Steroid Nation

Justin Gatlin doping hearing kicks off

Justin Gatlin, former world record holder in the 100M, starts his US Anti-doping agency hearing.  Gatlin tested positive for testosterone in spring of 2006.  He faces an 8 year ban if the test is upheld.  (The USADA has never lost a case). 

Interesting that new information came out that Gatlin assisted the BALCO investigation.  The Toronto Star:

Olympic 100-metre champion Justin Gatlin faced tough odds yesterday, the first day of an arbitration hearing to appeal a possible eight-year ban for doping.

Gatlin tested positive for testosterone and other steroids in April 2006 but has said he doesn't know how steroids got into his system.

The hearing, closed to media and the public, is set to continue today, and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency never has lost a doping case.

Gatlin's attorney, John Collins, told the Washington Post in its editions yesterday that Gatlin should get consideration for assisting USADA and federal investigators in the BALCO steroid investigation. Gatlin told the newspaper he met with Jeff Novitzky, the lead investigator in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative probe, and made calls, including at least one in Novitzky's presence, to his coach, Trevor Graham. Contacted by The Associated Press yesterday, Graham had no comment. He was indicted by the BALCO grand jury last fall on charges of lying to federal investigators.

 

Tour de France 2007: The toll of the troll

One year after the most embarrassing Tour de France in history, when the winner -- Floyd Landis -- tested positive for doping, the 2007 Tour continued to  provide evidence of vast corruption in pro cycling.  Although rising, here sits the doping toll from the  '07 Tour:

- Patrik Sinkewitz, nailed on an A-sample with elevated testosterone, declined the B-sample, an admission of guilt.  T-Mobile fired the German today.

- Spaniard Iban Mayo failed his doping test, testing positive for EPO.   Mayo was suspended by Saunier Duval-Prodir Cycling Team when the UCI notified the team Mayo looks like a drug-cheat.

- The Tour dumped Michael Rasmussen as he led going into a late stage, for missing pre-Tour doping tests.  Rasmussen says he messed up on a clerical error; the scheduled doping tests appear at strategic times in the  rider's cycle (read: opportune for doping cycles).

- Pre-race favorite Alexander Vinokourov found himself in the showers after he tested positive for merely infusing someone else's blood.  Vino pleads the Floyd Landis defense that the LNDD lab stinks.

- "Cristian Moreni was arrested after a Pyrenees stage last week. His Cofidis team was removed from the race and he confessed to using drugs to lift his level of testosterone, which boosts muscle fibers, team manager Eric Boyer said. Doping is a crime in France." (Bloomberg)

- And lastly your 2007 Tour de France winner, Alberto Contador, stands accused of some serious drug-cheating, following a blistering attack from German scientist Werner Franke.

What an ugly monster now occupies the corpse of this most famous of cycling races.  Is there any hope that a regulatory body can clean up the 'Taint on the Champs Elysees?

Werner Franke, world's most respected anti-doping scientist, accuses Tour de France winner Alberto Contador of 'swindle'

(Subtitled 'Here we go again')

In a startling development, world respected German scientist, Werner Franke announced his absolute condemnation and outrage at the 2007 Tour de France victory of Spain's Alberto Contador.

Franke never pulled a punch in describing Contador's win as (MS NBC):

"the greatest swindle in sporting history," according to a report by Agence France Presse.

Werner Franke is a honored German biochemist.  In the 1990s Franke and his East German wife Brigitte Berendonk, exposed the East Germany doping machine, well documented in the book 'Faust's Gold'.  This expose' developed under great peril, as the GDR Stasi continued to operate.  Through perseverance, courage, and tremendous commitment Franke and Berendonk exposed the systematic doping of  young athletes, including many girls by the GDR Gov't.

When Franke claims Contador defrauded cycling, it is comparable to Carl Sandburg saying Chicago is a big city.  The world pays attention to people who accomplished great things.  From the MS NBC piece:

Werner Franke, a molecular cell biologist at the German Cancer Research Center and key whistleblower against doping in then-East Germany, said he has documents in his possession from the Spanish police's blood doping investigation named Operation Puerto involving Eufemiano Fuentes, the doctor credited with engineering doping programs for professional athletes.

"The name of this Mr Contador appears on several occasions on the court and police documents," Franke told German television station ZDF, according to AFP.

"All of this has been simply concealed and hidden under the carpet whilst the name Contador was erased from the list of supicious riders."

Franke also told ZDF that he has a detailed list of banned products that were used by Contador. Those products appear in sworn statements following the raid on Fuentes' medical offices, AFP said.

Franke claims Contador used:

• Insulin (anabolic)
• HMG-lepori (stimulates testosterone production)
• TNG (for asthma)

Franke continues:

"All of this has been covered up, at least in Spain."

Contador, meanwhile, has tried to explain his checkered past:
 

Contador, 24, has denied any connection to Fuentes.

After Saturday's time trial, he told reporters, "I was in the wrong team at the wrong time and somehow my name got among the documents, but the UCI corrected the mistake and now I've got no link to Puerto."

Contador missed last year's Tour when his former team Liberty Seguros was disqualified because he and four other riders were implicated in Operation Puerto. Contador said his name mistakenly turned up in the Puerto file, and cycling authorities attested to that.

Dick Pound and WADA appear to be getting involved in the Puerto issue:

"This investigation may have gone away in Spain but we are currently working with the UCI on going through 6,000 pages of documentation gathered from the Operation Puerto investigation," Pound said.

So, the Tour de France degenerates into a morass of charges, counter-charges, positive doping tests and excuses.  Sound familiar?

Since LeMond last won, doping has turned cycling and the Tour in particular to (as we said) a bag of blood, and a pile of syringes.  Each and every Tour winner carries suspicions of drug-cheating.

WADA is correct; the world needs a summit to restore the integrity and credibility of pro cycling.

Buzz around Canseco: Torre and Damon sound off

Does Jose Canseco love to see his name in the media or what?  Last week Canseco not only commented on Curt Schilling's 'roid rage, he called out A-Rod.  This week, other sports figures and celebs respond.

Joe Torre and Johnny Damon responded in the New York Daily News.

Following yesterday's game, Torre was disappointed to hear of Canseco's comments and expressed concern about how much an impact they might have on A-Rod when the book is published.

"You worry about anything like that, because unfortunately, when people see it in print, they add credence to it. That's the sad part about it," Torre said. "It's a shame, because when you play this game, you'd like to believe you play with some kind of respect. Obviously, Jose needs the money."

Damon added:

"I just hope he thinks about not ruining someone's life, marriage, or whatever he plans on doing," Damon said. "If that's what Jose Canseco wants to be remembered for, so be it.

"To me, Alex is a great teammate who will always respect the game, play the game right and work hard. He loves the game, so hopefully nothing that can ruin a family or something comes out. ... Hopefully (Canseco will) think twice about it."

A-Rod himself?  Been a brutal 10 weeks:

Rodriguez left the clubhouse without comment, though he probably didn't want to answer any more questions about his stalled chase for 500 home runs before catching his flight to Miami for the off-day.

A-Rod went 0-for-2 with three walks in the win over the Orioles, extending his hitless streak to 12 at-bats since hitting No.499 on Wednesday night in Kansas City. He has struck out five times in that stretch, including with the bases loaded in the first inning yesterday.

"He just needs this day off probably more than anybody else," Torre said. "Aside from guys nursing sore bodies, Alex has the emotional stuff going on with him."

The Sporting News says Canseco has talked to George Mitchell in his steroids probe, and just may chat again.

The St Louis Post-Dispatch quotes the New York Times on Canseco's lawyer:

"Jose has information about A-Rod and the Yankees that will be in the book," Canseco's lawyer, Robert O. Saunooke, told The New York Times. "But, I am not sure if Jose is willing to disclose it at this point."

Contador conquers the dope scarred Tour de France

Alberta Contador a 24  year-old cyclist from Spain, won over 600,000 dollars in a Tour de France.  Doping accusations once again marred the most valued cycling event in the world.  A favorite, Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for testosterone, after winning a stage early in the race.  Tour officials hooked race leader Michael Rasmussen late in the event, when his team dumped him following revelations that he missed doping tests at key points in training this year.

This year's Tour ended with race organizers at odds with cycling officials.  WADA chief Dick Pound called for a summit (which should drive Floyd Landis fans nuts once again)

Thus the Tour ended another dope-smeared campaign, as the fate of last year's winner -- Floyd Landis -- hangs in the balance of an arbitration court.  It appears very clear that pro cycling continues encrusted with drug-cheats; however there is hope that clean riders, and fans sick of scandals can demand the sport come clean.  From Bloomberg:

Contador of the Discovery Channel team finished about 20 meters behind stage winner Daniele Bennati in the 20th and final leg of the race to Paris to beat Australia's Cadel Evans by 23 seconds in the overall standings. American Levi Leipheimer was third.

Contador himself flirted with trouble last year (blood clots can result from blood doping as the blood thickens):

Contador, who recovered from surgery on a blood clot sustained in a 2004 accident, becomes the youngest Tour winner since Jan Ullrich in 1997 and the first Spanish champion since five-time champion Miguel Indurain 12 years ago.         

``I didn't expect to win the Tour so early,'' Contador told reporters, according to Efe news agency. ``My goal was to win the white jersey'' as best young rider, he added..

One of four brothers from a Madrid suburb, Contador was one of nine riders expelled from last year's Tour after being linked to a blood-doping ring in the Spanish capital.         

He denied wrongdoing and was cleared by cycling officials to carry on racing.         

``It was a mistake,'' Contador said last week. He was then with the Liberty Seguros team whose manager Manolo Saiz was arrested as part of the police investigation into the ring. ``I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.''         

Saiz was cleared in March by a Spanish judge, Antonio Serrano, who said in his ruling that no crime was committed, even if there was a lack of fair play.

The New York Times comments on Contador's involvement in Operations Puerto, cycling's BALCO:

At a press conference on Saturday after the final time trial, Contador again pledged that he had nothing to do with the Operation Puerto doping investigation in Spain and offered to submit a DNA sample if necessary to prove that his blood was not among that stored in the Spanish laboratory that was raided by police before the 2006 Tour.

Contador was a member of the Liberty Seguros team in 2006, and several of its members were found to be participating in blood-doping operations by the doctor who ran the lab. Contador’s name was on an initial list of riders implicated in the investigation, but cycling officials subsequently cleared him of any involvement.

Three time Tour champ Greg LeMond not-so-subtly implicated Contador in doping a few days ago:

"(Yellow jersey holder) Alberto Contador and Rasmussen are at 60 kilos each and both are climbing as fast as Pantani did. Thats a red flag right there," he (LeMond) said in a reference to the late Italian Marco Pantani, a superb climber who won both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia in 1998.

"Contador has been involved in Operation Puerto," he added, citing the doping scandal that rocked Spain.

"Im not pointing fingers at Contador. Im just saying that if you point fingers at Rasmussen, you have to look at the riders next to him."

Hillary Clinton's flash compared to Barry Bonds' stash

Two of the biggest stories playing out this summer are Barry Bonds' career home run record chase, and Hillary Clinton's expose'. Now, a national news report links the 'issues':

The Clinton campaign's attempt to raise money off a Washington Post fashion report on her cleavage drew a very odd sports comparison from CNBC/Wall Street Journal pundit John Harwood on Sunday's Meet the Press: "for her to argue that she was not aware of what she was communicating by her dress is like Barry Bonds saying he thought he was rubbing down with flaxseed oil, okay?"

Before we plunge into speculation about steroids and fashion, we should note that both Clinton and Bonds seek to pump up: one to pump up his muscles, the other to pump up her vote totals.   However, we are more impressed with Bonds' numbers than Clinton's at this point. 

A point could be made that a ravenous press will eat up whatever celebrities throw out there be it pecs or cleavages. Of course cynics will say that neither Bonds, nor Clinton are 'busted'.  If one compares pec size, there is no doubt, Bonds is your woman, man, whatever.

Can using steroids actually affect home run totals?  Some experts say superior hand-eye coordination trumps steroids use.  Likewise, can cleavage affect vote totals?  Experts again say that basic policy stances are more important than courting the male vote.

It may be both the candidate and the athlete have been 'outed'.

Gary Sheffield continues the long decent into an MLB crevasse

Is Gary Sheffield bent on self-destruction?  For the past 2 weeks he seems to be opening that mouth to get himself in deeper and deeper into a baseball notoriety crevasse.

