Daily Steroid Briefing

1.  New York City cops get lecture on steroids.  (NY1 News)

2.  Gilbert Arenas does not have freedom of speech about Roger Clemens and steroids (AOL Sports)

3.  Barry Bonds might still be swatting at balls this year.  (Trading Markets)

4.  WADA plans on testing for HGH during the Olympics in China.  (ESPN)

5. Rafael Nadal, looking really buff for a tennis player in Florida tournament.  (Palm Beach Post)(Go out and hit)

Comments

[Ferren]

Nadal was linked to Operation Puerto by Spanish press. Puerto is of course the cyclists' doping ring Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso were involved with. Nadal vehemently denied the accusation. There has been much conjecture that the reason Puerto was never aggressively pursued by Spanish sports officials is because tennis players and soccer stars were involved.

Serena is looking pretty buff herself:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3331213

[Reading is fundamental]

Tennis' drug policy is a joke b/c the players' know exactly when they will be tested. Out-of-Competition testing is the month where there are no tournys. According to their handbook, the ITF doesn't bother to ask the players for their itinerary for that month.

If a player is in the whereabouts pool, he/she just needs to tell the IFT a month in advance when they will not be playing for two consecutive weeks. Why bother?

At a touney all a whereabouts-pool player needs to do is stay clean for the first round, throw the match, get tested after the lost, then start juicing again or whatever until the next tourney. It's not hard considering you need to tell the ITF a month ahead of time when you will be off for two weeks.

A player can get steroids and some other banned items by simply going to a doctor and getting a "therapeutic-use exemption."
The exemption is interesting b/c it seems there is a doctor who specializes in working with players who come roaring back after an "injury," or those who are under the most suspicion for drug use and/or have failed tests. The players disappear with injuries at odd times also.

U.S. tennis sources try not to touch the issue because they know their vocal audience treats the game, not as a sport but as some teen fandom. The issue will be raised and all hell breaks lose from this audience-- the reporter backs off.

It's always the same players that the European press, viewers, and players point to as using-- but the ATP/IFT are not going to kill one of its cash cow.

Tennis, cycling, football, courts, sports federations, govt. are a good-ol'boy network in some European countries.

What the poster above me wrote is right on target!