Steroid Nation

DNA on 'waste' matches Clemens' DNA found on juiced medical equipment

As the Roger Clemens trial grinds on, there are several developments (which we will try to document).

Today a forinsic expert testified that DNA (and here)found on equipment used for steroid injections retained  by the trainer, McNamee

A forensic scientist testified that two cotton balls and a syringe needle allegedly saved after a steroids injection tested positive for Roger Clemens’ DNA, a key moment on Friday as the government tries to prove the former pitcher used performance-enhancing drugs.

Alan Keel told jurors that the DNA on both cotton balls were “unique to one person who has ever lived on the planet” – Clemens. He said one of the cotton balls had a random match possibility of one in 15.4 trillion for Clemens’ DNA, and the other had one in 173 trillion, when comparing to the population of white people in the U.S.

Both cells and blood were 'matched' from the discarded cotton balls and syringes containing PED substances, with Clemens' DNA.

Experts testified that the medical waste contained traces of 'roids.  Thus there is a tenuous link betweem Steroids and Clemens on physical evidence, that appears to corroborate the oral testimony of Clemen's trainer Brian McNamee (below right) about the Rocket's use of the PEDs.

Obviously questions remain, as this is not a forensic sample, about the links among the bits of evidence that Clemens deceived others about his steroid and PED use.

 On Thursday, two forensic analysts said they had found steroids on the items, some of which included needles, gauze, and a broken steroid ampoule that had been stuffed into a Miller Lite beer can. Clemens attorneys have already indicated they will argue that there is no way to tell how steroids got onto items connected to the pitcher. They countered on Thursday that someone may have dripped steroids over the medical items and that chemicals in the batch of evidence could have mixed together, making it hard to tell whether steroids were on items connected to Clemens. McNamee admitted last week that some of the medical waste was from other players.

 

 

 

Lenny 'Nails' Dykstra to occupy state prison for 3 years; Nailed for grand theft auto...HGH found in raid

Long time bad boy Lenny Dykstra will be calling a California State prison home for three years after one of his innumerable schemes landed him in trouble.  Dykstra was sentenced for GTA:

Lenny Dykstra, the former professional outfielder for the New York Mets, received his sentence on charges of providing false financial statements as well as grand theft auto. After pleading no contest, Dykstra was sentenced Monday to serve three years in a California state prison.

Dykstra’s scam involved claiming a line of credit through a fake company in order to lease luxury automobiles from unsuspecting car dealerships. After Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Cynthia Ulfig denied his request to withdraw his plea, Ulfig said that the scam showed extensive planning and sophistication for which he was ultimately sentenced 3 years in prison.

The 49 year old former professional baseball player has had an unfortunate string of run-ins with the authorities resulting in legal repercussions including the most recent sentencing. The ex-New York Mets outfielder has found himself in a downward spiral which has ripped him from the enchanted lifestyle of a professional athlete to a sober living facility and now California state prison.

Dykstra stored some HGH, along with other illegal drugs at his SoCal palace:

Dykstra was arrested in his Los Angeles home by police who found ecstasy, cocaine, and synthetic human growth hormone (HGH) in his possession. After his initial not guilty plea on all 25 counts, Lenny Dykstra decided that it was in his best interest to change his plea to no contest and prosecutors decided to drop 21 counts in exchange for his change of plea.

Dykstra, infamous for ripping off several professional athletes with his financial advice' has been involved with (short list):

• Drug possession
• Bankruptcy fraud
• Indecent exposure

Dykstra's lawyer played a violin for the poor fellow, who has long been known to be out of control:

“No way this wasn’t a probationary case. To Give him state prison is outrageous. I find it disgusting.”

Dykstra has been ripping off people for decades.  One could point out that it is disgusting to let him run around  unfettered.

Nails claimed he was a steroid pioneer - he and Jose Canseco:

“You know,” Lenny finally said, breaking the ice, “I was like a pioneer for that stuff (steroids).”

• Randall Lane: Jim Cramer Stock Touting Scandal“Excuse me, Lenny?”

“The juice. I was like the very first to do that. Me and [José] Canseco.”

He straightened up, as he prepared, somewhat proudly, to reveal his role in this dangerous, unseemly history.

Dyskstra's Phillies 1993: 19, 66, .305 and a contract for 25 million.  Dykstra has long defrauded fans and friends.

Major League Baseball implements HGH testing

MLB implemented HGH (human growth hormone) testing for the first time last week.  The New York Daily News was there to interview the Met's Josh Thole and the Yankee's Phil Hughes.

First Thole:

Josh Thole will give way to Tim Byrdak as the Mets’ union representative this season, but the third-year catcher strongly supports the now-in-place adoption of HGH blood testing this season by MLB and the Players Association.

The Mets were tested for human growth hormone for the first time Wednesday under rules of the new collective bargaining agreement that was implemented in November.

“It’s not an issue at all for me, whether they do it in spring training or during the season,” Thole said Thursday. “The one thing that’s important for us as a unit is we should all want an even playing field.

“I can’t speak for everybody, but I can speak for myself and I can tell you this: Most guys are just saying whenever we do (the testing), we do it, but let’s just be sure there’s no gray area. During the steroid years, it was definitely becoming an unfair playing field. For the guys that actually spend all the time in the gym and really bust their butt and work hard, there should be a little reward at the end of not being overtaken by guys sticking a needle in themselves.”

Fascinating, blue collar players speaking out against the elite's (protected) use of PEDs.  "Level playing field", how radical.

Now for Hughes:

Baseball’s HGH testing is underway for the first time this season, and many Yankees have already been subjected to blood tests this spring.

Several players had blood taken for the purpose of HGH testing, though according to two Yankees pitchers, it hasn’t been as invasive as many had feared.

“It’s just like getting blood taken for a physical,” Phil Hughes said. “It’s a pain and I wish we didn’t have to do it, but it’s part of the deal now so we’ll live with it. If they were taking blood every day, I might be opposed to it, but every once in a while is fine. As a starting pitcher, you wouldn’t want blood taken before you pitch, but otherwise, it’s fine.”

It will be interesting to follow HGH testing, as the service develops over time.  Also important to note the change in attitute as`players speak out against PED cheating.

 

Should Barry Bonds be immortalized outside of ATT Park? Holding a syringe?

From the Sacramento Bee, comes this item on the possibility of a Barry Bond statute outside of AT&T Park:

It's safe to say Roger Clemens won't have a statue of his likeness outside Fenway Park.

Not just because of his link to steroids and legal troubles, but because Clemens went on to win two championships with the New York Yankees. In Boston, that's unforgivable.

A statue of Sammy Sosa outside Wrigley Field? Not going to happen.

A statue of Mark McGwire outside Busch Stadium? We're not here to talk about the past, sorry.

A statue of Barry Bonds outside AT&T Park? Hold the phone a second.

Does Bonds deserve to be immortalized with a statue of his likeness – his arms raised as he watches home run No. 756 sail over the center-field wall? Should he join other Giants greats – Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal and Orlando Cepeda – who have statues?

Some Giants fans will say that while they cheered for Bonds before his arms, chest and head made him look like a cartoonish figure, he disgraced the game by using performance-enhancing drugs.

Others will say none of that matters; he provided them with memories that will last a lifetime. Besides, how can the Giants not honor a Bay Area son who is baseball's all-time home run king (wink, wink)?

Though the Giants benefited from Bonds' home run era, they are in no hurry to decide on a statue, and they will continue to keep a polite distance from their former star for now.

The Giants most likely will wait to see if Bonds is elected into the Hall of Fame in his first ballot later this year. If he is, it's just a matter of time before a statue is unveiled.

Why not put a bronze Bonds outside the park?  Maybe a statue of Bonds holding a syringe?  Or Bonds with gynecomastia from 'roiding?  How would you pose Bods to immortalize the career home-run leader?

NFL debates HGH testing

The NFL at the NFL Players Asccociation appear to be discussing the utilization of HGH testing.  From the Pocono Record.

The evaluation of college prospects is just one of the major happenings next week at the NFoL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

The NFL and NFL Players Association (NFLPA) will conduct meetings that should help lay the groundwork for rules changes and tweaks to off-field aspects of league business...

The NFLPA successfully resisted the NFL's efforts to implement HGH testing for the 2011 season.

NFLPA executive George Atallah said Friday that talks between the sides "are better" but there is still no agreement on the horizon.

"It's dependent on information," Atallah said on Sirius XM NFL Radio. "We believe the proposal we gave to the league, which includes a population study for our players and fair appeals rights, are really not dependent on a date.

"The league had talked about last August wanting to get the program launched. We would have loved to been able to do that, but the data was lacking. You want to have transparency. Once we have that, we're going to get going."

The NFLPA has expressed concerns about the test's accuracy, especially when it comes to the biology of football players potentially generating a false positive.

"We're as concerned with false positives as we are with false negatives," Atallah said. "If we really want an effective plan, we have to be able to catch people who are cheating. We can't if people in the doping community know this test is not reliable."

False positive and false negatives are not the only issues here.  WE would think a pilot program is the way to kick off the era of amino acid hormone testing (HGH etc.) in the NFL.

Kirk Radomski, steroid dealer, pushes supplements

Kirk Radomski, who supplied all kinds of unhealthy PEDs to professional athletes is now concerned about health.  As noted in the Daily News, Radomski pushes supplements, like Mass Arrival X0Treme.

A man wearing a blue lab coat and a shower cap pushes a hand truck loaded with 249 boxes of dietary supplements out of the factory loading dock and toward the GMC Acadia. The next chapter in the life of Kirk Radomski — the man who supplied steroids and human growth hormone to dozens of major leaguers for 10 years — has begun.

“I want to see people lose weight,” Radomski says as he and his partner, Steve Cohen, loaded boxes of “Mass Arrival X-treme,” a supplement that boosts testosterone levels, into Cohen’s vehicle. “I want to see people get bigger muscles. I want to see them live healthier live...

“I’m a convicted felon, but that didn’t stop people from coming up to me and asking my advice about supplements,” he says. “I really couldn’t recommend a lot of products. There are a lot of companies out there that shouldn’t be in business. They put illegal ingredients in their products.

Radomski is free to engage in business activites, of course.  What is bizarre is that people ask him about supplements and nurition.

Like asking a street narcotics dealer what to use for pain relief.

Early takes on the Roger Clemens indictment: Oath and narcissim

Numerous comments followed the Roger Clemens indictment accusing him of perjury in a congressional hearing.  Some hit the mark, some miss.

One illogical column in the Detroit Free-Press reasoned Congressmen are liars, and therefore should indict themselves rather than Clemens.

Congressmen of all party affiliations can blatantly lie to their constituents and often the only crime committed is their re-election. But if you lie to them, your address could change to Leavenworth.

