Steroid Nation

Roger Clemens indicted for obstruction of justice during Congressional steroids hearing in 2008

In a House of Representatives chamber in 2008, Roger Clemens assured the gathered congressmen that he never took steroids.  US federal attorneys are accusing Clemens of not representing the truth in his testimony.  (from the AP)

Roger Clemens was vehement: "Let me be clear. I have never taken steroids or HGH," he told a House committee in 2008. Now, instead of the Hall of Fame, baseball's seven-time Cy Young winner could go to prison after being indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for allegedly lying to Congress.

The case writes a new chapter in one of baseball's worst scandals, the rampant use of performance-enhancing drugs in the 1990s and early 2000s, and leaves Clemens' legacy in jeopardy.

The six-count indictment alleges that Clemens obstructed a congressional inquiry with 15 different statements made under oath, including denials that he had ever used steroids or human growth hormone.

Virginia Congressman Tom Davis relates this about the Rocket:

"Clemens was not under subpoena. He came voluntarily," Davis said. "And I sat there in the office with (committee chairman) Henry Waxman and said, 'Whatever you do, don't lie.'"

Clemens was sticking to his story Thursday. He insisted he was telling the truth, again denying any wrongdoing on or off the field.

Through his lawyer, the veteran Rusty Hardin, Clemens claims  he neither lied, nor took HGH or steroids.  Clemens turned down a plea bargain.

Clemen's ex-trainer Brian McNamee reports he administered PEDs to the Rocket.  One would think that the Government has ascertained other witnesses or other evidence to Clemens' PED use.

Baseball's Mitchell Report mentioned Clemens a few times -- like 82.

Will Connecticut elect the steroids WWE fighting-senator, Linda McMahon?

Voters in Connecticut decided to run WWE executive Linda McMahon against Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal.  Mrs. McMahon funded her campaign with generous amounts of cash from her personal fortune.

McMahon's husband Vince McMahon is the chief exec of the WWE and is a widely known and admitted friend and user of steroids.  Why not have Mrs McMahon join government as the steroids senator..we have at least one steroids governor in California...(the Wall Street Journal)

 Democrats picked the former mayor of Stamford as their best hope to win the Connecticut governor's mansion for the first time since 1986, while wealthy wrestling executive Linda McMahon will take on Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in the race for the state's open U.S. Senate seat.

Mrs. McMahon will have a hard fight in this heavily Democratic state. But her vow to spend up to $50 million of her own money on her campaign will make her a formidable opponent to Mr. Blumenthal, who has had a strong but narrowing lead in recent polls.

The race will likely continue to receive intense national attention, as an upset by Mrs. McMahon in the race for the seat held by retiring Sen. Christopher Dodd would help tip the balance of power in the Senate toward the Republicans.

Image is everything: Andre Agassi story points out star-power weakness in anti-doping fight

 Andre Agassi, cashing on on the world wide market for a juicy story, hits upon a weakness of the anti-doping fight: The ability of star power to overcome the rules. Where is Agassi's image now - as he says 'Image is Everything" -- when he reveals himself as a drug user and a liar to his sports authorities?

Agassi's new book reveals that he submitted a urine sample tainted with meth that should revealed to his suspension for a drug of abuse, not a PED.  However, Agasi lied about the meth, a lie which was bought by the tennis anti-doping establishment.

Stories abound about star power tainting the doping fight:

1.  Barry Bonds and other MLB stars appear to have been tipped off by someone with deep knowledge of MLB steroids testing

2.  Willy Voet's book -- Breaking the Chain -- documents the skill in the cycling stars to avoid doping tests in events such as the Tour de France.

3. Star Russian track athletes including world champion Yelena Soboleva were tipped off to doping tests, prior to the olympics.

One wonders the extent of the cheating based on star power throughout sports (and society in general).  Obviously the playing field is not equal.  Little guys are going to face more sanctions that the stars (generally speaking).  The truth of the corruption (which it is) often doesn't come out, as the stars reap the rewards.

Kinda like the man said about the NCAA...

Of course there's no guarantee the NCAA will step in and do the right thing in any of these cases. Tarkanian best summed up the NCAA's approach to justice 14 years ago, after a package from the Kentucky basketball office to the father of a recruit popped open and $10,000 fell out. 'The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky,' Tarkanian said, 'that it's going to put Cleveland State on probation for three more years.'" - by John Feinstein, Washington Post, "A March Into Madness," March 11, 2003.

Senator John McCain wonders "Where did you go Joe DiMaggio" after recent Red Sox steroids scandal

A nation turns it's lonely eyes to you...yes you John McCain.

