doesn't have much money in there to speak of," Wolf said, "and he (frequently) wonders how he's going to recover ... financially."

 

Victor Conte has a rich SNAC thanks to the Texas Rangers and Oakland Raiders

Convicted steroid cheat says he still supplies Bonds with ZMA.  Fraud gets you a Bentley.

Victor Conte, the man who tampered with track world record holders/gold medalists Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones, the man who helped the fraudulent detour of the soon-to-be home run champ of all time Barry Bonds, the man who gave NFL players like bad boy Bill Romanowski the juice, and the man who spent a few months in jail convicted of one of the more notorious sports scandals in history, drives a Bentley.  That's justice isn't it.

Story here in SF Gate about Conte's new enterprise, SNAC (Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning).

"Come look inside," Victor Conte Jr. urges while gesturing toward his new silver Bentley shimmering in the springtime sun.

  When the architect of sport's worst drug scandal is determined, it's almost futile to resist him.

  "Go ahead. Stick your head in."

The $170,000 luxury car is one indication of how much has changed for Conte in the year since his release from a federal work camp for his role in masterminding the BALCO steroids scandal. The flash has returned, and the San Mateo man once called an evil scientist, a charlatan, and worse, has regained his footing in the nutritional supplement industry.

  Sales are up 20 percent this year, he said, looking tan and fit while darting around the nondescript Burlingame building that once housed the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative.

Who would patronize the architect of a sports cheating conspiracy?  How about the Texas Rangers and Oakland Raiders.

BALCO is gone, replaced by Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning (SNAC). Conte said professional athletes still want ZMA, his signature zinc and magnesium dietary supplement that he says can help naturally stimulate muscle growth. (The $1 billion supplement industry is largely unregulated, making it difficult to verify product claims.)

Conte's primary business involves bodybuilders and combat sports fighters. But he also gets Web orders from Oakland Raiders and                                                              Texas Rangers personnel.

How can he be sure?

"The shipping address is right to their facilities," said Conte, who added that he indirectly supplies Barry Bonds with ZMA.

After all almost everyone cheats:

Conte guesses that half the 11,000 competitors at the Sydney Games in 2000 used some kind of illegal performance aid.

"They have linked 15 to me," he said. "Where are the others getting their stuff?"

As we say, it's a Steroid Nation.  And it pays off.

 

Sean Hill --New York Islander defenseman-- ejected for 20 games by NHL steroid use policy

New York Islander defender Sean Hill will be icing himself for 20 games as the result of a violation of the NHL steroid policy.  Report here at Metro.Canada and the Winnipeg Free Press.  The suspension occured hours before the Islanders face Buffalo, down in the series 1-3.

Islanders defenceman Sean Hill was hit with a 20-game suspension by the NHL on Friday - just hours before New York faced elimination from the playoffs - for violating the league's performance-enhancing substances program...

He is the first player to be suspended under this program.

First player suspended under the NHL program, and our first hockey player featured here at Steroid Nation.  With this first case, the NHL is proclaiming success, which seems a but premature to us.

The nature of Hill's infraction was not immediately clear.

"It's unfortunate it happened, and we certainly hope that we won't have many more violations of our policy as we move forward with the program," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Canadian Press. "But this result shows that our program is working as it was designed and intended to work."

Great write-upon Hill here at Current Habs History

Hill, a native of Duluth, Minn., was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the eighth round of the 1988 NHL entry draft. In 841 career regular-season games, Hill has 60 goals and 229 assists for 289 points.

 

Two For Elbowing thinks the penalty for on-ice mutilation of players should be commensurate with the time in the box for gear:

Scott Hartnell's hit on Cheechoo: no penalty

Scott Hartnell's double-game-misconduct in game 2: no penalty

Alex Radulov's trying to break Steve Bernier's neck: one game.

Brad May punching Johnsson: three games.

Sean Hill failing the "pee test": 20 games

Not to make light of using a banned substance (steroids? amphetamines?) but -- don't the suspensions seem a bit, well, lopsided?

