Steroid Nation

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 Poppy, David Ortiz, enmeshed in 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...

GBR sprinter Dwain Chambers calls himslef a 'walking junkie', more like a sprinting one

The UK's best sprinter Dwain Chamber's calls himself a 'walking junkie' in his new book, about to be published.  The Seattle Times carries the story:

British sprinter discusses his drug use in autobiography: British sprinter Dwain Chambers says in his autobiography he was a "walking junkie," with so many drugs in his luggage he feared being arrested while going through airport security in Miami.

Chambers, who from 2003 to 2005 served a ban for doping, details his drug use in the book "Race Against Me: My Story," which is to go on sale next week.

The 30-year-old Chambers wrote that in his luggage in Miami "there were enough drugs in there to kill an elephant and I didn't have a clue whether they were legal or not. I was a walking junkie. I had tubes of stuff that were known only to me as 'The Clear' and 'The Cream,' along with a few bottles of EPO and HGH, which were in ice packs, as they needed to be kept cool."

Chambers, the first athlete with connections to BALCO founder Victor Conte to test positive for the previously undetectable steroid THG, says he started using "The Clear" and other drugs after meeting Conte in 2002.

"He said I had the potential to be a gold medalist, he could make me the fastest man in the world," Chambers wrote.

Chambers could well have come up with a more sexy name for his book:  "Race Against Me: The Toxic Dump"...except that his drug regimen was likely a common prescription for world class sprinters.  Chambers certainly had to compete against other elite sprinters.  You wonder about those who beat him, what their PED regimen included.  You also wonder how many clean sprinters didn't make it because Chambers doped?

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...

San Francisco judge bars positive steroid drug tests in Barry Bonds trial

Judge Susan Illston barred federal prosecutors from introducing 3 positive blood tests in Barry Bonds perjury trial to begin later this year.  The AP reports this story.  (New York Times story here)

Evidence in court must adhere to rules unique to courtrooms, and good for that.  However, the judge cannot banish those positive tests from the minds of baseball fans and Hall of Fame voters, where Barry Bonds really lives...tainted forever.  (BTW Bonds is looking pretty old in the photo)

A federal judge ruled Thursday that prosecutors cannot show jurors three positive steroid tests and other key evidence in the slugger's trial next month.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said the urine samples that tested positive for steroids are inadmissible because prosecutors cannot prove conclusively that they belong to Bonds. The judge also barred prosecutors from showing jurors so-called doping calendars that Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, allegedly maintained for the slugger.

The judge said prosecutors need direct testimony from Anderson to introduce such evidence. Anderson's attorney said the trainer will refuse to testify at Bonds' trial even though he is likely to be sent to prison on contempt of court charges.

However the judge did not bar us from continuing the story after the jump...

Paul Kimmage's Lance Armstrong 'cancer' comments in context

Here are ex-cyclist/current journalist Paul Kimmage's writings (thanks to CyclingFansAnonymous), the words Lance Armstrong choose to inflame and impute.  The remarks almost sound prophetic when the Amgen press conference is reviewed.

To be fair, Armstrong has never officially tested positive for a PED, yada yada yada.  Kimmage could be completely insane with his charges., however almost every ending of the Tour de France appears to be very reminiscent of the ending of Ben Johnson's 1988 Olympic win: the finalists almost all doped.

I will add this and personalize the issue.  Both my parent died from cancer.  I doubt that either would be insulted using a cancer metaphor to illustrate a controversial issue.  However, the issue that would inflame both would be cheating.  Cheating and dishonesty at any level would be condemned in memorable vocal displays.

So here it is, the Kimmage invective.  Armstrong would do well to answer each charge in measured facts, if he wishes to promote his innocence, not insults to the author.

Were the 'cancer' comments over the top?

"My reaction...the enthusiasm that I had built up about the sport in the last couple of years has been all but completely wiped out in the last couple of hours.

Let’s turn the clock back to Armstrong’s last apparition in the sport. The Tour de France 2005. He’s standing on the podium. And he makes this big impassioned speech. Which is basically saying ‘The last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics, the skeptics: I’m sorry for you. I’m sorry you can’t dream big. I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles.’ That was 2005, his last ride in the the Tour de France. And the people flanking him on that podium were Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich. And a month after that race ended the French newspaper L’Equipe reported that in his first winning Tour de France, in 1999, Armstrong had tested positive for EPO. Six separate samples taken during that race revealed positive tests for EPO.

Continued after the jump...

Lance Armstrong backs out of Don Catlin anti-doping protocol

Lance Armstrong announced he will be butting out of UCLA doping guru Don Catlin's custom made anti-doping program.  Armstrong announced -- amid huge fanfare at a Bill Clinton conference last fall -- that he would undergo Catlin's state of the art anti-doping program to prove he was ahead of the curve in dope testing, and to prove he was clean.  Does this mean he is neither?  What spin will be weaved on this announcement.  To the Sydney Morning News:

LANCE ARMSTRONG may have scrapped plans to put himself through an independent anti-doping program run by world-renown expert Don Catlin but he will undertake the control system in place for his Astana team.

Armstrong's management was quick to clarify the status of his testing protocols after news reports said Catlin and Armstrong's management had been unable to put their proposed testing regime in place.

Armstong's agent and lawyer, Bill Stapleton, said: "After a thorough review of the efficiency of a separate testing program, the decision has been made to transfer the comprehensive program we had planned to do with Don Catlin to Rasmus Damsgaard, a renowned anti-doping expert who runs the Astana team's internal testing program."

Armstrong will go with Astana's anti-doping program...Astana which withdrew from the Tour de France in 2007 when Vino Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for blood doping.

More on Armstrong and Catlin after the jump...

Miguel Tejada to admit to lying: Tejada tatakes taguilty taplea about telying to teCongress

When Miguel Tajada told Congress he didn't know a thing about steroids and PEDs last year, he was as truthful as he appears to be about his age: Not.  This could jeopardize Tejada's 13 million dollar Baltimore Oriole payroll scheduled for 2009.

Today Tejada will plead guilty to lying in front of Congress, which is not generally considered a hit.  To the Baltimore Sun:

Former Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada is expected to plead guilty in U.S. District Court in Washington this morning to a charge that he lied to congressional investigators about illegal performance-enhancing drugs -- telling them he knew nothing though he had discussed steroids with an Oakland Athletics

According to a criminal information document filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia yesterday, Tejada provided "misrepresentations" to staffers from the congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Aug. 26, 2005. It was part of the perjury investigation of former Oriole Rafael Palmeiro.

The document in the misdemeanor charge can be filed only with the consent of the defendant, meaning Tejada likely has reached an agreement with prosecutors and subsequently is expected to enter a guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Alan Kay at 11 a.m. today.