Ah ... the sweet elixir that is hypocrisy.

There's no defending Roger Clemens if he indeed lied under oath to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during his nationally televised testimony in January 2008.

If he's that stupid, voluntarily putting himself in this mess, he deserves all the humiliation he gets. I suppose he's employing the George Costanza Principle -- "It's not a lie if you believe it's the truth."

But Congress' relentless pursuit -- a six-count indictment against Clemens for obstructing justice and perjury -- nonetheless comes across as arrogant for a legislative body that has a hard enough time holding itself accountable.

Sigh.  The principle here is that under oath, a witness shall not lie in a congressional hearing.  How does pursuing truth amount to egotistical?  Does the writer not understand that the justice system is based on veracity under oath.  It continues:

These political hacks can't understand that Clemens' and Bonds' career legacies and personal reputations already are shot regardless of what Congress says or does. Nobody really cares if Clemens and Bonds spends a second in federal prison, because the court of public opinion already has tried and convicted them, sentencing them to a life of open scorn and ridicule.

OK dude, the world is not all a sports driven event.  Because Barry Bonds will not make the Hall of Fame, justice is not served under oath.

The message is that when sworn in a court or a hearing that the truth needs to come out -- or simply shut up.  Clemens was not compelled to testify; He could have declined the opportunity.

Journalists speculate why Clemens might have distorted the truth (which we don't really know that he did). The Rocket is NOT delusional.  Clemens knows reality; he does not think green men are bugging his cell phone.

However like other powerful men, acclimated to power and adulation, the narcissism comes out.  This is a man who didn't attend spring training, who flew in his own plane to games.  He didn't play by team rules, and thus why should he play by the usual rules common non-VIPs observe?  (who would pose with his wife for skimpy photo shoots without a huge measure of narcissism?)

Bonds too, suffered from the VIP-adulation-power narcissism where he demanded public attention and worship.  Rules are for mortals, not gods like Clemens and Bonds.  Same reason that John Edwards, Tiger Woods, Bill Clinton, George Bush etc etc.  Power, Visibility, Sex...

Imagine if John Edwards were President today...

Cheating be it like Tiger Woods or John Edwards infidelity sense, or with PEDs in the Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens sense is understandable when you look at the aggressiveness of these men.

The cheating may lead to certain consequences, however the cover-up really torpedo these guys.

Should Clemens be indicted?  IDK, however one could predict that Congress will protect the matter of truthfulness under oath.

Roger Clemens indicted for obstruction of justice during Congressional steroids hearing in 2008

In a House of Representatives chamber in 2008, Roger Clemens assured the gathered congressmen that he never took steroids.  US federal attorneys are accusing Clemens of not representing the truth in his testimony.  (from the AP)

Roger Clemens was vehement: "Let me be clear. I have never taken steroids or HGH," he told a House committee in 2008. Now, instead of the Hall of Fame, baseball's seven-time Cy Young winner could go to prison after being indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for allegedly lying to Congress.

The case writes a new chapter in one of baseball's worst scandals, the rampant use of performance-enhancing drugs in the 1990s and early 2000s, and leaves Clemens' legacy in jeopardy.

The six-count indictment alleges that Clemens obstructed a congressional inquiry with 15 different statements made under oath, including denials that he had ever used steroids or human growth hormone.

Virginia Congressman Tom Davis relates this about the Rocket:

"Clemens was not under subpoena. He came voluntarily," Davis said. "And I sat there in the office with (committee chairman) Henry Waxman and said, 'Whatever you do, don't lie.'"

Clemens was sticking to his story Thursday. He insisted he was telling the truth, again denying any wrongdoing on or off the field.

Through his lawyer, the veteran Rusty Hardin, Clemens claims  he neither lied, nor took HGH or steroids.  Clemens turned down a plea bargain.

Clemen's ex-trainer Brian McNamee reports he administered PEDs to the Rocket.  One would think that the Government has ascertained other witnesses or other evidence to Clemens' PED use.

Baseball's Mitchell Report mentioned Clemens a few times -- like 82.

WADA underwhelmed with MLB's HGH test plans

WADA boss John Fahey says major league baseball's new HGH testing program needs to grow some.  Fahey criticizes MLB hard for dragging feet on PED use. 

Not to mix apples and baseballs, MLB and other professional sports owner to different music than the Olympic sports.  Owner, unions, and local authorities all complicate the pro sports PED testing.

Major League Baseball announced plans last month to begin testing for HGH in the minor leagues, but that's not enough for the World Anti-Doping Agency. John Fahey, the head of the agency, said Monday that the sport's integrity was at stake, and that if the league doesn't bring their testing up to WADA specifications that fans will eventually stop coming to the ballpark.

"Baseball is the most recalcitrant (American sport league)," he said. "You had the Mitchell inquiry and clear and concise recommendations from it and they effectively did nothing."

Fahey's frustration seems to stem mostly from the fact that the NFL works fairly closely with the agency while developing it's drug policy, while baseball's rarely solicits the organization's advice. The truth is that the league has stiffened the policy greatly in the last 10 years and it will again come up for debate when the current collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2011 season.

Court of Arbitration for Sports reduces Italian Gianni Da Ros's cycling suspension from 20 years to 4 years

Think of all the cyclists who doped themselves into oblivion including Floyd Landis, Alejandro Valverde, Tyler "Chimera" Hamilton, Ivan Basso, David Millar, and Bernhard Kohl.  How many years suspension did these elite world class athletes receive?  Couple generally.

Consider 23 year-old Italian cyclists Gianni Da Ros.  This skinny kid was nailed with a number of PEDs, apparently including HGH, and most likley an EPO.  What length ban did he receive?  20 years!!!  Twenty -- that's right.

The CAS rescinded 16 of those years the other day.  Perhaps when this kid can compete again, he can pack on some weight.

Italian Gianni Da Ros will not have to serve a 20-year suspension for trafficking in banned substances, the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided.

The court partially upheld the appeal by Da Ros, who asked to have the ban reduced to two years.

Da Ros was arrested in March, 2009 as part of a large operation by the Italian police to stop the distribution of doping products in fitness clubs.

In November, 2009, the Anti-Doping Tribunal of the National Olympic Committee of Italy (CONI) found him guilty of several WADA code violations, including the use, possession, trafficking and administration of banned substances and imposed a 20-year ban.

The CAS said it "confirmed the existence of the infractions committed by the Athlete", which reportedly included the use and distribution of Human Growth Hormone.

However, the court "considered that a twenty-year ban was not justified and has reduced it to a period of four years which corresponds to the standard suspension provided by Article 10.3.2 of the World Anti-Doping Code."

Da Ros will be eligible to race again March 11, 2013...

What is the saying...The NCAA was mad at Kentucky so put Eastern Carolina on suspension...

Jose Juiced Canseco injected into Texas minor league team

Juiced author and broke entrepreneur Jose Canseco will report to a Texas minor team -- the Laredo Broncos.  Apparently Canseco cannot sell enough steroid books to cover his  bills.

Note the comment by the league president.  He thinks that having a washed up irresponsible ex-major league All-Start is a league highlight.  Celebrity once again trumps intelligence.

LAREDO, Texas -- Jose Canseco has signed a contract with an independent minor-league team in south Texas.

The 46-year-old Canseco, a central figure in baseball's steroid era, was introduced Monday as a member of the Laredo Broncos -- one of six teams in the United Baseball League.

Canseco says he'll play designated hitter, serve as a bench coach and pitch for the team. He'll play in Laredo's remaining six home games this season.

The former slugger named names and detailed steroid use around major league baseball in two memoirs. In one, he admitted using steroids and claimed that up to 85 percent of players also did.

Canseco hit 462 home runs in 17 major league seasons. He was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1986 and MVP in 1988, after he hit 42 home runs and stole 40 bases.

"My first step was getting back into the game, in whatever way, shape and form," Canseco said. "I don't know how I'll perform physically, since I'm 46 and haven't played at this level in a long time. We'll see what happens."

Byron Pierce, the UBL president, said luring Canseco was "one of the highlights of our league."

In the 1960s there was a TV series about Texas Rangers called 'Laredo' staring William Smith.  Smith looks like he could have taken Canesco. 

Will Connecticut elect the steroids WWE fighting-senator, Linda McMahon?

Voters in Connecticut decided to run WWE executive Linda McMahon against Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal.  Mrs. McMahon funded her campaign with generous amounts of cash from her personal fortune.

McMahon's husband Vince McMahon is the chief exec of the WWE and is a widely known and admitted friend and user of steroids.  Why not have Mrs McMahon join government as the steroids senator..we have at least one steroids governor in California...(the Wall Street Journal)

 Democrats picked the former mayor of Stamford as their best hope to win the Connecticut governor's mansion for the first time since 1986, while wealthy wrestling executive Linda McMahon will take on Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in the race for the state's open U.S. Senate seat.

Mrs. McMahon will have a hard fight in this heavily Democratic state. But her vow to spend up to $50 million of her own money on her campaign will make her a formidable opponent to Mr. Blumenthal, who has had a strong but narrowing lead in recent polls.

The race will likely continue to receive intense national attention, as an upset by Mrs. McMahon in the race for the seat held by retiring Sen. Christopher Dodd would help tip the balance of power in the Senate toward the Republicans.

PED using Olympian Antonio Pettigrew found dead at 42; PED use involved?

Forty two year-old former Olympian and admitted PED user/drug cheat Antonio Pettigrew was found dead at age 42.  Pettigrew served as a track coach at The University of North Carolina.

ANTONIO Pettigrew, who was stripped of a 2000 Olympic 4x400m relay gold medal for doping, has been found dead at the age of 42.

There was no word on the exact time or possible cause of death for Pettigrew, whose body was discovered on Tuesday according to a spokesman for University of North Carolina, where Pettigrew was an assistant athletics coach.

Pettigrew, who won the 1991 400 metres world title in Tokyo, was a member of the 4x400 metres American relay team that won the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped Pettigrew and his teammates - including Michael Johnson - of their medals after he admitted, during a trial against former coach Trevor Graham, to doping.

Pettigrew qualifies as a "non-analytic" PED user: He never tested positive for PEDs, however he admitted to use under oath in court.

Pettigrew used at least EPO and HGH. Studies have shown HGH enlarges the heart muscle.  EPO is related to sudden death in cyclists -- it changes hemodynamics.

Could HGH and EPO use have lead to a cardiac problem in Pettigrew produced sudden cardiac death? No one will know exactly, but it's intelligent speculation.

It is reported Victor Conte thought EPO was one of the best PEDs.  Will we now start to see 40+ former athletes drop dead from PED side effects?

BALCO investigator Jeff Novitzky aims scope at Lance Armstrong

The AP reports BALCO investigator and Barry Bond's good buddy Jeff Novitzky will lead the investigation of Lance Armstrong's cycling antics in the near future.  Armstrong would likely rather have the IRS invite him to a weekend picnic at Alcatraz.