Shef called out Bonds, the Mitchell probe, Latino players, Joe Torre, and the BALCO chemist.  Now he wants a piece of Bid Selig.

Has anyone seen a time since Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin, that baseball players took more swipes at each other?  Talk about a juiced ball.  These guys have juiced mouths.

From Mlive.com comes Shef's remarks:

Gary Sheffield was back in the Detroit Tigers lineup Friday night, and also back in the spotlight.

Back in the lineup after taking two games off to have a cortisone shot in his troublesome right shoulder. Back in the spotlight because he was quoted by USA Today calling commissioner Bud Selig a liar on the subject of steroids.

Sheffield and Selig are old drinking buddies it seems:

``Bud Selig is making himself the face of the steroid era,'' Sheffield told USA Today.

``Why doesn't Bud Selig tell the truth? Why does he keep lying and saying he doesn't know nothing about nothing? It's a bunch of hogwash. It's a cop-out. He knew everything (about steroids) we knew.

``Bud Selig wants to talk about the integrity of the game? To him, the integrity of the game is how much money they make.''

Selig and Sheffield have a long history together. Selig owned the Milwaukee Brewers when the Brewers drafted Sheffield in 1986, and when they brought a 19-year-old Sheffield to the big leagues two years later. This year, Selig fined Sheffield after the Tiger designated hitter was quoted as saying that umpires lie and that the umpiring system is ``corrupt.''

Sheffield made the corruption charge on June 29, just when he was having his first cortisone shot of the season. Sheffield's right shoulder has bothered him on an off for the last 14 years, since he first hurt it while playing third base in San Diego.

Shef,just chill.  Go to Didneyland there in Anaheim.  Man...

Tour de France nears cycle end

And yet another Tour de France ends it's (steroid) cycle this weekend.  As a decisive penultimate stage unfolds today, cheers changed to jeers in France. 

Ireland Online says Tour leader slam international cycling leadership.

The organisers of the Tour de France have criticised cycling’s world governing body over doping controls, describing the UCI as “incompetent”.

Patrice Clerc, president of Tour organisers ASO, and Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Tour de France, held a press conference at the start of the penultimate stage of this year’s event in Cognac where they pledged to lead the battle to rid the sport of drugs.

The 2007 Tour has been tainted by doping, with four positive tests including for Kazakhstan’s Alexandre Vinokourov, the pre-race favourite, and Italy’s Cristian Moreni.

Vinokourov and Moreni’s teams, Astana and Cofidis respectively, also withdrew after the Kazakh rider tested positive for blood doping and the Italian for elevated levels of testosterone.

Clerc said: “The UCI cannot control the rebuilding of a new model for cycling so we have decided to lead the reconstruction with those who share our values.

“The UCI has demonstrated that, in the best case, it is incompetent and, in the worst case, it will harm the Tour de France. The result is a calculated, Machiavellian and irresponsible approach. When an organisation behaves this way towards another, the only option is resignation.”

The Raw Story, however, reports that Clerc called for the resignation of th e UCI head:

Tour de France organisers on Saturday called for the resignation of International Cycling Union (UCI) bosses who they feel are to blame for the Michael Rasmussen controversy which has sullied the race.

"There's only one solution (in such circumstances), and that's resignation," said Patrice Clerc, the president of the race's parent company Amaury Sports Organization (ASO) ahead of the 19th and penultimate stage.

The ASO may want WADA to take over regulating cycling.

Where are the elder statement in this mess?  Cyclists don't want to hear it, but their veteran riders have deserted them.  Floyd Landis is selling his defense.  Blaming the LNDD, you do not hear Landis acting as a leader in this mess.

Lance Armstrong, who should be the voice of leadership as the most famous living pro cyclist, apparently doesn't want to come near any statements about the sport self-destructing in a bag of blood.  Yes, many of the same doctors who dope other riders remain confidants of Armstrong.  He supplies no leadership, no moral guidance, because he too is busy doping rumors of his own doping.

Ullrich, Basso, Hamilton, all dogged by proved doping charges, or dogged by allegations can supply no leadership.

Thus, the cycling administrators take the leadership helm devoid of honored elders (unless you consider LeMond, who many despise).  That's wrong. 

Cycling is a sport that better re-invent itself and cleanse itself of doping, because right now that sport appears on par with professional wrestling, only without the flash.

Bonds explains his rage against Costas' irresponsible steroid journalism

Barry Bonds, always respectful of others, called Bob Costas a midget.  Well heck he was mad.  Bonds explained himself after home run #756.  From Bradenton.com.

Barry Bonds says his problem with Bob Costas has to do with his reporting, not the broadcaster's height.

Bonds called Costas a "little midget man who knows (nothing) about baseball" following this week's broadcast of HBO's "Costas Now."

"My reaction stemmed from my feelings about Costas' statements during a broadcast," Bonds said in a journal entry posted on his Web site. "The comment I made about him was off the cuff, and my problem with Costas is not with his height, but with his irresponsible journalism. If my choice of words offended anyone, that was not my intent."

Irresponsible journalism huh?

Costas believes the San Francisco Giants star has used performance-enhancing drugs and said he viewed Bonds' accomplishments as inauthentic.

"I take great offense to those statements, especially coming from someone who is supposed to have journalistic integrity and not make blanket reckless accusations," Bonds said in his journal entry.

Is that correct?  Does any journalist who speaks of Bonds use of PEDs demonstrate reckless journalism?  Costas doesn't think so.  Perhaps he is editorializing.

Costas said he wasn't offended by Bonds' snipe.

"As anyone can plainly see, I'm 5-6 1/2 and a strapping 150, and unlike some people, I came by all of it naturally," Costas said Thursday.

And thus Barry Bonds adds to his legend as lovable baseball slugger hero.

Legal issues: MLB & Grimsley; Congress and Vince McMahon

1.  The AP argued that they were entitled to the MLB names in the Grimsley indictment that the Gov't redacted last year. A magistrate in Arizona said no.  SI.com:

A federal magistrate Friday rejected a request by The Associated Press to reveal the names of players allegedly implicated in drug use by former major league pitcher Jason Grimsley.

"Disclosure at this time may compromise the ongoing investigation in several ways," U.S. Magistrate Edward C. Voss wrote.

2.  California Rep Harry Waxman wants Vince McMahon and the WEE to turn over records to his investigatory committee.  ABC News:

Two congressmen responsible for conducting steroid hearings into Major League Baseball have requested that Vince McMahon, the head of World Wrestling Entertainment, provide records pertaining to the WWE's testing policies.

In a three-page letter dated July 27, Rep. Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Tom Davis, its ranking minority member, asked McMahon to provide a series of documents intended to give the committee and its investigation a detailed look at WWE's drug-testing policy, including information about the results of performance-enhancing drug tests on pro wrestlers.

The following is very interesting:

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Parella said in court on Thursday that the probe had spread far beyond BALCO and includes track and field and pro football athletes, as well as major league baseball players.

Roundup of steroid stories

1.  Shysterball gives us a perspective on the complex interaction between the Bonds genetics, the Bonds environment, and the Bonds PEDs.

2.  What if Bonds were on the Tour de France?  Frightening thought, eh?

3. Greg LeMond says the Tour continues to be dour.  Implicates leader Alberto Contador.

4.  Do guitar players dope?

5. SI.com, with it's power, brings you photos of the 25 biggest drug scandals in sports.

Review of veterans on Bonds and the juicers

(We have to apologize for this post; we meant to edit it more, but forgot.  It then popped up on the blog this afternoon.  Oops)

The Long Beach Press-Telegram reviews the Ster*id Era in baseball in this piece by Bob Keisser.

Baseball historians will extensively debate when the Steroid Era officially began.    Was it the first time Jose Canseco flexed for the crowd, or when Ken Caminiti admitted his own use? Did it start with the 1998 Home Run orgy or should the BALCO saga get the credit? Call it irony that carbon dating works to denote an epoch but there's no reliable test for Human Growth Hormone.

However the Hall of Fame voters can reflect on MLB in the years between the steroid controversies and the voting.

The baseball writers vote on HOF admittance, and they denied entry to three men who have admitted use of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED), Jose Canseco, Ken Caminiti and the one player who arguably had the statistical credentials, Mark McGwire. But the collective voice of Hall of Famers is clearly setting the tone.

A majority has made it clear they believe steroid cheats have no place in the Hall. They hail the induction of Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. Sunday and note at the same time that they'll be perhaps the last wrinkle-free Hall of Famers for many years.

"There are different factions," Gwynn said. "There's the old guard, guys who have been in for 20, 30 years and were around when the game was changing after Jackie Robinson. You know where they're coming from. To them, there was no greater era of baseball because the playing field finally had everyone on it.

"There's another group that played in the '70s and there were other issues, and now you have guys from my generation, and we're rookies all over again."

The writer surveys the literature. What follows is a nice compendium of HOFers who commented on the PED situation (many of these remarks can be found in our archives)

There are at least 20 Hall of Famers, among the living former players, who have made it clear they believe a) steroid use has been prevalent among the current generation, b) they're suspicious of any records set during this era, c) anyone linked should not be in the Hall of Fame or d) any combination of the above.

That list includes Hank Aaron, Lou Brock, Jim Bunning, Gary Carter, Bob Feller, Rollie Fingers, Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson, Harmon Killebrew, Bill Mazeroski, Jim Palmer, Robin Roberts, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Nolan Ryan, Ryne Sandberg and Ozzie Smith.

The Hall of Famers who have stepped up to a) defend Bonds, McGwire et al, b) believe it's a witch hunt or c) think the issue is overblown are Johnny Bench, Ferguson Jenkins, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Duke Snider.

A few have taken the high road, like Ernie Banks, and some have vacillated, like Joe Morgan. Many of the recent inductees to the Hall have been non-committal or stepped away from the issue because they're of the same generation.

Did Jose Canseco call out A-Rod about steroids?

Jose Canseco, author of 'Juiced' and purveyor of the juice, made a few of the shows on the media circuit today.  One was the WEEI (Boston) 'Big Show'.  (First blog to point this out is here: the Projo Sox Blog)

Canseco answered Curt Schilling's charges, then he talked about other subjects.  One was Alex Rodriguez. 

Canseco says he is coming out with a new book, with much more information.  Canseco shows no great love for A-Rod as evidenced by his comments.

Canseco says this about A-Rod:

"I have other stuff on Alex Rodriguez" and "He is not whom he seems to be".

The announcers asked Canseco directly:  "Has A-Rod ever taken steroids"

Canseco: "Wait and see"

Is Jose Canseco implicating Alex Rodriguez as a PED user?  He certainly hints at it above, in his new book which will be "better than the first book by a mile"  Or is Canseco simply pre-marketing his new book?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canseco talks about A-Rod at about 20 minutes into the interview.  He says his new book will be titled 'Vindicated', with '10 times more information'

WEEI - The Big Show - Jose Canseco

Midget? Costas counter-punches back at Bonds' small insult

Called a "little midget man who knows (nothing) about baseball" by Barry Bonds, Bob Costas can handle himself it seems. Listen to his subtle but effective counter-punch.

"As anyone can plainly see, I’m 5-6 1/2 and a strapping 150, and unlike some people, I came by all of it naturally."

"I‘ve actually always had a pretty cordial relationship with Barry," Costas said. "I have no ill feelings toward him personally. I regard him as one of the greatest players of all time who got inauthentic boost and then became a superhuman player. I wish him no ill whatsoever."

"He‘s under tremendous scrutiny and some pressure. It‘s no big deal," Costas said. "This is a consequence of doing your job, and I‘ve never tried to do my job in any case with the intention of calling attention to myself. I think if people watch the program, they can judge for themselves."

"Inauthentic boost...to become a superhuman player".  Hilarious.  Completely undermining Bonds' career with the 'inauthentic boost' comment.

Apparently Bonds doesn't know who votes for the Hall of Fame.  Why insult a rather influential sportswriter?

Midget?  Maybe Bonds can send of that HGH, Bob Costas' way.

 

The Tour de France melts down into a bag of blood and a pile of syringes

Officials at the Tour de France summarily decapitated the Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen, from the race late Wednesday.  From the International Herald Tribune:

Insisting that "doping is the enemy, not cycling" and that "things are changing" for the better, the organizers of the Tour de France hailed the ouster of Michael Rasmussen from the race on Thursday.

Rasmussen, a 33-year-old Dane, was expelled by his Rabobank team late Wednesday for lying about his whereabouts to avoid drug tests before the Tour started July 7.

