Steroid Nation

Are the Little Sisters of the Poor using that much Winnie and HGH?

The Albany Times-Union takes the lead in the steroids (actually more HGH) marathon this week.  The link goes to the front page; thus it may not be valid with time.  The New York Times runs a piece on the bust, however it appears to be off the AP wire.

Richard Rydze MD, a bio.  He is the doctor who put 150,000 of product out of the Orlando Internet pharmacy on his credit card.

Dr. Rydze received his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan and his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at UPMC Presbyterian. He is board-certified in internal medicine.

He serves as medical director for the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home, the Community College of Allegheny County, and the Pittsburgh office of the FBI. Dr. Rydze is a team physician for the Pittsburgh Steelers and senior aviation medical examiner for the Federal Aviation Administration. Dr. Rydze was a silver medal winner in platform diving in the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

The key issue with the doc is why $150,000 of testosterone and HGH on a credit card?  (I am venturing into unchartered waters here, talking about a brother physician, but here goes.)

Unless the Little Sisters of the Poor need alot of anabolic steroids and HGH, then something is amiss.  If a doc were in private practice with an Anti-Aging clinic, The Nation could see stockpiling these drugs (even though use in an anti-aging clinic is highly controversial).  However. it appears the doc does a few days a week at a student health, and a couple days at a nursing home, and some at Univ Pittsburgh Health.  Who in student health is using nandrolone or HGH?  Someone is going to look at the records of where those drugs went, and into whom they went. 

Were Gary Matthews Jr and Evander Holyfield involved in the Orlando bust? (no)

From the Albany Times-Union (link goes to page 3 of the story) comes more follow-up in the Orlando Internet pharmacy bust.  From one article published this morning comes doubt about Matthews' and Holyfield's involvement.  Those athletes, along with Jose Canseco, used an online drug store in Alabama.

In a related case in Mobile, Ala., two owners of Applied Pharmacy Services have been indicted by an Albany County grand jury. Their customer list allegedly includes former professional boxer and heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, Los Angeles Angels center fielder Gary Matthews Jr., and retired baseball star Jose Canseco, an admitted steroid user.

A law enforcement source involved in that investigation said authorities have not identified what types of products allegedly were ordered by Matthews or Holyfield, whom they said used the name "Evan Fields" when placing orders.

Matthews was told before his spring training game on Tuesday that his name appeared in a Times Union news report. "There's nothing much to say. A name is mentioned. It's sketchy at best," said Los Angeles Angels Vice President of Communications Tim Mead.

"Certainly as we acquire more information, we'll look into it," Mead said.

Holyfield himself did not comment.

"Evander was asked about this by another member of the media and he said he never heard of the company," Donald Tremblay, public relations director at Main Events, a company promoting Holyfield's upcoming fight against Vinny Maddaline, said.

Mobile Alabama?  How did Holyfield's and Matthews' names surface in connection to Orlando?  Did everyone false start on this story?  Sounds that way.

Follow-up on Orlando bust

With the Albany Times-Union the lead newspaper, a deluge of stories out there today.  This Times-Union piece follows the Internet bust yesterday of Signature Pharmacy in Orlando.  The next few days will be exciting for a number of people:

More than two dozen doctors, pharmacists and business owners have been, or will be, arrested in the coming days in Alabama, Texas, Florida and New York on sealed indictments charging them with various felonies for unlawfully distributing steroids and other controlled substances, records show.

Also repeated, the name of Gary Matthews Jr., the physicians for the Steelers, etc.  How did those names surface?

The cop who held the press conference confessed ignorance (!) of the pharmacies athletes;  however he was lecturing the gathered crowd on the dangers of steroids.

"I don't know the names of a lot of the athletes," Lt. Carl Metzger, commander of the Orlando Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, said during Tuesday's raid.

"This is a criminal investigation, not an administrative investigation," Metzger told a gaggle of TV reporters at the scene. "I think that some of their business was legitimate," he said, adding that "much of it was illegal."

In a news release, Orlando police said the raid targeted steroids and human growth hormone. "People forget about the damage steroids can cause," Metzger said. "It goes all the way down to the high school level."

New York prosecutor says probe targeted source, not users. Time for a strategy change?

The district attorney behind the startling Orlando Internet pharmacy raid says his office was targeting the sources, not the users.  Story by AP, found here in Forbes.

A New York prosecutor said athletes and celebrities were involved as customers of an illicit steroid sales network that produced arrests of four company officials on Tuesday.

However, Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares declined to name any consumers. He said his office was not investigating patients, but alleged producers and distributors, including doctors and pharmacists.

"I understand that the involvement of athletes and celebrities makes this a sexy story, but I assure you we are not, at this point, we are not concerned with the celebrity factor," Soares said. "Our focus here is to shut down distribution channels."

Soares was in Florida on Tuesday for two pharmacy raids conducted by federal and state agents at two Signature Pharmacy stores. Four company officials, including a married couple who are both pharmacists, were arrested. They were charged with criminal diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions, criminal sale of a controlled substance and insurance fraud.

The usual prosecutorial stance.  Go after sources of illegal drugs.  How successful?  Considering the vast quantity of illegal drugs, about zero.  Perhaps it is time to hold the user, in this case professionals responsible.

Prosecutors in these cases follow what appears to be standard 'war on drug' protocol, believing that the upper level of the drug distribution system is the way to cripple the drug supply.  The Nation believes there are two problems with this approach:
1.  It hasn't proven successful
2.  In the case of professionals that may a misguided strategy.

The drug wars focus on recreational use seeks to intercept the distribution routes, and to prevent subsequent consequences like intoxicated driving.  However in the case of performance enhancing drugs the users are cheating not recreating.  The drug-cheats are abrogating the spirit, and now the letter (of the law) of the sport.

Further, in the case of sport as business, there is a terrific case to be made for fraud.

What will happen if the drug-cheats are not revealed?  They simply find new sources of drugs or performance enhancing substances.

Look at the strategy in BALCO.  Impact of the the BALCO drug-cheats shock track and field, and continues to shake baseball to the roots.  What were the results?  Most charges were dropped. The dealers were given a couple months of soft time then released to further mischief.

As for the one name that was released, Gary Matthews Jr. (how did his name get out)...

Customers include Angels outfielder Gary Matthews Jr., according to the Times Union, which cited unidentified sources with knowledge of the investigation.

Angels spokesman Tim Mead told The Associated Press the team was aware of the story, adding, "That's the only information we have."

Mead said manager Mike Scioscia told Matthews about it, and that general manager Bill Stoneman and Mead spoke to Matthews.

"We strongly recommended that Gary inform his agent and make sure he's aware as well," Mead said. "The information is sketchy at best."

Is that what the public calls justice?

Signature Pharmacy, Orlando, home of HGH

Raided today in Orlando, Signature Pharmacy was featured by the Orlando Business Journal in 2005.

ORLANDO -- He had modest success with his first business fresh out of college, but today Stan Loomis has hit pay dirt with his 5-year-old Orlando business, Signature Compounding Pharmacy Inc.

Compounding pharmacies -- a $2.1 billion industry -- make customized prescription medicines that aren't available from traditional drugstores, such as those that aren't cost-effective for large drug manufacturers to produce.

With an emphasis on formulating anti-aging medicine, Signature Compounding has grown from $550,000 in gross annual sales in 2000 to $21 million this year.

In addition, the firm just moved into a new $3.2 million, two-story headquarters near downtown Orlando, and its co-founders recently opened a personal training fitness center and created a medical property development company with plans for a $16 million wellness complex near their headquarters.

Mrs Loomis is reportedly a grad of the Ohio State University.

Naomi Loomis attended The Ohio State University, College of Pharmacy and graduated with honors in 1995.  She has practiced pharmacy in various settings including hospitals, pediatrics, and retail while maintaining a career-long interest in women’s health and bio-equivalent hormone replacement therapy as a strategy for wellness.