He's been called high-minded, a trailblazing lawman and "America's top steroid cop."

For someone who does his best work behind the scenes, federal agent Jeff Novitzky is hardly a stranger to the spotlight. And depending on the results of an ongoing investigation into the sometimes-shadowy world of pro cycling, he could soon become better-known still.

After hounding home-run king Barry Bonds for years and wringing a confession from Olympic sprinter Marion Jones, Novitzky is leading an investigation that has questioned sponsors and examined claims from former teammates of Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France champion. A grand jury has been seated in Los Angeles to hear evidence in the investigation over the coming weeks and months, and Armstrong sponsors Trek Bicycle Corp. and Nike each said Friday that they've been contacted by federal agents.

"I'm just glad he ain't after me," said attorney Richard Emery. "He is a nightmare for anyone that's he's focused on."

With home run #600, A-Rod becomes A-Fraud?

Everyone knew it was coming...Alex Rodriguez's 600th home run.  Following the revelation of his steroid and PED use, among other bad behaviors, time provided sufficient opportunity to discuss his achievements and his misadventures.  Why then does the Boston Herald declare this a controversy?

On Wednesday, Alex Rodriguez became the seventh player to reach the 600-home run level. He was the youngest to do it and is on a path that easily could give him another 163 homers, and the all-time record, before his contract ends in 2017.

Yet Rodriguez’s milestone home run wasn’t a big event outside of New York. It was more of an interruption in stories about the start of NFL camps and the deterioration of Tiger Woods’ short game.How would this have been played if Rodriguez had not wound up on the list of players who tested positive for steroids in 2003?

Why should anyone be surprised about A-Rod as the youngest player to meet the 600 HR platform?  He likely was more exposed to PEDs and at an earlier age.  He was banging out 50 home runs a year in Texas and Seattle as a young player during the apex of baseball's steroids era.

Can anyone quantify the boost PEDs put into A-ROd's bat (a few years ago writers were suggesting that there was no evidence that 'roiding even helped power hitter, a bit like suggesting Hurricane Katrina really wasn't all that devastating).

Someone could develop regression equations to pare down A-Rod's home run totals to speculative HRs without juice.  Why bother when your lifetime home run leader-- Barry Bonds -- awaits trial on steroids charges in the BALCO scandal.

Obviously A-Rod reached the plateau by cheating, cheating the game the fans, the pitchers, and his fellow players.  Does anyone really have anything to add beyond that?

Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog: MLB allowed stroids to juice the game

In the Daily Herald Barry Rvvner quotes new HOFer Whitey Herzog on steroid and PED use in baseball.  Herzog discusses the attendance factor, the envy factor, and the cheat the old timers factor (assuming they were clean.

Back in the early '90s, it was always amusing when the Athletics got off their team bus in spring training and walked past the Cubs' dugout.

Inevitably, at least one Cubs player would say, "There goes the Oakland Raiders again."

That's how big the Mark McGwire/Jose Canseco Athletics were, and it wasn't just the big boppers.

It was a monstrous team, one that didn't go unnoticed by Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog, who had his own take on steroids this past weekend and remembered when several NFL and MLB teams inhabited the same facilities.

"I think you have to look at the baseball teams that shared stadiums with the football teams," Herzog said, while not specifically naming the Athletics, since the Raiders were in L.A. from 1982 to 1996. "There's a lot of cities where they worked together in the training rooms. The football players were going from 250 to 335 and they got faster.

"Baseball players watched that and next thing you know they had something going.

"I was fortunate I didn't have to manage during the steroid era. I managed during the drug era. I had players with problems. Everybody knows that.

"I often wonder how many games we lost as managers in the '80s because of drugs. But by the same token I wonder how many victories managers got in the '90s because of steroids."

Herzog pointed to the work stoppages of 1990 and 1994 as another factor in the performance-enhancing explosion.

"Baseball was down after the strike and McGwire gets all those home runs (in 1998) and it brought baseball back," Herzog said. "Everybody goes back to the ballparks. So maybe that's where the mistake was made.

"If they stopped it then, maybe we wouldn't have the situation we got. I don't know the answer to that.

"Baseball looked the other way because they didn't want attendance to fall. I don't think it was right, and I don't like that a lot of records were broken. It's hurt a lot of retired players trying to get here (to Cooperstown), and I think it's just plain wrong.''

Big Mac confirms Big Stack: Mark McGwire admits to anabolic steroid use

Apparently trying to avoid a multitude of controversy, The new Cardinal batting coach -- former slugger Mark McGwire -- has released a statement to the press admitting his anabolic PED use.  All is forgiven, welcome home to mother St Louis Mark McGwire.

Mark McGwire finally came clean Monday, admitting he used steroids when he broke baseball's home run record in 1998.

McGwire said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Monday that he used steroids on and off for nearly a decade.`I wish I had never touched steroids,'' McGwire said in a statement.

``It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era.''

McGwire also used human growth hormone, a person close to McGwire said, speaking on condition of anonymity because McGwire didn't include that detail in his statement.

McGwire's decision to admit using steroids was prompted by his decision to become hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals, his final big league team. Tony La Russa, McGwire's manager in Oakland and St. Louis, has been among McGwire's biggest supporters and thinks returning to the field can restore the former slugger's reputation.

``I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come,'' McGwire said. ``It's time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected.'' He became the second major baseball star in less than a year to admit using illegal steroids, following the New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez last February.

American loves a reformed (fill in the blank).  For example Elliott Spitzer is working his way up the business world again, and Martha Stewart is decorating with renewed aplomb.

Perhaps Bernie Madoff could come completely clean about cheating his clients out of billions of dollars then be allowed to serve as SEC commissioner.

While it is true McGwire deserves a commendation for admitting past steroid sins, it is also true that his baseball statistics are simply a fraud.  Any Big Mac career total of offensive stats are frankly a sham.

If a scientist who cheated on cancer research admits that his research was actually fraudulent, would those publications continue to  be allowed as a reference?  (now that depends on his standing and power in the scientific community)

McGwire cheated his sport (and not talking of the merits of PEDs here) and thus should probably be banned as a participant in the sport in the future.  He is a cheat, and now an admitted one.  That may seen harsh, but if baseball has integrity, then cheaters should not  be trusted to participate in any future MLB activities.

Any allowance of an admitted steroid cheat like McGwire means MLB tells us that rules, and that integrity are simply not valued in their world. 

Sports fraud laws should be enacted to punish the cheaters; otherwise a fan should believe nothing about the athletes on the field other that they will destroy the rules as the PED fraud fest continues on.

Sorry, Mark McGwire, but you used steroids to cheat your fellow athletes, an action not all of the MLB conspired in.  You cannot wish away the facts, but you can continue to bask in the stats you put up by cheating.

Marion Jones's tainted Olympic gold goes to waste, rather than to Katerina Thanou

The New York Times says that Marion Jones's tainted gold medals from Sydney will in part be distributed and in part will rot in purgatory.

Greece's Katerina Thanou will not be elevated to gold, after her second place finish in 2000 in Australia.  Obviously Thanou's behavior in her native Greece  during the 2004 Olympics left a bad taste in the IOC's mouth.  Thus Thanou, who has never tested positive for steroids but whose behavior reeks of a PED cover up, will be ignored in the record books.  Interesting message from the IOC, and not entirely consistent with logic. (but check out Thanou's photo and one sees why she might fit in better with the men's 100M; those are impressive traps for a female)

However in the 200M, the Jones gold wil be awarded to that 2nd place finisher.

 The International Olympic Committee redistributed the medals won by the disgraced sprinter Marion Jones at the 2000 Olympics on Wednesday, but it refused to award her gold medal in the 100 meters to Katerina Thanou of Greece, who was barred from the 2004 Games because of a missed drug test.

Jones surrendered the medals when she admitted in 2007 to lying to federal investigators about performance-enhancing drug use. Normally, the other competitors are moved up in order when medals are surrendered, but Thanou’s later drug testing issues prompted the committee to leave the top spot in the 100 meters vacant. In record books, Thanou and Tanya Lawrence of Jamaica will be listed as silver medalists and Merlene Ottey of Jamaica, who finished fourth in the race, will hold the bronze.

Thanou did not fail a drug test, but she and her teammate Kostas Kenteris missed drug tests  before the 2004 Games in Athens and were kept from competing by Greek Olympic officials after it was determined they had staged a motorcycle crash to cover up their absence. Track and field’s international federation, the I.A.A.F., barred them for two years.

Jones’s gold medal in the 200 meters was awarded to Pauline Davis-Thompson of the Bahamas, with the silver going to Susanthika Jayasinghe of Sri Lanka and the bronze to Beverly McDonald of Jamaica. Jones’s bronze medal in the long jump was given to   Tatyana Kotova of Russia.

Apparently  if the IOC can't catch a drug cheat the first time, they may make a statement some 10 years later...

The fate of the Jones relay medals remains tainted at this point.

The fate of the two medals won by United States relay teams that included Jones in the 2000 Games is still being decided by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. When those medals were stripped from the American teams by the I.O.C., the other members of the relay appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration, which is expected to issue its ruling by Dec. 18.

Keep the head down and inject 2 cc of nandrolone: Mark McGwire to be hitting coach at St. Louis

Once again proving that the MLB really at heart doesn't give a  damn about the steroid problem, St Louis Cardinals appear to ready to announce that hermit juicer Mark McGwire will return to the Redbirds as a hitting coach.  Really?  Hits of what...nandrolone. Need to keep the weight shifted back...try Winny.  Topping the ball...HGH.

McGwire - who could not tell the truth about his illicit steroid use to Congress -- brings exactly what teaching skill with him to the Cardinals?  LaRussa's implicit approval of PED use?

To the Biz of Baseball:

Twitter can be a fantastic tool for breaking news, and this may be one of those cases.

Brian McRae posted the following on Twitter, and then pulled it shortly after, but not before several re-tweeted the news:

My dad is out as Cards hitting coach (Hal McRae).....McGwire is in! (as in Mark)-fire it up boys/girls

ESPNewsService is backing the rumor on Twitter. The only tweet left standing by Brian McRae simply reads, "Good 5yr. run with the Redbirds," yet another reference to his father Hal's tenure with the Cardinals.

No word out at this point from the Cardinals, but don't think many aren't hanging wondering whether Mark McGwire moves out from the shadows to become the new hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals. Stay tuned.

McGwire has kept a low profile after tearfully testifying before Congress regarding possible steroid use during his career. He has fallen short of the required votes by the baseball writers for inclusion into the Hall of Fame.