Instead of being in Mexico, as he repeatedly said, he was seen training in Italy. That unraveled his weeklong defense that he had evaded the unscheduled tests by mistake, not by design.

Rasmussen's ouster capped a tumultuous 24 hours which saw a bomb go off along the Tour course in Spain (Sydney Morning Herald).

Two small bombs claimed by the Basque separatist group ETA exploded Wednesday along a Spanish section of the Tour de France, ETA's first attack since ending a 15-month ceasefire in June.  No one was hurt and the incident failed to disrupt the cycle race.

SI.com reports a French newspaper called for canceling the Tour de Farce:

One French newspaper ran a mock obituary for the scandal-tainted Tour de France. Another said the race had become a joke and should be canceled.

France reeled Thursday from the news that race leader Michael Rasmussen had been ousted by his team for lying about his whereabouts during pre-race training, the third blow this week to the venerable 104-year-old Tour. In recent days, two riders _ including star Alexandre Vinokourov -- were thrown out because of positive drug tests.

France Soir newspaper ran a mock death notice for the Tour de France on its cover. It said the Tour died Thursday "at age 104, after a long illness."

Mock obituary?  Wow!

Officials of the Tour commented on Rasmussen's extirpation:

At a news conference before the start of the 17th stage, Christian Prudhomme, the race director, said, "What happened yesterday is probably the best thing that has happened in the last eight days."

He referred to the time since the Rasmussen dispute became public and embroiled the race in controversy over its leader.

Patrice Clerc, the chairman of the Tour's owners, said that no yellow jersey would be worn by any rider during Thursday's stage but that it would be awarded at the end of the day.

"Rasmussen lied to avoid tests," Clerc said. "Therefore he cannot remain in the race. It proves that he should not have started the Tour de France."

Just when it looks like the situation could not get worse, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) piled on the Tour, calling for a world summit on doping (The Gazette):

World anti-doping body, WADA, on Thursday upped the stakes in the Tour de France's battle to save its damaged credibility by calling for a high-level summit to discuss the doping crisis.

WADA president Dick Pound admitted he was concerned by developments in the Tour this week which have seen yellow jersey Michael Rasmussen axed from the race and long-time favourite Alexandre Vinokourov fail a test for blood doping.

Now, WADA have offered to convene a high-level summit of all parties involved in cycling to have an in-depth discussion on how to deal with the problem of doping in the sport.

The Dour de France is clearly in free-fall.  Perhaps WADA is correct in asking for some kind of summit on this mess.  Pro cycling appears to be incorrigibly addicted to PEDs.

Everyone calls out someone: The summary

So many MLB players shouted out other players and reporters, that we decided to make a summary:

1.  Curt Schilling called out Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, and Raffy Palmeiro.

2.  Barry Bonds called Bob Costas a midget.  He also comments (briefly) on Schilling

3.  Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield say they don't know BALCO chemist Patrick.  (however they loved his juice)

4. Jose Canseco bounces a smear on Schilling off his head.

Wonder if Bud Selig has a headache yet?  It's a free-for-all out there now.

(and we have a record Technorati tag)

Barry Bonds refers to Bob Costas as 'midget'; Comments on Schilling

In keeping with the trend today of one large dogfight (sorry Michael Vick) Barry Bonds uttered some kind words to Bob Costas (SF Chronicle):

About Costas, Bonds said: "Is that the story Bob Costas talked about? A little midget man, who doesn't know jack about baseball, who never played the game before? You can tell Bob Costas what I called him."

Costas in an HBO show, demonstrated the temerity to interview BALCO chemist Patrick Arnold.  Arnold implicated Bonds and Shef with 'the clear'.

It's clear Bonds isn't pleased.

The Chronicle also clarifies the 'suing issue';  Bonds did due, although about profit not about veracity:

Schilling said on the Costas show, "If I wrote a book about Bob Costas and in that book I wrote about Bob Costas' girlfriend being on the road, and Bob Costas giving that girlfriend card-show money and I outlined your daily steroid regimen, I've got to believe your first line of defense is to sue my (butt) off." 

Bonds actually did sue the authors of "Game of Shadows," The Chronicle's Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, in March 2006, claiming they should not profit from the book because it used illegally obtained grand jury testimony, but he dropped the suit three months later.

Bonds on Schilling:

Asked about Schilling's comments, Bonds was cryptic.

"Don't worry," he said, "my day will come."

Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield deny knowing BALCO chemist

Both Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield deny knowing the BALCO chemist Patrick Arnold, who named them in his Bob Costas/HBO interview as users of THG 'the clear'.  Neither denied PED use.

Gary Sheffield denied knowing the chemist who said in a TV interview aired Tuesday night that the Tigers' designated hitter had taken steroids.

"We can all claim a lot of things. I claim a lot of things, too. But I don't know this guy, never seen this guy," Sheffield said Wednesday about chemist Patrick Arnold. "I certainly don't know him. He may know of me."

Shef is answering this exchange in which his THG use is addressed by the BALCO chemist (SunSentinal-com):

"So when Gary Sheffield says, 'I never took steroids because steroids are something you shoot in the butt,' does Sheffield know what he's talking about?" Costas asked.

"That's an ignorant statement," Arnold said. "That's some sort of weird rationalization. No, he took steroids. This is a bona fide anabolic steroid. Victor called it the Clear. I don't know if he ever explained to me exactly why he called it the Clear. I always assumed it was because ... your urine test is clear."

Bonds, meanwhile had this to say (Vancouver Sun):

"I've never met that guy, I've never seen him in my life. I've never met him in my life. I've never even heard of the guy -- never," Bonds told a small group of reporters gathered at his locker.

Shef added this on Bonds:

``I want him to break that record so bad,'' Sheffield said. ``I look at the good side of Barry. I continue to look at the good side.''

Sheffield's view of Bonds as a player?

``The best that ever lived,'' he said. ``I don't care who you're talking about. Barry changed the game. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, you can get them all.''

Jose Canseco swings back at Curt Schilling

Not sure about pot or kettle here.  Jose Canseco called Red Sox pitcher Kurt Schilling 'a liar and a hypocrite for Schilling's remarks.  Boston Globe with the story.

Former big leaguer Jose Canseco called Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling a "hypocrite and a liar" last night in response to Schilling saying on HBO's "Costas Now," which aired Tuesday night, "Everything [Canseco] ever did should be wiped clean. I think his MVP should go back and should go to the runner-up [former Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell]."

Canseco, reached at his home in Southern California, didn't take kindly to Schilling's words, at one point saying, "I guess it's just Curt being Curt." Canseco also lashed out at Schilling for his congressional testimony in March 2005, during which he said he had not seen steroid use in baseball.

We don't quite know what Schilling lied about in his testimony to Congress.  Jose does though:

"He lied before Congress and he was reprimanded for it," according to Canseco. "What a horrendous performance he put on with the spotlight on him in front of the whole world and he could have said something important. Of all people to be saying something like that. Are you kidding me? He's a complete hypocrite. Nobody takes him seriously. People around baseball all feel the same way about him.

"I could care less what Schilling thinks."

Curt Schilling implicates Bonds and McGwire juicing

Red Sox ace Curt Schilling says Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire implicated themselves with the juice by not objecting to various charges over the years.  Reference to Forbes.

Schilling talked to Bob Costas on HBO.  The Schilling call-outs also landed on Jose Canseco, and Raffy Palmeiro.

Curt Schilling says that Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire's refusals to address accusations of steroids use are tantamount to admissions.

"If someone wrote that stuff about me and I didn't sue their (butt) off, am I not admitting that there's some legitimacy to it?" he said on HBO's "Costas Now."

Schilling said "this will be the steroids era forever" and proposed that Jose Canseco and Rafael Palmeiro should be punished for steroids use.

"Jose Canseco admitted he cheated his entire career," Schilling said. "Everything he ever did should be wiped clean. I think his MVP should go back and should go to the runner-up."

As for Palmeiro, Schilling said: "The year he tested positive, nothing he did that year should count, which I think would take away 3,000 hits for him."

Schilling also refers to Bonds' ex, Kimberly Bell, who is getting more exposure than a Playboy centerfold.  Oops, she will be a Playboy model.  Schilling goes to the 'if not guilty he would have sued' logic here too.

Schilling discussed accusations by Bonds' former mistress, Kimberly Bell, who testified before a grand jury that Bonds told her of his steroid use in 2000. She also said Bonds gave her $80,000 in cash to buy a house, the proceeds of which allegedly came from a paid autograph session that authorities also are investigating as going unreported to the Internal Revenue Service.

"If I wrote a book about Bob Costas and in that book I wrote about Bob Costas' girlfriend being on the road, and Bob Costas giving that girlfriend card show money and I outlined your daily steroid regimen, I've got to believe your first line of defense is to sue my (butt) off," Schilling said.

Bonds' lawyer, Michael Rains, in the past accused Bell of trying to extort money from his client and using the platform to promote a book that never was published, but Bonds has not filed suit against her. Rains did not immediately return a telephone message Wednesday.

And McGwire gets a little of the Schilling:

"It goes to the Mark McGwire thing in Congress. I mean, I'm a huge Mark McGwire fan. But I just always thought it was very simple: If you did something and someone asks you if you did it and you didn't do it, you say no. Any other answer than no is some form of yes, isn't it?"

During a March 2005 congressional hearing, McGwire repeatedly refused to answer questions about his alleged steroids use. Schilling also testified during the hearing and was more muted in his steroids comments.

"I think while I agree it's a problem, I think the issue was grossly overstated by some people, including myself," he said then.

National news now on to BALCO chemist's comments on Bonds and Shef

The Nation notes that Patrick Arnold's interview is going big time as a story.  NBC Sports is giving it a go.  The FREEP is on to the Costas interview. CNN..etc.  Our post here.  From SI.com:

The HBO interview aired on Tuesday night on Costas Now. Arnold told host Bob Costas that he had heard BALCO's founder, Victor Conte, bragging about Bonds' performance on "the program." Said Arnold: "I have a very strong feeling about it since he was on the program. And like everyone else, the program consisted of 'the clear.'"

In a statement, Conte denied Arnold's allegations. "The program I created for Barry was a comprehensive nutritional supplementation regimen and had nothing to do with the clear or any other anabolic steroids," Conte said.

Why does Victor Conte continue to deny Bonds' involvement.  Oh yes, Conte is head of a new nutritional company offering nutritional supplements.  Marketing!

One more failed doping test at the Tour de France

Update: Fox, Australia reports Italian rider Cristian Moreni tested for a high T:E ratio.  From Fox, USA:

Athletes caught doping are entitled to ask for follow-up tests to confirm -- and in rare cases deny -- the results of the initial "A" sample.

Police were seen leading Moreni away from the Cofidis team bus. It was unclear where they were taking him. France has tough laws against trafficking in doping products.

Moreni tested positive for testosterone after stage 11 of the Tour last Thursday, said Didier Simon of cycling's world governing body, the UCI. He said it was for Cofidis to decide whether to pull its other riders from the Tour in the wake of Moreni's failed test.

Team Cofidis did pull out of Tour contention.

Forbes is reporting yet another failed doping test in France:

The Tour de France sustained a new blow Wednesday after a senior French doping official said yet another rider failed a doping test - this time for testosterone.

The revelation came a day after Alexandre Vinokourov and his Astana team were disqualified because he tested positive for a banned blood transfusion.

The doping official said he did not know the identity of the cyclist who tested positive for testosterone. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case with reporters.

Even with all the publicity of past doping busts, some cyclists continue to cheat.  Amazing

Mired in another doping scandal, Tour de France riders stage a protest

Yesterday, Tour de France contender Alexandre Vinokourov, nailed in a blood doping scandal, took his Astana team and went home.  (Hartford Current)

Alexandre Vinokourov, a pre-race favorite to win the Tour de France, tested positive for a blood transfusion after winning Saturday's time trial, his team announced during the rest day Tuesday. His B sample is expected by the end of the week, coinciding with the end of another tainted Tour.

Vinokourov's team, Astana, suspended him and also withdrew from the Tour, ending the chances of its best-placed rider, Andreas Kloeden, who was in fifth place through 15 stages. Vinokourov was 23rd.

Today, Tour riders refused to start Stage 16 on time, in protest of the unending stream of doping scandals ruining the name of pro cycling.  From Nola.com:

Dozens of Tour de France riders demonstrated their anger over repeated doping scandals by not starting the 16th stage at the scheduled time Wednesday.