Naomi is the Founder and CEO of Signature Pharmacy, Inc., the largest compounding pharmacy in Florida.  She has been featured on the evening news and radio programs as an expert on menopause and hormone replacement and works with several physicians to optimize hormone replacement regimens for women.  She has done extensive speaking to women’s groups and counseled thousands of patients about the benefits of bio-identical hormone replacement.  In addition to her work in the field of Women’s Health, she also serves as the Consultant Pharmacist of Record for several dialysis facilities and outpatient clinics.  Naomi is a member of the National Association of Women’s Business Owners, Professional Compounding Centers of America, International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists, Florida Pharmacy Association, National Association of Community Pharmacists, and the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.

Robert (Stan) Loomis is the founder and Chief Operating Officer of Signature Pharmacy.  He graduated from the Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy with a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy...

Mike Loomis. Signature Pharmacy is privileged to have Kenneth (Mike) Loomis as the head Compounding Pharmacist and the Director of Laboratory Services.  Mike graduated from Florida State University with degrees in Biology and Chemistry; he went on to graduate from Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy with a Bachelor’s degree in pharmacy.

                

Breaking news: Huge drug raid in Orlando nails Internet 'steroids' dealer. Gary Matthews and Evander Holyfield named.

Update: Name #2: Evander Holyfield.  Check out our profile of Signature Pharmacy.  More updates:  seems Matthews and Holyfield are impliacted in an Alabama pharmacy , not this Orlando one.

A huge bomb dropped today in Orlando.  The Seattle Post reports that a major raid, coordinated by multiple agencies, took place in downtown Orlando.  A secretive task force lead by the Albany NY (original story in the Albany Times Union) District Attorney, and the NY Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement (and likely the DEA plus other federal agents, as this appears to be interstate) struck into the heart of the Internet anabolic drug trade.  Early reports indicate professionals from MLB, & the NFL, college athletes & coaches, and body builders are involved. (Orlando source: WFTV  New York sources: NBC 3, Albany).  The most prominent name thus far is LA Angel player Gary Matthews. 

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A downtown pharmacy here was raided by a law enforcement task force on Tuesday, apparently as a result of a large New York state grand jury investigation into Internet drug sales.

The unusual inquiry, led by Albany County's district attorney, has taken New York narcotics agents and a federal task force deep inside a maze of shadowy pharmacies and Web sites that have reaped millions of dollars in profit by allegedly exploiting federal and state prescription laws, according to court records.

More than two dozen doctors, pharmacists and business owners have been, or will be, arrested in the coming days on sealed indictments charging them with various felonies for unlawfully distributing steroids and other controlled substances, records show.

The Times Union has learned that investigators in the year-old case, which had remained quiet until now, uncovered evidence that testosterone and other performance-enhancing drugs may have been fraudulently prescribed over the Internet to current and former Major League Baseball players, National Football League players, college athletes, high school coaches, and a former Mr. Olympia champion and another top contender in the bodybuilding competition.

The pharmacy - Signature Pharmacy) delivered drug to MLB pitcher Jason Grimsley last year (Albany Times) 

Further, A Pittsburgh Steeler's physician may also be involved.  The reports indicate he put 150,000.00 of HGH and steroids on his personal credit card, with a retail value of 750,00O.00.

The customers include Los Angeles Angels centerfielder Gary Matthews Jr., according to sources with knowledge of the investigation.

Sources also said New York Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement investigators recently interviewed a top physician for the Pittsburgh Steelers about his alleged purchase last year of roughly $150,000 of testosterone and human growth hormone.

This appears to be huge business:

Tuesday's raid of Signature Pharmacy, an Orlando business that did an estimated $36 million in business last year, could expose a long list of sports figures, celebrities and others who have turned to Internet pharmacies for illegal drugs such as steroids, authorities said.

More, from the Albany Times-Union:

Albany County District Attorney David Soares said his office pursued the case, in part, because New York has some of the strictest prescription drug laws in the country. In addition, Signature Pharmacy last year did an estimated $6 million business in New York, he said.

Among Signature's customers was Jason Grimsley, the former Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher who left baseball last year after mail-order steroids were seized at his Scottsdale home by federal agents from San Francisco involved in an ongoing investigation targeting steroid use in professional sports...

During surveillance of the pharmacy last year, investigators said they saw a Philadelphia Eagles football player enter the pharmacy, though they are not certain why he was there. They also identified a member of the Washington Redskins as being a Signature customer, according to an agent in the case.

(more on Matthews after the jump; Ironically MLB carried an article on him today)

Mike Schmidt says steroid users like McGwire have his HOF vote

The Philly Daily News caught up with Mike Schmidt.  The former Philly HOF third baseman says players like Mark McGwire have his HOF vote.

PERHAPS MIKE SCHMIDT is on to something.

Yesterday, at Phillies spring training in Clearwater, Fla., Schmidt told reporters that if he had a vote, he would have selected Mark McGwire for this year's Baseball Hall of Fame class.

Schmidt sees no problem with the accused 'roid users.  He doesn't understand why nothing much was written about McGwire or Sosa back in '98.  Perhaps Schmidt is a better fielder than a reader.  BALCO did not occur until 2002-2003, with 'Game of Shadows' published in 2006.  Although reporters caught Big Mac with little Andro, the extend of the anabolic use was unknown (at least to most) in the late 90s.

While he is at it, Schmidt should endorse corked bats too.

But Schmidt isn't a writer and has no vote, despite being a Hall of Famer.

Maybe it's time for that to change. Maybe it's time for baseball to take the Hall of Fame vote away from the writers and instead give it to Hall of Fame members.

In the big picture, Schmidt and other Hall of Famers probably do have a better perspective on how McGwire, whose career is shadowed by a popular belief that he used performance-enhancing drugs, fits into the baseball pantheon.

"I think Mark McGwire, along with [former Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa], sort of saved the game back in the late '90s," Schmidt said...

"I don't see how we all could ride on the shoulders of Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa for 4 or 5 years and not write much or say much about the steroids element in the game."

Schmidt questioned why people watched those players and wrote about them, and then, when it came time for Hall of Fame considerations, they "all of a sudden bring up the issue of steroids and connect them to it."...

Some Hall of Fame members are like Schmidt and think the steroids issue is overblown with respect to Hall of Fame credentials.

Others think it is an unforgivable violation of the spirit of the game...

"I think it set a precedent," Schmidt said of McGwire's omission from the Hall. "Anyone who has been associated with steroids or substance abuse is probably not going to get in the Hall of Fame, certainly not in their first opportunity."

The actual members of the Hall of Fame should be the ones to decide that.

Maryland to begin high school steroid program, sans testing

The Baltimore Sun reports on a new anti-steroid initiative in Maryland high schools.  No drug testing will occur, however.

The state's top school official acknowledged that even though a public awareness campaign designed to discourage teenagers from using steroids and other performance-enhancing substances is a good step, it's not the first step toward drug testing of athletes in schools.

"I don't see that," said State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick, who helped launch the "Powered by ME!" initiative at Towson High School yesterday.

"I don't think it's a reality at this point in time," she said. "We have very strict drug, alcohol and weapons codes of conduct, and students know that. And actually, we're seeing some diminished use [of drugs] in school. ... It's just not something that we've seen the need to pursue."...

Led by St. Joseph Medical Center in Baltimore and funded by several entities, including the Maryland State Department of Education, Towson Sports Medicine and Sheppard Pratt Health System, the program features an educational Web site (www.PoweredByMeMD.com), a telephone informational line (410-337-1337), speakers bureaus and conference presentations.

Grasmick said the initiative - which will begin by focusing on Baltimore City and Baltimore County - would be integrated into the state's middle school curriculum and be part of the voluntary curriculum at the high school level.

But Grasmick and other school officials said drug testing is not on the horizon.

Gary Sheffield calls Mitchell probe 'witch hunt'; says Players Association told him so

Gary Sheffield says he has no truck with no steroid investigation.  Story in the Detroit Freep and in USA Today.   Not only is Shef not talking, he says the MLB Players Association told him this is crap.