The document filing came one day after Major League Baseball was rocked with another steroid scandal when New York Yankees superstar third baseman Alex Rodriguez admitted to ESPN that he took illegal performance enhancers for three years while with the Texas Rangers.

TaStory continues after Tajump...

Transcript of Gammons-A-Rod interview: Alex Rodriguez dodges all the soft balls Gammons throws

The transcript of the Peter Gammons - Alex Rodriguez interview at ESPN is found here.  A-Rod spewed several notable comments, most of which were crafted to avoid giving out information.  If examined you will find that A-Rod essentially said nothing about PED use, or steroid use, or the situation, and Gammons let him by with the skimming:

1. The A-Rod confession, which went something like this:

When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me, and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day.

Back then, it was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive. And I wanted to prove to everyone that, you know, I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. And I did take a banned substance. You know, for that I'm very sorry and deeply regretful.

... The culture back then, and Major League Baseball overall, was very -- I just feel that, you know, I'm just sorry. I'm sorry for that time. I'm sorry to my fans. I'm sorry for my fans in Texas. It wasn't until then that I ever thought about a substance of any kind, and since then, I've proved to myself and to everyone that I don't need any of that.

    2.  No admission of what he took as a steroid or PED, or who was his dealer:

And to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what substance I was guilty of using...

Again, at the time, you know, you have nutritionists, you have doctors, you have trainers. That's the right question today: Where did you get it? We're in the era of BALCO ... Back then, it was just about what.

There's many things that you can take that are banned substances. I mean, there's things that have been removed from GNC today that would trigger a positive test.

I'm not sure exactly what substance I used. But whatever it is, I feel terribly about it.

So A-Rod, an intelligent, dedicated professional athlete doesn't know what PED he took, how he took it, and who gave the drugs to him, or doesn't remember?  Does anyone believe this?  Would an intelligent reader take a pill, or inject a substance recommended by (apparently) an apparition without knowing the effects or side-effects?

Rodriguez knows substances banned from GNC that cause positive doping tests, however he doesn't recall what doping drug he injected?  Unbelievable.  And yet A-Rod will be widely praised for 'coming clean',  The only thing that happened was a reporter investigated the positive MLB urine tests to expose A-Rod.  He still isn't fessing up to what drugs he used.

Read the entire interview.  A-Rod appears to have a selective demented memory.  He doesn't remember anything about his PED use.  He didn't even know he tested positive (despite the MLBPA claiming they notified positive tests):

Again, at the time of that culture, there was no illegal or legal. It was just -- you have to understand the time. To take you back there, again, people were taking a number of different things, from GNC, to whatever.

To be quite honest with you, the first time that I knew I had failed a test 100 percent was when the lady from Sports Illustrated [Selena Roberts] came into my gym just a few days ago and told me, "You have failed a test."

A-Rod cites GNC, which is laughable.  The people pushing steroids don't work at GNC.  Some -- like - are dead.  Others like Victor Conte are convicted felons.

How did A-Rod respond when faced with a outline lie -- a denial of PED/steroid use -- he espoused how he feels good about 'telling the truth'.  A-Rod skirted every probing question Gammons popped to him...and Gammons let him by with the skating.

PETER GAMMONS: Now, you mentioned the Katie Couric interview. You were asked if you ever used steroids, human growth hormones or other performance-enhancing substances. You said no, flat-out no. In your mind, that wasn't a lie?
ALEX RODRIGUEZ: At the time, Peter, I wasn't even being truthful with myself. How am I going to be truthful with Katie or CBS? Today, I'm here to tell the truth, and I feel good about that. I think my fans deserve that. I'm ready to put everything behind me and go play baseball. You know, we have a great team this year. I couldn't be more excited about the guys that we've brought in, Mark Teixeira, A.J. Burnett ... It's an important time in my life to turn the page and focus on what's next.

A-Rod appeared to save his vitriol for Selenna Roberts who broke the story.  Shoot the messenger.  A-Rod who lied to an NBC reporter (I cannot bring myself to write the words 'Katie Couric'), who cannot actually put the facts out there, is no impugning a reporter who broke the story...fascinating and nauseating:

...this lady from Sports Illustrated, Selena Roberts, is trying to throw things out there that in high school I tried steroids. I mean, that's the biggest bunch of baloney I've ever heard in my life.

I mean, what makes me upset is that Sports Illustrated pays this lady, Selena Roberts, to stalk me. This lady has been thrown out of my apartment in New York City. This lady has five days ago just been thrown out of the University of Miami police for trespassing. And four days ago she tried to break into my house where my girls are up there sleeping, and got cited by the Miami Beach police. I have the paper here. This lady is coming out with all these allegations, all these lies because she's writing an article for Sports Illustrated and she's coming out with a book in May.

Really respectable journalists are following this lady off the cliff and following her lead. And that, to me, is unfortunate.

The biggest bunch of baloney is A-Rods dodge of his steroid and PED use.

A-Rod A-Bomb! Slugger Alex Rodriguez tested positive for anabolic steroids in 2003

Baseball nuclear Armageddon exploded at Sports Illustrated today when the magazine/web site dropped an A-Bomb on R-Rod.  The website reports that Yankee slugger Alex Rodriquez tested positive in 2003 for two steroids: testosterone and primobolan (not legal in the US).

As background, A-Rod delivered fantastic 2001-2-3 seasons for the Texas Rangers.  The steroid slugging era was chugging on full-steam with accusations flying everywhere.  The MLB Players Association agreed to PED testing with the MLB;  if a certain percent of players tested positive, then a full blow elaborate PED testing system would be set up for MLB players.  As we all know now, the minimum criteria (5%) of positive tests was met which meant steroid testing for steroid sluggers.

Steroid testing started in spring training 2003, and apparently continued throughout the year.  Wonder when A-Rod dropped his positive urine?  Wonder how long Rodriguez juiced?

In 2001 for the Ranger A-Rod put up monstrous numbers: 52, 135, .318.  A-Rod's 2002 was even better:  57, 142, .300.  Slugging was .622 and .623 respectively. 

In 2003, A-Rod launched a 47, 118, .298 year, which was good for the MVP, even though the numbers were down from previous years.  Considering A-Rod's positive tests, one wonders why production decreased in 2003.  To Sports Illustrated:

In 2003, when he won the American League home run title and the AL Most Valuable Player award as a shortstop for the Texas Rangers, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids, four sources have independently told Sports Illustrated.

Rodriguez's name appears on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball's '03 survey testing, SI's sources say. As part of a joint agreement with the MLB Players Association, the testing was conducted to determine if it was necessary to impose mandatory random drug testing across the major leagues in 2004.