Senator John MCCain, the recent 2008 Republican candidate for POTUS comments on the MLB steroids revelations last week.  (Taragana)

Sen. John McCain is lamenting the latest report of a baseball player linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

Last week the players’ union confirmed that Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was among the 104 major leaguers who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003.

In response to the revelation, McCain sent a message on his Twitter account that read, “David Ortiz tested positive for steroids, ‘where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?’”

McCain says the situation in baseball makes him sick. Even more bothersome, he says, is the idea that someone in a laboratory somewhere is trying to develop a substance that tests can’t detect.

McCain has long been a critic of the MLB steroid policy.

The Arizona Republican spoke to CNN’s “State of the Union” for its Sunday broadcast.

Somethings getting hairy with Lance Armstrong: Report sent to WADA and UCI

The Hartford Courant says WADA and UCI received a report on Lance Armstrong's recent haircut.
A hair sample? That's what France is banking on in its report to the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

A sample of Lance Armstrong's hair, taken during an out-of-competition test in Beaulieu-sur-Mer in southern France, was sent to be analyzed. Testing of hair samples is allowed under French law, but is not recognized by WADA or the UCI.

French Doping Agency chief Pierre Bordry declined to disclose details of the report. "I sent [the report] in order to get an opinion on the matter. I am not making any judgments," Bordry said.

Armstrong said it was the first time he had to provide a hair sample. He said the test "butchered" his haircut.

Cycling Weekly says the report discusses Armstrong's behavior.  Gee, that's news.

The French Anti-Doping Authority (AFLD) has filed a report on Lance Armstrong's behaviour during a recent out-of-competition drug test. Both the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have received the report.

The exact nature of the report has not been revealed, but it is likely that Armstrong was not happy to have an impromptu haircut.

The seven-times Tour de France champion was visited in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France, on Tuesday, March 17, whilst training for July's Tour de France. AFLD inspectors requested the usual blood and urine samples, and also removed a sample of hair for analysis.

"Yet another 'surprise' anti-doping control," wrote Armstrong on his Twitter site a day later. "This one from the French authorities. Urine, blood, and hair! Classic..."

Armstrong had to get his hair cut short after the sample was taken as the testers had left it "butchered".

No wonder Armstrong wanted his own unique Catlin-testing protocol.  That would retain his flamboyant hairstyle, seen at the left (um, pretty droll).

Eric Holder -- Barack Obama's Attorney General nominee -- not a big hit with doping agencies

President elect Barack Obama nominated long time Washington lawyer Eric Holder as his cabinet's Attorney General (AG).  Holder's nomination prompted some critique of his time in the Clinton White House.  However the countries anti-doping enforcement agencies also hold opinions about the AG-in waiting.  They are not pleased.  Maybe Holder will treat steroid offenders the way he treated Clinton-era sleazeball Marc Rich.

Seems Holder wanted all the information top steroid-enforcement government agencies could gather, but didn't want to reciprocate.  Guess that's called 'diplomacy'...or 'stubborn self-interest''. Lester Munson writes a fascinating article at ESPN on the subject.

When the NFL grew tired of embarrassing disclosures and congressional hearings about performance-enhancing drugs and wanted to establish a voice in the federal government's investigations, league officials turned to Eric Holder, the man who is now President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for attorney general.

Holder quickly gathered senior executives from the other three leagues and their player unions and led them into a series of meetings in 2007 with top officials of, among others, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the FBI, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the agency that presides over the nation's "war on drugs." The sessions began with a measure of fanfare.

Holder was a natural choice to lead the effort. He served as deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration and then became a partner in Covington & Burling, a powerful Washington law firm that has long represented the NFL. For seven years, Holder helped the NFL through a number of difficulties, including an investigation of the dog-fighting charges against Michael Vick, the implementation of the Rooney Rule that requires owners to interview minority candidates for head coach vacancies, and the league's personal conduct crackdown.  

Meetings began with all concerned hoping to develop a cooperative environment.

At the outset, hopes were high. After the first meeting in March of 2007, Scott Burns, the deputy director of the ONDCP and a participant in the sessions, said, "This is the first step in changing the way we look at the problem in the U.S. I hear more about human growth hormone and steroids and athletes than I do about crack cocaine. This is important to America."

Darryl Seibel, an official of the U.S. Olympic Committee, which also participated in the meetings, was equally hopeful. "You have, for the first time, a collaboration on an entirely new level on a national issue that requires a response such as this," he said.