I'm not suggesting Sean Hill's penalty should be reduced. But doesn't the way the league treats bad play on ice seem -- weak? compared to peeing in a cup and missing?

Let's double all on-ice suspensions. It might make some guys think twice about hitting from behind...

Scott Hartnell's hit on Cheechoo: no penalty

Scott Hartnell's double-game-misconduct in game 2: no penalty

Alex Radulov's trying to break Steve Bernier's neck: one game.

Brad May punching Johnsson: three games.

Sean Hill failing the "pee test": 20 games

Not to make light of using a banned substance (steroids? amphetamines?) but -- don't the suspensions seem a bit, well, lopsided?

I'm not suggesting Sean Hill's penalty should be reduced. But doesn't the way the league treats bad play on ice seem -- weak? compared to peeing in a cup and missing?

Let's double all on-ice suspensions. It might make some guys think twice about hitting from behind...

Juiced dogs butcher each other in the UK

In a sick report, The Sun UK gives readers a look into the heinous world of dog fights in the UK.  Obviously sick humans raise, train, and dope dogs to fight in the ring.  We covered juiced cock fights, and 'roided dogs, but this story reeks of brutality.

THERE has been a dramatic increase in recent years in the number of illegal dog-fights where animals are forced to rip each other to bits for the enjoyment of sick yobs.

And animal cruelty experts fear the popularity of the barbaric 'sport' could soon be as bad as in it's grisly 1980s heyday, where fights were taking place EVERY weekend...

Here is a look at the fights:

Brawls can last up to TWO hours as the dogs - mostly pitbulls - go head-to-head in 12ft-square pits, with devastating consequences.

Mike revealed how vicious thugs arrange fights as a way of showing their power and boosting their street cred.

"It isn't about money," he said, "It's about having the best dog.  If your dog wins three fights, it becomes a Champion. Five, and it goes up to a Grand Champion - the ultimate award - and that's what they aim for.

The dogs go through rigorous training, including anabolic steroids:

"Owners put their dogs into a tough training regime for weeks before and get them down to an agreed fighting weight - just like a boxer.  That includes treadmill work, diet, stamina, running around and steroids to get it completely lean with no fat."

The fights are brutal:

Mike said: "The dogs fight face-to-face so you get lots of jaws and teeth broken and bad cuts.  "They get hold of something and shake it and won't let go.  Some dogs are left with broken legs and torn ears. Others are badly bruised.  Fights only stop when the owner says so and throws in the towel.  Dogs don't often die in the ring. If they do die, it's usually from shock in the days following a fight."

The evil thugs who take part in dog-fighting are often criminals who use the animals as a bizarre extension of themselves.

Fights are morbidly reported on in niche publications that use fake names and dates to avoid detection.

This is cruel, criminal, reprehensible, and should be punished severely.  This week just did not bring out the best in humans all over the world.

Link: Deadspin.

Fly Brad Lohaus Airlines

I see my former Iowa Hawkeye friend Brad Lohaus has made Sports by Brooks, and Deadspin.  He is a salesman for an aviation service, which is interesting. He once owned the best pizza bar in town --and best window on scenery in downtown Iowa City-- The Airliner.

Lohaus was recruited by Lute Olson to Iowa basketball.  He was buried by George Raveling (I saw Raveling sprint on the court once to lay into Lohaus with a vengeance).  Lodawg was resurrected by Tom Davis on that wonderful 1986-7 Hawkeye team that went something like 31-5 (link to classic piece featuring both Brad Lohaus and ex Hawk coach Steve Alford).

In happier times Lohaus built a huge house next to Tom Davis on Finkbine Golf course.  (The Nation drives by it every day).  Brad was the leading contributor to Hawkeye Sports back then.

Lodawg,er Lohaus is a nice guy with some baggage.   He got into a little woman  (women) trouble and a little Ebay financial trouble recently.  But he is trying to fly right.

Lohaus is a nice guy.  He will talk to anyone at anytime. Pull out of the tailspin, Brad.  The Nation wishes him well.