When approached by an SI reporter on Thursday at a gym in Miami, Rodriguez declined to discuss his 2003 test results. "You'll have to talk to the union," said Rodriguez, the Yankees' third baseman since his trade to New York in February 2004. When asked if there was an explanation for his positive test, he said, "I'm not saying anything."

Test results were obtained when federal agents raided CDT labs as part of the BALCO investigation.

Though MLB's drug policy has expressly prohibited the use of steroids without a valid prescription since 1991, there were no penalties for a positive test in 2003. The results of that year's survey testing of 1,198 players were meant to be anonymous under the agreement between the commissioner's office and the players association. Rodriguez's testing information was found, however, after federal agents, armed with search warrants, seized the '03 test results from Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc., of Long Beach, Calif., one of two labs used by MLB in connection with that year's survey testing. The seizure took place in April 2004 as part of the government's investigation into 10 major league players linked to the BALCO scandal -- though Rodriguez himself has never been connected to BALCO.

The testing procedure itself appears to be corrupt:

Because more than 5% of big leaguers had tested positive in 2003, baseball instituted a mandatory random-testing program, with penalties, in '04. According to the 2007 Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball, in September 2004, Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the players' union, violated an agreement with MLB by tipping off a player (not named in the report) about an upcoming, supposedly unannounced drug test. Three major league players who spoke to SI said that Rodriguez was also tipped by Orza in early September 2004 that he would be tested later that month. Rodriguez declined to respond on Thursday when asked about the warning Orza provided him.

An incredibly embarrassing situation exists in baseball now as corruption dogs the top sluggers and record holders.

Baseball's career and single season home run record holder, Barry Bonds, will be on trial soon for lying about his steroid use. The man pegged as having the best chance to overtake Bonds was A-Rod, who now appears to be a big time juicer.  Mark McGwire, who broke Roger Maris's single season HR record was exposed last month as a huge 'roider.

Baseball, like track, needs to dump the records of the lost steroids and PEDs decades.  Most performance records from the steroid decades appear to be tainted.

Federal prosecutors striking out: Judge to bar Bonds's steroid tests

Looks like federal prosecutors are up against and ump with a shrinking strike zone.  Judge Susan Illston appears ready to strike out the most import piece of evidence federal prosecutor hold in the Barry Bonds perjury trial: the positive steroid urine tests.  To the San Jose Mercury:

A federal judge Thursday appeared poised to weaken the government's perjury case against Barry Bonds, indicating that she plans to strip prosecutors of perhaps their strongest evidence that baseball's all-time home run king lied to a grand jury about using steroids in 2003.

During a hearing in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston indicated she will bar prosecutors from using what they say are records showing the slugger tested positive for steroids three times in 2000 and 2001. Despite prosecutors' objections, Illston said the steroid tests were not admissible because there is no concrete link proving the urine and blood samples belonged to Bonds. Such a finding would remove a cornerstone of the government's evidence when the case reaches trial next month.

Illston is expected to issue a final decision soon, but if she blocks use of the drug tests it would mark the strongest suggestion yet that prosecutors will be hobbled because they lack the testimony of Greg Anderson, Bonds' former personal trainer who has steadfastly refused to cooperate and tell his account in a courtroom.

Interesting that the judge would simply bar the tests rather than let the jury decide on the power and the legitimacy of the BALCO tests.  However, it doesn't surprise us.  Judicial realism can be out-of-control, in determining what is and isn't 'truth' these days in the legal system.

Readers should expect some ridiculous maneuvering in the case; no good getting upset or outraged.  The entire conspiracy is an example of how far far from a sense of ethical fairness certain segments of society has drifted.  Cheating: no problem.  At least Bonds didn't rob people of their live savings as Bernie Madoff did in his 50 billion doallr Pnozi scheme.  Bonds only robbed fans of their sens of integrity.

Baseball's lost steroid decade...one more big Ponzi scheme only played out with steroids rather than strictly played out with investments.

New developments in the Bonds perjury case: The Feds ramp up for the trial

The ramp up to the Barry Bonds BALCO perjury trial took off this week.  Yesterday Federal Judge Susan Illston released court documents (found here for the adventurous).

The AP complied the positive urine tests Bonds dropped over the years.  The first three will be contested  because the tests were taken while Bonds was allegedly doped up by BALCO, and thus did not have positive chain of custody.   Bonds shows himself to be an accomplished doper: steroids, amphetamines, and (if Game of Shadows be believed), HGH, insulin, and clomid.  The LA Times also counts 3 positive tests for anabolic steroids.

The court documents unsealed by a federal judge Wednesday in the government's criminal case against Barry Bonds included the results of 26 blood and urine tests. Prosecutors contend five are positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Three of the results were seized from BALCO and did not include Bonds' name; the government said it determined they belonged to Bonds through a Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative log. The other two were taken by Major League Baseball. One later was retested by the government, which is when it came up positive.

_ Nov. 28, 2000: BALCO urine test positive for methenolone and nandrolone

_ Feb. 5, 2001: BALCO urine test positive for methenolone

_ Feb. 19, 2001: BALCO urine test positive for methenolone and nandrolone

_ June 4, 2003: MLB urine test positive for THG, clomiphene, exogenous testosterone

_ July 7, 2006: MLB urine test positive for D-amphetamine

The Smoking Gun posted images of Bonds's alleged doping calender...or someone who was a BALCO client with initials BB.  Perhaps that would be Bruce Banner, The Hulk.

Gwen Knapp, of the San Francisco Examiner, argues that the various dirty urines produced by Bonds should not be introduced in court as evidence.  She cites confidentiality and personal rights as reasons why. We are not quite sure of the legal grounds of that argument. 

It's alarming that Major League Baseball drug tests on Barry Bonds from 2003 and 2006 could be used as evidence in his federal perjury and obstruction of justice trial. Results of both were released Wednesday, and Judge Susan Illston will rule Thursday on their admissibility.

If she allows them, the validity of all sports drug testing should be called into question. Players' unions and agents should call for the immediate suspension of all drug screening, and Olympic athletes should consider their own rebellion.

The very act of urinating into a cup to satisfy terms of employment straddles the line between an ugly necessity and a civil-liberties violation. But in sports, the benefits of drug testing - creating a disincentive for athletes to pump hormones, speed and blood thickeners into their bodies - outweigh the detriments.

The US Government does not sign confidentiality reciprocal agreements with Major League Baseball.  The Govt in pursuit of evidence in the commission of a crime also can obtain other records, including your bank and phone records.  Medical confidentiality is given but not in the case of a crime investigation (unless the records are psychiatric).  Therefore Knapp's argument appears to be a canard.

