Steroid Nation

Dope and steroid testing comes down hard on Jamaica

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

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

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

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

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

HGH a growth industry in the Dominican Republic

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

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

Sometimes even without a prescription.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sensitive about Pittsburgh Steeler steroid criticism

Matt Pawlikowski of the Pittsburgh Sports Examiner takes great exception about an article published on Fox sports that said the Steelers Super Bowl Victory #6 should be asterisked.

Fox News claims to be fair, balanced and everywhere.
 
Maybe FoxSports.com columnist Mark Kreigel should take heed of those words.
 
This coming after an article he published on the FoxSports web site Feb. 13, about the Steelers.  I don't understand where he is coming from, and for those who take time to dissect it, I think you'll agree.
 
It's not in the positive mold, instead it is highly negative, and why?
 
Maybe its the fact he is sore the Steelers won a sixth Lombardi the week before. Maybe he's sore over the fact the Yankees, despite dishing out 8 billion dollars each year have not won a World Championship in eight years. 
 
Whatever the reason, Kreigel in his ultimate wisdom has decided that the Steelers need an asterisk by No 6

The Steel Curtain comes down more after the jump...

Ex-White Sox player Ron Kittle says Jose Canseco should watch his back

Ron Kittle, an ex-Rookie of the Year for the Chicago White Sox expresses his fears for the health and safety of steroid user/singer Joe Canseco.  Touching,and perhaps true.  True as steroid supplier to the NFL, bodybuilders, and the police David Jacobs found out in Plano TX (possibly whacked).

The Chicago Tribune tells the tale:

Former White Sox slugger Ron Kittle says he fears for the safety of steroids whistle-blower Jose Canseco.

Canseco, an admitted steroid abuser, was chastised when his first book came out in 2005 linking several big-name players to performance-enhancing drugs. Subsequent revelations impugning the likes of Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez have vindicated him.

"My first thought was: 'I wonder who's going to be the first one to shoot him,' " Kittle said Monday. "I still think somebody who might have had their life ruined might take vengeance on him. If I were [Canseco], I would think about that.

"That's how I look at things. Maybe it's the wrong way, but I think in [bad] economic times when kids are exposed to it and they get to the big leagues to make the money, they will do [steroids]. But it's the wrong path. It's a quick fix."

Canseco, Kittle said, crossed a line when he chose to expose others.

"There is a sign in just about every clubhouse: 'What you see here, what you say here, let it stay here when you leave here,' " he said.

Wow, interesting warning.  As with track, cycling, and football, the code of silence that keeps player's mouths shut and the syringes active.  Did Kittle, a decent slugger ever use 'roids:

Kittle, the American League Rookie of the Year in 1983, said he was never tempted to take steroids.

"I knew it was accessible," he said. "I had known about [steroids] for years. When I broke my neck in the minors, I saw people using stuff like that to get their health back into shape.

"But I was more scared of my father than I was of anything else. I thought that if I did something stupid, my father would probably take my life away anyway."

Kittle knows the tell-tale signs of juicers:

"I could pretty much tell who had been on [steroids]," he said. "You can tell by their complexion, their temperament and their size. One year you take a picture of them and the next year it looks  like a before-and-after. It's not a thing to hide. But it is unfortunate that it has been brought out in the open like this. It is damaging to MLB. And it is damaging to the people who played in MLB."

Lance Armstrong punished syringe man on Amgen ride

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

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

his 'point'...

One comment on the site says this:

Apparently Pharmstrong did not recognize his Oncologist.

1904 Olympic marathon winner Thomas Hicks kicked off modern era of doping with strychnine

The Boston Globe - perhaps jealous of all the publicity New York is receiving from the R-Roid scandals -- claims some Boston area fame today with a story on the infamous 1904 Olympic doping scandal.  Thomas Hicks, a Cambridge area athlete, doped with strychnine for the Olympic marathon.  Using a potent poison like strychnine sounds dangerous, however in the limited world of doping with stimulants, the compound represented one avenue of gaining an advantage over competitors.  Athletes never looked back from there.

While the media currently fixate on a pinstriped athlete from New York, it was a skinny townie from Cambridge whose chemically enhanced victory in the 1904 Olympic Marathon first sparked widespread debate about drugs in sports.

For athletes in the 21st century, the elixir of choice is steroids. More than 100 years ago, Thomas J. Hicks opted for a vile concoction of egg whites and brandy laced with strychnine, the active ingredient in rat poison.

And the scoop on strychnine:

And while reputed performance boosters from this era range from frighteningly dangerous to downright laughable, it was the supportive attitude of the American public that is most shocking.

"Back in those days, the use of performance-enhancing substances was not the awful thing it is today," said Daniel M. Rosen, the author of "Dope: A History of Performance Enhancement in Sports from the Nineteenth Century to Today."

Rosen said it was not Hicks's chemical consumption that caused the 1904 controversy. Rather, the outrage stemmed from the strychnine cocktails not being available to all Olympic runners in the searing, 90-degree heat.