Iowa lineman mad he doesn't get to play more; wants signed agreement from new team that he gets to play, and gets extra mashed potatoes and long recesses

Former Iowa Hawkeye Ryan Bain, recently arrested for public intox, disorderly conduct, and interference (public acts, not pass) decided he was tired of being a backup.  Bain announced he is transferring to another school for more 'NFL' exposure.  Bain's family indicates that the lucky new school should give the poor fella a signed affidavit for guaranteed PT,  a stocked celebrity trailer (obviously with bar), room service, and valet parking.

Ryan Bain arrived at Iowa as a prized football recruit in a star-studded class of players who candidly, and seemingly collectively, stated their goal was to lead the Hawkeyes to new heights.

The 6-foot-2, 282-pound defensive lineman has asked for his release from the Hawkeyes and plans to transfer at the end of the semester, his father said Thursday evening.

Rick Bain said his son wants to get to the NFL and thinks the best route to getting there is by going somewhere that he can receive the playing time and exposure that comes with being a full-time starter rather than spending another season at Iowa as a second-string defensive tackle.

Let's get this right.  You think you're good enough for the NFL, however you cannot beat out defensive linemen at a 6-7 team?  We don't see the logic.

"He just wants to go where he's wanted," Rick Bain said. "Yeah, (the Hawkeyes) wanted him. But you know why they wanted him. They wanted him for a back-up to Matt Kroul and Kenny Iwebema and you don't get looked at (by NFL teams) as a backup."

Maybe Bain could join Mitch Mustain at USC, or at least discuss whining about playing time with him.  Ryan's dad wants a contract that the boy can start.  That's a novel way to earn PT rather than win it on the field...

When asked if there's anything that would change his son's mind at this point, Rick Bain said: "If you get a signed affidavit that he's the starter, that's all he wants."

UK bad boy sportswriter uses performance enhancing drugs to bury his lead

A UK sportswriter decided to get in on some of the hot action he was covering off the field.  He even figured to enhance his 'performance' with some drugs, only his PEDs included sedatives.

From the Bromley Times comes the story of former Daily Telegraph football reporter who decided he wanted more headers.  (Metro.UK.com too) His game plan: sedate then seduce.  Scott Van Pelt, listen up:

A SPORTS journalist laced desserts with tranquilisers hoping to drug guests inito having sex, a court heard.

Christopher Davies, 58, of Harwood Avenue, Bromley treated his guests to champagne, shots of vodka and orange and played a truth-or-dare game at the dinner table.

The former Daily Telegraph football correspondent is accused of feeding his victims Diazepam.

One woman became dizzy at the dinner party, Croydon Crown Court heard, and went to lay down.

She claimed that she woke up twice to find Mr Davies stroking her hair and kissing her wearing just a t-shirt and underpants.

Hey doesn't that work for Portland Trail Blazer Zach Randolph?  These sportswriters are tricky fellows:

He (Mr Davies) said he was "mortified" that one of his female guests at a boozy dinner party had found part of a diazepam tablet in her dessert. He denied deliberately planting it there and said it must have dropped in unnoticed when he was taking the "chill out pill" to calm himself after getting upset over his terminally ill father...

Now listen up young men who would buy beer for ladies you meet...that could be illegal:

He denies two counts of administering a poisonous or noxious substance with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy and two counts of administering a substance with intent to engage in sexual activity.

Links:
With Leather
The Hater Nation
Busted Play

Cinemarati discusses juicing in MLB, the NFL, and in Rocky

Nice post over at Cinemarati about the use of juice in sports and in the movies.

From sports...

As Barry Bonds limps his buckled knees closer to Hank Aaron, baseball fans are nearly unanimous in their hatred for Bonds because he used steroids.  The steroids issue casts a shadow over the game, calling into question the “hallowed” records broken during the steroid era. The joy of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire’s chase of Roger Maris’ 61 homers in 1998 made the fans forget about the strike of 1994 and reinvigorated the nation’s pasttime. Now, Sosa is a shell of his former self, and McGwire disgraced himself in front of Congress under questioning by St. Louis representative Lacy Clay.  There’s even talk of taking down this sign on I-70...