As we have argued, the responsibility for protection of confidentiality lies with the lab and with the MLB.  If those organizations want complete confidentiality they would have had either a weaver signed with the Govt, or blinded the test results.

Sports Illustrated claims that Greg Anderson, Bonds's ex-trainer will be key to the prosecution.  Anderson is an unwilling witness, however is deep into this mess.  An Anderson conversation goes like this:

The most important document may be the transcript of a recorded conversation between Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, and Bonds' former business partner and longtime friend, Steve Hoskins. Assuming the transcript reflects an accurately recorded conversation -- which Bonds' counsel will question, given that Hoskins, rather than a recording specialist, taped it -- Anderson tells Hoskins that he injected Bonds with substances that sound very much like steroids. Here is a particularly telling excerpt from that conversation:

Anderson: [E]verything I've been doing at this point is undetectable.

Hoskins: Right.

Anderson: See, the stuff that I have . . . we created it. And you can't, you can't buy it anywhere. You can't get it anywhere else. But, you can take it the day of and pee.

Hoskins: Uh-huh.

Anderson: And it comes up with nothing.

Hoskins: Isn't that the same [expletive] that Marion Jones and them were using?

Anderson: Yeah same stuff, the same stuff that worked at the Olympics.

Interesting.  Anderson's conversation implicate Bonds in this widespread sports fraud conspiracy.  Whatever a person's attitude toward the use of PEDs in sports, the subversion of the normal rules and workings of the sports leagues and Olympics should give pause.

Bonds documents released today in San Francisco

As the Barry Bonds perjury trial date nears, more information flows out from San Francisco.  The SF Examiner today reports that taped conversations between Bonds and trainer Greg Anderson, as well as Bonds's urine tests will be made public today.

A federal judge plans to unseal hundreds of pages of court documents at the heart of the government's case against Barry Bonds, who's accused of lying to a grand jury about using performance-enhancing drugs.

Among the documents to be released today are a transcript of a recorded conversation of Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson discussing steroids - first reported by The Chronicle on Oct. 16, 2004 - as well as positive drug-test results that prosecutors say belong to Bonds.

One is a urine sample submitted by the former Giants outfielder during baseball's anonymous survey-testing program in 2003, according to a report on the New York Times' Web site. Bonds' sample did not test positive under Major League Baseball's program but was retested by investigators after it was seized in a 2004 raid, unidentified sources told the newspaper.

Originally Judge Susan Illston sealed the documents, as urged by Bonds's attorneys; however media pressure prevuialed and out into the light comes the information.  More legal manuveriung is reported:

The all-time home-run leader is expected to plead not guilty Thursday to a grand jury's third indictment, which charged Bonds with 11 counts of lying and obstruction of justice.

On the same day, Illston will consider Bonds' lawyers' motion to exclude certain government evidence from his trial, which is scheduled to begin March 2.

In correspondence with Bonds' legal team, prosecutors have said their witnesses include athletes who can testify about doping calendars that Anderson allegedly created for them to track their drug regimens. The government says Anderson kept identical calendars for Bonds.

The Feds have procured witnesses including Bonds's teammates, and looked for information even into last week:

Former Giants catchers Benito Santiago and Bobby Estalella, and returning A's first baseman Jason Giambi, who acknowledged they had received banned drugs from Anderson, seem set to be prosecution witnesses in Bonds' trial.

Bonds has twice before pleaded not guilty, the first time in November 2007 when prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging him with perjury and obstruction of justice charges. A judge has ordered prosecutors to revise the indictment twice to repair legal technicalities.

Bonds told a grand jury in December 2003 that he took "the clear" and "the cream," provided by Anderson. Bonds testified that he did not know he was taking performance-enhancing drugs.

He also has denied knowingly taking other steroids and human growth hormone. Prosecutors argue they will prove through positive test results and other evidence that Bonds lied.

Suspicious double helix found on Roger Clemens's syringe

The Wapo reports that investigators discovered DNA at the end of a Roger Clemens syringe -- as claimed by Brian McNamee.

Federal investigators are looking into the possibility (!) that the ex-multiple Cy Young award winning pitcher used anabolic steroids and HGH, then lied to Congress about PED use last year.  The investigation -- part of the never-ending Clemens saga -- sounds serious:

Scientific tests have linked Roger Clemens's DNA to blood in syringes that a personal trainer says he used to inject the former star pitcher with performance-enhancing drugs, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.

The DNA results, which are preliminary and subject to verification tests, could prove critical if prosecutors seek an indictment of Clemens on charges that he lied about the use of steroids, according to the sources.

Clemens told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last year that he has never taken performance-enhancing drugs. Testifying at the same hearing, the pitcher's former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, said he injected Clemens nearly 40 times with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998 to 2001.

McNamee's attorneys have said their client gave federal investigators syringes, gauze pads and other items that he claimed he used to inject Clemens. He stored the items in a FedEx box in his basement.

Are the syringes actually Clemens's paraphernalia?  Were they used for injecting steroids (could be tested).  And was the DNA, glutteal DNA, or perhaps Clemens was flossing his teeth with the needles.

The chain of custody will be critical if DNA procured from bloody steroid syringes holds up for legal proceedings.  Is this a breakfast read or not?

Clemens and his defense team have long challenged McNamee's credibility, saying the former trainer has lied about the pitcher's alleged drug use. They also have said that McNamee may have cooked up the evidence.

Yesterday, Rusty Hardin, Clemens's Houston-based defense attorney, said the DNA tests "won't matter at all."

"It will still be evidence fabricated by McNamee," Hardin said. "I would be dumbfounded if any responsible person ever found this to be reliable or credible evidence in any way."

We would expect Clemens's defense attorney to claim that the syringes would not be admitted as evidence.  Clearly bloody syringes and gauss pads collected by a trainer would be suspect evidence.  Nonetheless, not a situation that lends itself to peaceful sleep at night for the Rocket.

Bond's teammate Bobby Estalella, as well as Jason Giambi, targeted for perjury trial testimony

Barry Bonds's teammate appear to be key at the upcoming federal perjury trial where the Govt accuses ex-Giant slugger Barry Bonds of lying about his steroids, HGH, and PED use.  Bobby Estrella and Jason Giambi have been named as juice squeezers.  To the AP:

 Former major league catcher Bobby Estalella has been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors to testify at Barry Bonds' trial, ESPN.com reported Thursday.

Estalella, who was on the San Francisco Giants with Bonds in 2000 and 2001, is expected to testify to firsthand knowledge that Bonds used steroids, the Web site said, citing an unidentified source with knowledge of the evidence. The Web site attributed knowledge of the subpoenas to two unidentified sources.