"Hicks was kind of a hero for doing everything he could to win," Rosen said. "But he damn near killed himself in the process."

Strychnine doping continued after the leap...

Association between steroid use and injury in NFL players

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

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

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

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

Continued after the jump...

A-Rod extras: Does this ever stop?

Like Roger Clemens before him, R-Rod might learn that being in the media spotlight is not good.  All kinds of stories coming out:

The Winnipeg Free Press tries to wrap things up on A-Rod.

 Say what you will about Alex Rodriguez -- call him A-Roid or A-Fraud -- but what the Yankees slugger has been doing since his hands were caught in the steroid jar promises to be a fascinating experiment of human sociology.

The Baltimore Sun says MLB is interested in A-Rod's buddies including Angel Presinal.

Primobolan in not OTC (over-the-counter) says the Dominican Republican via the Miami Hertald.

An official in the Dominican Republic is disputing one of Alex Rodriguez's statements in his news conference Tuesday, ESPN Deportes reported Friday.

Rodriguez said earlier this week in Tampa that he and his cousin, Yuri Sucart, purchased an over-the-counter drug, which he identified as ''boli,'' from a pharmacy in the Dominican Republic between 2001 and 2003. But Primobolan, one of the drugs that Rodriguez reportedly tested positive for, is not available for legal purchase with a prescription in the Dominican Republic, ESPN Deportes said. The network quoted Pia Veras, who oversees the agency that regulates pharmaceutical drugs in the Dominican Republic.

''What Alex Rodriguez stated in the press conference doesn't make sense,'' Veras said. ``It is important for us to clarify that such substance has not been registered, and is not currently registered for legal sale in Dominican pharmacies -- not now, and the same applies for the years 2001 to 2003.''

Yankees continue on doping binge: trainer Lopez III once busted for steroids

Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte...appears the New York Yankees are solidly alone at the top of the baseball dope heap.  And this:  A 'former' Yankee trainer in Florida was arrested for a dope and steroid stash in 2002.  Here is the story from Bob's Blitz:

He's the son of Yankees senior vice president Felix Lopez, Felix Manuel Lopez III. Is this what the Yankees refer to as the Tampa Connection?

Isn't it just time to have MLB close up Yankee Steroidium?

Felix the 3rd was sent home after senior management learned of his arrest.

The Yankees claim that he was never employed by the Yanks and he was told by his dad to stop showing up at the minor league complex.

He was charged with trafficking in illegal drugs and possession of controlled substance, approximately 10 vials of liquid steroids and released on 20,000 bond.

According to the arrest record filed with the Tampa Police Department, police obtained several bottles and vials of steroids as well as two boxes with six bottles of the drug GBL when they raided Lopez III’s Tampa apartment on Sept. 18, 2002. His police report lists him at the time of booking as 30 years old and as 6'3" 260lbs. Charge: TRAFFICKING IN ILLEGAL DRUGS 28 GRAM OR M
He listed his employer as...Metro Flex Gym. What, were the Yankees running a Steroids Business on the side?

Go long on the Yankees after the jump...

Scott Siegel -- 'Actor' in The Wrestler -- busted for steroids in New York

Scott Siegal, an 'actor' who sported a role in the recently acclaimed movie The Wrestler, apparently tried to exit stage right when the New York police found a huge stash of anabolic steroids in his hideout.  Interesting that Siegel played a steroids dealer in the movie.  Life mimics art?   To the  PW News:

More details are emerging in the case against actor Scott Siegel who had a featured role in the movie "The Wrestler."

According Detective Glen Spinner of the New Rochelle, New York Police Department, a search of a town home owned by Siegel's parents yielded approximately 1,500 bottles of anabolic steroids and $30,000 in cash.  A subsequent search of the actor's home turned up an additional $70,000 in cash.

As for the chase that Siegel led police on, officers initially tried to block in the 34 year-old actor's SUV with four cars.  Siegel promptly rammed three in an effort to successfully free himself.  During that time the accused also struck an officer with his car who was on foot.

There is also a report on the actor here at Perez Hilton.

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

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

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

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

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

MLB has warned players to stay away from him.

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

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

Continued after the jump...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A-Rod cousin down in Miami: Pressed flat, Alex Rodriguez's cousin uncovered in Miami

Trying to recover after the ritual 'under-the-bus-throwing' A-Rod's cousin appears to be alive and well, and not talking in Miami.  Forty-six year-old Yuri Sucart survived his ordeal, however is now mum (until the big money draws him out).  Sporting News carries the story:

The cousin who New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez said helped inject him with performance-enhancing drugs is living in Miami with his family.

ESPN.com reported Wednesday night that cousin is Yuri Sucart, 46. Sucart's wife, Carmen, confirmed to the website that her husband was the person about whom Rodriguez was speaking on Tuesday. But neither she nor her husband wished to discuss what Rodriguez said.