But the efforts at cooperation ended badly when, led by Holder, the leagues and the unions refused to consider serious reforms in the way in which users of steroids were investigated and prosecuted and insisted on maintaining their own drug enforcement procedures under their respective collective bargaining agreements. The collaboration between law enforcement and sports organizations quietly fell apart.

"There was no substance to it," said one law enforcement official who participated in the meetings. "It was all for show."

Apparently some organizations, and their representatives, cannot play well with others:

"Holder and the professional leagues wanted us to share information with them," a top official of a law enforcement agency who participated in Holder's meetings told ESPN.com. "They wanted to know what players were involved. They wanted an end to leaks from our investigations. But when we asked for their information about players who used or where players bought their drugs, they didn't want to give us anything."

Might Holder's cooperating and stances with top Federal law enforcement agencies filter into the AG confirmation hearings?  Interesting questions, and ESPN responds after the jump.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama disses anti-doping and steroid efforts in Congress

Democratic presidential candidate Barrack Obama took a huge swipe at anti-steroid activists today, perhaps tossing out some baby with the John McCain bathwater. From the WaPo:

...Obama suggested this morning there were more important things on which the government should focus.

"Kids are watching sports. They're modeling themselves on athletes," Obama said. "It's a serious problem, but it's one that you want to see the leagues themselves handle in a more appropriate way. We've got nuclear weapons and a financial meltdown to worry about. We shouldn't be worrying about steroids as much as I think sometimes we do."

However the candidate apparently wants government time spent on the NCAA D-1 football playoffs:

Although he says government should be more hands-off on steroids, Obama did suggest other sports areas in which his administration might meddle.

"I would have my attorney general investigate the possibility of instituting a college football playoff system through executive order. I'm tired of this nonsense at the end of every college football season," Obama said.

There is a fine use of government time.  Where do these candidates come up with their ideas (that had to be said tongue in cheek)?  Or perhaps this is all about taking a swipe at opponent Republican John McCain.

Let's remind the candidate about steroids and doping involved in the Mitchell Report, the Roger Clemens case, the San Diego Tribune NFL steroid scandal sheet, the on-going saga of Lance Armstrong, and the Olympic scandals.  Let's remind the candidate that often not much happens to combat doping and steroid use in the professional leagues (NFL, MLB) until the Congress becomes interested.  Let's remind the candidate that the US derives so much from Olympic involvement (generally the most benefit from the Olympics goes to NBC TV or whomever is broadcasting the event) that the country needs to get with the program in meeting IOC and WADA anti-doping standards.  Baseball will likely be eliminated because the leagues cannot meet WADA doping standards.

In most progressive European countries there are national anti-doping ministers at a governmental level.  Not the United State.  Most European countries also have passed sports fraud laws.  We sure don't hope that under an Obama administration doping and steroid awareness returns to the good old days of benign neglect or active ignorance.

Appearing on ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike in the Morning" program, Obama did not mention the Arizonan by name. But the Democratic presidential nominee did make clear that he would steer a different course than McCain has in the past when he was asked "how much government should be involved with sports and performance-enhancing drugs."

"I gotta admit that seeing a lot of congressional hearings around steroid use is not probably the best use of congressional time," Obama said.

McCain has long been closely identified with efforts on the Hill to expose steroid use in baseball. In 2004, when McCain was chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, his panel held a high-profile hearing on the subject, and McCain's scrutiny helped force Major League Baseball owners to implement a new drug-testing policy.  McCain said the following year that the league "can't be trusted" to handle the issue on its own, and threatened to write legislation cracking down on performance-enhancing drugs. A House committee also held highly publicized hearings on steroids in baseball in 2007.

It does sound like Obama agrees with the opinion that Congressional time is better spent on 700 Billion dollar bailouts, which occur every day.  In fact that sounds like the more potent steroids are getting injected right into Wall Street corporate America.

Wish Senator Obama would read here about why Congress should be involved in steroid and doping issues.

Monday evening steroid injection: President Bush signs new anti-doping policy

1.  President George W. Bush signed a new international anti-doping agreement.  (LA Times)

2.  The Breeder's Cup outlaw horse steroids.  Next female bodybuilding... (Louisville Courier-Journal)

Sunday night steroids dose

1.  Christine Ohuruogu runs under a dope-testing cloud.  (The Independent)

2.  UK sports observers bemoan Olympics doping.  (The Daily Mail)

3.  The Hagarstown Herald-Mail equates doped athletes with dishonest politicians.

Cop steroid busts hurt New York City police work

Good story in the Village Voice today discussing how cops busted on steroids don't make for smooth legal proceedings.