The news of McGwire coming back the Cardinals may make some sense. Reports on Sunday have Tony La Russa returning as manager of the team. La Russa managed McGwire with both the Athletics and Cardinals.

Let's stoke up those Pujols is a juicer rumors again...

1996 Olympic gold medal winner and pro wrestler Kurt Angle arrested with HGH

Once an Olympic gold medalist, wrestler Kurt Angle appears to have been caught with HGH.  Angle has a little run in with the steroid cops in the past (here, and here); he also defected from the WWE, apparently after he needed time to withdraw from painkillers.

 To WPXI:

Professional wrestler Kurt Angle was arrested in Robinson Township on Saturday morning.  According to a criminal complaint, his girlfriend had filed a protection from abuse order against Angle, which was served at his home on Saturday morning.

The woman reported to police that she was at a Starbucks on the internet, when she claims she saw Angle stalking her.  She called 911, and police pulled over Angle in his girlfriend's car.

According to the criminal complaint, Angle was driving on a suspended license. Police also found a capped syringe and two vials of "Hygetropin," otherwise known as HGH.

Angle told police he had a legal prescription for the drugs.

The charges against Angle include: driving while operating privilege is suspended, prohibited acts-possession, harassment and prohibited acts.  Angle is currently the World Champion in TNA Wrestling, and was scheduled to wrestle in a pay-per-view match in Orlando on Sunday night. TNA Wrestling did not return calls for comment.The girlfriend mentioned in the complaint is also a wrestler for TNA.

Angle wrestled legitimately at Clarion, then as mentioned won an Olympic gold medal.  Now it's all downhill for him.

Summary of recent Texas steroid bust

For more complete coverage of the large Texas steroid bust last week, and much more comprehensive than we can offer, go to this site --- Mesomorphis.

Operation Farmacia de Juicy Phruit is the code name for the major steroid bust in Houston led by the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Department involving the arrest of 73 defendants. The “largest narcotics operation in the history of Fort Bend County” primarily involved the arrest of personal trainers, their clients, bodybuilders, a professional bodybuilder and a gym owner in the Houston area. Many of the arrests only involved steroid possession. The steroid network was characterized by Sheriff Milton Wright as a “loose knit” network of individuals involved in fitness/bodybuilding who distributed steroids through “word of mouth”. The total amount of steroids sold over a period of about six years was estimated to have been $643,924 (”Authorities round up drug suspects,” May 27).

Big Papi -- David Ortiz -- enmeshed in steroid controversy

Pity David Ortiz, Big Poppy of the Boston Red Sox, crowd pleaser, slugger magnificent, and humble star appears welled in a nasty slump that has led to talk and suspicion about steroids.

Ortiz has never admitted steroids or other PEDs.  Ortiz's name never showed up on an Internet list of PED buyers.  Ortiz has not even incurred the wrath of Jose Canseco.

Because Poppy shows no pop in his bat this year, at age 33 Ortiz is hitting .185. The talk in 2009 is that Poppy came down from steroids.

Of course there is no real evidence Ortiz is suffering steroid withdraw.  Does anyone know what a year after steroid withdrawal looks like?  We don't.  To the Eagle-Tribune:

It was about 1:20 p.m. yesterday when Red Sox "slugger" David Ortiz stepped into the batter's box.

Five barbers and five customers, all Dominican men, watched intently on the big screen TV in the back of the busy Flow Barber Shop on Lawrence Street.

Flow Barber Show was a place I expected the last bastion of believers.

I was wrong.

From 2003 through 2008, would have brought silence to Flow's.

But only one of the barbers, Cristian Felipe, cared to stop cutting and look up at the TV.

"It's sad, really sad," said Felipe, through an interpreter, shaking his head. "He's always been the best."

So what's wrong?

What's wrong with Ortiz?

There were almost as many theories as there were men at Flow's.

"He might be all done," said barber Christian Flores. "I'm just glad they moved him out of the third spot (in the lineup). He can't hit. And the Red Sox need a great hitter in that spot."

Felipe says Ortiz hasn't looked the same since Manny Ramirez was traded last July.

"People can say Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay are great hitters, and they are, but they're not Manny Ramirez," said Felipe. "Manny was the best protection Ortiz ever had. He's one of the best hitters ever. Ortiz just hasn't seemed the same."

The steroids rumor — could he have been taking them and stopped? — was also tossed out there. That brought an interesting response.

"I wouldn't doubt that for a second," said Tejada. "I honestly believe about 80 percent of the Dominicans that play in the major leagues probably have tried steroids. In our country, they are easy to get. If you have money to pay for them, you can go to a drug store or a doctor and get them.

"Our country has a lot of poor people and we aren't as educated when it comes to steroids and that other stuff. I know people that have taken steroids. It's different here. Maybe he is off them now and maybe that's the problem? You don't see guys drop off the way he did."

Tejada said the pressure of playing for the Red Sox and being one of the most beloved athletes in the Dominican Republic has become too much.

"I was in the D.R. when Manny was traded and people there jumped ship and traded in their Red Sox caps for Dodgers caps," said Tejada. "Ortiz is really the only Dominican left on the Red Sox and the country depends on him. I know he feels that pressure."

Carlos Nunez, who stopped in for a lunch time haircut, said Ortiz needs to be treated like every other player, Dominican or not.

Nunez said, "If you're not going to produce, you're not going to play. And he's not producing. I would bench him. And if he doesn't hit, I'd find someone else."

Other explanations than steroid withdrawal.  However, those whisper are not likley to be silenced soon.

Ryan Theriot and Rick Telander meet: No steroids, no HGH, no bull

ESPN carries a story of reporter/columnist Rick Telander meeting Cub shortstop Ryan Theriot to talk about the column where the reporter discusses the cloud hovering over baseball since the steroid era came to town.  Theroit knew he was not under steroid suspicion, rather his May outburst (5 home runs) was used as a point of discussion about why everyone is under suspicion in the MLB.

The writer and the player met on the field after Sunday's game to discuss the Sun-Times' article and headline that attached Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot's latest power surge to baseball's performance-enhancing drug problem.

Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander waited for Theriot to finish his post-game duties, then talked to him along with myself and two Chicago camera crews. I asked Theriot what his response was to Telander's article and the attending headline, which Telander didn't write.

"I didn't like it very much," Theriot said. "My response would be, it's unfair and kind of hurtful for me just because of the work I've put in and the way I've gone about my business and the way I've lived my life up to this point. To have something like that come out, to me, is just not fair."

Theriot and Telander were very respectful of each other, and Theriot has always answered all the questions asked of him. Sunday was no different. Again, I asked the Cubs shortstop his main contention with the story.

"I understand the article itself and the article had a lot of validity to it, but the lead, headline and even the first few sentences of the story, to me, were a little irresponsible," Theriot said.

The remainder of the article documents the meeting between reporter and ballplayer, an intelligent introspective discourse.  More of what is needed to address the PED problem in the MLB.

Ex-San Jose State Spartan, ex-American Gladiator reveals steroid secrets

Former San Jose Spartan football player, and American Gladiator regular discusses steroid and PED use in an insightful manner.  Dan Clark discusses steroid use in his new book -- the effects and the side effects.  The problem is that Clark talks from a position of success: he made himself with the use of steroids.   How many sad tales of embezzlers in jail stops future embezzlers from stealing money?  Few.  The lure of success and fortune appears to be too strong.  To the San Jose Mercury-News:

Dan Clark can tell you all the things that steroids did for him.

They helped get him a football scholarship to San Jose State, where he was a defensive standout and media guide cover boy. They allowed him to suit up briefly with the Los Angeles Rams during the 1987 NFL strike. They were the secret ingredient that made him a Spandex-wearing star of the "American Gladiators" television show two decades ago.

But that's not all steroids did.

They nearly caused a heart attack, left him with shrunken testicles, made him urinate blood and resulted in surgery to remove excess tissue from his breasts. There were unprovoked explosions of anger, too, yet Clark couldn't give up the drugs because of the addictive feeling of power they provided.

That's the story of self-inflicted hell Clark tells now in his unflinchingly raw autobiography, "Gladiator: A True Story of 'Roids, Rage, and Redemption."

In an era when the shadow of steroids has darkened modern sport and made fans increasingly skeptical of what they see, Clark wants the book to be a catalyst for a more realistic discussion about performance-enhancing drugs. Steroids work, Clark says flatly. But they exact a terrible price.

"That's the conversation we're not having with young adults," Clark, the father of a 21-year-old son, said. "You know how teenagers are. You tell them: 'Don't you do this' and it's only going to make them do it more. So you have to tell them that you do get bigger, but you pay for those gains with a pound of flesh. It's a Faustian bargain."

The current spate of self-revealing books regarding steroid abuse will amount to nothing...and almost never have changed anyone's mind.  The irony of Clark's friend at San Jose State -- baseball all-star Ken Caminiti -- dying at 41 of drug abuse obviously means nothing to the current crop of drug cheats like A-Rod and Manny.  Deleterious outcomes of steroid abusers like Caminiti and Jose Canseco and CHris Benoit will stop no one from drug-cheating.  Did Ivan Boesky's financial demise stop Bernie Madoff?

At SJSU he was a well-liked big man on campus and fraternity brother to rising baseball star Ken Caminiti. (Clark is well aware of the terrible irony in how Caminiti, who would go on to win the National League MVP award, later would admit his own steroid use before dying, in 2004, of a heart attack at age 41.)

Thanks to Jay over at the Wizard of Odds for the story.

Chicago Sun Times writer Rick Telander points out Ryan Theriot epitimizes MLB steroid problems (but is NOT under steroid suspicion)

The Chicago Cub's shortstop Ryan Theroit hit one home run last year.  Sure the winds were always blowing in against him, and the mound was elevated only when he batted, but one home run is not impressive.  The slugger has banged out 5 this May alone.  What is this...Brady Anderson revisited?

The Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander points out that the Theriot power outburst now comes under suspicion in 2009 MLB times.  In time past, fans might conclude Theriot spent more time working out over the winter, or matured as a hitter this year.  No more: the juice is in.

Sorry, Ryan Theriot, you're a suspect. Forget Manny Ramirez and Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and Mark McGwire and all the other hulking, accused performance-enhancing drug users.

You, sir, all 5-11, 175 pounds of you, are doing devious things.

To wit, Theriot -- no disrespect, but if he's 5-11, I'm 6-12 -- hit two home runs Wednesday night at Wrigley Field against the Padres, giving him five times more home runs in 33 games this year than he hit all last season.

Brrinnnng! Eee -- ah! Eee-ah! Zzzt! Zzzzt!

That rings the steroid/HGH/ whatever-designer-drug-is-in bell, doesn't it?

Well, yes, ''The Riot'' hit only one dinger in 2008 and only five so far this year.

But if he were, say, Manny Ramirez (37 home runs in 2008), he would have just hit his 185th homer of 2009.