"I told you my husband has nothing to say," Carmen Sucart told a reporter who visited the Sucart residence Wednesday. "What A-Rod said at the press conference happened and that is all."

The website reported that a man who answered Sucart's cell phone Wednesday said Sucart wasn't there and asked a reporter to call back in 30 minutes. That follow-up call went to voicemail, the website reported.

Rodriguez told reporters Tuesday that a cousin, now known to be Sucart, supplied him with "boli," an "energy booster," after purchasing it over the counter in the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez said he used the "boli" from 2001-2003 while with the Texas Rangers. Doping experts, however, believe Sucart supplied Rodriguez with a steroid named Primobolan.

Sports Illustrated reported Feb. 7 that Rodriguez tested positive for Primobolan in 2003.

ESPN also reported that Yuri Sucart has followed Rodriguez around during the early part of Rodriguez's career, first to Seattle, then to Texas.

"Yuri was a mule, not a guy who would initiate anything," ESPN quoted whom it said was a friend once close to Rodriguez. "He did what Alex told him to. He was only looking out for Alex. He is not a guy who would take the initiative to go out and buy drugs. Alex said during the press conference that his cousin just did what he was asked -- that is perfect for Yuri's MO."

Seems like the press can track down anyone these days.  Can the press verify that A-Rod and his Cous really thought that Primobolan was a mundane over-the-counter injectable drug for weight gain only?

Blood doping at the Super Bowl? Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy for the Steelers

Pro cyclists know all about blood doping.  Pro football fans -- and players -- are about to attend a crash course in the technique...sorta.

The New York Times discusses a technique of injury recovery known as 'platelet rich plasma therapy' (PRPT).  Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu used the procedure to recover from injuries.  So how is this medical technique different from outlawed blood doping?

Two of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ biggest stars, Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu, used their own blood in an innovative injury treatment before winning the Super Bowl. At least one major league pitcher, about 20 professional soccer players and perhaps hundreds of recreational athletes have also undergone the procedure, commonly called platelet-rich plasma therapy.

Experts in sports medicine say that if the technique’s early promise is fulfilled, it could eventually improve the treatment of stubborn injuries like tennis elbow and knee tendinitis for athletes of all types.

The method, which is strikingly straightforward and easy to perform, centers on injecting portions of a patient’s blood directly into the injured area, which catalyzes the body’s instincts to repair muscle, bone and other tissue. Most enticing, many doctors said, is that the technique appears to help regenerate ligament and tendon fibers, which could shorten rehabilitation time and possibly obviate surgery.

More of the dope on PRPT after the jump..

Alex Rodriguez faces media during spring training in Tampa; To make donation to Taylor Hooton anti-steroid Foundation

A-Rod opened spring training today with a press conference where he discussed steroid use.  He also announced that he will make a donation to the Taylor Hooton Foundation in Plano Texas.

Reports indicate A-Rod admitted to taking an over-the-counter preparation that contains anabolic steroids.   Although he just now admitted to injections  (the two are very different).

Listening to the press conference A-Rod dodged a question about 'cheating', but he blamed steroid use on being 'young and stupid'.  A-Rod identified his cousin as the supplier of the drug, transported from the Dominican Republic to the United States.

A-Rod is now invoking God, as putting him in a forum where 'I can be heard'.

A-Rod is talking about the steroids being 'over-the-counter' and 'amateur'.  Interesting, in that veterinary anabolic steroids must be 'over-the-counter' in the Dominican.  A-Rod comments that he didn't even know the drugs were steroids.  "I was 24 or 25" (as a note 24 or 25 year-olds graduate from law school and medical school; We would not characterize them as 'young and stupid')

A-Rod refers to 'bolie' which has to be Primobolan, a typical anabolic steroid.  What are the (suspected) effects of anabolic steroids: increased muscle mass, increased power, in proved injury repair, and perhaps improved vigor.  Remember, no study has ever looked at the effects (short or long term) of anabolic steroids in gifted professional athletes.

New witnesses to be called in Barry Bonds BALCO trial, including Patroit linebacker Izzo

The Los Angeles Times delineates the list of potential witnesses in the Federal case against Barry Bonds for lying to the San Francisco Grand Jury about PED use.  A few new names surfaced including Marvin Benard, and football player Larry Izzo.

The government's perjury and obstruction of justice case against Barry Bonds includes plans to call witnesses who will testify that they saw the slugger "being injected" and heard him make statements "admitting his use of steroids," according to court filings Friday in San Francisco.

Among its 39 witnesses, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Northern California said it would call upon "the defendant's mistress," Kimberly Bell, former personal assistants and former teammates Bobby Estalella, Benito Santiago, Armando Rios and Marvin Benard, as well as other major league players...

Syringes, human growth hormone vials and documents pertaining to other athletes with connections to Anderson, including Estalella, Santiago, Jason and Jeremy Giambi and New England Patriots linebacker Larry Izzo, are on the government's exhibits list.