To films...

Does the fact that Stallone was busted for HGH and most likely built his Rocky Balboa physique with performance enhancing drugs change how you feel about the movie? On the one hand, there’s the Barry’s Innocent Argument: Just as steroids don’t help you hit a curve ball, HGH didn’t help Stallone develop that script and direct those grim scenes of Fishtown. On the other hand, it was very believable that Stallone could have stood a few rounds with the out-sized Antonio Tarver. Stallone didn’t look quick, but he moved well enough for a heavyweight and looked as if he could throw the haymaker that gives Rocky a puncher’s chance. I mean, one of the payoffs for sitting through an hour of dark, slow-paced story is to watch Rocky beat the hell out of a side of beef. Stallone delivers...

This is a well written post.

Dick Butkus wants his award back

For over 20 years the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando awarded the Dick Butkus trophy to their pick of the best linebacker in college football.  Butkus filed suit on Orlando District Court on Monday to sack the club, then recover his award.  Story in the New York Times (which will take registration). Or SI.com

Why does Butkus want to reverse his field?

Butkus and athletic club officials disagree about which charitable organizations should benefit most from Butkus’s association with the award, according to his lawyer, Robert Helfing. By taking control, he said, Butkus hopes to raise more money for charities with which he is affiliated.

Butkus supports the Hooton Foundation to keep kids form juicing:

He also started an educational campaign, called Lean Mean and Clean, to eradicate steroids among high school athletes. Butkus works closely with the Taylor Hooton Foundation, named after a former high school baseball pitcher from Plano, Tex., and a cousin of the former major league pitcher Burt Hooton. Taylor Hooton committed suicide in 2003 at age 17, before his senior year. The family started the foundation because they say his use of anabolic steroids played a significant role in causing severe depression, leading to his suicide.

In seeking licensing control of his name for an award to a college linebacker, Butkus contends, he would be able to use his status to bring more attention and money to organizations, like the Taylor Hooton Foundation. Helfing said Butkus had discussed his concerns with the athletic club, but that the sides had been unable to reach an agreement.

There may be time to drop back in coverage for the Orlando Club, however Butkus' lawyer sounds determined.
“It’s possible that we could still work this out and that Dick could reach an new agreement with the club,” Helfing said. “If not, maybe we’ll present it in Chicago, or somewhere where Dick has closer ties. But we just wanted to confirm with the court that Dick has the right to use his name with a college football award and that Dick was terminating his licensing agreement with the club.”

Sounds to us that Butkus would not be happy with the 1985 and 1986 Butkus award-winner: juicer Brian Bosworth.

Did steroids make Todd Sauerbrun smart

The Nation knows Carolina steroid user/punter Todd Sauerbrun, currently the punter for the New England Patriots shows a penchant for stupid comments.  We know he juiced to get ready for his rigorous role as defensive tackle, linebacker, punter and whiner.

We know Sauerbrun paid weekly fines for being fat carrying extra weight  :

"I'm a pound or two overweight. I don't even want to get into it, it's my fault. But it just gets so annoying getting that letter every week in your mailbox."

Dude threatened to kick the Gramatica brothers arses:

   "I don't know who this kid thinks he's playing with but I'm not the most mild-tempered guy,'' Sauerbrun said. "If he would have said the wrong thing to me there's no telling what I might have done ... that kid is as big of an idiot as his brother, and I'm sure his other brother is, too. It goes right down the line.''

Sauerbrun summed it up for himself:

"I made some dumb choices and I think I've been pretty humbled through that," he said. "I feel like if this isn't a lesson learned, I'm an idiot."

However, it might be that Sauerbrun's steroids pumped up his cerebration.  According to the Sports Frog, Sauerbrun has a 'get-out-of-jail-free card from the Pats.

A Special Master ruled Wednesday punter Todd Sauerbrun is now a free agent -- available to sign with any team -- after winning a grievance that voided the New England Patriots right to match a one-year contract he recently signed with the Denver Broncos.