In the wake of numerous cases befouled by the misdeeds of NYPD narco cops, the department's steroid scandal is now further deflating the judicial system.

Prosecutors in Brooklyn dismissed 54 narcotics cases late last week, bringing the total in that borough alone to 271—and counting.

Incredible.  Cops busted for using or selling steroids are poisoning the prosecutors cases; this doesn't sound like a process for making the streets of New Yrok safer.  Here is one story:

Meanwhile, the still-simmering steroid scandal ("Cops on Steroids," December 19–25, 2007) has just begun poisoning cases: A prime example is the bust of gunman—and known scumbag—Gary Waters.

The ex-con was nabbed by cops in September 2006 with a fully loaded 9mm handgun, an extra 15-bullet magazine, 27 loose rounds, and a pair of handcuffs. Since then, however, the arresting officer in the case, Vaughn Ettienne, and his supervisor, Sergeant Raymond Cotton, were suspended in the steroid probe, which has ensnared 29 cops who allegedly received illegal prescriptions. Both Ettienne and Cotton tested positive for steroid use, according to law-enforcement officials.

After Waters's lawyer read late last year in the Voice about the suspensions, he launched a "'roid rage" accusation against both Ettienne and Cotton (who signed off on the bust). Last month, Brooklyn Supreme Court judge Michael Gary denied Waters's request for access to the Brooklyn D.A.'s files in the steroid probe to determine whether there was any evidence to support his lawyer's contention that the cops were in the throes of "'roid rage" when they busted him. But the judge ruled that Waters's Legal Aid attorney, Adrian Lesher, already has a "good-faith basis" to question the cops—if they take the stand, as they normally would in such a case—about steroid use and its possible side effects.

It's unlikely that this courtroom confrontation will ever materialize, however.

A spokesman for D.A. Charles "Joe" Hynes says that "our position right now is [that] the case is still going forward," but sources in the office say a supervising assistant district attorney in charge of gun cases is leaning toward dismissing the case against Waters.

Ettienne and Cotton would too easily become targets for the defense, says a source.In any event, cops will often become worthless as witnesses for the prosecution if they're facing legal troubles of their own.

"My experience is that once cops get suspended, they generally don't cooperate with us anymore" on their pending cases, the source says.

D.A. spokesman Jerry Schmetterer says the office will review other pending cases involving Ettienne, Cotton, and four other police officers suspended last November after testing positive for steroids, to determine whether those suspensions would adversely affect the cases stemming from the busts they made. Schmetterer says he doesn't know how many such cases have been worked on by the six cops.

Defense attorneys will jump all over the evidence for an increase in aggressiveness seen with anabolic steroid use:

Lesher won't comment on the case, but one of his motions notes that "anabolic steroids have been repeatedly cited by medical authorities as a reason for spontaneous and irrational aggressive behavior," and contends that "'roid rage was probably partially responsible for one of the most horrific instances of New York police brutality in modern memory, Justin Volpe's sodomization of Abner Louima with a toilet plunger in 1997."

There may or may not be complete scientific evidence that anabolic steroids increase EVERY users aggression; attorneys simply need to throw that doubt out there for jurors to ponder.

Officers have been plagued with corruption due to drugs and sex in the past, but now add steroid use to a list of corrupting influences.  And cite this compelling case made by the defense:

But try telling that to a Brooklyn jury—especially when the defense, according to its motions, was headed down this path: "In this case the reported illegal use [by Ettienne and Cotton] provides cause to believe that at least these officers put their interest above those of society, that these officers feel free to commit criminal acts with impunity and that these officers are under the influence of drugs which cause irrational aggressive behavior. Moreover, the desire to cover up such illegal behavior provides a motive to fabricate testimony and evidence."

Does Dara Torres suffer from a double standard of doping scrutiny?

Interesting column from the normally logical Gwen Knapp today.  She wonders why a 40 year-old male like Barry Bonds received a free pass when he belted a home run every time he spit, meanwhile a successful 41 year-old female swimmer -- Dara Torres --  comes under the intense scrutiny of the doping-suspicions crowd. (Torres simply delivered a baby at age ~39, then records 5% faster times in her postpartum swimming years than she did in her college competitions; maybe she cut down on that college drinking).

We are going to suffer from the fallout after we deliver our opinion, however it is obvious where this is going: a double standard of men receiving the pass and women receiving grief.  Knapp might have added in the double standard between Euro and African genes -- some say African-American athletes suffer discrimination and thus are accused of doping more often than Euro athletes.  We can't keep up with all the double standards...