The Feds will also present relatively embarrassing testimony from Bonds's ex-girlfriend Kimberly Bell:

In its filing, the government said Bell "will testify that the defendant told her that he was taking steroids prior to the 2000 baseball season. [She] will further testify to personal observations regarding changes in the defendant's body [beginning in 2000] . . . including bloating, acne on the shoulders and back, hair loss and testicle shrinkage," which prosecution experts will testify is indicative of steroid use.

We could do without some of the images that paragraph invokes.

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

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

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

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

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

Were the 'cancer' comments over the top?

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

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

Continued after the jump...

Lance Armstrong goes off on journalist at the Amgen Tour of California press conference

A former pro cyclist, and now journalist for the London Times felt the full wrath of Lance Armstrong during a press conference preceding the Amgen Tour of California.  Paul Kimmage was bold enough to ask about Armstrong's support of two 'dopers' (Floyd Landis and Irwin Basso).  Armstrong let loose with a tirade against  Kimmage for writing a piece calling him 'the cancer' of cycling, clearly a metaphor for the alleged use of Armstrong's PEDs leading to his multiple Tour de France wins.

Kimmage apparently has violated the la cosa nostra code of omerta within the cycling doping fraternity by 'spitting in the soup'.  That brought him vitriol from multiple outposts of cycling.  Perhaps his metaphor was not appropriate in discussing Armstrong (should he have used 'venereal disease', which would also make everyone uncomfortable;  maybe 'common cold').

Armstrong told Kimmage he "wasn't worth the chair he was sitting on".  Nice comments from a guy who is a purported humanitarian.  Although Armstrong took umbrage at the 'cancer'  metaphor, he needed to understand the comments were a metaphor only.  The journalist was not endorsing cancer.  The journalist was not promoting cancer.  The journalist in the past used cancer as a metaphor and was not using it in his question.

Armstrong wimped out by saying 'Floyd doesn't believe he is guilty' (and has any doper ever believed he is guilty; forget that international courts found Landis red-handed guilty), then added some other illogical verbiage.  Here is a report from The Examiner (complete with video):

Last night, I sat in the second row of the Amgen Tour of California Press Conference. I listened to and asked questions of cycling greats like Basso, Fiere, Cavendish, Hamilton, Leipheimer, Vande Velde, Brooke Miller (winner of last year’s women’s race)and Lance Himself. Everything was going as press conferency as usual...

Lance asked the gentleman his name. The man answered, “Paul Kimmage.” I render a guess Paul may have legally changed it by now. Kimmage, a former pro cyclist from the ‘80s and author of doping expose Rough Ride, is known for exposing the use of drugs in cycling. This is good! The problem? He thinks Lance’s general popularity has made the scandal of doping “disappear”. This is bad! This, however, is even worse: When Lance began his comeback, Kimmage said, in a September interview, “Well he [Lance] is the cancer in this sport. And for four years this sport has been in remission. And now the cancer's back." Kimmage literally called Lance Armstrong “a cancer.” Lance responded in what I can only describe as verbal chemotherapy. And an awesomely high dosage at that.

And Armstrong's response:

"I am here to fight this disease. I am here so I don't have to deal with it, you don't have to deal with it, none of us have to deal with it, my children don't have to deal with it. Yet you said I am the cancer. And the cancer is out of remission. So it goes without saying, no, we aren't going to sit down and do an interview."

“You [pointing at Kimmage] are not worth the chair you’re sitting on.”

The problem here was that Kimmage didn't judge the crowd in the room.  He essentially went into the Roman forum and asked the Cesar if Rome, indeed doesn't suck...not a good idea.

Armstrong, feeling all righteously indignant, and riding for his 'cause' (although the comeback is more about Lance the personality than Lance the cancer fighter) unleashed an unprofessional and undignified tirade on the journalist, clearly veering from the topic and the question.  Methinks he protested too much.

A more professional response would have been to coolly kept on-topic.

Pro cycling will never rid itself of doping (and it has proven that competitors will drug cheat with disturbing regularity at every opportunity) while the cycling mafia controls the enterprise (and rooms like this).

Cycling fans and various groupies will adorn Armstrong with attention.  Pro cycling will ignore doping, to the determent of the fairness of the sport.  Denial is a powerful force.  Death and disability from doping is powerful too.

Remember, doping kills -- just like cancer.

University of Miami (Motto: "Great is the Truth") names baseball stadium "A-Roid Park"

Joining a group of institutions apparently selling naming rights of parks, stadiums, domes, streets, and back alleys, the University of Miami baseball team will be really pumped up (so to speak) when they take the field at A-Roid Alex Rodriguez Park this season.  The university motto is Magna est veritas which means "Great is the truth".  Appropriate to name a baseball park after a player who lied for years about PED and steroid use.

The Miami-raised slugger grew up in the shadows of the park in Miami, which he indicated at the dedication last night in South Florida.   As the New York Daily News points out, A-Rod joked about his recent steroid confessions; we never would have guessed his contriteness would last less than 48 hours now.