Tigers slugger Gary Sheffield joined Barry Bonds on Monday among players who don’t plan to cooperate with former Senator George Mitchell’s MLB steroid investigation. 

Mitchell has urged players tied to the BALCO drug scandal to submit to interviews and turn over their medical records, but Sheffield said he has been advised by the Major League Baseball Players Association not to assist in his probe.

“The (players) association told us this is just a witch hunt,” Sheffield told USA TODAY. ”They don’t want us to talk to them. This is all about getting (Bonds).

“If this was legitimate and they did it the right way, it would be different. But this a witch hunt. They’re just trying to collect a lot of stuff that doesn’t make any sense and throw the (expletive) against the wall.”

Meanwhile the Players Association executive Donald Fehr is singing a different song to the press.  Of interest too, Mitchell requested medical records from player, sending the medical release form  in the letter.

Donald Fehr, executive director of the players association, said he has offered advice to players but it's the players' choice whether to cooperate.

"We have not been commenting on the investigation," Fehr said, "but we will advise players on what their rights are. They make their individual decisions."

Mitchell, who threatened that Congress might intervene if players don't cooperate, sent a letter Feb. 1, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, imploring Bonds and Sheffield to help.

"Nothing is more important than the integrity of the game of baseball," the letter said, according to the Chronicle. The letters were accompanied by medical waiver forms that would allow investigators access to a player's medical records.

What no mention of 'witch hunt' by Fehr in his press release?

If we were former Senator George Mitchell this morning, we would be just a bit bent out of shape...perhaps more like enragged.  Either Fehr has been talkig behind Mitchell's back, or Shef has it wrong.  The Nation suspects Shef has it right from the warlock's mouth.

Jason Giambi says steroids made him stronger

"What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." -Friedrich Nietzsche.

Jason Giambi would agree.  Story in the San Jose Mercury-News documents Jason Giambi's struggle with injuries and after BAlCO revealed he used anabolic drugs.

Five years ago, Giambi was the fresh face in the Yankees' clubhouse, the wild child from Oakland brought in to replace Tino Martinez and help the club remain on top despite the retirements of Paul O'Neill and Scott Brosius.

Giambi was the center of attention in his first spring, and while the expectations on his broad shoulders were enormous, he delivered with a solid season, hitting .314 with 41 home runs and 122 RBI.

His second season saw his average plummet to .250 thanks to a bum knee and a staph infection in his eyes, though his power numbers remained among the league's best. The 2004 campaign was a disaster for Giambi, who was limited to 80 games because of an ankle injury, an intestinal parasite and a benign pituitary tumor. He batted .208 with 12 homers.

Two months after the 2004 season ended, a report in the San Francisco Chronicle revealed that Giambi had admitted to steroid use during grand jury testimony in the BALCO case. He apologized in a press conference before spring training, though he never said why he was apologizing.

Giambi started slowly in 2005, and there was talk of the Yankees trying to get out of his contract and trying to demote him to the minors. But he went on to win AL Comeback Player of the Year honors with a huge second half despite a balky knee. Last year, he hit 37 homers and drove in 113 runs, playing the latter portion of the season with a wrist injury that would require offseason surgery...

Despite the roller coaster ride he has been on, Giambi believes he has come out of it with a greater appreciation for the game, something he thinks about every day when he takes the field.

"It makes you get back to why you play this game, which is to have fun," Giambi said. "I know you can make a lot of money, but at the same time, all I ever wanted to be was a ballplayer."

Cyclist Jan Ullrich annouces retirement

If you get your news from us, which you probably don't, note cyclist Jan Ullrich announced his retirement.  Ullrich has been much besieged with doping problems over the past few years.  JB will probably be weighing in here soon with a piece on Ullrich.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Former Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich announced his retirement from competitive cycling on Monday, eight months after his career was put on hold by a doping investigation.

The 33-year-old German, who won the sport's most prestigious race in 1997, said at a presentation in Hamburg he would work as an adviser to the small Austrian Volksbank team.

"I will continue my involvement in cycling but I'm ending my active career as a professional cyclist," said Ullrich, who has strongly denied any involvement in doping.

"I couldn't live without cycling. It's my passion and my life."

Ullrich was withdrawn from the T-Mobile team before last year's Tour de France after being linked with the Operation Puerta doping investigation in Spain.

He was suspended and then dropped by his team despite his insistence he was not involved.

Since then Ullrich has been without a professional team, although he has not been charged with a doping offence.

HGH implicated in bodybuilder's diabetes

Reported here in Newswise, the British Journal of Sports Medicine has published a case of a body builder suffering complications from HGH/steroid/insulin use.

The bodybuilder complained of severe chest pain, apparently from complications of diabetes.  Next time it will be from his cardiac hypertrophy.

Newswise — Use of growth hormone to boost athletic performance can lead to diabetes, reports a study published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The study reports the case of a 36 year old professional body-builder who required emergency care for chest pain.

He had lost 40 kg in 12 months, during which he had also experienced excessive urination, thirst, and appetite.

He admitted to using anabolic steroids for 15 years and artificial growth hormone for the past three. He had also taken insulin, a year after starting on the growth hormone.

This was done to counter the effects of high blood sugar, but he had stopped taking it after a couple of episodes of acute low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) while at the gym.

Tests revealed that his liver was inflamed, his kidneys were enlarged and that he had very high blood sugar. He was also dehydrated, and diagnosed with diabetes.

He was given intravenous fluids and gradually increasing amounts of insulin over five days, after which he was discharged. His symptoms completely cleared up, and he was no longer diabetic.

The use of growth hormone has steadily risen among amateur athletes and bodybuilders all round the world, say the authors, because it is easy to buy online and difficult to detect in screening tests—unlike anabolic steroids.

The authors believe that this is the first reported case of diabetes associated with the use of high dose growth hormone, and urge anyone taking high doses to regularly check their blood sugar levels.

Click here to view the paper in full: http://press.psprings.co.uk/bjsm/february/sm30585.pdf

Dale Murphy calls down a little thunder on drug-cheats

Dale Murphy, founder of the 'I Won't Cheat' Foundation has a little thunder to call down on dope cheats. (from WFAA, Dallas) (and here):

Briefly: Former Atlanta outfielder Dale Murphy, in an interview on XM Radio on Sunday, said he believes Rangers OF Sammy Sosa took steroids. Murphy also said he believes Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire also took performance enhancing drugs.

Steroid Nation is thinking Murph might make a good MLB Commissioner.

Does Barry Zito actually need testosterone?

The SF Giants reincarnated their production of American Idol as Report here in MLB News.  The 'other' Barry, Zito drew the role of Idol judge Paula Abdul.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Sunday morning's lineup at Scottsdale Stadium included Will Ferrell, Frank Sinatra and Hank Williams Jr.

Well, at least reasonable facsimiles of them.

The team again staged "Giants Idol," the two-day "American Idol" takeoff that features mostly rookies, benefits charity and bolsters camaraderie. Last year's inaugural event raised $6,000 for a local charity and proved to be a hit among players, who valued the bonding it provided as well as the hilarity.

"We had some good laughs today," manager Bruce Bochy said.

This year's opening round lacked the showstopping moments generated last year, when Travis Ishikawa discarded his tear-off pants to reveal Speedo underwear, Brian Wilson delivered a darkly intense rendition of Billy Idol's "White Wedding" and Barry Bonds, portraying "Idol" judge Paula Abdul, emerged from the clubhouse in drag. This time, there was much more lip-synching than actual singing -- which would have been off-key anyway. And it was Barry Zito's turn to wear a wig and falsies as Abdul.

Bonds will refuse to cooperate in MLB Mitchell steroid probe

In answer to a letter Sen George Mitchell sent, Barry Bond's lawyer (Michael Rains) announced that Bonds will not willingly cooperate in MLB's cleansing exercise this year (story in SF Gate). MLB gave former Sen George Mitchell the mission of investigating the use of anabolic substances.  The media, and other pundits speculated that the cooperation Mitchell would receive, would resemble the cooperation a recent double murderer who drives a white Bronco gave to police in LA.  That means little or none.