Really, Theriot is not a serious suspect for juicing.  Apparently his bat found a sweet spot or two.  However, this is 2009 and post-Clemens, post-Bonds, post-A-rod, Post-Manny, post-McGwire...it goes on and on and on.

But this is what baseball has wrought.

This is what we tried to tell Bud Selig and Donald Fehr and all the head-in-the-sand executive clowns for years and years would happen if Major League Baseball and its union left athletes to their own devices, acting as though crazy numbers came about just because eating and lifting had become trendy...

  What's the old saying -- you reap what you sow?

When you plant cheating, Major League Baseball, cynicism will be your crop.

Telander's correct.  Once the slippery slope of enhanced achievement is breached, then it is a long slide down.  Speaking of enhancement,where is Ms. California when you need some positive enhancement?  Or Brady Anderson for that matter?

Roger Clemens: Over and out...legal and literary

Roger Clemens makes the news again.  Apparently he cannot stand Manny and A-Rod stealing the headlines.

Roger: Out (US AG)

The United State Attorney General Eric Holder, all busy with torture and such, is calling himself recused from the Roger Clemens investigation going on in DC with the FBI. Apparently the Rocket showed Mr. Holder how to throw a backdoor slider.  From Reuters:

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has removed himself from the criminal probe into whether baseball pitching great Roger Clemens lied to Congress about steroids, a Justice Department spokesman said on Thursday.

The FBI began the investigation more than a year ago after Clemens denied in testimony before a congressional committee that he used performance-enhancing steroids. His former trainer testified Clemens had used steroids and human growth hormone.

Department spokesman Matt Miller said Holder was recused because he previously worked at Covington and Burling, a law firm that had represented Clemens.

Roger, meanwhile continues to maintain that Brian McNamee injected his rocket rear with PEDs.  The Toronto Star carries this one:

Clemens again denied that former personal trainer Brian McNamee injected him with performance-enhancing drugs in a phone interview on ESPN. "He's never injected me with HGH or steroids," Clemens said of McNamee's assertions to baseball investigator George Mitchell...

Clemens said he chose to speak out yesterday because it was the release date of a book about his alleged drug use.

"It's important for me to do that," he said. "I've seen excerpts of the book and they're completely false. ... You know, guys, it's piling on. It's hurtful at times. But I'm moving on."

Clemens must have some reason for fervent denials.  A deal with McNamee "Don't ask, don't tell what you're injecting".

Others are moving on too from the Clemens affair...like the Hall of Fame voters.

Angry Cleveland fans demand HCG, HGH, steroids, and anti-depressants

Andy Borowitz at the Huffington Post, says angry Cleveland fans demand their players take steroids.

The national pastime suffered another black eye last night when a mob of irate Cleveland Indians fans poured onto the diamond at Progressive Field to demand that their team take steroids.

Displeasure with the championship-starved squad reached a boiling point with the news that slugger Manny Ramirez took performance-enhancing drugs -- but only after leaving the Indians.

When asked by ESPN if he ingested the banned medication while playing for Cleveland, Mr. Ramirez shrugged his shoulders and replied, "What would be the point of that?"

Mr. Ramirez is just the latest in a long line of baseball players who have refused to take steroids while playing for the Indians, says fan Chuck Goulardi, 49, the leader of last night's protest.

"Manny's comment was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back," says Mr. Goulardi, who has seen his 'roid-free Tribe fall to their juiced-up competition more times than he can recall. "These players are paid good money, and all we're asking them to do is take one measly shot in the ass."

Name the best juicier who suited up for the Indians?  Paul Byrd?  Isn't that sad?  Give Cleveland a huge hit of anti-depressants.

Alyssa Milano on steroids in baseball and botox in actresses

Actress Alyssa Milano has a new book on baseball: Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic.  She traces her interest in baseball, and association with the game.  She also discusses steroids and PEDs in the game.

Milano admittedly is a bit confounded by baseball's ever-present albatross - the steroid issue. "There have always been scandals in baseball," she philosophizes. "Steroids is a sign of the times. We are a pharmaceutical nation.

"You can't find a woman over 40 who is an actress who hasn't used Botox. I get the players' perspective. What I don't get is how it got so out of hand, and how they let it go on for so long. I can forgive a player if he is honest about it. I don't view Alex Rodriguez any differently than anyone else. He may be different to some because he's a Yankee, but I don't think it's any worse for the sport because he did it.

"The players' union should support a come-clean program. Just say 'I was wrong, I got caught up in it, and I'm sorry.' Apologize for it, then move on."

The remarks about appearance enhancement in actresses is right on.

ESPN writer Howard Bryant calls out 2002 Angels - Giants World Series as apex of steroid juiced MLB

ESPN writer Howard Bryant (Juicing the Game) calls out the players and management of both teams in the 2002 World Series between the Anaheim Angles (Troy Glaus) and the San Francisco Giants (Barry Bonds).   Bryant doesn't spare the doctors, also popping unethical California physician Ramon Scruggs who supplied steroids to the Angels' players.

The cornering of Alex Rodriguez and his subsequent admission that he used performance-enhancing drugs represented, for all intents and purposes, the nadir of the steroid era with few, if any, remaining ambiguities: The A-list, Hall of Fame's best used drugs; and so did the mediocre; and so did the worst. The general managers demurred, the leaders shrank and the men who signed the checks, like everyone else, made a fortune. The shock is gone. Little else can surprise our calloused sensibilities.

That said, the intricate details of just how this confidence game was carried out still carry immense value, for they cement a discredited time with facts instead of speculation. Understanding the foundations of the steroid era also reveals that this industrywide failure stretched far beyond the players connected to Brian McNamee, Kirk Radomski or the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. It provides even more evidence that so much of what we've seen on the field during the past decade and a half needs to be recast.

Recently, The New York Times obtained transcripts of interviews by federal agents with four major league players conducted as part of the ongoing criminal investigation of Ramon Scruggs, a physician under indictment for illegally distributing steroids to big leaguers, police officers and corporate executives, among others.

As we have said, dirty trainers, doctors, and health professionals often stand behind the doping curtain:

Meanwhile, dirty doctors such as Scruggs have applied the same cheap excuses for their behavior that we've heard for years from the players. Glaus told investigators he used steroids to recover from a shoulder injury that was not healing. According to the Times, Schoeneweis told federal agents he felt run-down. Greene said he was fearful of losing his spot on a major league roster and so would not be able to support his family. Valdez said shoulder and knee injuries were not healing. Suggs mailed him steroids and syringes.

Each player used an old rationalization -- I wasn't trying to cheat; I was trying to stay on the field -- to soften the appearance of his actions, but the domino effect remains the same. At this late date, the excuses grow thin, the lies nothing more than a self-created noose.

And that 2002 Series pitting Glaus and the 'Angels' v. Bonds and the 'Gaints'.  We will not point out the delicate irony behind those monikors (we just did):

The 2002 Angels, for example, are the legitimate champions of an illegitimate time, just as Bonds is the legitimate home run champion of a discredited era. Despite Angels manager Mike Scioscia's adamant public stand against drugs, people around the game point privately to that club as one of the premier steroid-fueled teams thanks in part to a bullpen rife with career minor leaguers who suddenly began throwing in the mid-90s after their 30th birthdays.

Glaus was the MVP of that 2002 World Series, which is looking more and more like the definitive Steroid Series. Glaus, Brendan Donnelly and Schoeneweis, all of whom have been implicated, played for the Angels that season. On the Giants, there were Bonds, Benito Santiago, Marvin Benard, David Bell and Rich Aurilia. And that doesn't include the players who were suspect.

Bryant's exleeent writing is very dense reading, packed full of fact and logic.  Excellent piece.

MLB players -- Glaus and Schoenewies -- talk of relationship with steroid doctor Ramon Scruggs

Major league baseball players Scott Schoenewies and Troy Glaus recounted their roles in steroids and HGH use,prescribed by renegade physician Ramon Scruggs.  Scruggs appears to be a significant source for illicit PEDs for a number of athletes.  The information form the New York Times was found in federal documents preparing for a Scruggs prosecution.

When an All-Star third baseman needed help recovering from a shoulder injury, he knew from one of his agents whom to call: a doctor who mailed him steroids and syringes without ever seeing him.

A journeyman catcher, fearing he would not be able to support his wife and children if he lost his spot in the major leagues, reached out to the same doctor.

A pitcher who was feeling worn down followed the same path, but another pitcher who was plagued by fatigue found an alternative: he said a team doctor injected him with steroids.

Ok, now we have gotten over the human interest pity for the players, let's get to the heart of the story.  The MLB players, despite knowing the drugs were illegal found a doctor who supplied them with illicit prescriptions.  Forget the fact that there is no good research (especially at the time) of the regenerative porperties of the PEDs, it was simply illegal.

The account hints that Schoeneweis even used inside information on drug testing timelines because he was the player rep of the club, to avoid detection

Glaus said he was “willing to take the risk” because he needed to play, according to a report written by the federal agent who interviewed Glaus. Schoeneweis said he knew when players were tested because he was his team’s union representative, according to the report, though Schoeneweis said in an interview last month that the agent misinterpreted him. A basic tenet of effective drug testing is that the element of surprise is essential. The accounts of Glaus, Schoeneweis, catcher Todd Greene and pitcher Ismael Valdez were written by federal agents who interviewed the players as they gathered evidence in the case of Ramon Scruggs, an anti-aging doctor who was indicted last year on charges that he illegally wrote prescriptions for steroids and human growth hormone to the players, business executives, police officers and others.

Scruggs not only decides his own law, but his own interpretation of medical research:

“These players benefited from restoration, not performance enhancement,” Scruggs said in a telephone interview. “Steroids don’t make someone a good athlete or a bad athlete; they may make you stronger, but they don’t make you a better athlete.”

Dude, increased strength makes you a better athlete.  Basic.

Athletes and doctors may be involved, as well as agents. Wonder if the players thanked the agents for the great guidance. 

Glaus and Greene testified before a federal grand jury that they were referred to Scruggs by their agents, Mike Nicotera and Gene Casaleggio, according to people with knowledge of the testimony who insisted on anonymity because the information is sealed by a court order.

Here is the way Scruggs worked:

There was a buzz about Scruggs’s name at the Texas Rangers’ spring training facility when Valdez, the pitcher, arrived after signing as a free agent before the 2002 season.

Valdez told the investigators he had pain in his shoulder and knee, and contacted Scruggs, who mailed him syringes filled with steroids.

Mail order medicine...