Estalella testified before a federal grand jury in November 2003. He admitted to the grand jury that he used performance-enhancing drugs, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in December 2004.

The book "Game of Shadows," by two Chronicle reporters, says Estalella received a drug schedule from Greg Anderson, Bonds' trainer, advising him to use human growth hormone, the steroids "the cream" and "the clear," and the female fertility drug Clomid.

The book also indicates Estrella is a relatively obnoxious character.

Ex-Oakland A and ex-Yankee player Jason Giambi, a prodigious juicer -- better be prepared for court testimony too (notice any hting similar with Estalella and Giambi?):

Prosecutors also plan to call Jason Giambi and his brother, Jeremy, as witnesses at Bonds' trial so they can testify that Anderson gave them performance-enhancing drugs, The New York Times reported on its Web site Thursday night.

The newspaper said prosecutors want to use testimony from the Giambis, teammates in Oakland from 2000-01, to show that Anderson developed doping calendars for them. Then the prosecutors could argue that Anderson made similar calendars for Bonds, the Times said, citing an unidentified person briefed on the government's evidence. The newspaper said the person spoke on condition of anonymity because he didn't want to jeopardize his access to sensitive information.

There will likely be a trickle of big names coming out with involvement in the Bonds BALCO-steroids-perjury trial.  SHold keep the media busy this year with names and faces.

Benoit's doctor -- Dr. Phil Astin -- pleads guilty on perscription abuse charges

Dr. Phil Astin, who supplied Chris Benoit steroids and HGH among other drugs -- pleaded guilty to 175 charges of illegal prescription drug distribution.  Benoit, the WWF wrestler suffering from concussions, drug abuse (anabolic steroids, HGH, narcotics, benzodiazepines, alcohol) killed his son, wife, and himself on a weekend rage rampage in 2007.

To WSBRadio:

The former doctor of pro wrestler Chris Benoit has changed his plea to guilty.

Dr. Phil Astin entered the new plea to a 175 count indictment in court on Thursday.

The indictment charges Astin with conspiracy and illegal distribution of prescription drugs.  The charges are not related to the 2007 of Benoit, his wife and the wrestler's son.

Benoit was taking anabolic steroids when he killed his family and then himself in their Fayette County home.

Astin's attorney portrays him as a country doctor willing to bend a few rules to try to ease his clients aches and pains.

Astin will be sentenced in May. 

Feds raid home of Bonds ex-trainer Greg Anderson's mother-in-law

Federal agents found themselves busy yesterday raiding the home of Barry Bonds's ex-trainer Greg Anderson (and leaving everyone with a very wordy headline).  Anderson is accused of delivering PEDs including steroids and HGH to the slugger.  His journey included a long stint in jail while mum about Barry Bonds's drug use.  This raid indicates continued interest in Anderson's role, and perhaps unrest about the Govt case against Bonds.

Twenty federal agents raided the home of the mother-in-law of Barry Bonds' personal trainer on Wednesday.

Madeleine Gestas and her daughter Nicole Anderson, the trainer's wife, are the target of a tax investigation that the lawyer for Greg Anderson said is aimed at pressuring the trainer to testify at Bonds' upcoming trial.

Bonds, baseball's career home run leader and a seven-time MVP, has pleaded not guilty to charges he lied to a federal grand jury in 2003 when he denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.

"Even the mafia spares the women and children," said Anderson's lawyer, Mark Geragos.

Anderson's lawyer takes blame credit for the raid:

Geragos said he believes the raid was in response to his refusal to tell prosecutors whether Anderson would testify. Geragos said he ignored a letter faxed to his Los Angeles office Monday by prosecutors that asked about Anderson's plans for the Bonds' trial.

Anderson served more than a year in prison for refusing to testify against Bonds before a federal grand jury. Geragos said that on the day after her husband was released from prison, Anderson's wife received a so-called target letter informing her that she was under investigation.

Geragos said Anderson received a government subpoena last week demanding his testimony at the March 2 trial. Geragos declined to say whether Anderson would testify. If Anderson refuses, he could be sent to prison again.

However, other forces may be in play here -- to tighten the noose around the Bonds thickened neck:

The New York Times, citing an anonymous source, reported Thursday that prosecutors have evidence that links Bonds to the use of performance-enhancing drugs other than the "cream" and the "clear" — the designer substances that have become synonymous with the Bonds case.

A person who has reviewed the prosecution's evidence said that authorities detected anabolic steroids in urine samples linked to Bonds, according to the Times.

Juiced Jose Canseco reduced to fighting Partridge Dany Bonaduce

Ex-slugger Jose Canseco, prophet of the Juiced, has seen his career drip away.  He lost his fortune, his testosterone level, and now his self-respect.  Looking for a shot in the butt, Canseco fought 'ex-actor' Danny Bonaduce in an exhibit match last night.  Both lost. To the New York Daily News:

Jose Canseco may have whistled, "Come on, get happy" as he left the Iceworks skating complex Saturday night.

The former big leaguer and admitted steroid user fought to a draw with "Partridge Family" star Danny Bonaduce in a celebrity boxing match.

Although Canseco may be bigger, there is controversy over who is smarter:

That Bonaduce was still standing after three one-minute rounds was a victory in itself - Canseco outweighs Bonaduce by 80 pounds and is about a foot taller.

When the bell rang, it looked like Andre the Giant boxing Verne Troyer. Canseco's strategy seemed to be float like an elephant and sting like a concrete pillar, while Bonaduce had to practically leap just to reach Canseco's head. In the third round, the 6-4 Canseco, who weighed in at 259 pounds, rocked Bonaduce with a right jab, but the former child TV star stayed on his feet.

Canseco also proved that he is recession-proof. The economy can't be that bad when a capacity crowd of 2,000 curiosity seekers pays $50 ringside and $30 for the cheap seats to watch two D-listers pummel each other. The fight was also available on Pay-Per-View.

Canseco remains as popular with fans as he is successful in the ring:

Canseco entered to mostly boos and the jeering intensified throughout the fight, although there was one fan who wore an A's jersey.

Canseco wasn't as lucky his first time in the ring. In July, former NFL player Vai Sikahema leveled Canseco in the first round of an Atlantic City bout. Canseco fell to the mat in one minute, 37 seconds and was jeered off the premises with chants of "Ster-oid!"

 Obviously Canseco needs the money, and alot more.  And the rest of the filler:

It's been nearly a year since Canseco penned "Vindicated," his sequel to the 2005 steroid tell-all "Juiced." Following the book's release, in which Canseco implied Alex Rodriguez may have used steroids early in his career, Canseco was interviewed by the FBI in connection with Roger Clemens' perjury investigation. It is unclear if Canseco has been summoned to Washington, where a grand jury is hearing evidence against Clemens.