The failure to put the first-right-of-refusal provision in a separate attachment to the contract was the reason the Special Master ruled in favor of Sauerbrun. The case was argued in his behalf by Jeff Kessler, one of the labor lawyers who helped to write the collective bargaining agreement.

Brilliant.  Steroid Todd punts himself out of the endzone.  He is now a special free agent.

Sammy Sosa blows into the Windy City

Former Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa looped a couple hits in his return to the city with a Loop.  Story in the Chicago Sun Times.

Although Sosa played in the South Side White Sox park, US Cellular Field, this constituted his first visit since giving the Cubs the finger back in 2004.

If you want ''Cubbie Swagger'' -- that elusive attitude manager Lou Piniella is trying to inject in a team that continues to frustrate -- it's on full display right here in Chicago. Smack dab at 35th and Shields...

For the first time since he snubbed then-manager Dusty Baker and sparked a 2004 season-finale controversy made for Chicago -- complete with incriminating video evidence and ugly finger-pointing after his unexcused early exit -- Sosa returned to town Tuesday, facing his former White Sox team. And yes, he belted a booming home run when the game had been decided, hopped out of the box and kiss-tapped his way across home plate.

Sosa, who went through corked bats, and a steroid controversy, seemed comfortable in the city that formerly showered him with affection, a relationship turned sour:

''They give me what I deserve,'' he said after the game. ''I'm not going to be here and trying to have a fight with the fans.''

The boos accompanied each at-bat but came through gritted teeth after Sosa's seventh-inning double to right sparked a three-run rally. They finally were muted after Sosa smacked a three-run homer -- his third this season and No. 591 for his career -- on an 0-2 offering from Mike MacDougal in the eighth.

And then Sosa, now speaking the English good, hoped for less animosity between the two former ;over - the City of the Broad Shoulders, and himself, the Slamming Sammy who enjoyed many a summer up on Addison Avenue's Wrigley Field:

''I played all of my years with my heart and did the best that I can,'' Sosa said. ''Definitely there was a misunderstanding in 2004, but time will heal everything. I had a good conversation with [Cubs president] John McDonough in spring training, and when I want to come back to Chicago, definitely, they are going to open the door for me.''

Eight year old girl runs a marathon schedule

A recent article in the San Francisco Examiner looked at the increase in overuse injuries in kids.  Then this story comes along. From the Daily O'Collegian, by way of the Chicago Tribune is the story of an 8 year old girl who trains for marathons.  She runs with her father - alot.

Second-grader Zhang Huimin, who weighs 42 pounds and likes the Little Mermaid, sat up and gave a groggy glance around the one-room home she shares with her father, an out-of-work fish farmer with a singular goal: grooming his daughter for the 2016 Olympics...
 
On this Saturday, as she does most weekends, the girl will run more than 26 miles before school — on top of dozens of miles she runs before school each week. Those statistics cry out for skepticism, but watching her run for more than four hours or interviewing marathon officials who recorded her recent races makes it hard to find suspect a hoax...

Zhang said he started running with his daughter when she was 4, adding distance each morning. By age 6, she could run 8 miles; at 7, she completed the Haikou marathon in 3 hours, 28 minutes and 45 seconds.

Most recently, she finished China’s Xiamen International Marathon on March 31, with a time of 3 hours, 44 minutes and 51 seconds. Organizers waived the minimum age of 18 and allowed her father to bike beside her because “she is a special case,” said He Xi, vice director of the race.

The Examiner article says this:

One of the costs of the hypercompetitive sports life is physical injury, the subject of the following excerpt. Previously, kids played multiple sports seasonally and usually didn't specialize in one sport or get serious about team sports until middle school or high school. Now kids often play one sport all year long, which has caused a dramatic rise in overuse injuries.

Meanwhile our 8 year-old marathoner has a few familiar elements in her story:

Rather, her story is most revealing about the conditions that created her: a father whose dream of sporting glory never materialized, an impoverished town dazzled by attention and a nation where the power of fame can make anything seem worthwhile.

What happens when a youngster, who does not possess mature bones, cartilage, muscles, and joints...