On one hand, We understand why the athlete (Bonds) and his lawyer do not want to cooperate, in the same way an accused criminal does not want to implicate himself in a crime.  Bonds does not want to implicate himself any more with doping.  After all, as this is a forensic environment this is understandable.  Why would a drug-cheat convict himself?

On the other hand MLB is not a sport, or an escape anymore. It is a business, eh. Why try to protect the integrity of an hallowed national 'pastime'?  Well then let's get down to business.  Steroid Nation has these suggestions:

1.  You don't want to cooperate with a MLB investigation, eh, Barry.  Take the investigation out of the hands of the in-house MLB boys.  Let the US Congress, and Rep Henry Waxman, use the power of subpoena.  Let's put these boys on the stands in front of a national TV audience, under oath and ask the tough questions on anabolics.  Let's raise the heat about 1000 degrees.

2.  MLB should say if you don't cooperate, then you don't deserve any post-season honors.  You deserve NO NAME on the All-Star or HOF ballet.  You don't help us, we are not going to make it very easy for you to reap your ill-gotten cheap rewards.

3.  You want to go the legal and business route Barry?  Fine then let's start looking at fraud.  You defrauded the paying public.  It's a business right?  When the public bought tickets they did not pay for the privilege of watching a drug-cheat swat bloated home runs.  Each HR is fraud.  Not only fraud but last time The Nation looked, you play in parks around the country;  that's interstate fraud.  Let the might of the Justice Dept, or another federal regulatory agency bring down the thunder on your fraud.

MLB is huge business, and it is about time that the regulatory agencies play by the same obstreperous rules Bonds and his hired guns play by -- the law.  Bring it all on him; Bonds asked for it.

Major League Baseball's top steroids investigator has urged Giants star Barry Bonds and other players tied to the BALCO drug scandal to submit to interviews and turn over their medical records, The Chronicle has learned.

But Bonds' lawyer said Sunday that Bonds cannot cooperate with baseball's steroid investigation as long as he remains the focus of a possible perjury indictment.

In a Feb. 1 letter, George Mitchell, the former U.S. Senate majority leader who is threatening that Congress may intervene if his investigation of performance-enhancing drug use in baseball is thwarted by lack of cooperation, urged Bonds and the other players to cooperate for the sake of the game.

"Nothing is more important than the integrity of the game of baseball," he wrote.

Then there is the hiding behind collective bargaining agreement's, etc..  Again if baseball, which lost innocence and integrity a long time ago, wants to be a business, take away it's anti-trust exemption.

Commissioner Bud Selig ordered the Mitchell investigation in March 2006, amid steroid concerns fueled by the BALCO scandal. But the probe stalled, in part because the players union advised players not to submit to questioning without a lawyer present, and in part because prosecutors in the BALCO case asked prospective witnesses not to talk to Mitchell and his legal team.

In his warning to owners, delivered Jan. 18 at a meeting in Phoenix, Mitchell cited another concern: He said some clubs were balking at providing his investigators with relevant documents.

Someone other than the testosterone-less shill, and co-conspirator Bud Selig should run baseball.  You tell them Wyatt Earp's coming and he's bringing hell with him....

'Kinda funny' how so many pro wrestlers die young

Here lies the understatement of the year, found in 411mania:

Mike Awesome died this past week. Early reports indicate suicide. First Bam Bam Bigelow and now Mike Awesome. It's kind of funny how so many wrestlers die so young. Awesome was 42. Bam Bam Bigelow was only three years older when he died. An interesting note, Wikipedia reports Vince McMahon paid for the big man's funeral. A second funeral in Florida was paid for by many local wrestlers. 

What don't fans get about the connection between steroids, HGH, cocaine, amphetamines, with morbidity and mortality?  These drugs cause cardiac hypertrophy, liver complications, glucose and lipid abnormalities, neoplastic changes, and mood alterations; this is not a secret (although stubbornly disputed by some).

Is it a wild notion that drugs penetrating into the cells nucleus, to change the expression of DNA, causing massive non-physiological hypertrophy of muscle, just might have powerful effects leading to death?   Obviously for some it is.

Apparently those two moguls of intelligence, or at least of manipulating millions, Donald Trump and Vince McMahon are going to mange wrestlers for some sort of match.  Perhaps both sycophants should be made to ingest and inject the kinds of drugs their wrestlers take, and see what the effects are?  I would pay cash money to see that insanity. Let them suffer what they perpetrate on others. 

Sportigo hammers in-house testing (like the NFL)

Robin Parisotto over at Sportigo, weighs in on 'in-house' testing.  In-house testing includes anti-doping programs like the NFL's doping protocol.  The NFL is slow to adopt testing, and even derogates lab procedures like the HGH test....meanwhile NFL players are obtaining prescriptions for HGH just weeks before their Superbowl appearance.  Ludicrous you say?

Robin has hit upon a paradox that drives The Nation further nuts all the time:

There is a glaring double standard at play here; a sportsperson can shoot up and escape any real penalty while the average Joe, if caught, incurs (not always, though) the wrath of civil law. Even more ridiculous when you think that AFL players can shoot up and face few consequences, have a five-dollar punt and get severe treatment while the general public can have a punt on AFL games and face no consequences and for those stupid enough to shoot up, face criminal punishment. Diametrically opposed outcomes.

You hear this statement: 'When McGwire (insert 'Bonds', 'Sosa' whomever) used steroids, they weren't against the MLB rules.  Another ludicrous statement.  Those substances were illegal, with or without a prescription.  If a physician gave a whiff of those drugs to any other patient, you can bet that doctor would be scathingly castigated by the FDA, the state, and the press.  Yet, athletes like Barry Bonds can walk around thumbing his nose at the state the press, and the fans saying 'catch me if you can'.  Proof that the justice system can be intimidated or bought off by fame, fortune, and intimidation.  Bonds can use anabolic steroids, HGH, insulin, modafinil, HCG, amphetamines, T4 and still be considered legitimate.

Incredible the double standards and paradoxes perpetrated in the legal system and in people's minds everyday.  Incredible.

Ferren Christou interviews Agency for Cycling Ethics

Steroid Nation reader and commentator Ferren Christou caught up with the crew at the Agency for Cycling Ethics for an interview.  ACE was founded by a lab scientist, Paul Scott, and a physician, Sr Paul Strauss, both of whom cycle.  With that expertise they implemented innovative designs of how a cycling team can compete clean.  The interview is found over at The Daily Peloton.

ACE will initially work with Team Slipstream.  The testing program sounds innovative and complete.  Although The Nation doesn't have the protocol (maybe Ferren can supply it) sounds like DNA  fingerprinting will assure th4e sample match to the riders;  also biomarkers will be employed.

Here is a summary of ACE's goal:

In September of 2006 partners Dr. Paul Strauss and  Paul Scott announced their initiative for clean cycling with the formation of the Agency for Cycling Ethics. The agency goals was to establish an A.C.E. community of teams riders and sponsors committed to a environment free of performance enhancing drugs, stating, "We are the advocates for the riders and the teams and empower them to take responsibility for their own behavior and bring the ACE Clean Cycling Initiative to the devotees of cycling and fans."

About that image of cycling. From the Sacramental Bee during the Tour of California.  This is the public perception of cycling:

Downtown Sacramento was completely gridlocked around the Capitol Tuesday morning -- five or six hours before the bike race was even supposed to hit town. It took 45 minutes to go five blocks. How long does it take to put down some cones?

I'm not sure who at City Hall decided that a bike race was more important than people getting to work, but it was a terrible decision. Let me repeat myself: It was a bike race, a bunch of guys on steroids that no one's ever heard of pedaling fast. Gee, that's first-class entertainment -- in Holland, maybe.

From Dr Strauss:

Dr. Paul Strauss: ACE was started by two local California amateur racers who are very disturbed by the negative public perception of the sport we love as well as doping by riders we were racing with. Whether it is true that some or all professional and amateur cyclists are doping or there is just a perception of doping does not matter, it is destroying our sport. We need and feel we will be able to make a difference with ACE.