Last October, Canseco was busted at the border for trying to smuggle in the fertility drug human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) from Mexico. Later that month, A&E aired a documentary that showed a broke, contrite Canseco. He said writing "Juiced" was a mistake and said he was scared for his health after years of juicing. He pleaded guilty to misbranding of a drug in November and was sentenced to 12 months' unsupervised probation.

Canseco was paid $35,000 for the July fight. Saturday night, both Canseco and Bonaduce received $2 for every Pay-Per-View customer.

A night to embarrass all involved.

Ex-fiance backs up Jay McGwire's steroid reports on brother Mark McGwire's brother --

Once again Deadspin breaks the hot story.  The sports blog found a former fiance of Jay McGwire to back up his recollection of Ex-slugger Mark McGwire's voracious appetite for steroids and HGH.  She also recalls 'roid rage' exhibited by the two, which eventually cooled her relationship to Jay McGwire and apparently the inflammatory relationship between the McGwire brothers.

Lauren Brown was engaged to Jay McGwire in 1996, the same time he was consistently supplying the former home run king with steroids. She's relieved the truth about Mark's steroid use is finally out...

Lauren Brown contacted us exclusively to share some of the incidents she'd witnessed first hand while she was dating Mark's younger brother. She called off her engagement to Jay in 1996 due to his steroid use — specifically "roid rage" incidents. But, even though she has bad memories of their engagement and the person Jay was at that time, she claims he is absolutely telling the truth.

"I know the truth. It needs to be told. And why shouldn't Jay tell the story instead of some random media person? He knows the truth," she told me on the phone. "Why shouldn't he be the one telling this story? What's being said about him, that he's a bad person, is awful. People don't want to believe that a superstar is fallen. That Mark lied. Mark made his own choices. So did Jay, but he's owned up to them. I tip my hat off to him for that."

Did McGwire stock up on the juice?

Brown says that she accompanied Jay to the 1996 Contra Costa Body Building Championship and, on the way there, they had to stop at Mark's house. "I remember asking why we didn't fly there — and why we had to drive." Now she assumes it was so Jay could transport the steroids. She says that while she was at Mark's house, she claims she saw steroids in Mark's refrigerator or actually "Several tubes of an injectible substance."

And the real 'bash brothers':

But she also said that their relationship was combustible. That the arguments between the two of them over the phone were extremely violent and were, she claims, total roid rage arguments. "I could hear Mark yelling at Jay over the phone from about 20 yards away."

Brown says she is glad teh 'truth' is out there, which is an interesting reflectino.  Imagine all the peopl out there who know what stars juiced to become drug-cheat recrod holders.  Imagine all the moral indignation they swallow every night knowing the deceptions.  Now there is one less...

"I'm just happy that Jay has gotten his life together and the truth about Mark will finally get out there. It's been too long."

Deadspin breaks story on Mark McGwire: Brother Jay McGwire supplies record-breaking steroids

In a major breaking story on Deadspin, Jay McGwire will reveal that he was the sources of slugger Mark McGwire's power surge in the late 1990s, culminating in the 1998 season when McGwire and Sammy Sosa 'saved' baseball.  (Is that like destroying a village to save a village'?).

Seems that McGwires lil bro lost an eye in an accident, applied the insurance money to some serious anabolic drugs, which gave him expertise and contacts about PEDs.  Next up -- big bro Mark who was breaking down in his MLB slugging career.  To Deadspin:

"THE MCGWIRE FAMILY SECRET:The Truth about Steroids, a Slugger, and Ultimate Redemption" has been hitting the desks of the big publishing houses this week (and turned down by many) even though it may prove once and for all that, yes, America, Mark McGwire was pumped full of Deca-Durabolin when he hit 403 homers in seven years.

Jay McGwire explains things this way (thanks bro):

"Mark is a man I think most would like to forgive because his reason wasn’t nefarious—it was for survival. My bringing the truth to surface about Mark is out of love. I want Mark to live in truth to see the light, to come to repentance so he can live in freedom—which is the only way to live. "

According Brother McGwire, Mark's road to perdition began this way:

"Shortly after I won the Contra Costa Bodybuilding Championships in May of 1994, Mark took the plunge. I accompanied him to Sacramento where we met with my supplier and trainer, who explained to him how the different drugs would work on his body and answered a myriad of questions from Mark. Given Mark’s curiosity and lack of knowledge about steroids I saw from Mark, I would be shocked if Mark did something like what Jose Canseco claimed happened back in the early years....[M]ark began to use, but in low dosages so he wouldn’t lift his way out of baseball. Deca-Durabolin helped with his joint problems and recovery, while growth hormone helped his strength, making him leaner in the process. I became the first person to inject him, like most first-timers he couldn’t plunge in the needle himself. Later a girlfriend injected him."

And the explanation for the big '98 season:

"Prior to the 1998 season, [Mark] had reached a level where he did not need to get any stronger and he couldn’t afford to add any more weight. So I directed him to androstenedione testosterone booster, which is non-hormonal (which is why it can be sold legally and is not affected by the 2004 Anabolic Steroid Control Act) and works naturally with your body. “Andro” increases strength and aggression while promoting reduction of body fat and a leaner look to the physique....[U]sing andro allowed Mark to avoid all the potential adverse side effects that could occur from using anabolic steroids, such as water retention, hair loss, and liver, heart, or kidney stress. In addition, he wouldn’t have cholesterol problems or testicular atrophy. And there were no problems with the law."

Jay McGwire is not an unknown.  In an 1998 story in the Los Angeles Times, Brother Jay surfaces:

No one knows Mark McGwire’s body better than Jay McGwire, his 28-year-old younger brother and a physical trainer who works at a fitness facility in Chino Hills.

The McGwires, often mistaken for twins, lived together in Northern California while Mark recovered from the heel and lower back injuries that sidelined him for virtually the entire 1993 and ‘94 seasons, and it was Jay, into bodybuilding since high school, who helped redesign the supplement-aided weightlifting program that helped his brother return bigger and better than ever.

That program also has become a subject of debate in the last week as the St. Louis Cardinal first baseman wages a riveting home run duel with Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs and closes in on Roger Maris’ record of 61 homers...

McGwire has used androstenedione for more than a year, and several other protein and amino acid-type supplements, including creatine, for four years. Jay McGwire, who said he has used similar supplements since he was in high school without any physical ramifications, put his brother on the program during the injury-marred 1993 and ‘94 seasons.

In no way, the younger McGwire said, does androstenedione directly enhance McGwire’s performance on the field.

In no way, he said, is he cheating.

“It has nothing to do with his swing,” Jay McGwire said. “The only thing he gets out of it is enhanced tissue recovery. Weightlifting tears down tissue. This allows him to recover more quickly. It allows him to work out six times a week instead of four.