The protest came a day after star rider Alexandre Vinokourov and his Astana team were sent home after he tested positive for a banned blood transfusion.

However, tour leader, Michael Rasmussen, himself under doping scruteny did not protest.

On Wednesday, the pack of riders split into two groups: those who took the start as normal — including controversial race leader Michael Rasmussen — and those who protested by hanging back for a few minutes.

The French and German riders led the protest.   Leader Rasmussen was booed as he sped away:

Many of the riders involved in the symbolic protest were from French teams that have long complained that doping is ruining the sport. They simply let Rasmussen, star sprinter Tom Boonen and others ride away — but caught up with them further down the road.

The Tour's Web site said German squad Gerolsteiner also took part in the protest. Some of the French teams involved included Credit Agricole, Cofidis, FDJeux, Bouygues Telecom and Agritubel.

"We're fed up," French rider Ludovic Turpin told Eurosport television.

Fans booed Rasmussen at the start. The Dane is under a cloud of suspicion because he skipped doping tests before the Tour began.

The protest contributed to a 13-minute delay to the scheduled start time of Wednesday's stage, the last in the Pyrenees. The race ends Sunday.

Tour organizers announced that 14 riders were subjected to blood tests early Wednesday. They were from French teams Cofidis and AG2R. The tests were all negative.

In all, 225 blood tests have been conducted so far at the three-week race. Of those, just one — for Vinokourov — was positive.

Bonds Bonanza

Many Barry Bonds developments:

1.  Bud Selig announces he will now try to attend the Bonds home run #756 game.  Interesting reversal including the statement (from the Olympian):

“Out of respect for the tradition of this game, the magnitude of the record, and the fact that all citizens in this country are innocent until proven guilty, I will attend Barry Bonds’ next games to observe his potential tying and breaking of the home run record, subject to my commitments to the Hall of Fame this weekend.

Why the sudden flight into constitutional law?  While it is true that in a court of law, citizens are presumed innocent until found guilty MLB is not a court of law.

2.  BALCO chemist Patrick Arnold in an interview with Bob Costas says he believes Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield took anabolic steroids.  The New York Times carries the story.

Patrick Arnold, a chemist who worked with  the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, said in an HBO Sports interview that Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield took performance-enhancing drugs provided to them by the laboratory, according to a transcript of the “Costas Now” show released yesterday.

Bonds and Sheffield have denied knowingly using drugs provided by Balco, and told that to a federal grand jury investigating the laboratory, according to leaked testimony. Bonds remains under investigation over concerns about his testimony.

Arnold is widely credited with creating “the clear,” a previously undetectable steroid that Balco provided to athletes. In 2006, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute steroids, and was sentenced to three months in prison and three months of home confinement. He was among five people convicted in the case. As part of his plea agreement, he did not have to name athletes and coaches to whom he supplied drugs.

The HBO interview was scheduled to be shown last night. Arnold told Bob Costas, the show’s host, that he never met Bonds but often heard Balco’s founder, Victor Conte, raving about Bonds’s performance on “the program.”

When asked by Costas if “the program” included steroids, Arnold said: “I have a very strong feeling about it since he was on the program. And like everyone else, the program consisted of the clear.”

Very strong indictment of the players.  What about Shef's defensive statement last week?

When asked about Sheffield’s recent statement that he never took steroids because “they are something you shoot in your butt,” Arnold said: “That’s an ignorant statement. That’s some sort of weird rationalization. No, he took steroids. This is a bona fide anabolic steroid.”

3.  Over at Deadspin, Bonds' biographer Jeff Pearlman gives a must-read interview.  (after the jump)

 

Weis loses 'Gastric Bypass Trial of the Century' malpractice suit

Just in...Charlie Weis' malpractice trial went to jury deliberation, and just like that...the surgeons were 'exonerated'.  See The Wizard of Odds for the best coverage in the nation.

The Boston News-Herald carried the first story on the verdict:

Suffolk Superior Court jury has just exonerated two Massachusetts General Hospital surgeons of any wrongdoing in the medical malpractice case brought by former New England Patriots [team stats] offensive coordinator Charlie Weis.

    Weis, 51, left the courtroom with a cell phone to his ear. His attorney Michael Mone threw a hand up in front of a Herald reporter’s face when Weis was asked to comment on the loss, his second attempt to find Dr. Charles Ferguson and Dr. Richard Hodin negligent in a gastric bypass surgery performed on Weis five years ago.
    The jury deliberated for about two hours before siding with the doctors. The jurors declined to comment after the case.

Looks like Weis can go back to coaching football.  We thought that Weis might be scoring points in this trial, as documented by the Wizard of Odds.  However, the jury appears not to have been impressed with Team Weis.

The doctors’ attorney, William Dailey, told the Herald the doctors “wished Weis the very best.”

    Weis, now the head coach at Notre Dame, continues to struggle with his weight and has partial paralysis in both his feet, he said in court.
    Weis accused the surgeons of negligence for allowing him to bleed internally for 30 hours before performing a second surgery to correct the complication.
    The doctor who performed the gastric bypass on Weis testified last week that the Type A NFL coach ignored his medical judgment in order to cram the risky operation into a timeline weeks shorter than is advisable.
    “I would say he pushed himself through it,” said Dr. Ferguson of Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center.
    Patriots quarterback Tom Brady [stats] attested to Weis’ disappointment over being unable to attend a preseason game.
    "He’s always been an extremely intense person, an intense individual, an intense coach," Brady said in the first trial. His testimony was read back to the jury last week by a stand-in - depriving the retrial of its star power.
    "I think he’s never allowed anybody to give any less than his best," Brady said. "It was never perfect. He had the highest expectations of anybody I’ve ever been around."

Perhaps Team Weis can replace Team Astana at the Tour de France, who withdrew today...

Arizona problem highlights steroid use by police

Although most never mentioned in the news, police in the US present a significant steroid problem.  Azstarnet highlights the issue with a story concerning a federal probe of widespread police and firefighter use of anabolics.

Google 'police and steroids'; the returns are incredible,  Use the sight test in large city streets; some of the cops are incredibly jacked.  Obviously some police are using steroids.  Although controversial, steroids do affect aggressiveness (take it to the bank).  No one wants to face an enraged cop on 'roids. Increased aggressiveness under stress. (here is a link to such a legal issue).

A federal investigation into the use of steroids has widened.

Authorities are confirming that more than a dozen Phoenix firefighters as well as police in Mesa are now connected to a Drug Enforcement Administration steroid investigation.

Mesa police confirmed Monday that one of their officers is under investigation.

Chandler police said they have been contacted by the DEA regarding the investigation, though the names of specific employees have not come up...

The Arizona Republic reported Saturday that that more than a dozen Phoenix police officers were linked to the federal steroid investigation.

A DEA spokeswoman confirmed an investigation regarding steroids is under way. She said the primary targets are not police or firefighters, but the doctors who improperly hand out prescriptions.

Kimberly Bell, Bond's ex, to appear in Playboy

Already a circus, BALCO, Bonds, and MLB now head toward cheesecake.  Bond's ex-girlfriend, Kimberly Bell, who has stated Barry used steroids, may appear in Playboy this fall.  (Signal to Noise link)

Not good news.  Many speculate Bell could be a key Gov't witness should Bonds actually be tried for perjury.  Bell knows as much about Bonds use of 'roids as anyone.  However appearing in Playboy does not improve a witness' credibility.

Reports suggested for months now that Bell authored a book.  Perhaps with the Bonds home run record chase, and a Playboy spread, Bell calculates she can cash in large on the Bonds' phenomenon.

The New York Times Murray Chass says Bell discussed Bonds' juicing with the Times:

It is not known what Bell has told the grand jury, but she told The New York Times in 2005 that Bonds told her he used steroids.

Bell has also said that she saw Bonds inject himself with steroids and apply creams that she knew to be steroid related.

Bell may be looking for a payday from her involvement with Bonds.  From the Times again:

Bonds, according to Bell, asked her to move from San Francisco to Scottsdale, Ariz., the Giants’ spring training home in 2001. Bell said Bonds promised to give her $207,000 for a down payment on a house there but only gave her $80,000. She said that he instructed her to deposit the money in amounts of less than $10,000 to avoid having to report the money to the government.

Schmidt (apparently Bell's lawyer) said that Bell, through her appearance in Playboy, was finally getting the money she was promised.

“This is a payday she deserves and that Barry Bonds never got her,” Schmidt said. “All she got from Bonds was being dumped and lied to. There was a settlement discussion on the table, and he pulled it off the table and said, ‘I don’t care.’ He never showed any class after he asked her to move out of San Francisco.”

Schmidt, who has arranged similar high-profile photo spreads, would not say how much money she would receive  from the magazine.

ESPN carried this quote from the 37 year-old:

   "If I had more self-esteem when I was younger," she said, "I wouldn't have been caught up with such a rotten man." 

Bulletin board material for the defense lawyers, huh?

We don't want a 'witch hunt' for juicers, however it would be interesting if everyone got their day in court to hear what really happened in BALCO.  The characters in this sad play appear to be headed down weird paths since the original grand jury.  Bonds' trainer Greg Anderson remains in jail because he won't testify against Bonds.  Victor Conte is out of jail, presumably immune from prosecution.  Now Kimberly Bell decides to cash in on her fame by posing in Playboy.  We get a sinking feeling that BALCO will be like reverse Hamlet...everyone gets rich (except Anderson) off some tainted part of this mess, with the tragic part going to the American sports fan.

Pound slices into the PGA

World Anti-Doping Agency head Dick Pound got his hooks into the PGA today.  Our source is the UK's Times Online.  Pound clubbed pro golf last year for lack of doping controls.  He was sure to club the PGA when Gary Player chipped out the 'steroids in golf' story last week.

The PGA has resisted any acknowledgement that there may be a problem,” Pound said. “We would be happy to sit down and help golf come together with a significant and robust programme. I have said [to the PGA], ‘Look, this is your opportunity to lead, not to be forced to follow, so get on with it. The time is now. “ ‘You should do this while you still have the initiative, rather than being forced into it as the result of a scandal. Then you are going to have the whole of golf regarded with suspicion. Do it now before there’s a big public problem.’ ” The tardiness of the PGA to respond to drugs-testing is in contrast to the European Tour, which is to start testing in the new year.

Last Pound drove into the PGA without a particular source.  Now he can point to an ally with stature in Player:

Pound said that his “suspicion” was that there are professional golfers who are using drugs. “Gary Player says he knows, so that’s fairly powerful medicine from somebody who has only the integrity of the game at heart,” he said.

“It comes from one of the icons of golf who has no particular axe to grind other than to try to maintain the integrity of the sport. It’s a wake-up call that has not come in such stark terms to date from the golf community.”

 

Professional athletes in the USA appear to be loathe to let Dick Pound and WADA lay a glove on them.  Perhaps Pound sees this as a way to penetrate the American pro scene.

Asked what he had been told to arouse his suspicions, Pound said: “Some say they know, others say they strongly suspect, but it’s really not the point.”

 

Action in the Bay area: Bonds grand jury extended

Busy day in the San Francisco Bay area (Larry Brown at AOL too).  News came out of San Francisco where Barry Bonds should return next week on the cusp of breaking Aaron's career home run mark.  Sources now say the Bonds grand jury will be extended 6 months.  Reports also indicat the Gov't feels the case is gathering momentum.  From The Hartford Current:

The grand jury investigating Barry Bonds has been extended for six more months, several sources familiar with the government's case told the New York Daily News, and the U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco is confident it will have enough evidence to secure an indictment once it resumes in September.

"They seem to feel they have a strong case," said one source, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Bonds is being investigated for perjury in connection with the 2003 BALCO steroids probe, and for tax evasion.

"If the case is 90 percent now, there's no reason not to go for 100 percent," the source said.

  U.S. attorney's office officials said they legally cannot confirm the existence of a sitting grand jury.

It appears the Gov't will not indict Bonds in the middle of the historic home run chase.  However Bonds should take no solace this weekend.  Bud Selig, at home in Milwaukee as the Giants play the Brewers, points out Commissioner Ford Frick did not attend Roger Maris' home run 61 game, and Bowie Kuhn skipped Hank Aaron's home run #716 game:

In an answer to a question that focused on former commissioner Bowie Kuhn's controversial decision not to attend the game in which Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record, Selig offered an unsolicited comment that Ford Frick (another of his predecessors) also skipped a record-setting event: Roger Maris's 61st home run.