The interview is direct and good reading.  Check it out.

Carl Lewis puts out clear warning: track is in trouble

Star sprinter Carl Lewis knows the sting of defeat...to a steroid-fueled sprinter (Ben Johnson, Seoul Olympics, 1988). Lewis now 45 raises major questions about his sport - track and field.

"It's in trouble," the American told reporters at the USA Track & Field indoor championships in Boston, his first appearance at such an event in a decade. "When I see poker and I don't see track and field on TV - that's a problem."

Lewis, the most outstanding sprinter and long jumper since Jesse Owens, said the sport has partly been tainted by scandals that have stripped some champions of their titles after they tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Lewis partially reverses himself, as athletes often do, and goes to the cliche that 'the majority don't'.

"The vast, vast, vast majority of (the athletes) do the right thing, they don't take drugs," Lewis said. "They want to do it right.

"That's what really bothers me...there is a minority that create problems for the sport."

Still, the 45-year-old Lewis urged today's track and field stars to clean up their act in other ways if they want to boost interest in the sport.

    "It's not just about going across the finish line and getting your paycheck," he told Reuters in an interview. "(It's about) what else did you do to help your sport? What else did you do to help your community today.

The Nation reminds us, that when we see Olympic gold medals tainted by 'roids, when home run records will fall with the help of anabolic pharmacology, we should all cry out for competitive honesty in sport, rather than let these guys by easy with a ton of weak excuses.

Although we want due process in those accused of drug-cheating, on our part The Nation (GRG here) feels actually more brutal penalties will clean up sports...that is if the will of the sporting public wants athletics cleaned up.

If not, have fun watching championship poker....

       

Some dope on boxing: Tommy Morrison and Robert Guerrero

Several developments on the boxing front.

1.  Former AIDS-patient, former-steroid user, former-ex con Tommy Morrison won a fight the other night.  Does that tell you the sad state of boxing regulation in this country that a complete Neanderthal like Morrison can still box.  Yes, it does.

MSNBC features Morrison.  Wonder what dope this criminal is taking these days?

CHESTER, W.Va. - That left hook still works all these years later for Tommy Morrison.

The former WBO heavyweight champion stopped John Castle in the second round Thursday night in his return to the ring 11 years after testing positive for the virus that causes AIDS.

The 38-year-old Morrison, who claims he has no trace of the AIDS virus after taking several HIV tests, dropped Castle with a left hook to the head midway through the second of the scheduled four-round fight at Mountaineer Racetrack and Gaming Resort, about 60 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

SF Gate reports featherweight 'the Ghost' Robert Guerrero is in line for a title fight in Denmark.  Boxing is unsure of his record because he lost a title bout to a doping boxer who tested positive for 'roids. The ghost should be Salido who tested positive; his career should be over.  Boxing is permissive, apparently.

The title, yes. Guerrero won the IBF version of the featherweight title by beating Eric Aiken last year. In his first defense on Nov. 4, the Ghost was defeated by Mexico's Orlando Salido, but following the fight the victor tested positive for illegal steroids and was suspended.

The disposition of the case is still pending, which means Guerrero's record is either 19-2-1 reflecting the loss to Salido or 19-1-1 if the results of the bout are nullified.

In Fight News Guerrero had this comment:

Losing his title against Salido had quite an impact on Guerrero, it was something that he admits he was surprised by, "There was a lot to that fight, I didn't prepare right for it. It was a crazy fight, it was like being in a dream. He was so fast, and strong, it was like a blur in the whole fight. I was amazed by his performance, even after the fight. I think about it all of the time. God had his hand on me, because with all of the pressure that he put on me, and with the steroids that he was on, I came out of that fight clean, not a bruise on me. I am right here fighting for a world title again, and I thank God for that."

More high schools consider or reject steroid tests

Officials in California and Maryland speak about steroid testing in preps.  First to California, where recent news had a high school football team devolve to 'roids, fight club, then crime.

From the Californian:

MURRIETA ---- Recent police allegations that a handful of former Murrieta football players used illegal steroids "to enhance their performance on the field" have prompted some local residents to debate the merits of random, mandatory drug-testing programs for student athletes.

Although there is no law stopping school district officials from randomly drug-testing students involved in sports, music programs or campus clubs, none in Southwest County do so. (more after the jump)

Sammy Sosa arrives at training camp

Sammy Sosa's riding tall again in Texas. Sammy hits the Texas Rangers training camp, actually in Surprise AZ.

SURPRISE, Ariz. - Sammy Sosa returned to the field Friday after a year away from the game, greeted warmly by fans before his first spring training workout with the Texas Rangers.

The 38-year-old slugger, fifth on baseball's home-run list, got to the complex several hours before the Rangers' first full-squad workout. Sosa has a minor league deal with his original team, hoping for a chance to get back to the major leagues.

On his way to the practice field, Sosa passed through a small group of fans, with one yelling, "Good luck, Sammy." He stopped and posed for a picture.

Hammerin' Hank Aaron: Was he on 'Roids?

Protrade, a sports equipment journal, suggests the unthinkable: Hank Aaron juiced during his great career that resulted in the all-time home run record now pursued by Barry Bonds.

The San Francisco Chronicle, in a May 3rd 2005 article quoted former Major League pitcher Tom House of the Atlanta Braves as saying that steroids were rampant in the game in the late '60s and throughout the '70s.

House, perhaps best known for catching Hank Aaron's 715th home run ball in 1974 in the Atlanta Braves bullpen, said he and several teammates used amphetamines, human growth hormone and 'whatever steroid' they could find in order to keep up with the competition.

"I pretty much popped everything cold turkey', House said. "We were doing steroids they wouldn't give to horses. That was the '60s when nobody knew. The good thing is, we know now. There's a lot more research and understanding."

House, 58, estimated that six or seven pitchers per team were at least experimenting with steroids or human growth hormone. He said players talked about losing to opponents using more effective drugs,

"We didn't get beat, we got out-milligrammed", he said. "And when you found out what they were taking, you started taking them".

Congress suggested that Baseball hid a steroid problem.  However, as you will read Bowie Kuhn suppressed that notion.  After the jump, Protrade's incredible argument about Aaron's juice.

Weis gastric gypass mistrial of the century

Great analysis of the Charlie Weis mistrial over at the Wizard of Odds...

Is USADA's Case Against Landis Falling Apart?

(By James)

For cycling fans this week's Amgen Tour of California is the unofficial kick-off to the 2007 season.  Parallel to this, has been Floyd Landis' legal defense fund raising efforts.  Landis held a fund raiser last Sunday (February 18) in San Francisco and yesterday (February 21) in San Jose.

At both events Landis representatives held a slide show.  Both provide new different information and both suggest that the case against Landis is in serious trouble.

This post will relay heavily on the posts from Trust-but-Verify (TBV) who attended both events and gives details.  It seems that TBV is the only one that is reporting on this event. 

Marion Jones, Half Way to the 2028 4 x100 meter World Record

(By James)

Question, who has run the two fastest 100 meters ever, unrestricted?

Answer, Obadele Thompson of Barbados who ran a mind-boggling 9.69 in April 1996.  This record was disallowed because the was in excess of 2.0 meter-per-second allowed by the IAAF (track governing body).  It was a 5.0 m/s tailwind.

The second fastest time was Tim Montgomery's 9.76 in September 2002.  This record was eventually disallowed because of Montgomery admission of steroid use (all his records from March 31, 2001 forward have been erased).

So what do these two storied sprinters have in common?  We'll bet you'd never guess this ... both are father's to Marion Jones children!

That's right, the "first lady of Balco" announced she is "expecting" and will wed Mr. Thompson in a private ceremony in North Carolina this Saturday (February 24).

With her first son via Mr. Montgomery, should she have another son with Mr. Thompson, the 2028 4x100 relay team is looking like it will be something special - provided everyone can pass their drug test.