Alex Rodriguez's campaign for forgiveness could have begun Friday night. He stood before the most forgiving audience he could get - one that greeted him with a standing ovation - but he made no apology to his fans for cheating them and the game by taking steroids.

For the most part, really, he just made jokes. 

More after the jump

Federal prosecutors to inject surprise witness in Bonds trial: Says she saw Bonds inject

Federal prosecutors say they will produce a witness who saw Greg Anderson inject some boost into Barry Bonds.  The contents of that boost may not matter, but the injection may , as the Feds charge Bonds with lying to a Grand Jury.  Other witnesses, including some ex-baseball teammates of the Giant slugger will also be called to the witness stand.  They all should be on their best behavior, without lies.  To the New York Times:

Federal prosecutors said on Friday that they planned to call Barry Bonds’s former personal shopper at his perjury trial next month to testify that she saw Bonds being injected by Greg Anderson, his trainer.

Kathy Hoskins, the former personal shopper, is the sister of Steve Hoskins, a childhood friend and former business manager of Bonds’s and a person expected to be a key witness against him at trial.

The disclosure, in a pretrial filing by the prosecution, did not say what Kathy Hoskins thought Bonds was being injected with. But that may not matter. In the government’s indictment of Bonds, it said that Bonds lied when he testified before a grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative in 2003 that he was never injected by anyone other than his own doctors.

Kathy Hoskins “will further testify that she observed interactions between the defendant and Greg Anderson,” the filing said, “including Anderson giving the defendant an injection.”

The trial, slated for March 2, will also produce Giant players like Benito Santiago, and the ever present Jason Giambi:

The filing by the prosecutors listed current and former baseball players — including Jason Giambi, his brother Jeremy and Benito Santiago — who will testify about how they received performance-enhancing drugs from Anderson. The prosecutors said that Bobby Estalella, who played with Bonds on the San Francisco Giants in 2000 and 2001, will testify that Bonds admitted to him that he was using performance-enhancing drugs.

Hoskins, however, was a surprise to the press.

But it was the new information about Kathy Hoskins that was the most surprising development in the filing. Last week, the prosecution was set back when United States District Judge Susan Illston indicated she was inclined to throw out several pieces of evidence against Bonds, including positive steroid tests and doping calendars that the prosecution believes link him to drug use.

But Kathy Hoskins’s testimony underscores that the government is also accusing Bonds of perjury for denying that anyone but doctors injected him.

We would suggest Hoskins watch her back the next few weeks...

Maybe steroids do cause emotional instability: Madonna irked at A-Rod's flight to ex-wife

It appears the entire lot of these people take steroids because each day is some new emotional roller-coaster.  Madonna (we need to shower after typing that name) reportedly went roid rage when she found out A-Rod spent time with his wife, following the steroid story revelations, and didn't run for her steady guidance.

As the San Francisco Examiner tells us:

Even though she’s been spotted stepping out with hottie Brazilian model Jesus Lux, Madonna is reportedly not at all happy that rumored flame Alex Rodriguez is spending time with ex-wife Cynthia in Miami.

“Madge is pissed!” an inside source tells the New York Daily News. After the steroids scandal broke, “Alex ran right home to Cynthia, and to Madonna, this is the ultimate dis.”

“But Alex’s handlers want to make sure he’s as far from Madonna as possible,” the source explains. “He has enough negative publicity as it is.” (Gee, we hadn’t heard.)

Madonna might be mad at the story continuing after the jump too...

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig mulling A-Rod suspension and record book modification

In almost unheard thoughtfulness, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said to USA Today (via NBC News) that he will consider suspending newly admitted juicer A-Rod -- Alex Rodriguez -- and will also consider modifying the baseball record books to account for the widespread use of steroids and PEDs.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig on Wednesday left open the possibility of punishing New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez for using performance-enhancing drugs. Selig also said he might consider amending the record book to acknowledge steroids use by players.

Selig told USA Today in a telephone interview he "would have to think about" taking action against Rodriguez, saying the player broke the law by using PEDs. Selig refused to be specific about possible penalties, and he indicated a decision would not be made quickly.

The MLB Player's Association executive Don Fehr brushed off the reports (of course).  The Yankees, likewise, will ignore A-Rods steroid confession; The Yanks desperately need his bat.

Donald Fehr, the association's executive director, told USA Today he was not expecting Selig to take any action. "I would be surprised if there was an attempt to do it," the newspaper quoted Fehr as saying. "I don't know anything about that."

The Yankees have said they would not discipline Rodriguez.

On the issue of changing the records, Selig said he would look into the possibility of reinstating Hank Aaron -- a personal friend -- as No. 1 on the all-time home run list and attach asterisks or some other note to the records of players involved in steroids use. "Once you start tinkering, you can create more problems," USA Today quoted Selig as saying. "But I'm not dismissing it. I'm concerned. I'd like to get some more evidence."

