Tiger Woods staged (is there any other way to state that) a press conference concerning his state of affairs in treatment, golf, and marital relationship. Woods stated the obvious -- that he exhibited problems of fidelity; he also commented that he did not use use performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), which is a bit surprising as he is not embroiled in a PED controversy.
A circumstantial case can be made to wonder about PEDs looking at Woods' developing physique and speculating on a side effect of anabolic steroids -- heightened libido. However, did the rumors out there deserve a Woods presser comment? Perhaps he bristled that his golf achievements could be challenged as illegitimate?
The New York Daily News carried an interview with New York PED doc, in which he also questioned the copmany Woods keeps on the medical front.
Dr. Lewis Maharam, chairman of the Board of Governors, International Marathon Medical Directors Association and the former medical director of the New York Road Runners and ING New York City Marathon, found this statement among the more interesting made by Tiger Woods in his televised remarks Friday: "Some people have made up things that never happened. They said I used performance-enhancing drugs. This is completely and utterly false."
Dr. Maharam raised speculative but reasonable questions about Woods and PEDs:
Woods should clarify those issues. It is also notable the ire with which he dismissed the charges: Protesting too loudly?Maharam wasn't sure who Woods was referring to when the golfer said he'd been accused of using PEDS, but his name did come up when one of his physicians, Dr. Tony Galea, became embroiled in an investigation after the sports doctor's assistant was busted with drugs at the U.S.-Canadian border and his Toronto office was raided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The assistant, Mary Anne Catalano, said she was carrying human growth hormone and a derivative of calves' blood, Actovegin, for her boss. Actevegan is not legal in the U.S. and not approved in Canada. Galea was hit with four drug chargers and is still under investigation.
Galea, who is not licensed to practice medicine in Florida, had treated Woods in Orlando with platelet-rich plasma therapy to help him recover from a knee injury. It also came to light that Woods had been treated by Las Vegas trainer Keith Kleven, who worked with Victor Conte and the BALCO crew a few years ago.
Dr. Maharam is certain of one thing: He's got some questions for Woods on the PED front. "I was impressed with how well he rehearsed this apology and was struck by when he said, 'I'm so sorry', - there was a beautiful pause, he looked up at camera and continued, clearly rehearsed. But most of all, some of the things he said needed follow-up questions, especially the statement that he never used performance-enhancing
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