"In fact, he purposely wasn't there," said Selig, who visited the Miller Park press box on something more than a busman's holiday. "Which I found interesting."

Furthermore, Selig did not dismiss an asterisk for Bonds:

Asked whether he would consider Bonds's record to be legitimate, Selig, who has a luxury suite at Miller Park, said: "We won't get into it. Let's see if he does it. Whatever else happens, I'm not passing judgment. Nor should I.

Raider's Jarrod Cooper suspended

The NFL announced the suspension of the Oakland Raiders safety Jarrod Cooper for violating the league's steroid policy. (San Jose Mercury-News)

Raiders safety Jarrod Cooper was suspended for the first four games of the regular season Friday for violating the league's policy on anabolic steroids and related substances.

   Cooper is the second Raiders player suspended by the NFL for the first four games of the 2007 season.

   Running back Dominic Rhodes got nailed July 3 for violating the league's substance-abuse policy a second time. Cooper has spent the past three seasons with the Raiders after an incident-marred career with the Carolina Panthers. He signed with the Raiders midway through the 2004 season shortly after the Panthers released him, in large part, because of his checkered past. He was charged twice in a three-year span for driving while impaired while with the Panthers. The NFL suspended him for four games and docked him six weeks' salary for violating the league's substance-abuse policy as a result of his second DWI arrest, Sept. 16, 2003.

Cooper played college ball at K-State.

One-two punch hits Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen

Th current leader of the Tour de France Michael Rasmussen avoided a problem yesterday, however may have  been hammered by a 1-2 combo punch today.

Yesterday's news (KC Star) carried the story that Rasmussen missed 2 anti-doping drug tests since May.  This lead to a warning that a third miss could lead to a suspension.

The drug tests were missed on May 8 and June 28, at a time when anti-doping officials sought to contact Rasmussen but discovered that he had not informed them of his whereabouts.

A third missed test within 18 months would be considered a failed test under the rules of the International Cycling Union, known by its French initials UCI, and would subject Rasmussen to a two-year ban from competition.

Rasmussen called it “an administrative error” on his part.

“It’s a minor deal,” said Rasmussen, who has been tested as the leader and has not registered positive. “I know that a lot of riders in the peloton receive warnings for not informing or not giving updated information to the UCI (cycling’s governing body).

“I am just one out of many, and I just happen to ride with the yellow jersey right now.

The cyclist  said not to worry, he won't test positive anyway.

“I have no positive doping tests, and that’s it. This is blown out of proportion.”

Not so fast our friend.  The current Tour leader now stands accused of past blood doping.  ABC News with the bad news:

A former amateur mountain bike racer from Boulder, Colo., has accused Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen of trying to trick him into carrying illicit doping materials into Italy five years ago.

Whitney Richards said Rasmussen asked him to carry a pair of cycling shoes in March 2002 when Richards was moving to Italy. When he opened the box, Richards said he found 14 IV bags filled with human blood substitute, which he poured down the drain.

The 31-year-old Richards told The Associated Press on Friday that he decided to go public with his story after Rasmussen promised cycling fans they could trust him.

When asked, Rasmussen did not remember the incident.

Asked about the allegations at a post-race news conference, Rasmussen said he was familiar with Richards' name but declined further comment.

The story appears to be confirmed by a friend of the American cyclist (text, after the jump).

Considering the incredible tainted history of blood doping/doping in the Tour de France, it might be devastating for the 2007 Tour leader to be implicated in a doping scheme, especially when coming on the heals of missed dope testing.  Nothing surprises us in the world of pro cycling any more.

Golfers tee off on Gary Player's steroid remarks

The response to Gary Player's stance on steroid use and drug testing in golf runs from the predictably outraged to the interestingly enlightened.

Rod Pampling and Retief Goosen express outrage at Player's remarks.  The Sydney Morning Herald runs a story on the golfers' gripes:

"If he's definite, he should name the people," Pampling said. "I don't think anyone should stand up and say definitely people are using drugs and then not name them. I think you have to name the people if you want to make a statement and make it a worthy statement."

Pampling said he had never seen any evidence of players taking drugs. "I don't know who he's talking about," Pampling said. "We'll have to wait and see if he names someone."

Goosen, who also posted an opening round 70, said: "I don't know what Gary was trying to prove. I am very shocked at his comments. I don't know why he said that. I don't know if he is trying to damage the sport. If he wants to come and make these comments, why doesn't he name them?"

We don't quite understand the logic behind their remarks.  Player said what he said;  he is not obliged to name anyone's name.

Jack Nicholas, too, expresses great doubt about anabolic use to the Daily Express:

Nicklaus believes the integrity of golf will be lost if players can no longer be trusted.

“Guys have always called penalties on themselves,” he said “They have always governed themselves.

“Cheating provides a very shallow victory and guys who cheat are only cheating themselves. Some other sports, like cycling, can be a little shallow, but golf has never been like that. It’s a shame if the governing bodies feel they have to introduce testing. Let’s hope they find the game is clean and they can stop the testing very quickly.

“The problem would be performance-enhancing substances and I’ve seen absolutely zero of that. If players are taking drugs and steroids, it would be at a very small level.”

However the same article says that Jim Furyk harbors suspicions:

..world No3 Jim Furyk admitted there has been locker-room gossip of players using drugs to put on extra muscle.

Should golf implement anti-doping tests?   The Canadian National Post posits that only drug testing can prove Player wrong about 'roids in the sport.  The International Herald Tribune indicates that if chess tests for PEDs, then golf could certainly could and should.

Golf doesn't have a drug problem.

Yet.

What it does have are too many players and officials clinging to the notion there's nothing in a bottle — save Guinness — that would help them play better. They see normal-sized people, for the most part, playing a game that rewards hand-eye coordination more than bulging biceps and assume the most a rival will do to enhance performance is spring for contact lenses.

In what sounded like a dire warning, former British Open champion Gary Player said on the eve of the tournament that he knew at least one player using steroids and guessed as many as 10 worldwide might be. He urged golf's ruling bodies to speed up work on a proposed plan and begin random testing right away. Doping expert Dr. Gary Wadler said that couldn't happen soon enough.

"There's no sport which is totally immune from performance enhancement by some drug or other," said Wadler, an associate professor of medicine at New York University and a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency....Even the World Chess Federation has begun testing competitors at events, and though he doesn't play golf, Wadler provided two examples of how doping might pay dividends in less time than it takes to pull a tee out of your pocket.

How would PEDs benefit a golfer?

• Development of muscles via anabolic steroids could increase distance off the tea
• Stimulants or modafanil would improve concentration, and reduce fatigue
• Beta-blockers might decrease tremor for putting
• HGH 'could' improve feelings of 'well being'

One issue to consider would be the prevalence of trainers and fitness consultants.  We are struck with the role of these 'professionals' in leading pro athletes down he road of PED use.  Read accounts of Bonds, Romo, and Grimsley, and you see a trainer sneaking around in the background suggesting this supplement and that supplement, and this PED.  If golfers go to an unscrupulous trainer PEDs could find their way into his training.

Much money and fame goes with PGA events;  this presents temptation  History proves humans often cannot resist the temptation to cheat for an edge.  Although based on a honor system, we can imagine a golfer who tries to get any edge he can. 

Anabolic testing on the PGA tour should be an issue for the PGA pros to determine among themselves.  There is no public outcry for PGA anti-doping tests.  There might be after this imbroglio

                                                                                 

A tale of two Bonds

Barry Bonds went Wrigley twice yesterday to  bring his career home run total to 753, 2 shy of Hank Aaron.  Rejuvenated following several days off, Bonds crushed the second ball into the Lake Michigan wind.  (this promoted Steroid Nation to Ebay tickets for Giants-Brewers on Sunday).

Bonds blamed his slump somewhat on the old 'switching balls for memorabilia' routine: Seacoastonline says:

"It's real now," Bonds said, swarmed by media in a makeshift dugout press conference at Wrigley Field. "I had to get over them switching those baseballs. Any time that happens, I kind of go into a slide. It's tough because you actually really realize something's going on and you don't really want to think about it. ... But when they stop it for a second and switch baseballs, it's very hard to not know something's happening right in front of you."

Today, the quest moves to Miller Park in Milwaukee, the city where Aaron started and ended his career. It's also the home of commissioner Bud Selig, who hasn't said whether he'll be in the seats as Bonds attempts to make history.

"It doesn't mean anything different than anywhere else," Bonds said of playing in Aaron's town. "Right now, I just feel good. My body feels great. I feel rejuvenated a little bit. Maybe I'm going to take three more days off and come back."

The other 'Bonds' is BONDS, Battle On for No Drugs Sports, showing up at Wrigley during the Cubs-Pathetic Giants series. From the Chicago Trib:

The three Chicago organizers call their initiative BONDS, short for Battle On for No Drug Sports. It's an effort to celebrate Hank Aaron's imperiled home run record, which, the organizers say "should stand the test of time or true effort, not the test of laboratory strength."

BONDS. Why does that sound familiar?

Anyway, attorneys Marty Dolan and Bob Milan, along with public-relations executive Bill Figel, are pals who think of themselves as "The Three Concerned Dads" of Little League ballplayers. While the rest of us are debating grown-up concepts of hallowed sports achievements and scarlet asterisks to identify cheaters in record books, these three have been thinking about their impressionable kids, and other people's too. What those kids see on television varies from denunciation to celebration of cheaters. Kids being kids, they focus on the celebration. Wow! Somebody's going to top Hank Aaron!                                                                                                  

The BONDS organizers and a cluster of allies showed up Tuesday night at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs happened to be hosting the San Francisco Giants. Fancy that. The BONDS fans didn't throw hissy fits or otherwise demand attention. The most provocative BONDS gesture had those fans wearing BONDS T-shirts emblazoned with a tribute to Aaron's career homer total: "755 -- Without the Juice." That's the sort of athletic endorsement that BONDS promotes.

BONDS invites youngsters to visit a Web site -- www.withoutthejuice.com -- and sign a pledge "never to take steroids to enhance my sports performance. . . . I will say 'no' to those who tell me steroids will help me be a better player. I will try and stop my friends who are tempted by steroids. . . . "

The nifty twist: BONDS wants kids to print out their pledges and mail them to Hank Aaron in care of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, 25 Main St., Cooperstown, N.Y. 13326.

We are sure the Hall of Fame will appreciate all the badges...

                   

Gary Player: PGA player used 'roids

Former PGA great Gary Player says he knows anabolic steroids have penetrated into pro golfing.  Player contends he knows one PGA golfer for sure; he also states 10 golfers may have used PEDs.

Interesting.  What PEDs?  Amphetamines for concentration when putting?  Anabolic steroids for strength on drives?  From ESPN:

Wednesday he knows of at least one golfer who has used steroids, and he urged golf organizations to move quickly toward a random drug-testing plan.

   "We're dreaming if we think it's not going to come into golf," Player said.

   Player estimated 10 players from tours around the world were taking some type of performance-enhancing drug. Asked how he knew golfers were taking steroids, he said a player told him in confidence.

   "One guy told me -- and I took an oath prior to him telling me -- but he told me what he did and I could see this massive change in him," Player said. "And somebody else told me something I also promised I wouldn't tell, that verified others had done it."

Player added this:

"Whether it is HGH (human growth hormone), whether it's creatine or whether it's steroids, I know for a fact that some golfers are doing it," the legendary South African told reporters on the eve of the British Open.

The LPGA began drug testing.  The PGA puttered around discussing PED tests.  Now, sounds like the PGA has issues of PED use --  or accusations -- although Tiger Woods and Phil Michelson don't see it:

   Asked about Player's accusation, Dawson referred to Tiger Woods' comments earlier in the week.

   Woods, who has come out in favor of drug testing, was asked Tuesday if he would be surprised if a golfer tested positive.

   "If anything, probably out here it would be testing positive for maybe being hung over a little bit," Woods said. "But that's about it. I know some guys have taken Medrol packs for inflammation in their wrists, but other than that, I really don't see anybody doing anything, or have heard anybody doing anything."

   Phil Mickelson also said he thought golfers were clean.

   "I don't think there's even a remote chance that will happen," he said of a golfer testing positive for steroids.

 

German TV takes cameras & goes home from Tour de France

The German state TV stopped live broadcast of the 2007 Tour de France with the announcement that a German rider tested positive for testosterone.  Story in Jurnalo:

German state networks ARD and ZDF on Wednesday stopped their live broadcasts from the current Tour de France with immediate effect after the latest doping case involving German rider Patrik Sinkewitz.