Somethings getting hairy with Lance Armstrong: Report sent to WADA and UCI

The Hartford Courant says WADA and UCI received a report on Lance Armstrong's recent haircut.
A hair sample? That's what France is banking on in its report to the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

A sample of Lance Armstrong's hair, taken during an out-of-competition test in Beaulieu-sur-Mer in southern France, was sent to be analyzed. Testing of hair samples is allowed under French law, but is not recognized by WADA or the UCI.

French Doping Agency chief Pierre Bordry declined to disclose details of the report. "I sent [the report] in order to get an opinion on the matter. I am not making any judgments," Bordry said.

Armstrong said it was the first time he had to provide a hair sample. He said the test "butchered" his haircut.

Cycling Weekly says the report discusses Armstrong's behavior.  Gee, that's news.

The French Anti-Doping Authority (AFLD) has filed a report on Lance Armstrong's behaviour during a recent out-of-competition drug test. Both the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have received the report.

The exact nature of the report has not been revealed, but it is likely that Armstrong was not happy to have an impromptu haircut.

The seven-times Tour de France champion was visited in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France, on Tuesday, March 17, whilst training for July's Tour de France. AFLD inspectors requested the usual blood and urine samples, and also removed a sample of hair for analysis.

"Yet another 'surprise' anti-doping control," wrote Armstrong on his Twitter site a day later. "This one from the French authorities. Urine, blood, and hair! Classic..."

Armstrong had to get his hair cut short after the sample was taken as the testers had left it "butchered".

No wonder Armstrong wanted his own unique Catlin-testing protocol.  That would retain his flamboyant hairstyle, seen at the left (um, pretty droll).

Jose Canseco says A-Rod a "Canseco copycat"; Manny Ramirez "most likely 90%" steroid user

Jose Canseco spoke on the USC campus this weekend.  Always ready to unload some new juice Canesco bashed a few more fellow ball players.  (LA Times source)

About his retirement from baseball:

1998 has made him reconsider things. After long telling anyone who'd listen that he might not have made the big leagues without steroids, maybe the year in Canada shows he could have become a star without drugs. He holds tight to this new notion.

"I have regrets," he says. "The way people look at my career was compromised by using. Then the whole thing fell apart. . . . I was cut off. Not being able to play at 36. That's how old I was when baseball colluded to keep me out. They were sending a message to all the other players: 'Stop using, or you will be like Jose.' "

On Alex Rodriguez, A-Rod's 'roid use:

What about Alex Rodriguez, the audience wants to know? Canseco calls the Yankees third baseman a Canseco copycat, from the steroids to the dalliance with Madonna. He scoffs at the notion Rodriguez is telling the whole truth about his drug use.

On Manny Ramirez:

What about Manny Ramirez? someone asks.

Canseco laughs and offers his theory. A-Rod was exposed only when his name was leaked from a list of 104 major leaguers who in a 2003 test showed up positive for steroids. Because the test was anonymous, those names were not supposed to be made public. But in Canseco's mind, baseball's power brokers know who is on it: players he is sure will be seen as toxic if the truth comes out.

He says this, despite the fact that A-Rod isn't being treated as toxic, nor are other players who were caught up in the steroid scandal but publicly apologized, including Miguel Tejada, starting shortstop for the Houston Astros, and Andy Pettitte, a starting pitcher with the New York Yankees.

Why didn't Ramirez get a long-term deal? Canseco asks. Why were owners gun-shy about signing arguably the game's best hitter?

Never mind that Ramirez was asking for a mega-deal at age 36. Or that he was negotiating in a sickly economy, while weighed down by the heavy baggage of a surly reputation. Canseco will have none of it. To Canseco, the drawn-out negotiation, the lack of a long-term deal, the lack of interest all raise red flags, and so he tells the Bovard crowd that Ramirez's "name is most likely, 90%," on the list.

Canseco admits later that he has no way of knowing. But it makes sense to him, so he threw it out there -- kaboom! -- swinging for the fences, still.

Interesting that Canseco didn't bash USC linebacker Brian Cushing while he was at it...Canseco just doesn't give it up does he?  Also noted in the article was that Canseco continues to take testosterone, although therapeutic at this point...if you believe that.

New Brian Cushing steroid controversy: Site claims positive test at NFL combine

Brian, Cushing the USC monster linebacker who will be eligible in the upcoming NFL draft, needed Pete Carroll, his USC college coach to defend him this weekend.  Carroll -- who has a reputation for closely monitoring things like Reggie Bush's cool house -- defended Cushing and his other monster linebacker Clay Matthews after a report of positive tests were reported on one unverified web site.

The NFL rumor mill is at full tilt this time of year.

So much so that USC Coach Pete Carroll apparently thought it necessary to quell the attention sparked by a blurb that linebackers Brian Cushing and Clay Matthews tested positive for steroids at the NFL scouting combine in February.

A one-sentence report from NFLDraftBible.com, which is not affiliated with the league, started the buzz. The agency representing Matthews apparently responded to the report.

Here's what Carroll had to say in a statement released on USC's website.

"These rumors are absolutely false," Carroll said. "If they were found positive, Clay and Cush would have been notified three weeks ago, which they weren't and all of the NFL teams would have been notified too, which they weren't."

Carroll said he spoke with the NFL testing service and verified that both players tested clean.

"They're both men of outstanding character and they never tested positive for anything here," Carroll said. "This is an [sic] major example of irresponsible reporting, and the site that published this report should be ashamed of themselves."

A (sic) interesting comment from an (sic) Carroll.  Who knows how often athletes are dope tested in the NCAA?  It could be another Tony Mandarich case where steroid use is denied until the player needs a book deal.  Again this report is hearsay.

Cushing addressed this issue:

"I don’t understand where it is coming from," Cushing told me. "I was tested last December at USC and passed, one of several tests I have passed. I was tested this morning here at the combine and those results should be out in a couple of weeks to a month, I believe. I think people are trying to find something, anything, that would detract from what I have done on the field. You learn in life if it’s not one thing, it’s the other. I hope once I pass the test here that this will be put behind me. I’m really hoping for that."

Barking Carnival and Hornfans carried threads on the Cush.

Sports Illustrated reporter Selena Roberts discusses breaking the A-ROD on steroids story

SI reporter Selena Roberts, who was initially trashed by AROD, discusses her role in the story of A-Rod juice:

On controversy involving breaking the A-Rod steroids story: "I learned a lot at the Orlando Sentinel, where I had on-the-ground training many years ago covering the Magic ... Certainly there's a bit of a backlash on me personally. I'm a big girl, I can handle that sort of thing. That goes with the business we're in. ... The goal is always the same -- to get to the truth."

 If you want to listen to Roberts' entire interview, click here and wait a few seconds for the download: Download SelenaRoberts

Tejada receives one year probation for lying to Congress about steroids

So if you lie to Congress during hearings -- repeatedly -- you receive a one year probation where you promise not to lie to Congress again for one year?  The Houston Chron goes into this:

Drayton McLane loves it when his players do community work, so he has to be thrilled Miguel Tejada has agreed to do an extra 100 hours this summer.

Nice going, Miggy. Way to represent The Good Guys.

Incidentally, who decided a $5,000 fine was any way to punish a guy making $13 million? Couldn’t the feds have ordered Tejada to pay whatever the government spent proving he’s a liar?

Anyway, about eight seconds after Tejada’s plea-bargain agreement was announced, the Astros issued a statement saying how happy they were to have this whole thing behind them.

In other words, let’s all forget that this guy is a cheat and that we got fleeced on this trade.

As for Tejada, he hasn’t exactly been forthright. He has confessed to what he got caught doing and nothing more. And there appears to be more there.

He played the contrite card when he showed up at spring training until someone asked about his use of steroids and HGH.

He bristled and said he wasn’t going to talk about it. Now that’s coming clean.

He doesn’t have to admit anything. The Mitchell Report does it for him. It’s right there on page 201 along with photo copies of checks to ex-teammate Adam Piatt for $3,100 and $3,200.

Piatt said he provided Tejada with steroids and human growth hormone, but he has no way of knowing if Tejada actually used the stuff.

We don't want a witch hunt do we?  Lying and cheating professionals should never be hunted down to answer for their peccadilloes.  The Astros don't think so:

....the Astros have handled this thing from start to finish (with) Ethics be damned.

First, they said they had no idea Tejada would be included in the Mitchell Report. This spring, McLane changed his story, admitting the team had discussed the issue and made the trade anyway.

Translation: We don’t care if a guy is a cheat as long as he helps us win games. There’s a good message for the youngsters in there somewhere.

That’s how baseball operated during the steroid era. If the ballparks were full and the home runs long, if everyone made a lot of money, then why bother with the annoying details?

Miguel Tajeda to receive sentence for steroid perjury today

The Houston Astros' Miguel Tejada will appear in federal court today to learn what his sentence will be for lying to a Congressional investigation into steroid use in major league baseball.  It sounds like justice will go easy on Tejada because he said he was sorry for lying about steroids.

Six weeks after pleading guilty to misleading Congressional investigators about performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, Miguel Tejada is scheduled to receive his sentencing in Washington, D.C.

Tejada traveled to the nation's capital on Thursday and is expected to receive probation, as recommended by prosecutors. U.S. attorney Jeffrey Taylor wrote in a memo last week to Federal Magistrate Judge Alan Kay that Tejada should get a reduced sentence because he has publicly apologized for his actions and has no criminal history.

Tejada, a five-time All-Star and the 2002 American League Most Valuable Player, was accused of giving false statements about his conversations with another player, former Athletics teammate Adam Piatt, about steroids and human growth hormone. Tejada also admitted he didn't reveal information to House committee investigators in August 2005 about whether or not his ex-teammate Rafael Palmeiro took steroids.

Tejada lied about is age for years; it would appear he is generally hopeless in matters of veracity.  However, he does have a fat contract.

Pro wrestler Abismo Negro found dead in Mexican river; Blame goes to steroids

Authorities found (now) ex-pro wrestling legend Abismo Negro ("The Black Abyss") floating down a Mexican river on Sunday.  The story/explanation sounds bizarre.  To Wrestling-Edge:

Andrés Alejandro Palomeque González, better known as Abismo Negro in AAA, was found dead in a river in Mexico yesterday. The lucha wrestler was 37.

No definite cause of death has been determined as of yet, nor has foul play been ruled out.

According to a bus driver who was transporting González and other passengers to Mexico City, González became agitated, almost panicked and demanded to be let off the bus despite it being 1:30 in the morning. After leaving the bus, González found himself lost on the dark hillside, confirmed by a text message he sent to his wife. After receiving the text, his wife contacted local wrestling promoter Vicente Martinez, who organized a search party.

Yesterday morning, González was found floating face down in the river. There has been talk that he may have gotten stuck in mud and was unable to free himself. The body was removed from the river and positively identified as Gonzalez. The local coroner confirmed that the anxiety attack led to the events of his death. He also noted that anabolic steroids being taken by Gonzalez at the time could have caused his anxiety attack.