Lance Armstrong backs out of Don Catlin anti-doping protocol

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

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

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

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

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

More on Armstrong and Catlin after the jump...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TaStory continues after Tajump...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A-Rod -- Alex Rodriguez -- admits to A-Roiding

Baseball slugging icon Alex Rodriguez, aka A-Rod, admitted today he gained some of his extraordinary power from A-Roiding.  A-Rod's admissions add one more piece of evidence to the baseball power era known as The Steroid Era, when sluggers went 'roid wild, toppling gravity with immense feats of power hitting.  It will also be known as an era when the top MLB talent simply cheated the game, the fans, and in the end themselves.

Some say events occur in threes; A-Rods confession coincides with Barry Bonds's BALCO/steroid legal battles firing up again this year, and Mark McGwire's brother pulling open the curtain on his juiced slugging career. The vintage sluggers of just 5-15 years ago now appear to have cheated past sluggers like the Babe with a ptoent mix of anabolic PEDs like testosterone, nandrolone, HGH, and other more exotic drugs.

A-Rod admitted in an interview with Peter Gammons (was this staged?) to roiding (blast magazine):

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003.

ESPN is reporting that Rodriguez, in an exclusive interview with Peter Gammons, has admitted to allegations that surfaced in a recent Sports Illustrated report online.

“I felt an enormous amount of pressure,” Rodriguez told Gammons. “Back then it was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive. I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth, you know, being one of the greatest players of all time, and I did take a banned substance.”

Rodriguez did appear apologetic in talking to Gammons.

Reports indicated A-Rod tested positive for testosterone and primobolan.  His 3 year run from 2001 to 2003 included 52, 57, and 47 home runs.  And who says anabolic steroids don't benefit sluggers?

The drug Rodriguez allegedly tested positive for, Primobolan, is less detectable than many other steroids because its markers stay in the body for less time than other drugs. It is also expensive, costing about $500 per week, SI reported.

Rodriguez called the time a “loosey goosy” era, saying he didn’t “know exactly what substance” he “was guilty of using.”

Rodriguez hit 47 home runs in 2003, good enough for his third consecutive home run title.

UK Heptathlete Sotherton to Ukranian Blonska: "You cheating cow"

The UK's favorite all-around female athlete had something to say to The Ukraine's doping heptathlete Lyudmila Blonska: "You cheating cow".  Yes, Britain's Kelly Sotherton offers her 'high' opinion of the bovine-ous Ukrainian opponent (cow photo below right).  To the Daily Mail:

Kelly Sotherton received her official certificate from the Beijing Olympic Games only last week. It states baldly that she finished fourth in the heptathlon.

But behind that simple confirmation of how close the 32-year-old came to adding to Britain's impressive medal haul in China lies a story of deceit, dismay and bitter disappointment that only now, five months later, has Sotherton been able to tell.

When the two days of competition in the heptathlon ended, Sotherton found herself placed a disappointing fifth in the final standings. In the aftermath of the event, it was revealed that silver medallist Lyudmila Blonska had failed a drug test for testosterone Blonska was thrown out of the Games and subsequently banned for life, along with her husband and coach, Sergii Blonskyi.

Sotherton had seen this cheating heart before:

It was a wearily familiar story for those in track and field. The Ukrainian had failed a drugs test in 2003 for steroids and banned for two years, and Sotherton had regularly attacked her return to the sport as that of a drug cheat.

Last week, Sotherton revealed to The Mail on Sunday exactly how blatant and cynical Blonska's behaviour in Beijing had been.

Sotherton said that she became suspicious of her rival when she saw the Ukrainian being handed something by her husband as the competitors walked into the stadium to take part in the heptathlon's long jump.

And the painful doping exposed:

'During our long jump event in Beijing I saw Blonska take something,' said Sotherton. 'I was sitting next to her during the event, watching her doing it and thinking: "You cheating cow".

'It had started when we were called out of the holding room for the long jump and I saw her husband, who's also her coach, hand her something. We were walking out in single file, with the judges in the front, and he just back-handed her something in a tissue.

'I thought, "I'm going to sit next to you and see you do it. You're cheating. I know you are". I  followed her right to the long jump - maybe that's why I messed up my own long jump - and she had a phial. Maybe it was the thing that should have masked her drugs or a stimulant. But she was taking something.

'I think she thought she could do it subtly, but I decided I was going to stare her in the eye. And I thought: "Go on then, do it". And she did!

'It had happened before at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia. Then her husband threw something to her (from the crowd), which you can't do. I didn't see it but all the coaches did and thought it was wrong, but no one reported it. When he did the same again in Beijing, I reported it to the British team and they notified the athletics authorities, the IAAF, and they found something in the warm-up area.'

Blonska cheating at the Beijing Olympic Games, blatant manipulation of the rules and ignorance of the integrity of the Games.  However, like many cheats, she posed as the persecuted:

'Maybe she thought she was going to get away with it,' said Sotherton. 'But a couple of hours later she was testing positive. When I spoke out against her in 2007, I think people thought I was out of turn and that I should have been looking forward to getting my bronze medal instead of talking about someone I know is cheating. 