(I would say she is 'fast in the sack', GRG)

Frank Solich under fire at Ohio U

Wow, is Frank Solich getting 'hammered' in his gig as coach of the University of Ohio Bobcats.  The Athens News (where Ohio Univ campus exists) is hammering the former Nebraska coach.

First, Solich's players are experiencing 'off field troubles' as the euphemism goes.

Athens Police arrested and charged two Ohio University football players late last week in connection with what one witness said was a violent incident in an uptown restaurant.

The Athens NEWS has also learned that in January, a third team member was cited for rear-ending a car on Richland Avenue. The crash sent a local man to the hospital and brought the player his sixth traffic charge since October 2005.

Mitchells' baseball probe heading for sun at spring training

Former Senator George Mitchell is taking his cosmetic show steroids in baseball probe on the road, to sunny Florida, and dry Arizona.  CBS Sportsline reports here.  Mitchell visited those notorious dopers, the Minnesota Twins yesterday.  What, no Kirby Puckett?

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell is sending his investigators to spring training as part of his investigation into steroids use in baseball.  Mitchell told baseball owners last month that his work has gone more slowly than expected and threatened to seek congressional help if he doesn't get better cooperation in his probe, which started nearly a year ago.

MLB is lukewarm, at best, about getting to the 'point' of the anabolic drug use in baseball.  Mitchell's probe is toothless, and likely shark food in the water.  He might as well catch some rays at MLB's expense, because it doesn't look like his investigation is going to solve anything.

 

Ex-Atlanta slugger Dale Murphy starts anti-steroid (and doping) foundation

Former Atlanta slugger Dale Murphy appears concerned about the use of anabolic substances in sports.  The long ball hitter is swinging big again, in starting the 'I Won't Cheat' foundation.

That's a blunt title, but the Nation doesn't remember Murphy as a finesse hitter.  He stepped up to kill the ball. From Murphy's website:

OUR MISSION ‘To Leave the Game Better Than We Found It.”

Former National League Baseball MVP Dale Murphy launched this foundation to help the world of sports overcome the illegal performance enhancing drug problem.  An unintended consequence of drug abuse (steroids, human growth hormone, methamphetamines, etc…) at the professional levels has been the dramatic increase in illegal substance abuse among our youth athletes.  Too many of these young people now feel that they must put their bodies and minds in danger if they want to compete at the highest levels.

Nice features on the page, like this Q and A with Harrison Pope.

Good luck to Murph on his new project.

Note: with some thought, and reading the question below, I wonder this:  why is Murphy so concerned about steroid use?  Most of the former players move on and let bygones be bygones.  Could Murphy feel cheated?  Could he feel that his numbers were not steroid-enhanced, and now look pedestrian?

Barry Bonds says 'bring it on' as he sails away

Baseball slugger Gary Hart  Barry Bonds tells the media to just watch him, as reported by the Miami Herald.

Harts Bonds monkey business is legendary now.  Not only a drug cheat (anabolic steroids, modafinil, amphetamines, insulin, HGH, HCG), apparently a perjurer, a snitch (on his teammate Mark Sweeney) he is arrogant too.

''Let them investigate,'' Bonds told the slew of gathered media Tuesday as the Giants opened spring work in Scottsdale. ``Let 'em. They've been doing it this long.''

All the drugs, and all the stardom must be affecting something deep in Bond's limbic area, and frontal lobe.  Why dare the media hoards?  On second thought why dare the most powerful people on the planet - lawyers and biochemists, which Bonds has done in the past?

The Nation would be amazed if in the next (say) two years that a biochemist, a lawyer, or a journalist doesn't hurt Bonds badly.

So sail away Barry, join Gary with this media watch business.  Dare people to find something.  Lords knows there are many things to find hiding in that life of yours.

Gary and Barry, sailing off into the sunset, on Monkey Business...

Jan Ullrich to make career-future statement

( By James)

Hot off the presses (we have not found a link yet).

BERLIN, Feb 21, 2007 (AFP) - Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich is to make a statement regarding his future on Monday, sparking rumours he may be about to quit cycling.

The 1997 champion was barred from taking part in last year's race after being implicated in a doping scandal just before the race began.

BALCO leak resigns rodeo post.

The Colorado lawyer , who gave himself up as the BALCO leak, has resigned his
directorship of the major rodeo association.  Report here in Fox News.

The Colorado man who pleaded guilty to leaking secret grand jury transcripts in a federal steroids probe is resigning as commissioner of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

The PRCA says Troy Ellerman resigned as commissioner Monday, with the resignation to take effect immediately.

In court papers filed Thursday, Ellerman acknowledged that he had allowed two newspaper reporters to look at transcripts of grand jury testimony from baseball stars Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield, and sprinter Tim Montgomery

Trifecta for former Iowa Hawkeye football players

Three former Iowa Hawkeye football players, now in the NFL make weird news, in one day.  What is this, the Miami Hurricane program?

(much more after the jump)

Weis 'Trial of the Century' is now 'Mistrial of the Century'

Just time to give links here on the Weis mistrial.  Seems a juror fell ill.  The doctors on trial rushed to his aid, which destroyed the negative image Weis attorneys were building.  Mistrial.

The Bostonist, Fox, AOL and the final word on the Mistrial of the Century at the Wizard of Odds.

Let's do it all over later.  After Tom Brady has his baby.  Perhaps in the middle of the college football season, when Notre Dame will choke in a bowl game again, like a juror in a trial...

Rocky 3 Update: Pudding and Tonic

Sly Stallone, down but not out, hung on until the bell.  Now Sly is flying to the far east to start filming sequel #78 to Rambo.

More news about Rocky's knockdown.  From TodaysTHV.com comes news that Stallone's limo was also searched.  Australian Customs officials searched his luggage, hotel room, and limo.  Almost takes more to get through Aussie Customs than to board a normal fight out of O'Hare in Chicago.

Not to worry.  If you're elderly, like Stallone or like Steroid Nation, you too can have the body of a 20 year-old body builder, and the face of a 60 year-actor.  Stallone is marketing health water, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herold (page 2).

There is also Stallone Instone Protein Pudding.  Yummy.  That must be the secret to Stallone's youthful appearance.  The Aussies didn't find HGH, they found Protein Pudding.

Federation of International Skiing chief fearful of doping fallout

The head of the international ski federation fears for his sport, once reliable HGH tests begin ferreting out ski-dopers.  Story here in Jurnalo.

Doping is far from being rooted out in international alpine and nordic skiing, according to a gloomy assessment by International ski federation head Gian-Franco Kasper.

FIS supremo Kasper says he fears the worst once watertight tests for Human Growth Hormone have been established, with alpine skiing possibly facing similar scandals the cross-country scene has been through.

"I foresee scandals in the alpine area and in ski-jumping as soon as we can establish the use of Human Growth Hormone in a legally correct way.

"That could result in bad surprises. You have some suspicion when you look at the athletes, their thighs. But no proof," Kasper said in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa at the world alpine championships in Are which ended on Sunday

SoCal 'Fight Club' busted for violence and 'Roids

They started out as teammates on the football team. They ended up as a badass gang on steroids.  It's Fight Club in SoCal.  Here from the North Coast Times the story unfolds.

The latest chapter in gang violence unfolded recently with the arrests of 11 men and one teenager, including several former members of the Murrieta High School football squad. Calling themselves the Murrieta Fight Club, this group of steroid-fueled bullies is accused of using intimidation and physical violence to commit acts of armed robbery, burglary, false imprisonment, vehicle theft, arson, witness intimidation and assault. According to Murrieta police Lt. Dennis Vrooman, this gang of tough guys preyed on individuals "who can be easily victimized."

This gang developed as a football team went on 'roids.

Police say that this gang was created during the 2004-05 school year by a group of Murrieta Valley High School football players. Tim Hales, supervisor of the gang task force, said that "the members began injecting steroids to enhance their performance on the field and started calling themselves Fight Club, creating dog tags and ball caps with the initials 'FC.'" One can only wonder how these alleged behaviors escaped detection by the football coaches, school administrators and the parents of those arrested.

Update 2: Rocky Holds World Hostage, Day 3

Rocky Update 3 here.