“Mark had lifted before he got hurt [in ‘93], but not correctly. We put him on a program strengthening his legs and abs, not just his upper body. We worked at increasing his flexibility. He’s bigger and quicker now. He has phenomenal bat speed, range of motion.”

And Brother Jay absolutely denies that Mark took 'steroids' (although the Andro should be considered a steroids)

“I mean, Mark takes so much pride in his body and is so worried about what people think of him that he would never do anything to damage his health or image. The key to anything is moderation, but that’s not to say he’s taking steroids because he isn’t.

Can't Stop the Bleeding refers to a Newsday article pointing to Jay McGwire:

The andro reportedly was supplied by brother Jay McGwire, a bodybuilder who, according to Time magazine, was so hooked on steroids that family and friends staged an intervention.

So the dog tracks were in the snow.  However, there is skepticism that the Jay McGwire book will be daylight:

...the proposal that will most likely never, ever hit a book store:

Ex-President Bush exits without a Clemens Clemency

Ending speculation that departing President Bush would pardon Roger Clemens, even before he was indicted and convicted, the 43rd president left Barack Obama in charge without a Rocket 'Get Out of Jail Free' card for his various PED imbroglios.  To the New York Daily News:

There was no last-minute pardon for Roger Clemens before President Bush left the White House Tuesday, and the federal grand jury that has been examining evidence that the former Yankee star committed perjury will continue its work.

Brian McNamee's attorney Richard Emery raised the possibility of a Bush pardon after Clemens testified at the Feb. 13, 2008, congressional hearing on the Mitchell Report.

"We're glad neither Clemens nor Bush stooped to conquer," Emery said. "We hope by raising the issue we inoculated it and helped avoid it."

Emery said he raised the pardon issue because Republican members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform seemed eager to protect Clemens and attack McNamee during last year's hearing.

Clemens also brought up his friendship with former President George H.W. Bush during the hearing. Clemens testified that he was never contacted by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell or his investigators, but Bush Sr. tracked him down on a duck hunt to wish him well after the release of the explosive report on steroids and baseball.

So even all the good old boy network didn't come through with a curve ball from Bush to let Clemens off the hook.  There were reasons why a Bush pardon wasn't considered to be coming out of the presidential dugout:

Clemens' attorney Rusty Hardin has said he would not seek a pardon on behalf of the seven-time Cy Young Award winner. Hardin has steadfastly denied his client ever used performance-enhancing drugs, and has said innocent people don't ask for pardons.

"Richard Emery just has to quit smoking his own dope," Hardin said after Emery first raised the pardon issue.

Despite Clemens' ties to the Bush family, Washington insiders said in recent weeks that a pardon was unlikely.

One reason revolved around race. Barry Bonds' perjury trial is scheduled to begin in March in San Francisco. Olympic track star Marion Jones, who served a six-month prison sentence for lying to federal investigators and check fraud, unsuccessfully sought a pardon. Bush would have ignited angry protests if he intervened for Clemens but not for two prominent African-American athletes.

Bush made headlines when he commuted Scooter Libby's 30-month prison sentence in 2007, but the 43rd President was apparently not a fan of pardons. Bush may still be smarting from his Dec. 23 pardon of Isaac Toussie, who pleaded guilty in 2001 to lying to the feds to obtain mortgages for unqualified home buyers. Bush later revoked the pardon after the Daily News reported that Toussie's father had donated $28,500 to the Republican National Committee.

If Bush did get involved in the Clemens investigation, he would have raised questions about his own, albeit indirect, role in Major League Baseball's steroid scandal. Bush was the the managing general partner of the Texas Rangers when Jose Canseco claims he taught his teammates about performance-enhancing drugs.

Bush raised the steroid issue in his 2004 State of the Union address, when he called on sports leagues to crack down on drugs.

"The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message - that there are shortcuts to accomplishment and that performance is more important than character," Bush said.

Of course we have to see how new Attorney General Eric Holder treats PED offenses.  The new AG was an NFL lawyer who downplayed steroids-related issues.

Should Mark McGwire come clean about steroids?

The San Francisco Examiner's Gwen Knapp addresses the Mark McGwire problem in a column.

  McGwire, by all accounts a good guy, seems stranded in purgatory due to his alleged PED and steroid use.  Forget the mild Andro, but consider the stronger juice, as alleged in Jose Canseco's book "Juiced".  Despite opinions that McGwire only did Andro, those whispers (or shouts) about the juice appear to doom the big sluggers HOF aspirations.  He percent of the vote fell this year to ~21%.

Now, after Hall of Fame vote #3, McGwire is neither gaining or losing ground; he appears to be hopelessly stranded in some nether world of steroid penance.  But Gwen Knapp, of the SF Chronicle details a McGwire confession:

In about a month, when the Super Bowl is over and spring training is about to open, Mark McGwire should start talking about his past. He can tell us the things he wouldn’t say in front of Congress, answering all the questions he ducked back in 2005.

The timing would be perfect. It’s a dead zone in the sports schedule. He wouldn’t be distracting from anyone else’s glory, except perhaps the models in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue...

Above all, seven years have passed since McGwire retired from baseball. Regardless of what he might have ingested to enhance his career, he can’t be prosecuted for it now.

Every applicable statute of limitations has expired.

Might there be legal issues?

f he used steroids or growth hormone, he has nothing to fear from speaking up. His reputation can’t suffer. As it stands now, his baseball legacy is not 583 career home runs or 70 homers in that magical 1998 season, when Roger Maris’ sons embraced him as the heir to their father’s record. It’s: “I’m not here to talk about the past.”

His evasions at the Congressional hearings on performance-enhancing drugs deserved every bit of the ridicule they received, but under the right circumstances, they could easily be forgiven.

Juicers should come clean, to attain the public -- and press -- good graces; and McGwire could use some polish on that tarnished reputation to make a run at the Hall of Fame:

Jason Giambi, McGwire’s protege a dozen years ago in Oakland, is proof that people will get over a player’s doping if he reaches even the vicinity of truth and contrition. They don’t even demand a full accounting. They just want a vague mea culpa and an apology. It’s certainly not a game of inches.

Still, McGwire seems likely to cling to silence forever. In his opening statement on Capitol Hill, he said players couldn’t win either way. If they said they didn’t use, no one would believe them.

If they said they doped, they’d risk “public scorn and endless government investigation.”

At this point, though, the public scorn can’t get any worse. He can’t alienate people who believe he was clean, because they don’t exist. McGwire’s biggest defenders are, at best, apologists.