ZDF spokesman Thomas Stange told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the Tour boycott will stay in effect until the case has been cleared up. Both networks have the German broadcast rights for the famous three-week race.

The German cycling federation said earlier Wednesday that Sinkewitz tested positive for the steroid testosterone at an out-of-competition test on June 8, ahead of the Tour de France.

Sinkewitz, who had to abandon the Tour on Monday after injuring himself in a collision with a fan, was suspended by his T-Mobile team. He has five days to request to examination of the b-sample.

The T-Mobile team and cycling in general have been plagued by doping over the past months. 

ARD and ZDF said ahead of this year's Tour, which started on July 7, that they would carefully monitor the doping situation in the sport. ARD are a former sponsor of the T-Mobile team.

Fairly dramatic, going from  live TV of the event to calling out the cameras.  Will anything cut down on the culture of cyclists doping?

                               

Benefits of a gastric bypass: better absorption of alcohol

The Wizard of Odds reigns as the news leader for the Charlie Weis Gastric Bypass Trial of the Century, Part Deux  The Wiz covered the Weis Mistrial of the Century, and is now back at it in the second rendition.

We will again be supplying the world class substantially below medical standards commentary over there.

Although testimony today appeared to be uninspired in Boston, we do present interesting new benefits of a gastric bypass.  Not only will the patient lose weight, but, the patient can imbibe far less alcohol to catch a buzz ease tension.

As reported by The Clarion Ledger Healthscene, those bad boys at Standford performed a study that showed bypass patients need to be very careful with drinking.  Their blood levels were much higher after 5 ounces of red wine than non-bypass patients.  Bypass patients absorbed alcohol quicker than than the control group.   Furthermore, it took the bypass patients longer to sober up; seems alcohol is less metabolized in the bypass patients too.

The research team gave 36 men and women - 19 who had obesity surgery and 17 who did not - five ounces of red wine each to drink in 15 minutes. Using a Breathalyzer, their alcohol levels were measured every five minutes until it returned to zero.

More than 70 percent of the surgery patients hit a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent, which qualifies as legally intoxicated in California as well as Mississippi, and two reached levels above 0.15, Morton said.

By contrast, most of the control group had levels below 0.05 percent, the study reported.

Researchers also found obesity patients took longer to sober up. After matching the control group with the patient group for age, gender and weight, they found the patients took 108 minutes on average to return to a zero blood-alcohol level versus 72 minutes for the control group.

Morton said the obesity surgery patients don't produce as much of an enzyme that breaks down alcohol because their stomachs are smaller. Also, the alcohol passes to their small intestine faster, speeding up absorption, he said.

Here's to you Charlie Weis.

Benoit postmortem toxicology report out

Georgia officials released the long-awaited toxicology reports (New York Post link) on the homisuicide of the Benoit family.

Nancy Benoit: Three powerful narcotics, and a benzodiazepine to boot.  Huge load of drugs for a 40+ year old woman.

• Hydrocodone (Vicodin among others)
• Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
• Alprazolam (Xanax)
• Alcohol

Daniel Benoit:  Xanax, not normally given to a child.

• Alprazolam (Xanax)

Chris Benoit:  A narcotic, a benzodiazepine, and reportedly elevated testosterone.

• Hydrocodone (Vicodin)
• Alprazolam (Xanax)
• 'Elevated' testosterone

Pathologists can test if the urine testosterone were exogenous or endogenous (looking for carbon atom abnormalities); no word on this lab test.  Normal adults secrete from 100 micrograms to 200 micrograms of T per day. There are reports of the level of T in Benoit's bladder, which give a figure of 207 mg/dl (?meaning because it isn't know if that is synthetic or natural).

We will now see the flood of stories that claim anabolic steroids lead to rage, and those who say that there is no evidence that anabolic steroids lead to rage. 

Testosterone is the hormone of aggression.  There will be no study of rage or aggression at dosages used by bodybuilders and pro wrestlers in combination with other drugs because of ethical and legal concerns.  An informed expert would say that anabolic steroids can increase aggression.

A simple testosterone level tells you little.  A lack of T might be of interest.  The relationship of T to aggression is complex.  Factor in the genetic predisposition of the individual, the sensitivity of androgen receptors, the social and environmental milieus.  That's a start on analyzing aggressiveness.

The worst cases of aggression appear to follow poly-drug use.  A benzodiazepine like Xanax can lead to dysinhibition and increased aggression.  Narcotics might cause mood changes and behavioral abnormalities too. Ditto for anabolic steroids.   Again, an expert would say that this kind of poly-drug combination could well increase depression, disordered thinking and aggressiveness.

 

Elijah Dukes' wife accuses him of steroid use

As posted by the Sports Frog, and now by NBC News, NiShea Dukes, estranged wife of embattled Tampa Bay Devil Ray Elijah Dukes told a judge yesterday that her husband smokes marijuana.  She then speculated that his aggressivenesses stems from steroid use.  However she admitted she has no physical evidence of such speculation.

The steroid allegation appears to be speculation thrown out there in a civil proceeding.  However the judge took the mj charge seriously, ordering Dukes for psychological testing and drug testing.

Dukes barged into a classroom where his wife taught at the time.  He now has a no-contact order separating him from  his family.

Embattled Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Elijah Dukes admitting smoking marijuana under oath and was ordered to take random drug tests by a judge during a Monday divorce proceeding, according to a report by The Tampa Tribune.In addition, he was accused by his wife NiShea Dukes of using steroids.

NiShea Dukes, who has a restraining order on her husband, testified that he had been aggressive and violent towards her and drinks heavily. After accusing Elijah Dukes of using steroids, Judge Kevin Carey asked her if she'd ever seen him use the drug or he'd admitted using it, and she said no.

Still, the judge said he will not allow Dukes to see his two children until he sees a report from a recent psychological evaluation and in a temporary order, ruled that Dukes must pay his wife $3,300 a month in alimony as well as $2,800 in support for his two children.

Gary Carter on Barry Bonds: "His head got twice the size; you figure it out"

MSNBC caught up to HOF catachers Johnny Bench and Gary Carter.  Their interviews reveal common misconceptions about PEDs and 'roids.  We understand that talking with ex-athletes creates interest; however asking these guys about PED use seems goofy.

Gary Carter gives Bonds credit, but then lowers a boom on Bonds' PED use.

A pair of Hall of Fame catchers who hit their share of home runs have different takes on Barry Bonds’ pursuit of Hank Aaron’s all-time record.

Johnny Bench and Gary Carter said Bonds’ chase for 755 is good for baseball, but they part ways when it comes to the role steroids may have played in his success.

“Barry’s going to break the record, and it’s phenomenal,” said Bench, who hit 389 home runs in his career with the Cincinnati Reds to rank 48th on the career list.

“To think he can walk over 200 times a year and do the things he does. And he was a Gold Glove outfielder. He didn’t do that by taking (steroids). He was just a great athlete,” he said.

Carter, an 11-time All-Star who hit 324 homers, said Bonds has had “a great career,” but questions if he could have gotten so big without performance-enhancing drugs.

“I saw him when he first broke in. He was a scrawny, skinny, 185-pound guy that had great talent. And then he turned himself into a freakin’ power hitter with, what, 245, 250 pounds, and his head got twice the size. So, you know, you figure it out,” he said.

“I know he likes to go to the gym. We all like to go to the gym. You just don’t get that big,” he said.

Carter is correct about Barry's weight increasing from a svelte 185 to a husky 245/250.  However Carter misfires about the head size growth.  There is little evidence HGH in an adult causes skull growth.  We attribute head size increase to hypertrophyof muscles of the neck and of the skull.  One does see an apparent increase in head size in PED users, however we believe it to be more of an illusion than an increase in the skull (which should stop growing in childhood)

Johnny Bench gives a different take on Bonds, however with fallacies too.  What does Bench mean by 'guilty'? PED testing doesn't determine guilt or innocence, nor are the same standards for court evidence adhered to when testing for steroid use.  Further, Bench changes the subject when he talks about plastic surgery or Tiger Wood's use of LASIK surgery, which are nonpharmacological issues.  Surgical procedures are not against the law nor the league rules.

Bench, who played in the same group with Carter this weekend at the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament at Lake Tahoe, doesn’t understand why Bonds is being singled out when there are so many players who have been accused of taking steroids.

“They still haven’t found him guilty of anything,” Bench said.

“Have there been guys who are probably guilty? Probably so. And your wife has probably had a face lift or (breast implants) or a tummy tuck. We’re all trying to do performance enhancement every day. Tiger Woods got lasik surgery. Is that performance enhancing?”

“If I could take HGH, I would in a heartbeat because I want to live longer,” said Bench, who son. “I want to be as good as I can possibly be.”

Bench also falls for the HGH fallacy.  There is no data that HGH lengthens anyone's life. Who is his HGH guru?  He needs some corrections on this stuff.  Bench does however discuss steroids:

Bench admits that steroids give a player an advantage on the field.

“Of course it’s an advantage. And the bats are an advantage and they moved the ballpark fences in. These guys are strong. And hell, I hit 45 home runs that one year and I felt like I could have hit 60, but now the guys are so much stronger,” he said.

Bench, who played in 14 All-Star games, said it’s difficult to compare today’s players to those of the past because so many things have changed.

Bench elaborates on what many vintage MLB players think: their achievements are clearly undermined by many factors in favor of younger hitters.

“We’re second-class citizens now, our era. Our records are bygone,” he said.

“They’re making $15 million or $20 million a year. I made $11,000 my first year. I was rookie of the year and made $20,000, was MVP and made $40,000, was MVP again and made $80,000. So I’m only like $19,920,000 behind.

“There are guys out there who make two All-Star games and they’ve got their own planes flying back East. I’m trying to drive to Reno to get the 6:45 a.m. Delta so I can change planes and go to Orlando,” he said.

NASCAR deals with drug testing

In the wake of the arrest of a driver on the Motorcraft truck racing circuit, NASCAR drivers and officials look at their drug testing policy.

At this point, it’s difficult to say who will have a more significant impact on NASCAR’s drug-testing policy, Aaron Fike or Kevin Harvick.

Police arrested Craftsman Truck Series driver Fike for possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia in the parking lot of an Ohio theme park July 7. That brought illegal drug use in motorsports into the news, but Harvick put the spotlight on it in Chicago.

Speaking to reporters at Chicagoland Speedway, site of the USG Sheetrock 400 won by Tony Stewart, Harvick criticized NASCAR for not taking the lead on such an important issue. Yes, the sanctioning body has the power to enforce a random testing policy, Harvick said, but he emphasized that it is not doing so.

Harvick and NASCAR exchanged views on drug testing:

“I believe every driver and every national series should be drug-tested a couple of times a year randomly, regardless of who you are or what you’re doing,” Harvick said. “I think we owe it to the sponsors and the fans to 100 percent know that this is a clean environment. It would eliminate a lot of those problems of the younger guys that disrespect the sport and the system.”

And then Harvick fired direct criticism at the sanctioning body.

“Shame on NASCAR for not policing our garage better than what they police it right now,” he said. “We’re all professional athletes and should be treated like professional athletes in other professional sports, and shame on them for not doing that.”

NASCAR responded predictably, saying its testing program is based on “reasonable suspicion,” that it has tested more individuals than either Harvick or the public are aware of, and it won’t react to statements made in the few days after an incident such as Fike’s comes to light.

“I respect the opinions of our drivers,” NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter told the Charlotte Observer. “However, they don’t know who we test and when we test them.”

Perhaps the drivers, who risk their lives at the track, should know which driver might be using something, say like a narcotic that could seriously affect his reflexes or judgment.

Interesting that NASCAR does not employ a driver's union, thus that traditional barrier to effective drug testing does not exist.  Further, Indy Car drivers known exactly their plan:

Harvick’s stance is strengthened by the fact that stock-car drivers are independent contractors without a union and therefore subject to any policy NASCAR sets forth. If NASCAR prohibits clear visors, drivers won’t have clear visors; if the sanctioning body insists on pink driving shoes, everyone will match cutely.

Indy Racing League drivers know how this dictatorship works. Brian Barnhart, league president of racing and competition, said two IndyCar Series drivers are tested every other weekend based on a confidential and random rotation. As of the race at Nashville Superspeedway, Barnhart estimated 80 percent of the drivers have been summoned to the medical center for a “surprise” test; the rest will be before season’s end.