Latest news on the Rocky trip Sly Stallone experienced in Australia continues.  This story found in the West Australian.

Stallone is cleverly denying he possessed steroids.  Reports earlier said officials were concerned about a 'growth hormone' substance. HGH is not a steroid; HGH is a protein peptide.

The Hollywood actor had already denied bringing steroids into the country when he was questioned on arrival at Sydney Airport last Friday.

A customs spokesman said last night he could not confirm the nature of the latest developments, but it is understood customs officers visited the 60-year-old about 3pm (1pm WA time), when they issued him with a summons relating to prohibited substances. The summons would normally require him or his lawyer to appear in court.

Here to promote his new film, Rocky Balboa, Stallone flew out of the country last night with the blessing of customs, but not before its officers searched his private jet...

On Friday Stallone and five attendants were held until after midnight after X-rays of his luggage found suspicious items, rumoured to be a body building drug outlawed in Australia.

Laboratory tests will identify the seized material before any further action is taken.

Stallone's minders warned yesterday that if journalists raised the subject, interviews would be terminated. But the actor-director insisted the items were not steroids. He would not identify them other than to say "it's something that I've taken for years" and "it's not dangerous".

Stallone said the problem was the result of a clerical mistake...

Stallone is heading to Thailand to make Rambo IV: Pearl of the Cobra. The other revived action hero deals with Christianity, atheism and genocide in Burma.

The 2 photos presented here are several decades apart.  One is probably from Rocky 3, and the other taken within the past  year.  Is it possible  for a 60 year-old to be leaner, and more vascular, and more muscular than  he was in his 20s and 30s; that is without hormonal help?

1-2-3-4, Oscar Gotta Win The Show!

(By James)

What is the one thing worse than the Tour de France champion decided in a courtroom?  Having him decided by public opinion.

On one side we have Floyd Landis with his legal defense fund that has raised over $150,000.  On the other side, we have Oscar Pereiro and his merry band of yellow marchers.

Too bad the CNN show Crossfire is kaput.  Sounds like the perfect topic to have supporters spending 30 minutes trying to shout each other down.

A region for Oscar Pereiro

Hundreds of people participated on bicycles in the Yellow March that passed through the streets of Vigo (Galicia). According to the Spanish newspaper Marca, they called for the elevation of Oscar Pereiro to 2006 Tour de France winner. In the march were Galician government General Director of Sports Santiago Domínguez and Pereiro.

As a sign of their solidarity all participants – except Pereiro – wore yellow jerseys. The organizers will send some cards which were signed by the participants to the UCI. On those cards they claim the official nomination of Pereiro as winner of the Tour.

After the march, Pereiro thanked all the participants for their presence, "It's very great to see that so many people support me," affirmed the Galician, who has to wait for the end of the counterclaims of Floyd Landis, before being named as the winner of the Tour, where he finished second behind the American.

Tom Brady ex-expert witness

Interesting how quickly things change.  Tom Brady, megasuperstar witness on the stand Friday in the Charlie Weis gastric bypass trial of the century, now finds himself a bit on the hot seat.  Or at least wearing the daddy-pants.

Not to be haughty about Brady's 'predicament'.  Not to enjoy his situation.  However, isn't it ironic that Weis used Brady's star power to seduce the jury into sympathy for his plight.  Brady, representing honesty, and integrity, and responsible leadership, was to influence the jury with testimony on Weis' stupor and coma;  on how Weis fought through the sequlae of 'botched' surgery to continue working, then sign a multimillion dollar contract with the Fighting Irish.

Forty eight hours later Brady looks a little less responsible, and a little less a megasuperstar.  He looks, well frankly, human.

The pregnancy announcement of Brady's former squeeze Bridget Moyahan is not surprising, given the environment surrounding the professional athlete.  However, Brady now is classified with athletes like Matt Leinart, Brian Erlacher, and others whose dalliances resulted in parenthood with a woman, without current portfolio relationship.

Does the news tarnish Brady's supermegastar expert witness gig?  Possibly.  I suspect for the females, he has gone down a notch or two on the hit chart of tall, charming, athletic, handsome, expert witnesses.

As Charles Barkley says, don't look toward pro athletes for moral rectitude; not in steroid policy, responsible parenthood, or as expert character witness.

Update on Rocky with 'roids

Latest (12-March-2007): Stallone charged with importing HGH (growth hormone, 48 vials) into Australia.

(See Update 2: Rocky Holds World Hostage)  (and now Rocky Update 3: Stallone Protein Pudding)

The Sly Stallone story turns weirder, as if it could.  From News.com.aus comes this:

The luxury hotel room of Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone was raided by Customs officials yesterday as members of his entourage were seen throwing items out of the window.

The private jet of the 60-year-old film star was then searched on the tarmac. Stallone did not leave the country until three hours after the search. (photo at left taken at Sydney airport)

The Stallone party throwing things out of a hotel window?  Strange. No toilets to flush those vials items down?  This story just gets more bizarre.  Apparently Stallone danced out of the country, ASAP?

The actor had originally been stopped by Customs officers on Saturday night after "prohibited" substances - believed to be a type of human growth hormone - were found in luggage at Sydney airport.

The investigation was stepped up last night after the visit to his Sydney hotel room at 3pm (AEDT)yielded further evidence relating to the investigation over the importation of illegal substances.

Yesterday, a senior Customs source said the investigation was fast-tracked after occupants of Stallone's room at the five-star Park Hyatt Hotel were seen throwing items out of the window...

It was rumoured Stallone may have been carrying bodybuilding drugs, banned in Australia.

Customs has not revealed what was seized in the initial search of the luggage, however tests are still continuing to determine the content of the substance found.

Ryan Howard takes pitches 'bout 'roids

Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard sounded off at his first press conference yesterday.  Our link printed in the Philly Daily News.

Although not fair to demand a young slugger like Howard to be a spokesman for all that is right and holy in baseball, the sportswriters tried to shake a controversial statement out of the reigning long-ball king to no avail.  The exchange went as such:

He (Howard) denied ever using steroids, but declined to accept the mantle of Mr. Clean in baseball's post-juice world.

Then, he gave an implicit endorsement to the accomplishments of the poster boys of the Steroid Era - Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, a pair of his boyhood heroes.

Bonds, the focus of baseball's recent steroids controversy, stands 21 homers shy of Aaron's record of 755 career homers. Will it be good for baseball if Bonds breaks the mark?

"Why not?" Howard responded, his megawatt smile momentarily fading. "Has he been tested positive? Has it come up that he's tested positive? Has there been anything in the newspaper where it said he's positive? On steroids?"

Well, he is under investigation for allegedly perjuring himself by saying he never knowingly took steroids. And one report says he tested positive for amphetamines last season.

Nevertheless, Howard persisted:

"There's no hardcore, positive yes that he's tested positive for steroids?... I'm simple. Either you've tested positive or you haven't. If he hasn't tested positive, then, yeah [it would be good]. Definitely."

And his reaction if it is revealed that Bonds has tested positive?

Howard's head dived into the sand.

"I'll probably be asleep," he said. "I really wouldn't get into that."

Howard seemed disappointed that Big Mac - who once admitted to using a substance later classified as a steroid - fell far short of qualifying for induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame last month. Howard, a St. Louis native and a Cardinals fan growing up, declined to say what he would have done with a vote.

"If I had a vote, I'd probably have been sick that day," Howard said.

(more after the jump)

The (Terrmel) Sledge hammer had brief brush with Andro

San Diego Padres posses the next great power-hitter.  His name: Terrmel Sledge.  So says the San Diego Union-Tribune.  There are a couple obstacles to overcome.  Injuries, and a relatively advanced age for a rookie MLB player.

One month shy of his 30th birthday, Sledge appreciates that his time is now or that it might be never...

Sledge joined the Padres last January in one of the most lopsided trades of Towers' tenure. Still rehabbing from a 2005 hamstring operation, Sledge was a relative afterthought in the deal with Texas that featured first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and pitcher Chris Young. When Sledge subsequently sustained a calf injury in spring training, his chance to make an immediate impact evaporated.