The steroids/anxiety attack explanation sounds hokey.  Indeed Gonzalez may have taken steroids (appears to go with the pro wrestling profession).  However 'anxiety attack' caused by anabolic steroids leading to confusion and death might be pushing it.

The wrestler might have suffered a heart attack or a stroke, leading to confusion.  Very common.  That confusion could have led to more panic and disorientation.  Or it all could be foul play.

Considering the general cocktail of anabolic drugs pro wrestlers ingest - AASs, HGH, insulin, thyroid hormones, it is a wonder their heart makes it past 40.  Oh yeah, it often doesn't.

Early in his career, González went under the ring name Winners, a masked male dancer, who teamed with former WCW wrestler Super Calo during the early glory days of the AAA promotion. At the TripleMania II-A show in April 1994, Winners formed a trio with Rey Misterio and Rey Misterio, Jr. The following year, he lost his mask in a feud with Calo.

González changed his appearance in 1997 and became Abismo Negro in 1997. He wrestled at the 1997 Royal Rumble in San Antonio at the Alamo Dome by taking part in a "Free-For-All" pre-show match alongside Heavy Metal and Histeria. His team lost to Octagón, Blue Demon, Jr. and Tinieblas Jr. He also made two appearances on Raw in March of that year.

In 2004, Abismo Negro appeared in TNA by taking part in the World X Cup Tournament for Team Mexico.

Lance Armstrong losing hair over doping tests

Lance Armstrong submitted to a French doping test yesterday, which involved a hair sample.  Lance's latest close shave resulted in hair loos.  From Cycling Weekly:

Lance Armstrong has been given a free haircut by the French anti-doping agency (AFLD) during an out-of-competition test.

The seven-times Tour de France champion was visited in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France, on Tuesday for his 24th out-of-competition test since announcing his comeback from retirement last year. Inspectors requested the usual blood and urine samples, and also removed a sample of hair for analysis.

"Yet another 'surprise' anti-doping control," wrote Armstrong on his Twitter site. "This one from the French authorities. Urine, blood, and hair! Classic..."

"So I'm clear - never complaining about these tests. Def part of the job. Feel targeted? Of course. But anything to prove I'm clean. Onward."

So brave. So bold.  And such short hair: apparently he needed a haircut to cover up the sampled areas.

Although this is the first time Armstrong has had hair removed for testing, obtaining a hair sample is not unusual in the fight against doping. Hair contains residual traces of substances ingested by the body - and they are retained in hair until that portion is cut. Therefore hair can be used to test for longer-term use of banned substances. However, it's not a completely fool-proof method as bleaching hair can destroy the markers left in it by certain substances.

Armstrong was working out in France, preparing for the 2009 Tour de France.

Cal State Fullerton editorial on steroids in baseball

From the Daily Titan, an interesting take on the PED/steroids in baseball issue:

Today’s baseball players are cheating just as their forefather’s before them, but their means to an end have far more severe consequences.

Gone are the days of spitballs, sandpaper and Vaseline. Now there are new buzzwords such as HGH (human growth hormone), performance enhancers and “the clear.”

There is never a good reason to cheat, but at least the old-timers were doing it to win, not to inflate stats and get a few extra million in their wallets. The bigger concern remains with what the long-term effects of using steroids will be.

Not only are the best players in the world using them without any regard for themselves and their long-term health, they are also jeopardizing the youth that idolize them so much.

With owners, the media and everyone in between turning away from the problem at the beginning, the use of performance enhancing drugs has quietly become acceptable for college and high school players looking to make the leap into professional sports.

There are no guarantees in sports. The lives of millions of student-athletes shouldn’t be at stake because it has become acceptable in the professional level. There is no reason to be using any illegal substances to improve your level of play.

Yes, everyone wants to be the best and have a chance, but by allowing baseball’s promiscuity with drugs get to this point everyone is now at risk.

Major League Baseball, Bud Selig in particular, has to step in and finally put an end to this mess...

Houston Astros sign another alleged juicer: Ivan Rodriguez

The Houston Press reports that the Astros signed Pudge Rodriguez today...In the great Texas tradition of ignoring steroid use.

After denying interest for most of this past year, the Houston Astros yesterday inked catcher Ivan Rodriguez to a one-year $1.5 million contract that also includes $1.5 million in incentives. Reportedly, the Astros had not been interested because he didn't mix well with pitchers, but supposedly Astros ace Roy Oswalt had been pushing the team to sign Rodriguez.

Rodriguez is known as one of the game's greatest catchers, having won 13 gold gloves for defensive excellence along with seven Silver Slugger awards for his hitting power. Over the course of his 18-year career, he has got 2605 hits, 524 doubles, 295 homers, 1217 RBI, and 1253 runs. He's got a career .339 on-base percentage with a.457 slugging percentage and a career .301 batting average. He was the 1999 American League MVP, and he was the 2003 MVP of the National League Championship Series.

He split last season between the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees, where he hit a disappointing .276 with 110 hits, 20 doubles, 7 homers, and 55 RBI in 115 games with only a .319 on-base percentage and a .394 slugging percentage. It was partly because of those stats, and rumors of alleged steroid use, that Rodriguez went so far into spring training without signing a contract...

As for the steroid rumors... so what? The way the team and fans have embraced Miguel Tejada shows that nobody really gives a damn about players using steroids. And Rodriguez is a far superior player to Tejada, and always has been.

Anabolic steroids and painkillers in home of Andrew "Test" Martin

We are not huge fans of the WWE, to say the least.  It took a few minutes to get up to speed when our man Sal M (Blog Critics) emailed that a pro wrestler named Andrew Martin died very young the other day.

Authorities say former professional wrestler Andrew Martin, who was known as "Test" and "The Punisher" to fans, has died at his Tampa home. He was 33.

The former World Wrestling Entertainment champion was found dead at his apartment Friday night. Police say a neighbor reported that she could see into his apartment window and that Martin appeared motionless for several hours.

The St. Petersburg Times reported -- surprise -- authorities uncovered anabolic steroids and painkillers at the deceased wrestler's house.  It is very interesting that Martin kept deep ties with the first family of the WWE, the Vince McMahon crew...even when the WWE released the wrestler as the result of a spinal wrestling injury.

As “Test”, Martin was involved in a love triangle with Stephanie McMahon (the owner Vince McMahon’s daughter) and Triple H (the wrestler who has been married to Stephanie McMahon for years) which was one of the top story lines in WWE history.

Today would have been Andrew Martin's birthday -- 34.

The professional wrestler known as "Test" or the "Punisher" planned to leave Monday to celebrate in France, Sweden and Belgium, according to his MySpace page.

But authorities found his body Friday night at about 8 o'clock. And officers have since disclosed that they discovered prescription drugs, including painkillers and steroids, in the Harbour Place apartment.

A neighbor had become suspicious after watching him lie motionless on a couch for hours and called police. It appeared Mr. Martin was in the middle of a meal when he died, said police spokeswoman Laura McElroy. There was a half-eaten pizza and soda nearby.

Officers do not suspect foul play. There were no signs of trauma to Mr. Martin, she said. "He was obviously very healthy, McElroy said. The mystery of his death will likely be solved by his toxicology report.

First, anytime a person passes away, it is sad; condolences to the family.  However, an informed observer will note the string of dead wrestlers, including the spectacular Chris Benoit, most with a string of steroids, HGH, painkillers, and other drugs.

Evidence of performance enhancing drugs on Clemens personal syringes?

We missed the past few days, busy with various public presentations.  Here is a Fox story out yesterday: 

Federal investigators involved in the Roger Clemens perjury probe have found performance- enhancing drugs on syringes, vials and gauze pads provided by his former trainer, The New York Times reported.

The revelations could help the case of ex-trainer Brian McNamee, who has told federal agents, baseball investigator George Mitchell and a House of Representatives committee that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with steroids and the human growth hormone from 1998-2001.

Clemens has been accused of lying to Congress last year, when he said under oath that he never used steroids or H.G.H.

Clemens’ attorney, Rusty Hardin, said he wasn’t shocked by the findings.

"Duh," Hardin told the Times. "Do you really think McNamee was going to fabricate this stuff and not make sure there were substances on there? The fact is Roger never used steroids or H.G.H."

That's why you hire those high priced lawyers: to stand with you in thick-muscled and thin-skinned.  Is this H.G.H. to pump you to Notorious B.I.G.?

This really isn't news, but more keeping this story breathing.  So what was on those syringes?  Vitamin B shots?

Dwain Chambers names track athletes, coaches, and contradictions in new book

The AP discusses UK sprinter Dwain Chambers's new book as more of the text is revealed.  Not surprisingly Chambers names more track athletes who used BALCO for doping including Kelli White.
British sprinter Dwain Chambers names several doping-tainted American athletes in his autobiography chronicling his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Sprinters Kelli White, Chryste Gaines and Alvin Harrison, all of whom were busted for doping and served suspensions, are all mentioned when Chambers recounts his ties with BALCO founder Victor Conte.

"He kept telling me to talk to the other athletes, talk to my coach Remi (Korchemny), Chryste Gaines and Kelli, Alvin Harrison to name a few. I told him I would," Chambers writes in the book "Race Against Me: My Story...

"In time I became fully aware of Victor's role and his purpose in recruiting the best athletes in the world," Chambers writes. "Victor was a pharmacologist with a living to make."

Chambers says he started taking THG, also known as "The Clear," and other drugs such as HGH and EPO, in 2002 after meeting Conte in the United States while training.

"As time went on, I became more and more familiar with associating certain athletes with certain drugs. ... I made Kelli White my main confidante and the attraction grew by the day," writes Chambers, who says he dated White for more than a year.

White won the 100 and 200-meter races at the 2003 world championships in Paris, but both her medals were stripped after she tested positive for modafinil

Chambers, who admitted using 300 combinations of illegal PEDs assumes a strange and paradoxiacally moral attitude toward illict drug doping:

Although Chambers says both he and White "agreed that we hated having to cheat to win," he later says he didn't know THG was on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances.

"If THG was on there I was out of America on the very next flight and Victor Conte was history!" Chambers writes, but then later in the book adds, "I printed the list off. It ran to nearly eight pages. I went over it three times and found no reference at all to THG. Victor was right: it wasn't on the banned list."

"In my own mind, I wasn't cheating."

In earlier excerpts from the book printed in the Daily Mail, Chambers says he was a "walking junkie" and took "more than 300 different concoctions" of performance-enhancing drugs that cost him $30,000 a year.

"It wasn't a problem. I was earning big money at the time," Chambers writes.

White (photo right) who to her credit confessed to all the doping, is an example of how the drugs produce an incredible physique.  Once again, consider all records in the 'steroids era' to be at risk of PED taint. 