The issues are tricky here, legal or banned; McGwire does seem above some of the other flotsam with juicers of the 90s and 00s:

They’ll say that there’s no absolute proof and that the stuff wasn’t banned in baseball when he played anyway. (Steroid use without prescription was, however, illegal in the real world.)

But the best defense for McGwire has nothing to do with the slippery ethics of doping. It’s the fact that he didn’t commit perjury. Whatever grandiose vision he might have about himself, he didn’t have the gall to lie under oath, thinking that people would just believe him because of who he is.

Contrast that with Roger Clemens, whose Congressional appearance included the following:

A. A defense about growth hormone used at his home that shifted the blame to his wife, who apparently wanted to look hotter than usual while posing for the SI swimsuit issue, B. Discussion of a supportive call he received from the elder President Bush on a duck-hunting trip, and C. Borderline hysteria over Andy Pettitte’s incriminating statements.

In fact, Clemens’ “he mis-remembered” line has more staying power than McGwire’s aversion to talking about the past, because it can’t be erased and because some wag Photoshopped a picture of Pettitte, adding a beauty-queen tiara and a sash that said “Miss Remembered.”

Add Barry Bonds’ upcoming trial on perjury charges, Marion Jones’ crocodile tears and six months behind bars for lying to investigators, Tyler Hamilton’s contention that a vanishing twin might have led to a positive blood-doping test and Floyd Landis’ Jack Daniel’s defense. Pretty soon, McGwire starts looking like a model of integrity.

Strange, isn’t it, how steroids inflate muscles and statistics, yet shrink the definition of decency?

As as Knapp says, McGwire could come clean, put it all in perspective, and regain a proportion of the glory of 10 years ago.

McGwire could vault the bar easily if he just explained himself. At the hearings, he seemed horribly conflicted and somewhat ashamed. He didn’t like being questioned, but he also turned squeamish when he avoided answering. He can fix all of that. A month from now seems like the perfect time.

He may have reasons to wait longer, perhaps out of fear that the government will demand other people’s names — suppliers, ex-teammates. If so, another February, when everyone else’s statute of limitations has expired, would do. It probably won’t be enough to put McGwire in the Hall of Fame, but it would win a lot of respect and a special place in baseball history. He’d be that rare batter who took a swing years late and still made contact.

There is a good argument to be made for McGwire's contrition.  He put up good numbers as a skinny rookie with over 40 home runs.  His physique exploded later, and especially in that '98 season, however he was a major talent as a home run hitter at his height. 

If McGwire doens't become contrite, he risks becoming one more footnote to the steroids era.  If he comes clean, there is a chance that contriteness will cast his career in a different light.  Wouldn't a chance at redemption be better than a vague steroid purgatory forever?

Roger Clemens exploding: The Rocket getting blasted from all sides

Interesting juxtaposition of events this week.  As the Baseball Hall of Fame announced honorees, one sure-fire future Hall of fame candidate -- Roger Clemens (now pictured more frequently in court than on the mound) -- must feel a tightening noose around his legal neck...and must also feel the HOF slip away too.

Jim Rice, whose numbers looked pedestrian compared with the steroid era sluggers, found his way into the Hall when voters regrouped to look at the average achievement of Rice's contemporaries  However Clemens, who numbers appear arguably inflated in his late career flourish, seems pale and vulnerable.

Reports this week indicate that Jeff Novitzki is participating in the Grand Jury investigating Clemens.  Considering Novitzki's expert in BALCO, that is not good news for the Rocket. To the Examiner:

Jeff Novitsky, the investigator who gathered most of the evidence in the BALCO cases has now been asked to provide assistance in the Clemens matter. All Roger has to do is call Marion Jones, Barry Bonds, Trevor Graham, Tammy Thomas and others who Novitsky nailed after they gave statements under oath or to prosecutors about their knowledge of the steroids distributed by BALCO.

Today, Metboy and steroid dealer Kirk Radomski showed up at the Grand Jury.  Ex-Clemens trainer Brian McNamee claims that he scored steroids and HGH from the former Met clubhouse boy who copped a plea deal last year to avoid big time in the big house.  (New York Daily News)

Steroid supplier Kirk Radomski testified before a grand jury investigating Roger Clemens for perjury for just over two hours Thursday morning at a federal courthouse in Washington. Wearing a black windbreaker, the burly Radomski entered the grand jury room just after 10:15 a.m. and left accompanied by a Capitol security officer.

Radomski  began reviewing previous testimony that he sold and shipped drugs to dozens of Major League Baseball players, as well as Clemens' former trainer Brian McNamee, who told prosecutors that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone over a period of several years. McNamee also cooperated with former Sen. George Mitchell in his explosive report on drug use in baseball. Radomski pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of a controlled substance in 2007 and has cooperated in the government's ongoing steroid investigation.

Radomski awes the Gov't prosecutors favors after they went lightly in his conviction and sentence.  The Metboy may be a key witness is several on-going prosecutions of MLB players.

The testimony of both Radomski and McNamee will be crucial to the government's  investigationon into whether Clemens lied to Congress when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs during a congressional hearing on the Mitchell Report last February.

Radomski is among the first of the witnesses who will appear before the grand jury and he could be asked about his dealings with Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada, who is also under investigation for allegedly lying to Congress, as well as about  his dealings with McNamee.

Minutes before Radomski arrived at the third floor of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, assistant United States Attorney Daniel P. Butler appeared and made his way to the same room. Butler returned to his Capitol Hill office after Radomski's appearance ended.

McNamee is expected to meet with Butler and other federal officers on Friday.

Lastly ex-trainer Brian McNamee says today that Clemens will end up in Jail.  that remains to be seen, as Clemens has never been charged with a felony.  It is also clear that steroids and PED convictions are difficult to obtain, and that sentence are light.  (New York Daily News, again)

Brian McNamee predicts he'll see Roger Clemens in uniform again - but this time his old boss won't be wearing pinstripes.

McNamee says the Rocket's 2009 uniform will be an orange jumpsuit, with a serial number across the chest.

In a video on the Web site Sportsimproper.com, McNamee tells host Mai Tran he believes Clemens will be sent to prison for his repeated denials of steroid use during the Feb. 13, 2008, congressional hearing on the Mitchell Report.

"Let me ask you this," Tran asked McNamee. "Do you foresee seeing Roger Clemens in a uniform next year?"

"He'll probably be wearing a uniform, but it will be one of those orange jumpsuits with a serial number on it," McNamee replied.

"Sounds like a prison uniform to me," Tran said.

McNamee told Tran that he was told the evidence that federal investigators have been compiling against Clemens is "overwhelming."

McNamee may be angry at Clemens's intemperance, however he should be very careful in venting his frustration in public.  Never know what will come back to bite...