Though he would recover to swat 24 home runs for Triple-A Portland, Sledge describes his entire 2006 experience as “a long spring training.”

“At this time last year I was like 210 pounds and I hadn't seen major league pitching in over a year,” he said. “So it was a tough year. I couldn't work out. It was like I was carrying 15 pounds of bricks in a backpack.”

Sledge has since shed those bricks, and returned to his preferred playing weight in the low 190s. He credits multisport cross-training for his leaner look and claims to have found the quick first step that had been missing from his game.

Sledge experienced a minor brush with anabolic steroids in the minor leagues.  An over-the-counter brush with Andro nixes his international baseball thanks to USADA rules;  however his MLB career is in high gear.

As his game evolved in the minor leagues, Sledge began to drive the ball more and run less. He suffered a significant image setback when the United States Anti-Doping Agency detected traces of androstenedione derivatives in a 2003 drug test, but a two-year ban from international competition did not directly affect his domestic career.

“I don't want to get back into that,” Sledge said of his steroids experience. “The situation was over-the-counter. You look at my body frame back then to now, and my numbers, it's obsolete.

“Let's just say I've had a lot worse happen to me outside of baseball. It was my mistake. You learn from your mistakes.” 

Fall New Jersey steroid tests all negative

The AP is reporting good news on the high school front:  the fall steroid testing program in New Jersey high schools found no positive tests.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ New Jersey's first in-the-nation tests of high school athletes for steroid abuse showed no positive results among 150 random samples taken in the fall, according to the group that administered the tests.

All tournament-bound high schoolers randomly sampled tested negative for performance-enhancing drugs, according to Bob Baly, assistant director with the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.

The New Jersey athletic association sponsored the first state-wide steroid testing plan in the country for high school athletes.  Five hundred high school sports participants underwent testing at a cost of $100,000.

Many high schools report that in the past testing was generally negative as well as expensive.  Nonetheless, several states are pushing plans for structured high school steroid tests.

Wave of cynicism hits sports. No way to stop the bleeding (cheating)

NASCAR cheats.  Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and baseball cheat.  Floyd Landis rides accused of cheating.  Track and field world record holders like Justin Gatlin cheat.  NFL players cheat.  Horse trainers are giving their steeds cobra venom. You would think soon someone in Florida cheated to throw a US presidential election.

Group journalistic hand-wringing is consuming the print media.  For some reason the NASCAR high-tech cheating caused the last flicker of hope to extinguish.  We are firmly in the cheating, lying, 21st Century.  If the 20th Century was the century of world war, genocide, communism, and science, the 21st has started out as the war in anti-doping labs, the century of high-tech sports cheats, and continuing genocide.

From Ft Wayne comes a typical piece talking about the cheating in sports.

Looking for a little extra power, a little extra oomph, the professional sports figure uses a banned substance to gain a competitive edge, however slight.

Baseball, the Olympics, bicycling, even horse racing – all have been tainted with scandals involving steroids or similar drugs.

(and now NASCAR) But jet fuel? Say it’s just a tale, Dale.

Rocky on 'Roids: Stallone busted in Australia

Sly Stallone finds himself in a corner down under.  Australia officials confiscated vials 'prohibited imports' of interest in the Stallone luggage.  Story here in the Daily Telegraph.  Initial AP story here.

(Update here; Stallone's party was throwing items out the hotel window)

His nickname might be Sly, but Sylvester Stallone has denied being in the dodgy business of bringing bodybuilding drugs to Australia.

The megastar and his entourage are being investigated by Customs after officers found several prohibited items in their luggage at Sydney airport.

The items were detected in routine X-rays.

Stallone flew into Australia to promote his new film, Rocky 43.  Later, slightly dazed by the left hook at the airport, Rocky counter-punched when interviewed.

The Daily Telegraph approached Stallone yesterday as he left the Park Hyatt Hotel.

The 60-year-old said talk of him having steroids was "totally hot air''.

"I do know (why I was stopped) but I can't tell you,'' he said. "To (Customs) it's major, but it's really minor stuff.

"I just made a mistake ... I misunderstood a few things and we are going through the process.''

An Australian Customs Service spokesman said he could not speculate on Mr Stallone's denial of having body building drugs.

A Customs spokesman refused to comment on Stallone's denial that bodybuilding drugs were found but said investigations were continuing.

But he said investigations in to the confiscated items they found in his party's luggage were continuing.

ADRIAN! It was only Botox.

(more after the jump)

Pound: it's a doping miracle

(By James)

Pound: it's a doping miracle

Progress in the fight against doping in sport has been a "miracle," World Anti-Doping Agency head Dick Pound said Friday.

Pound praised governments for joining sports federations in the fight against cheating by ratifying a new UNESCO anti-doping convention.

"It is actually a miracle," Pound told a doping symposium in Athens. "An extraordinary commitment by governments."

Unanimously adopted by UNESCO's General Conference on Oct. 19, 2005, the anti-doping convention was ratified by member states and entered into force on Feb. 1.

Pound, a Montreal lawyer and senior International Olympic Committee member, said other measures were still needed, including more flexible penalties and sanctions against entourages of disgraced athletes.

"We want to go after the upstream people ... the coaches, the trainers, the doctors that supply these materials," Pound said.

(Much more after the jump)

Megastar Patriot QB Tom Brady leads comeback in Weis gastric bypass trial

Don't forget to follow all the 'Trial of the Century' action over at the Wizard of Odds.  Yesterday, megastar Patriot QB Tom Brady led a late game 'on steroids' comeback for the Weis team.

Charlie Weis' sometimes-clinical malpractice trial against Massachusetts General Hospital doctors Charles Ferguson and Richard Hodin took on rockstar status

Brady, who testified on behalf of his former quarterback coach, arrived first class, taking the prisoners' elevator to evade a media crush and entered the courtroom flanked by court officers. The Boston Herald described a "tanned and trim Brady" striding "gamely into Judge Charles Spurlock's courtroom as eyes swiveled."

An officer wagged a finger at onlookers and warned, "Don't anyone get cute with those picture phones." Friday when New England quarterback Tom Brady took the witness stand.

Tour de California schedule

From SFist is the Tour of California schedule (We are so used to typing 'Tour de France' we originally typied that in there).  The 'Angel' will be atop Telegraph Hill too. (The Nation loves San Francisco)  See JB's earlier post (among others) about the Amgen TOC.

Clip in sports fans, between the weather and the Amgen Tour of California (TOC), it's going to be a great weekend for cycling in the Bay Area.

Whether you're tackling Mt.Tam on your Saturday morning club ride or comparing yourselves to the pros with a summit of Stage 3's infamous Sierra Hill climb, pack the sunscreen today and leave the rain shell behind.

BALCO Coach Trevor Graham court date delayed.

The Fog City Journal is reporting the date for track coach Trevor Graham's BALCO trial has been delayed.  The judge will convene a hearing on March 31 to set the trial date.

Graham set off the initial stage of BALCO by mailing a used syringe from a rival coach to the USADA. 
He coached a stable of elite track athletes including Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, and Justin Gatlin.  So many of his stars have tested positive for steroids and other anabolics, that Graham is essentially barred in European track meets.

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - The setting of a trial date for an Olympic track coach who triggered a sports steroid probe was postponed in federal court in San Francisco Friday to give his lawyers time to review documents that may be used as evidence.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston will set a trial date for Trevor Graham at a hearing on March 30.

Graham, of Raleigh, N.C., set off an investigation centered on the Bay Area Laboratory Co Operative, or BALCO, when he anonymously  sent a syringe filled with THG,a previously undetectable steroid,to the U.S.

Six people, including two BALCO executives and a chemist who supplied steroids, have pleaded guilty to various charges. The most recent defendant to plead guilty was criminal defense attorneyTroy Ellerman, who admitted Thursday to four counts related to the leaking of secret grand jury testimony by Giants slugger Barry Bonds and three other athletes.