NASCAR drivers believe that a proactive drug-testing policy makes sense on many levels: prevents problems, sets standards, and enhances PR.  Perhaps MLB and the NFL should learn from NASCAR's example.

“I don’t believe we have a huge problem, but it’s still the black eye of the one or two guys that do have a problem,” Harvick said. “That just kind of frustrates me a little bit.

“I just think it would be good for the sport if they just cleared the air and there was never any speculation about it whatsoever. That is something that could be easily fixed and should be fixed.”

Jeff Burton also called for tougher measures, saying he “wished NASCAR would test more than” it does. “You need to know you’re going [to be tested] five or six times a year,” he said.

Houston Chron develops steroid testing argument

1. In the face of prep PED testing in Texas, the Houston Chron delivers the argument for steroid testing.

Fact: The man behind one of the most far-reaching drug scandals ever, Victor Conte — of the infamous Balco lab — suggests that parents who don't want their kids around steroids should steer them away from serious athletic competition, saying, "at some point they'll get to the level where they are told they have no choice but to take them."

Is that true?

Based on the preponderance of evidence, drugs that make people run/pedal/ski faster, jump higher, hit harder and stay fresh longer have never been more a part of the fabric of sports, all the way down to high school and, some contend, junior high school venues. It follows that talk of drugs is never far from any sports conversations today.

The Chron also addresses claims that PEDs should be legal but regulated in athletes.  They quote a well-known Houston area sports medicine physician:

Some medical experts suggest that carefully regulated doses of substances such as human growth hormone can help counteract the ravages of sports such as football, which involves frequent violent collisions. More radical proponents insist elite athletes should be allowed to do whatever they wish.

Count Muntz as a skeptic, certainly on the latter point. The dangers of anabolic steroids, for example, are well-documented.

"Especially in doses 10 to 100 times what would be the prescribed level, which aren't that uncommon," he said. "And you really worry when you realize 10 to 15 percent of high school athletes may be using them. We in the medical community have an obligation to catch kids when they're young and educate them on the risks, the dangers."

The great and scary unknown, Muntz adds, is what the future holds for those who have abused steroids, EPO and other performance enhancing drugs.

"Only extensive clinical trials, over long periods involving large groups of people tell what you need to know about drugs," he said. "These drugs have never been subjected to that. Many of them haven't been around very long.

"So we really have no idea what the consequences will be, physically and psychologically, for these athletes 20 years from now."

Jose Canseco fully supports Barry Bonds

Once again Jose Canseco pushes  himself into the spotlight.  The promoter of better baseball through chemistry supports Barry Bonds' home run record chase. Boston.com catches up with the man with the home run bouncing noggin.

Canseco establishes that he is a steroid expert, by experience.  He talks about his use of PEDs to recover from injury.  That justifies his bulking up on 'roids, right?  Canseco promoted PEDs for all athletes in his book 'Juiced', and not just for injury recovery.  Sounds like he bends ethics to cheat the game.

Although Canseco appears to be accurate about who juiced and who didn't in baseball, we wonder about trusting a guy with such bent ethics.

"I know what steroids can do for a player," said Canseco, who spent 17 years in the majors. "I also know that it doesn't help you be a great athlete or help out with the extraordinary hand-eye coordination Barry Bonds has. Steroids can have different benefits for different people. For me, it helped me stand up straight after all the problems I had with my back after some back surgeries. It helped with longevity and recovery from injury as well as strength, but I'm telling you it doesn't make you a better athlete and it doesn't help you hit the ball."

Canseco, who played for the Red Sox in 1995 and '96, finishing with 52 homers and 163 RBIs in 756 at-bats, believes Bonds's feat should stand the test of time because of the era he played in.

"You can call it the steroids era or whatever you want to call it," said Canseco. "I stand by what I wrote in the book and what I've contended all along -- that 80 to 85 percent of all players were on steroids in the 1980s and '90s. The playing field was equal, and in that playing field Barry Bonds was the best of the best."

Wow, Canseco's research indicated 80 to 85% of MLB players juiced.  And Canseco hasn't received as much as a thank-you from MLB for his altruism?

Canseco said he's received a lot of interest but no commitment to make the movie based on his book When it was suggested he should ask Red Sox chairman Tom Werner to invest in the project, Canseco laughed and said, "That would be interesting, a baseball owner doing a movie about the steroid problem in baseball."

Canseco said he's never received a thank you from anyone in baseball's hierarchy or from Congress for bringing the steroid issue to the forefront, nor did he expect it. He's a bit surprised he's had only a brief meeting with former Senator George Mitchell, who is conducting Major League Baseball's investigation into steroids in the game, and he has not spoken to any of Mitchell's lawyers who are conducting the interviews.

"I honestly don't know what they have and what they don't have," Canseco said. "I don't know how far into their investigation they are. I know what I know and what I saw, which is what I wrote in the book. I never made claims that I didn't see or have knowledge of firsthand. I think the movie will be an awakening for a lot of people who are maybe still unaware of the extent of the problem in major league baseball. If they want me to tell them those things I would, but I haven't been asked."

Opinion on Commissioner Bud Selig, Jose? Here goes:

Canseco is not a fan of commissioner Bud Selig, feeling he "perpetuated the problem by turning his head to it" for a long time. Canseco feels baseball needs new leadership, and believes Selig will be present when Bonds breaks the record.

"I just remember back to the congressional hearings when Mr. Selig told Congress that the sport didn't need another black eye," said Canseco. "Well, if he doesn't acknowledge Barry's record by being present, it just magnifies it even more."

The 44-year-old Canseco, who hit 462 home runs and knocked in 1,407 runs in 7,057 at-bats, believes he was blackballed from baseball, and if he wasn't, "I'd have close to 700 home runs."

Jose appears very busy in important work:

Canseco is involved in martial arts, which he says "have me in the best shape of my life." He's been on a couple of reality TV shows and hopes to pursue acting further, but right now most of his energies are devoted to getting investors for his movie. He also has a second book idea that he said "could get written quickly," but he's put that on hold.

Canseco said he wouldn't be surprised if many players were still using performance enhancers, but he doesn't know for sure. What he does know is that months and years have passed and he still hears about steroids on a daily basis. The topic he brought to the forefront isn't going away any time soon.

"It's a topic that's definitely in the minds of many people who follow sports, not just baseball," he said. "Until they find out who did it and who didn't do it, and I doubt they'll ever know all of it, it's going to be out there for people to discuss and form opinions.

Barry Bonds sleeps better tonight knowing Jose Canseco supports him.
 

Stage 7, Tour de France

1.  Linus Gerdemann won the 7th stage of the Tour, then jumps on dopers.  Nonetheless, it has to be pretty cool to wear the yellow jersey.  Philly Inquirer here:

Linus Gerdemann hadn't even finished celebrating his first Tour de France stage victory before sounding a loud drumbeat from the winner's circle: Races can and should be won clean.

The 24-year-old German, riding in his first Tour, captured the leader's yellow jersey as cycling's premier event entered three days in the Alps with yesterday's seventh stage.

Gerdemann's T-Mobile team has been scarred more than most over doping revelations, and has responded in the last year by enacting some of the toughest anti-doping policies in the sport...

In post-race news conferences, Gerdemann used the word clean at least six times. He spoke about blood tests he had undergone.

He decried the harm done by doping in the sport.

"It's really hard for young riders to take the responsibility now," Gerdemann said. "But the sport gave a lot to me in the past - and now I think it's the right moment to give something back."

2.  Jurnalo says admitted doper Erik Zabel will give back the green jersey as the best sprinter at past Tours.

German rider Erik Zabel is ready to return the green jersey of sprint king at the 1996 Tour de France after he recently admitted to doping during that year's race.

Zabel told Germany's Welt am Sonntag Sunday paper that he will not ignore calls from Amaury Sports (ASO), the company which runs the Tour, to return the jersey.

"It is only logical and fair from ASO's point of view that I must hand back my green jersey and not only (1996 winner Bjarne) Riis his yellow jersey," Zabel said.

Zabel, 37, was the Tour's best sprinter six straight years 1996- 2001. 

Zabel and Riis admitted in May to have used the blood doping substance EPO during the 1996 Tour. As a result, the ASO told the riders to hand back the prestigious shirts and announced they will both be scrapped from its list of winners.

Not very forgiving those guys huh?

3. Floyd Landis receives a warm welcome on his Tour.  MarinIJ.com:

Landis spoke in front of a standing-room-only crowd of more than 100 people at Book Passage in Corte Madera on Saturday night, ostensibly as a promotion for his memoir "Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France." Truthfully, however, he could have been in town to lecture about organic chemistry and this crowd would have eaten it up.

 

Follow-up on Bronco's Kenny Peterson: 'Supplements'

Kenny Patterson, for tOSU and current Denver Bronco DE received a 4 game suspension from the NFL for violating the steroid policy.  Bronco coach Mike Shanahan goes to the 'supplement excuse' for Peterson.  From the Colorado Springs Gazette:

Denver Broncos defensive lineman Kenny Peterson told coach Mike Shanahan he was suspended for violating the NFL’s policy on anabolic steroids and related substances because he took a nutritional supplement with a banned substance in it, Shanahn said Monday.

Peterson, a reserve lineman, was suspended four games for the violation. He was at Monday's mini-camp practice but declined an interview request. Peterson can participate in offseason practices and training camp before his suspension starts before the first game of the season.

“Sometimes it’s not a conscious mistake,” Shanahan said. “Sometimes you take the wrong supplement and all of a sudden a guy might not know he’s making a mistake and he makes one. It just takes one slip up.”

Many players have said after being suspended that they unknowingly ingested a banned substance, such as ephedra, while taking an over-the-counter supplement. The NFL doesn’t reduce the punishments if a player unknowingly takes a tainted supplement.

“You pay the price,” Shanahan said. “You’re responsible for what goes into your body. That’s the bottom line.”

As there have been supposed cases of contaminated supplements containing banned substances, anyone caught juicing will no go with that defense.  Considering the marginal effect (waste of money) supplements give an athlete, and considering the low probability of a supplement containing a banned substance that might affect a test, this is a nice out for a drug-cheat.

Look at NFL players, then look at supplements.  Anyone with steroid knowledge and some logic knows what the game is here.

Sheffield implicates Bonds even more: 'If I took what he took'

Following up on the release of quotes from his Andrea and HOB interview Gary Sheffield stood by his remarks on Barry Bonds and 'roids last night.

Shef denied ever knowingly juicing, which is very compatible with the 'Game of Shadows' account of his rollicking episode with Bonds.  Shef followed with a very interesting comment about Bonds' physique.

From the Albany Democrat:

In the interview with HBO, Sheffield says the black players on the Yankees’ roster would be “called out’’ in the clubhouse by Torre. Sheffield also denied he ever took steroids, but admitted taking the “clear’’ and the “cream’’ — two designer steroids created by BALCO. Sheffield said he didn’t know they were steroids, said he trusted and felt himself being controlled by Bonds. But, Sheffield claimed, “if I took what Barry Bonds took, why don’t I look like him?’’

He looked like Bonds — in terms of hitting homers — in the third inning.

Sheffield took a close 1-2 pitch that home plate umpire Brian Runge said was a little low and outside. Seattle starter Jarrod Washburn then hung a breaking ball over the middle of the plate, and Sheffield hit into the Tigers’ bullpen in left field.

Mandatory headline: Giambi meets with Mitchell

Former Senator, and Boston Red Sox Co-owner George Mitchell finally met with a live MLB player yesterday.  Jason Giambi, as part of his plea bargain with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, wet with Mitchell.  The Mitchell-Yankee player meeting headlines every sports page from Seattle to Syracuse, however here is the Washington Post link.

Note that this wasn't a one on one meeting.  Heck, it was a group festival.   After the meeting benediction and grilled cheese steaks for all.  Arn Tellum brought some killer sweet corn from his own garden.

Perhaps some progress on PEDs in baseball resulted, but come on, confessions are usually in a group setting.  No doubt Giambi refused to answer important personal questions.  He is part of an on-going investigation (he could say the BALCO Grand Jury continues).