'But everyone who had said that I ought to be quiet then came up to me this year and said: "Oh you were right!" Even the organiser from the most important multi-events meeting in Gotzis (Konrad Lerch) said: "Kelly, you knew, didn't you? You did a good job speaking out". He obviously felt remorseful as he had let her back into his meeting.

Sotherton appears to have come to terms with the cheating.  The article closes as such:

'There is nothing you can do about it. Cheating is part of life. There will always be cheating but you know what your medals represent. I just think that if you believe you can do it clean, do it.'

Sotherton has at least scored that small victory. 'I got my fourth-placed certificate from the Olympics this week,' she said. 'I had to fight to get it because they weren't going to give another certificate out. But I never came fifth. I came fourth.'

Interesting how many cheats have been revealed over the past few weeks:  R-Rod, Bonds, and the Olympians...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The testing procedure itself appears to be corrupt:

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

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

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

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

Barry Bonds's doctor -- Arthur Ting -- goes roid rage on another doc at hospital

Dr. Arthur Ting, Barry Bonds's physician appears to have gone a bit 'roid rage himself.  The San Francisco By area orthopod might be charged with assaulting a colleague during a confrontation in a hospital.  Good lord, do doctors need to pee for steroids tests 4 times a year now too?

Ting is not a stranger to controverts.  As we noted Ting has been disciplined by the California medical board in the past.  His twin boys quit the USC football team after a reported steroids violation.  And hey, California is a state governed by a former juicer -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. To the San Jose Mercury:

A physician obtained a court restraining order Thursday against former Giants slugger Barry Bonds' orthopedic surgeon, whom he accused of assaulting him last December inside a Redwood City hospital during a fit of rage.

Dr. Arthur Ting, who may be called to testify at the upcoming trial of baseball's all-time home run leader, is accused of attacking Dr. Michael Eiffert during a confrontation at Sequoia Hospital.

Ting has not been arrested and the case has been submitted to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office to determine whether criminal charges should be filed, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

Under the restraining order signed by Superior Court Judge John Grandsaert, Ting must stay 100 yards away from Eiffert, an internal medicine physician and Palo Alto resident, for three years.

During Thursday's brief hearing, Ting's attorney Josh Bentley did not argue against the restraining order, telling the judge he would "not present any evidence at this time." Eiffert represented himself at the hearing.

Bentley declined requests for comment outside the courtroom. Ting did not appear in court and did not return calls seeking comment.

Here is the roid rage episide, which the assualted physiican termed 'roid rage'.  Priceless.

According to a police report on the Dec. 26 incident, Eiffert, 37, said Ting grabbed him by the neck inside a stairwell and pushed him up against a wall. Eiffert told Redwood City police that Ting, 57, was upset because Eiffert refused to do a consultation on one of his surgery patients.

Asked in an interview outside the courtroom whether he saw any connection in his case to Bonds' trial for perjury and obstruction of justice, Eiffert said: "The behavior exhibited by the defendant seems to be reminiscent or consistent with roid rage." The term "roid rage" refers to the intense bouts of anger people on steroids sometimes display.

Pressed to explain whether he believes Ting was using steroids when he allegedly lost his temper Dec. 26, Eiffert said: "I couldn't make a judgment as to that, but certainly the behavior was out of control."

Ting, who is the San Jose Sharks' team physician and has a medical practice in Fremont, performed knee surgery on Bonds several times in 2005. Court documents show federal prosecutors plan to call Ting as a witness in their case against Bonds.

Nandrolone or Winny?  Hmmmmmm, wonder what Ting benches?  Rest of the report:

Ting was placed on probation in 2004 by the state medical board for lax supervision of physician assistants and other subordinates, according to state documents.

Eiffert said he is considering filing a civil lawsuit against Ting but would not elaborate, saying he wants to consult with an attorney.

Redwood City police were dispatched to Sequoia Hospital at about 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 26 to a report of a battery, according to the police report.

Eiffert told police Ting called him to ask for a consultation on one of Ting's surgery patients, who had a history of seizures.

Eiffert said Ting just wanted another doctor to check out his patient on a Friday afternoon because that "unlucky doctor is stuck with the responsibility of caring for the patient" once Ting leaves.

The phone conversation escalated, with Ting saying "something to the effect of, 'Ya know, I had a problem with you a year ago,'" according to Eiffert's statement in the report.

Eiffert said he replied, "Your (sic) the ding dong who was giving alcohol to a patient," according to the report.

Ting had been accused of bringing alcohol into the hospital and making cocktails for a patient Eiffert was treating for alcoholism, Eiffert told police.

Eiffert went on to say he did not know whether Ting was disciplined for the alcohol incident. Sequoia Hospital spokeswoman Joanie Cavanaugh declined to comment on the matter Thursday.

After Ting arrived in person at the small office Eiffert was working in, Eiffert said he had other patients to see and refused to immediately consult with Ting's patient, according to the report.