Overtraining at such a young age can erode the cartilage in joints, delay menstruation, reduce bone density and cause a range of orthopedic problems, including stunted growth. At 42 pounds, Huimin is underweight, her father concedes, but she has never had a full check-up, so he does not know what toll her training has taken.

You thought your parents were hard on you...

Sports Column link.

Going outside 'roids: updates on campus shootings

We are going beyond steroids today, and into the world of campus shootings.  Two reasons give us some cred on this subject:

1. We are in psychiatry and in the business of evaluating violence
2. We are on the campus of the University of Iowa, where in 1991 Gang Lu, 28, a graduate student in physics from China, killed 5 'professors'.

Look at this list of campus shootings.

Something appears to emerge: The shooters hunt people down.  They are different from isolated domestic shootings.  These killers strike at professors and students, and they seem hunt people down in multiple settings.

Thus, administration on campuses must understand the behavior of these aberrant shooters...they are deranged hunters.  Shut the campus down!

_Aug. 1, 1966: Charles Whitman points a rifle from the observation deck of the University of Texas at Austin's Tower and begins shooting in a homicidal rampage that goes on for 96 minutes. Sixteen people are killed, 31 wounded.

_July 12, 1976: Edward Charles Allaway, a custodian in the library of California State University, Fullerton, fatally shoots seven fellow employees and wounds two others. Mentally ill, Allaway believed his colleagues were pornographers and were forcing his estranged wife to appear in their movies. A judge found him innocent by reason of insanity in 1977 after a jury was unable to reach a verdict and he was committed to the state mental health system.

_Nov. 1, 1991: Gang Lu, 28, a graduate student in physics from China, reportedly upset because he was passed over for an academic honor, opens fire in two buildings on the University of Iowa campus. Five university employees are killed, including four members of the physics department; one other person was wounded. The student fatally shoots himself.

_Aug. 15, 1996: Frederick Martin Davidson, 36, a graduate engineering student at San Diego State, is defending his thesis before a faculty committee when he pulls out a handgun and kills three professors.

_Oct. 28, 2002: Failing University of Arizona Nursing College student and Gulf War veteran Robert Flores, 40, walks into an instructor's office and fatally shoots her. A few minutes later, armed with five guns, he enters one of his nursing classrooms and kills two more of his instructors before fatally shooting himself.

_Aug. 28, 2000: James Easton Kelly, 36, a University of Arkansas graduate student recently dropped from a doctoral program after a decade of study and John Locke, 67, the English professor overseeing his coursework, are shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide.

_Jan. 16, 2002: Graduate student Peter Odighizuwa, 42, recently dismissed from Virginia's Appalachian School of Law, returns to campus and kills the dean, a professor and a student before being tackled by students. The attack also wounds three female students. Odighizuwa is serving six life sentences after pleading guilty.

April 16, 2007: A gunman identified as 23-year-old student Cho Seung-Hui fatally shoots 32 people in a dorm and a classroom at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., then kills himself.

French Anti-doping lab begins to repeat tests on Floyd Landis samples; Tyler Hamilton rides again

Here from a Quebec source is a story on the second round of tests on Floyd Landis' sample from last year's Tour de France.

PARIS (AP) - France's anti-doping laboratory began analyzing Tour de France champion Floyd Landis' B urine sample Monday.

The tests, which were requested by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, were taking place at the Chatenay-Malabry lab outside Paris - the same lab that revealed Landis' positive test after he won the 17th stage of last year's Tour.

"The analyses have indeed begun. USADA and Landis are each represented with two experts," said Pierre Bordry, the head of the French anti-doping agency. "The analyses should last about 10 days."

The results will be sent directly to USADA, Bordry said.

As everyone knows by now, Landis has been in a struggle with anti-doping agent for the past 9-10 months.  WADA and the French anti-doping agencies say his urine tested positive for testosterone; Landis is claiming foul.   Proceeding are scheduled to litigate the result of the race.

Meanwhile 'Chimera' Tyler Hamilton rides in his first race sine his doping ban. Story in North County Times.