We will remain pessimistic.  MLB's inquiry into anabolic use is likely to gain baseball some publicity and little more.   Considering the Gov't investigations -- BALCO, Met-boy, Jason Grimsley, Florida Internet Pharmacy -- and, the Mitchell probes, we draw several conclusions:

• The entire scene is a mess; several disparate authorities investigating different parts of that gorilla is not likely to put together a cohesive picture of the problem
• Mitchell, a co-owner of the Red Sox, who may have good intentions but given his economic and political limitations, cannot elucidate  much on the subject since he needs to deal with every lawyer and every union official, and every owner remotely related to baseball before he can even begin to consider players
• Although now confidence in American Gov't handling anything with success appears to be low, we cannot see success in actually dealing with drug-cheating unless there is a Gov't or quasi-governmental agency, given powers of subpoena and 'prosecution'. 
  
  The Gov't model would ensure legal powers -- if a complementary sports fraud law were passed.   That model means moving into more of a forensic role for a steroid regulator.
  
  The quasi-Gov't model, say like WADA or the USADA means some of the problems encountered when dealing with those organizations -- like personality conflicts between regulatory agency and athletes.  Furthermore, American sports leagues run scared of the WADA-type organizations, especially with player's unions who would obfuscate all dealings with such a regulatory structure.
  
• MLB continues to slowly move forward on the regulation of anabolics and PEDs in the league.  The Commissioner's office implemented limited testing over time.  For a major change in paradigm, a large established bureaucracy, like MLB, moves very slowly.

From the Post:

Yankees slugger Jason Giambi met with George J. Mitchell yesterday in New York, becoming the first active player known to talk with baseball's steroids investigator.

Commissioner Bud Selig announced the meeting, but released no details other than who attended. Selig was not present.

Giambi previously had admitted he had a "personal history regarding steroids." The New York designated hitter agreed to the session on June 21 after Selig threatened to discipline him if he didn't speak to Mitchell...

Mitchell and members of his law firm met with Giambi. The star's agent, Arn Tellem, and personal attorney, Brian O'Neill, were present, as were Rob Manfred, executive vice president for labor relations in the commissioner's office, and players' union general counsel Michael Weiner.

Sheffield: Steroids is something you stick in your butt. Period.

One of our favorite players hits the comeback trail...Gary Sheffield.  After discussing how the Yankees made him an example because he is black, and how Derek Jeter's genetics aren't really all black,  Shef defines steroids as 'steroids is something you shoot in your butt'. Who are we to argue?

From Newsday comes the Shef HBO/Andrea Kremer interview (by was of the Orlando Sentinel here).

...Kremer asks Sheffield about his alleged steroid use, including his grand jury testimony that he used steroid cream on his legs and liquid (or "clear") under his tongue.

He says he started using those products when Barry Bonds, his workout partner at the time, saw his stash of vitamins and yelled, "What are you taking that stuff for? It's stupid."

So he got the other substances from BALCO, not knowing they were in effect steroids. In fact, he still denies every taking steroids, even though he was told the clear was for "muscle recovery, like when you lift weights you can recover."

He said, "In a million years, I don't care what anybody says, steroids is something you shoot in your butt. I do know that . . . The bottom line is steroids is something you stick in your butt –- period."

It is mostly true that the heavy duty 'roids are im.  Oral juice would be pretty toxic to the liver.

Sheffield wonders why "if I took what Barry Bonds took, why don't I look like him?" He says he parted ways with Bonds because he felt a trust had been violated. "I trusted this man, he allowed me to stay in his house," Sheffield says. "I started seeing the control factor. I started seeing, wait a minute, you aren't going to tell me what to do."

Is Shef in any kind of trouble with the Mitchell probe?

Sheffield initially says he had not received a letter requesting that he speak with George Mitchell about steroids, but Kremer turns to his manager and learns he has. He says "more than likely" he would agree to talk to Mitchell and would answer him the same way he did Kremer.

"I don't feel like it's all that much of a threat to me," he says. He adds he is unconcerned about the possibility of the controversy around him keeping him out of the Hall of Fame.

"I'm going to say what I got to say, and I'm going to do it how I got to do it and I can live myself," he says. "I sleep very good at night, very good."

We don't think Shef is a big time PED user...because if he were heaven help those who suppled him, their names would be more common than Bill Gates at this point.  Shef almost gives up Bonds, doesn't he?

Root of trouble in Shef's life?  Women:

Near the start of the interview, Kremer asks Sheffield how one man can have so much chaos in his life. "Bad choice of women," he says.

"That's way weak, man," Kremer says. "All the turmoil in your life is because of women?"

"Yeah," he says.

Kremer then asks him whether he takes any responsibility for it. "I picked 'em," he says.

We visited the baseball Hall of Fame this week in Cooperstown NY.  We would love to be there again, when Shef gives his acceptance speech.  Good times!

Jim Palmer throws fastballs at Sosa, McGwire and MLB juicers

Former Oriole great, and HOF member Jim Palmer stopped by the Detroit Freep, during a tour promoting cholesterol awareness.   Palmer uses some of the strongest language a HOFer laid out there on recent 'roid users.

Jim Palmer -- the Hall of Fame right-hander, three-time World Series champion with the Baltimore Orioles, 268-game winner and former underwear model -- speaks against cholesterol. He spoke in Toledo on Thursday as part of the "Strike Out High Cholesterol: A Program to Help Lower LDL Levels."

Earlier in the day, Palmer, 61, stopped by the Free Press and talked about cholesterol, the Tigers and, most passionately, steroids.

Palmer then talked about 'roids in baseball, in strong language. Sounds like his blood pressure is as high as his cholesterol.  Palmer implicates Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in PED use.  Palmer also discusses amphetamine use:

Q: You've been passionate about steroids. How do you think baseball is handling this now?

A: I think baseball is doing the right thing. The commissioner would've liked to do the right thing earlier, but the union is very powerful. When you have a major work stoppage like baseball had in 1994, people are turned off. In 1998, it was a riveting home run race. But look at the two guys involved.

A couple years ago, our hitting instructor when Sammy Sosa played for the Orioles in 2005 asked another hitting instructor who has seen Sammy play in the National League, "Can Sammy still play?" He looked at him and he goes, "No, his body has shrunk." A lot of people are saying, "We really don't know, so you shouldn't judge guilty," but with trainers, your eyes don't deceive you.

Q: What do you see in store for the future?

A: It's going to be a compelling summer to see how baseball fans deal with Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron's record. ... Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe wrote that there are three distinct eras: The Booze and Broads era, which is the Babe Ruth era; the amphetamine era until 1988, and then the steroids era, 1988 to 2003. I don't think the commissioner would ever label it like that, but I think the writers have already done that with Mark McGwire.

He had 583 home runs, but if you take 10 to 15 off each year, all of a sudden he doesn't have 500 and he's not a Hall of Famer. It'll be interesting for me to see how the Baseball Writers (Association) of America judge Barry Bonds.

Again, this is strong stuff for a former MLB player.  In the past Palmer took on fellow Oriole, Brady Anderson for steroid use.  Dale Murphy lays it on the line at times.  Palmer goes places few players have traveled when discussing Sosa and McGwire, outside of Jose Canseco.

Head of drug company and co-conspirator doctor nailed in steroid HGH scheme

WCAX-TV reports on two developments of a conspiracy to deliver PEDs investigation.  The head of a drug company conspired to illegally supply athletes with PEDS including anabolic steroids and HGH.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The head of a drug company plans to plead guilty to illegally marketing steroids and paying doctors to write medically unnecessary prescriptions.

Daniel McGlone owns New Jersey-based American Pharmaceutical Group. His lawyer, Bob Mann, says McGlone agreed to plead guilty to 50 counts, including conspiracy, health care fraud and money laundering.

McGlone is accused of illegally distributing human growth hormone and steroids to body builders in several states. He allegedly got some of the drugs from a Florida-based pharmaceutical company charged by New York authorities in a larger steroid case.

Prosecutors say McGlone advertised in bodybuilder publications and recommended the drugs for anti-aging and weight-loss purposes. Federal law restricts the use or distribution of human growth hormone to specified medical uses.

Prosecutors say McGlone took orders over the phone and paid two New York doctors to write prescriptions for the drugs even though they never met or examined the patients.

The station (and the AP) also note a doctor in the case will admit to conspiracy:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- A former New York doctor charged in a conspiracy to distribute illegal steroids plans to plead guilty to federal charges today. The news comes as a businessman charged in the same scheme also reaches a plea deal with the government.

Prosecutors say businessman Daniel McGlone paid doctors to write medically unnecessary prescriptions for illegal human growth hormone and anabolic steroids. One of those doctors was Ana Maria Santi, who lost her medical license in 1999 and plans to enter a guilty plea in Providence today.

McGlone agreed to a plea deal this month in federal court in Providence. He's agreed to plead guilty to 50 counts -- including conspiracy, health care fraud and money laundering. Another doctor, Victor Mariani, has already pleaded guilty.

Always fraudulent money to be made in anabolics.

BALCO leak -- Troy Ellerman -- injected with 30 months hard time

Troy Ellerman the attorney who leaked significant information to the San Francisco Chronicle from the BALCO investigation, will spend 30 months in the poky. 

Why does the US Govt consider leaking Grand Jury testimony to be far more punishable than the synthesis and distribution of many illegal PEDs including illegal anabolic steroids?  Why does the man -- Victor Conte -- who defrauded the public in supplying illegal PEDs to athletes in MLB (Bonds, Sheffield, Giambi), the NFL (Romo), Track and Field (Tim Montgomery, Marion Jones, as well as others), and bodybuilding serve a significantly less jail time than a fellow who leaks testimony information to reporters?

Is the justice system really screwed up?

The AP (via the Examiner) gives us the details:

An attorney who admitted leaking the confidential grand jury testimony of Barry Bonds and other athletes to a reporter was sentenced Thursday to two and a half years in prison, by far the harshest penalty to result from the government's sprawling probe of steroids in sports.

Troy Ellerman, 44, pleaded guilty in February to allowing a San Francisco Chronicle reporter to view transcripts of testimony by Bonds, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and other athletes embroiled in the steroids investigation. Giambi admitted taking steroids while Sheffield and Bonds testified if they did take performance enhancing drugs, they did so unwittingly.

After the newspaper published the players' embarrassing accounts after they had been promised confidentiality, the judge overseeing the case recommended that the Department of Justice launch a leak investigation.

Interesting turn of events.  If it weren't for Ellerman, leaking information to Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, Barry Bonds would be celebrated as the future home run king.  Without the BALCO leak, Mark McGwire might be at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony in a few days.  Raffy Pameiro would not be vilified for lying to Congress.  And Jason Giambi would be a goof, but not a steroid-using goofus.

Ellerman initially blamed federal investigators for leaking the testimony and argued that the case against his client be tossed out because of government misconduct. He also lied to a judge about not knowing the source of the leaks.

"This affected, and infected every aspect of the judicial system," U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White said.

White also rejected Ellerman's argument that he should get a lighter sentence because President Bush commuted former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's 2 1/2-year prison sentence for perjury to probation. White said to do so would open the door to doling out unduly lenient sentences for other white collar criminals.

"If Mr. Ellerman is dissatisfied with his sentence, he should seek a commutation from the president," White said.

Perhaps Mr. Ellerman should ask former Texas Ranger's owner George Bush for clemency.  After all, the Rangers appear to be one of the original steroid-infused gang-bangers of MLB with Raffy, Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez and even Gary Matthews, Jr.

White also asked prosecutors about a letter Bonds' attorney Michael Rains filed in the case arguing that the slugger was a victim of Ellerman's actions and that Ellerman was not the only leak in the high-profile case.

Rains says he has evidence that sources other than Ellerman - but still unknown to him - had leaked confidential grand jury evidence to the Chronicle and other publications.

"Since Mr. Bonds has yet to be indicted, I have not been in position to introduce evidence concerning the leaked grand jury materials related to this case," Rains said in his letter to the judge. "In the event that Mr. Bonds is indicted, I would certainly welcome such an opportunity."

Barry Bonds attorney appears to be jockeying for position in all this.  The Gov't however, contends the leak case closed with the prosecution of Ellerman

But on Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Raphael told the judge that the government's leak investigation concluded with Ellerman's conviction. Raphael conceded that there had been other "little leaks" in the case, but that investigators were focused on finding the culprit of the grand jury breach.

"We do not believe that there is any other source," Raphael said. "We have no specific evidence that someone else leaked grand jury transcripts."

The mastermind of BALCO, Victor Conte served 4 months.  The chemist who illegally synthesized and distributed an untested anabolic steroid drug -THG - to athletes served 4 months.   Obviously the US Gov't considers leaking Grand Jury testimony more heinous than actually distributing the illegal PEDs or using the drugs.  Why?