Chambers also hits the syringe on the head in the last statement.."The money..."

Also note the irony of calling Conte a 'pharmacologist'.

UK Sprinter Dwain Chambers lays out chilling inside look at track doping via BALCO

Carrying excerpts before the mid-March publication of Dwain Chambers new book "Race Against Me", The Daily Mail shows the chilling (and expensive) world of big time track doping.  Chambers admits to more than 300 drug cocktails from BALCO (and other sources).  To Earth Times:

London - Disgraced British sprinter Dwain Chambers admits in his forthcoming autobiography "Race Against Me" that he took a concoction of over 300 performance-enhancing drugs. In an installment published in Tuesday's Daily Mail ahead of next Monday's release, Chambers, who served a two-year ban after being found guilty of doping offences in 2003, said he had paid out 30,000 dollars a year for doping substances.

"I wasn't just on THG, EPO and HGH, but testosterone to help with sleep and reduce cholesterol," he said. "On Christmas Day (in 2002), as I sat in the bathroom with 'The Clear' (THG), I realized I had been taking drugs - more than 300 different concoctions - for 12 months.

During that time, Chambers says he passed 10 doping tests as well as winning the 100-metre gold medal at the 2002 European Championships. However, his times hadn't improved that dramatically and he was also often troubled by stomach cramps.

"When I was clean, my personal best was 9.97 seconds. A year on, after the sleepless nights, the anxiety, the pain of the cramps, the blood draws to make sure I wouldn't suffer a stroke, or worse, the inconsistent races and the disappointment of missing events, my PB (personal best) was 9.87 seconds," he wrote.

Some of the drugs: The clear (THG), testosterone, insulin, HGH . Provigil, T4, and EPO.  Dangerous...Yes.  Effective...apparently.  Chambers says his time went for a PB of 9.97 to 9.87, nice gains.  The cost, you can see above the price.

The discussions?  This discussing with Tim Montgomery about Conte and BALCO:

I  (Chambers)should have seen the danger signals when Montgomery snarled at me one day: ‘Yo, Dwain! You wit that n***** Conte? Don’t go anywhere near that c********r. Let me tell you, Chambers, he’s bad news.’

I was unnerved, but he didn’t elaborate. I didn’t know there was a huge row brewing between Montgomery and Conte. Tim had probably taken a well-educated guess that I was clean and didn’t want me dragged down. I just wish he had been more constructive, instead of hurling obscenities in the direction of Victor.

And a discussion with Conte:

Conte had convinced me that a new drug meant I could train harder and more often. He called it The Clear (THG) and The Cream.

‘Is it illegal?’ I asked.

‘It’s undetectable.’

‘Is it banned?’

‘The Clear is not on the prohibited list and neither will cause a positive test.’

‘Isn’t that cheating?

‘They’re cheating you, Dwain. You’re a talented athlete and you’re not competing on a level playing field. Most of the top sprinters are on steroids. Every time you race you’re at a disadvantage.’

Ah, rationalizations...

Anti-Steroid, anti-doping crusader and IRS agent Jeff Novitzky under the spotlight

ABC News posts a story on the journey of IRS agent Jeff Novitzky, who once tried out for Lute Olson at Arizona basketball, as he crusades against steroids and  doping and some say too zealously Barry Bonds.

The story starts in a California courtroom where Novitzky participated in the BALCO trial of Victor Conte.  And it will continue in the same courtroom:

Sometime in the next few months, Jeff Novitzky will walk back into the same 10th floor courtroom, raise his right hand and swear to tell the truth in the case of the United States v. Barry Lamar Bonds. He will say that Bonds lied in that same courthouse five years ago when he told the grand jury he never knowingly took steroids. And then he'll wait for the jury to decide if baseball's home run king was telling the truth.

But no matter what the jury decides -- and face it, most of us have already made up our minds about Bonds -- it is clear that the detective and his gun has replaced the scientist and his test tube. What isn't clear is whether Jeff Novitzky is part of the solution -- or if he's now the bigger part of the problem. 

Novitzky's early life was highlighted by the Olson connection:

There is nothing about Novitzky's life before Balco that suggests a man destined to direct the biggest investigation in sports history. Or one who would crave or abuse power. He grew up the son of a Bay Area hoops coach, a basketball and track star who still owns the San Mateo County high jump record of 7 feet. Coming out of high school in 1985, he tried out for Lute Olson's Arizona University basketball team. When he fell short, Novitzky returned home to play backup forward and teammate to his big brother at San Jose State.

His athletic career over, Novitzky got a degree in accounting and took a job in San Jose with the IRS's criminal division, a select group of agents who use tax laws and their guns to bust up all sorts of criminal operations.

After the jump we examine more of the extended story on Novitzky...

Dope and steroid testing comes down hard on Jamaica

The Globe carries a story documenting the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAFF) hard come down on Jamaica during the past year's dope testing.

The International Association of Athletics Federations is delighted to see Jamaica's athletes doing fast times — as long as they're not doing it on banned drugs.

The little Caribbean nation was listed yesterday as one of the five most tested nations in IAAF figures for out-of-competition testing released yesterday by the federation's head office in Monte Carlo.

Jamaican athletes, led by the world-record 100- and 200-metre times of sprinter Usain Bolt, dominated the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with 11 medals — six of them gold — in distances of a lap of less. Bolt, who set or shared in four world records last season and won a series of races in Europe, was one of the most tested athletes in the world.

More on dope testing Jamaican athletes after the jump...

HGH a growth industry in the Dominican Republic

The Caribbean is getting slammed today about PED suspicions.  In line with that, the New York Daily News reports the HGH can be scored in the DR, perhaps easier scored there than in the USA.

Hardcore steroids aren't the only drugs easily obtainable in the Dominican Republic. Human growth hormone - baseball's scarlet letter - is available on the black market in Santo Domingo, in Dominican supplement shops and even in the island's pharmacies.

Sometimes even without a prescription.

Baseball banned HGH before the 2005 season, but does not test players for the substance as there continues to be debate on the reliability of an HGH blood test. The league's current drug testing program uses urine samples only, and HGH cannot be detected in urine. Doping experts believe HGH use among athletes, particularly baseball players, has increased in recent years since a reliable HGH test has yet to be adopted in all sports.

Interest in the Dominican increased when A-Rod said his cousin smuggled in some Primobolan for the slugger's use.  HGH may also be scored in the DR:

Most steroids are legal in the Dominican, and last week a Daily News reporter was able to buy testosterone enanthate, a syringe and the oral steroid Dianabol at a pharmacy there without a prescription.

Human growth hormone is only legal in the Dominican Republic with a prescription, according to Milton Pinedo, the president of the Dominican Federation of Sports Medicine and a member of the Dominican Olympic Committee.

"By law, you need a prescription to obtain growth hormone here," Pinedo told the Daily News Thursday. "But a lot of the time you can get it without a prescription."

Pinedo said that he did not think HGH use in the Dominican was as big a problem as steroid use.

Several Dominican pharmacies contacted by The News Thursday, including the chain Farmax, said they do not sell HGH. One Farmax employee said HGH can be bought at health clinics with a doctor's prescription, and that HGH is generally prescribed for "extreme medical conditions," such as AIDS wasting.

But two other Dominican sources said HGH is easily accessible - in bodegas where milk, rice and food are also sold, or in supplement stores that sell a wide variety of performance-enhancing drugs. One source said that walking into any Dominican gym will yield whatever drug an individual desires.

HGH is not cheap, however. A bodybuilder who sold a News reporter a 10-cc vial of Primobolan last week in Santo Domingo - the same steroid that A-Rod tested positive for in 2003 and that he allegedly used during 2001-03 - said that a supply of HGH would run 20,000 pesos, or $571. That amount is good for five injections. The 10-cc vial of Primobolan - good for two injections in a week - costs approximately $95.

Lance Armstrong punished syringe man on Amgen ride

The Drunken Cyclist documents a Lance Armstrong shove for 'Syringe-Man' during an Amgen Tour of California outing.

Armstrong may have shoved the guy into the snow, but somehow we think he made

his 'point'...

One comment on the site says this:

Apparently Pharmstrong did not recognize his Oncologist.

Association between steroid use and injury in NFL players

Scientific America carries a clip on an American J of Physical Med report of an association between steroid use and injury in NFL players.  An association doesn't prove cause and effect, and should be considered hypothesis generating.

Performance-enhancing steroids are the gifts that keep on giving. They help set home-run records and win cycling medals — never mind make for obvious nicknames like the latest instant classic, A-Roid.

But those perennial gifts aren’t all "positive": Now, it seems, in addition to bulking up users, anabolic steroids also predispose them to musculoskeletal injuries.

An anonymous survey of 2,552 retired NFL players released today found an association between joint and ligament injuries and use of steroids. Just over 9 percent of the former pro-athletes, who played as far back as the 1940s and as recently as the 21st century, admitted using the drugs during their careers, the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation study showed. Doping was common among players in positions requiring size and strength, with 16 percent of offensive linemen and nearly 15 percent of defensive linemen fessing up to the practice.

Continued after the jump...

Alex Rodriguez -- A-Rod -- tight with steroids/doping tainted sports trainer Angel Presinal

This isn't good news for A-Rod fans.  If fact one wonders why the press didn't uncover the relationship between A-Rod, his 'roided cousin Yuri Sucart, and infamous juiced-trainer Angel Presinal.  However, the New York Daily News now links the tainted trainer with the tainted Yankee slugger.

Embattled Yankee Alex Rodriguez has had a long relationship with a steroid-linked trainer who's been banned from major league clubhouses, four independent sources told the Daily News.

Angel Presinal, who was banned from private areas of every MLB ballpark after an October 2001 incident involving an unmarked gym bag full of steroids, has been tight with the Yankee slugger dating back to his time with the Texas Rangers, several sources said.

A former New York-area scout says Presinal, whose named surfaced in the Mitchell Report, was with Rodriguez in New York and Miami as recently as this past fall.

MLB has warned players to stay away from him.

Presinal who carries a big stick in Dominican sports, made ESPN in 2007:

Presinal has been a persona non grata around the majors since an October 2001 incident in which he and former two-time American League MVP Juan Gonzalez, then Presinal's top client, were connected to an unmarked bag discovered by Canadian Border Service agents at the Toronto airport. The bag had come off a Cleveland Indians charter flight and, according to a New York Daily News story last summer, contained anabolic steroids and hypodermic needles. Gonzalez, an outfielder with the Indians at the time, told Canadian Border Service agents that the bag belonged to Presinal. Presinal disputes that it contained steroids, but contends the gym bag and everything in it belonged to Gonzalez. Canadian authorities never filed charges against either the player or the trainer, but rumors about the incident have festered throughout baseball ever since.

Continued after the jump...