Eiffert said he eventually left the room and an angry Ting followed him into a stairway, grabbed him by the neck and held him up against a wall, according to the report. Ting let go and grabbed him a second time more forcefully, then "pushed Eiffert hard against the wall," hitting the back of his head.

"I'll kill you. I'll crush you. You don't know who I am. I'll kick your ass. And don't ever call me a ding dong again," Ting said, according to Eiffert's account.

Eiffert said he continued to try to defuse the situation and Ting finally let him go, the report said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hoskins: Right.

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

Hoskins: Uh-huh.

Anderson: And it comes up with nothing.

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

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

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

Bonds documents released today in San Francisco

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Biathalon union (IBU) boss claims new blood doping drug used by Russian biathletes

The president of the International Biathlon Union, Anders Besseberg, says that 3 Russian biathletes tested positive for a blood doping agent, which he claims is a new drug, not EPO.  To the Khaleej Times:

Three Russian biathletes alleged to have failed dope tests were using a completely new performance enhancer, local media here reported the president of the sport’s ruling body as saying Wednesday.

So far the names of the three athletes have not been revealed because the results from the analysis of their B samples have yet to be released.

International Biathlon Union (IBU) president Anders Besseberg is reported as saying the trio had not been caught using EPO (erythropoietin), the banned blood booster which has been popular with endurance athletes.

‘We’re not talking about EPO. This is a completely new medication,’ the Russian media quoted Besseberg as saying.

‘I consider this a serious breakthrough in our fight against doping.’

What drug contaminated the athletes, as reported by Besseberg?  Could it be the newer CERA EPO?

Besseberg stressed that the names of the alleged dope cheats would not be revealed before their B samples were tested.

However Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, citing unofficial sources, on Wednesday named Ekaterina Iourieva, Albina Akhatova and Dmitry Yaroshenko as the athletes who tested positive.

Iourieva leads the women’s overall World Cup standings having claimed her second win of the season on January 25 in the mass-start event in Antholz, Italy.

Earlier this week the IBU informed the Russian Biathlon Union of the failed tests by two women and one man on December 5 last year at a World Cup event at Ostersund, Sweden.

Other reports last month said that Russian biathlete Ivan Cherezov tested positive for high levels of hemoglobin -- which indicates blood doping.  However, Russian news agency Tass skewered reports of Russian biathletes using blood doping.

Suspicious double helix found on Roger Clemens's syringe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Michael Phelps bong hit explodes: Just blowing smoke

The weekend flap over Michael Phelps's college bong hit produced a huge amount of smoke, without much fire.

To recap, a photo of Phelps toking on a marijuana bong at a college party rivaled the Superbowl for silliness.  The New York news we watched asked if Phelps career was over?  For what?  Attending a college frat party at the University of South Carolina?  To eFluxMedia:

Michael Phelps, the man who won more Olympic gold medals than any athlete in the history of the competition, admitted that the photo run by a British tabloid in which he appeared smoking from a marijuana pipe was real. He apologized for engaging in the “regrettable” activity.

Phelps said on Sunday that he is sorry for his “regrettable” behavior and for showing “bad judgment” during a college party three months ago. The photos run by the News of the World, a London-based Sunday tabloid, showed the swimmer smoking marijuana from a pipe, commonly known as a bong. 

The record 14- time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer said he acted in a “youthful and inappropriate way” instead of behaving like people expect him to.

Recall too that Phelps exhibits ADHD, which means he can be impulsive. 

And what part of 'career ending' does this constitute?  Perhaps a career in which a world famous athlete thinks that he enjoys some privacy.  He doesn't.  Everything Phelps does will be exposed to some media hype.  If he belches, spits, or falls on the ice, a newspaper will scream about it (or we might).

Marijuana in a doping test would be considered positive if discovered during competition.  Off competition THC is a free bird.

He will not have to face any punishment for admitting to smoking marijuana. The substance is outlawed in Olympic sports, but only during the competition, and Phelps was clear during the Beijing Olympics. However, it is quite hard to understand why marijuana, which doesn’t enhance one’s physical abilities and does quite the opposite, is banned by the Olympic Committee. If a sportsman smokes marijuana and manages to win a gold medal, or even finish the race, I would personally give him two medals. The ban probably has more to do with the example Olympic champions set for young fans.

In a statement released with the occasion of this scandal, the U.S. Olympic Committee said that Phelps is a “role model, and he is well aware of the responsibilities and accountability that come with setting a positive example for others, particularly young people.” Last week, the U.S.O.C. named Phelps male athlete of the year.

The question about marijuana placed on the prohibited list revolves around the logic of a street drug as a performance enhancing drug.  Good question.

Marijuana would generally be considered to detract from performance due to effects on concentration, memory, and overall performance.  However in some competitive events pot could relax the competitor thus giving him an advantage, although the athlete might get the munchies in the middle of the game.

As for Phelps's college bong hit: We are shocked, SHOCKED, of dope smoking in college.