MACON, Ga. - Tyler Hamilton feared his return to competitive cycling, unsure what to expect in his first race in the United States after a two-year doping ban.

After the first stage of the Tour de Georgia on Monday, the former Olympic gold medalist was encouraged.

 

Hokie coaches react to tragedy at Virgina Tech.

Update:

Virginia Tech cancels spring football game
Christopher Ritter, CT Online Director

Virginia Tech has canceled the remainder of the spring football season. This includes the Saturday, April 21st spring football game.

Occasionally we step out of the steroid world to examine a story.  This is one of those times.

In an incident reminding The Nation of a tragic shootings on the University of Iowa campus in 1991 when our ex-physics professor was slain (and here), a gunman killed a multitude of students on the Virginia Tech campus in Blackburn VA.  Condolences to the families of the slain students, and murdered teachers.  It will take time for the campus to heal; sometimes sports can help bring people together to aid the healing process.

Hokie coach Frank Beamer reacted at MS NBC:

Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer said he is "in shock" after a gunman shot to death more than 30 students at the campus in Blacksburg, Va., on Monday, ESPN reported.

"How could one person cause so many senseless deaths? I'm in shock," Beamer said. "This is such a caring, friendly place. This is a college town. And now one person has an impact like this?

"We found out this morning and our assistant coaches have been trying to reach all of our players. We're trying to find out if everybody is OK. The players are going to be going home to their apartments and dorms."

Indeed an Augusta GA TV station carried a report of a local QB who recently left high school early to enroll at Va Tech who left the fatal dorm just minutes before the first murders.

Brandon Barden, who played QB for Lincoln County last fall, signed to play football at Virginia Tech next year and enrolled early.

Barden is unhurt, but he lives in the dorm where some of the shooting happened. He left for football practice just a few minutes before it started. He and the other football players are now in the athletic dorm under tight security.

He spoke to his mom, Dr. Becky Barden, earlier today to tell her he was alright.

Other media outlets were reporting local students appeared to be fine, as the Cincy Enquirer reported on  a local prep player, also on the Hokey football team.

Virginia Tech football player Aaron Brown, a Princeton High School graduate, was in class this morning when the shootings broke out at Tech's campus in Blacksburg, Va.

Aaron Brown telephoned his father, George Brown, shortly after news of the shootings today. George Brown lives in the Cincinnati suburb of Woodlawn.

Hokey basketball coach Seth Greenberg said his daughter was in a dorm near the first shootings:

Virginia Tech men's basketball coach Seth Greenberg said the shootings happened as he was arriving at his office to interview a job applicant, ESPN said.

"I'm numb right now thinking about the parents coming to campus to identify their children,'' Greenberg told ESPN. "It's hard to put into words. What would drive someone to do this?

"This is the most peaceful, tranquil and safe environment. But this shows that there is nowhere that you're safe from tragedy or this type of senseless violence. It's devastating.''

Greenberg said his daughter Paige, a freshman, was in the dorm next to the one where the gunman shot his first victims, ESPN said. But she quickly left and went to a friend's house off-campus.

Va Tech will find the aftermath of this tragedy will be painful; we hope that the campus can reconstitute to move on. 

Are there lessons here for college campus safety?

Baseball, baseball, baseball times 3

Several stories out there on baseball today:

1. UticaOD.com says Hank Aaron should take a stand on steroids:

Henry Aaron is making a bold statement by refusing to attend the coronation of the new home run king.

Too bad not everyone will get the message

2. Jay Mariotti talks about Sammy Sosa:

In a language Sosa is sure to understand, Sox fans will let him know his legacy here is tainted forever...

The SF Examiner.com bemoans our soon to be home-run-overlord.  Bow down!

Honestly, we’d rather endure five minutes alone with Jack Bauer — in possession of information that he really, really wants — than have to watch The Human Pin Cushion circle the bases 19 more times, destroying forever the most hallowed individual record in all of team sports. And judging by Bonds’ two home runs in Friday’s win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, our prayers of Father Time simply eroding Captain Dynabol’s skills before he reaches the Hammer’s mark are destined to go unanswered.