A 41-year-old woman did the impossible. Dara Torres swam faster than she ever did before, making her fifth Olympic team. As a result, she faced questions about doping, suspicions she fully expected and completely deserved.

But when Barry Bonds, at age 37, suddenly went from a great hitter to a supernatural one, increasing his home run output by nearly 50 percent, the media didn't put him on the defensive about steroids. It would take a lot more than 73 home runs in a single season to make that happen.

When Lance Armstrong returned from cancer treatment and transformed himself from a cyclist who barely could get through a Tour de France into the imperial master of the event, no American reporter dared challenge the authenticity of his accomplishment.

We've come a long way since the BALCO investigation schooled us on performance-enhancing drugs. But how far have we really come? Olympians are still held to higher standards than better-known jocks, and women somehow keep paying higher prices for doping awareness than their male peers.

A great deal of water flowed under the doping bridge since Barry Bonds lit up the night with steroid-fueled home runs in 2001.  BALCO. Operation Puerto.  The Mitchell Report. The Carolina Panther Superbowl Scandal.  More Tour de France scandals involving luminaries like Floyd Landis.  Of all these various doping and steroid scandals, only several women trickled out of the predominantly male scandals: Marion Jones, Chryste Gaines,  and cyclist Tammy Thomas to name several of BALCO fame.  Jones and Thomas exacerbated part of their plights: the simple doping truth would have saved their souls and actually their careers.  (And why is BALCO-linked swimmer Amy Van Dyken less notorious than Jones or Thomas?  Gender bias?)

Point is that the sporting public is much much more aware of steroids and HGH and insulin and modafinil now than in 1998 when McGwire and Sosa set personal bests in home run totals, not in the 50 freestyle.

Performance alone rarely triggers widespread suspicion in the media, but it sufficed for accusations against Torres and, 20 years ago, Florence Griffith-Joyner. The same scrutiny does not apply to men until they have a failed test on their record, federal investigators on their tails or a member of their entourage under indictment.

Oh really? Roger Clemens comes to mind.  How many dope tests did Roger Clemens fail?  The Rocket suffered more scrutiny than anyone since Bill Clinton over the past year.  Time and time again fans referred to Clemens rather mundane pitching numbers in his last years with Boston, and the sudden revitalization of the 34 year (that's right 34, not 41) at Toronto.  No doping positives there either.  Clemens doesn't even live with an endocrinologist, although wife Debbie is expert in HGH use.

Need some other names who never failed a test, yet are mentioned in doping: Brady Anderson and Luis Gonzalez come under scrutiny for storybook -- but unusually dubious -- sporting achievements.  None is admitting to cooking the books (or their looks), nor are Internet pharmacy receipts found for these males, yet the steroids-scrutiny continues on.

Is there some belief in male athletic accomplishment, perhaps its confirmation of masculinity, that does not surrender as easily to the realities of doping? Or is it simply that the most prominent women tend to be Olympians, and we expect greater purity from athletes who represent our country? Whatever the reason, men get to spin their fairy tales with less resistance.

Fairly tales with less resistance?  How about Usain Bolt, a young athlete setting the world record in the 100M?  In his 3rd or 4th 100M he was under scrutiny for doping, with nothing much known about the guy.  The Y chromosome sure didn't save his butt from the hot spotlight of doping suspicion.  Every remarkable achievement in sports henceforth will come under 'PED scrutiny'; such is modern life post-pharmacology.

(more controversy after the jump)

Daily Steroids Dose, July 4th Edition

1.  Morgan Hamm takes shot in the dark; corticosteroid shot may not be OK.  (San Fran Chronicle) (LA Times)

2.  Toronto cops in trouble for large drug ring, including steroids.  (CTV) (UPI)

3.  Former 100M world record holder and BALCO cheat Tim Montgomery pleads guilty to heroin charges.  (Sporting Life) (AP)

4.  The PGA kicks off dope testing.  (AP)

5.  Lord Coe not happy with Dwain Chambers's legal challenge.  (The Telegraph)

6.  Was Hawaiian firefighter selling Chinese steroids?  (Honolulu Advertiser)

Balk? Did MLB officials -- Fehr and Selig -- fib before Congress

ESPN reports that California House member Henry Waxman is none too pleased with Bud Selig and Don Fehr's 2005 testimony before his committee investigating steroid use in baseball.]

Henry Waxman, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman, is disputing the validity of testimony given by MLB commissioner Bud Selig and union chief Donald Fehr regarding drug testing during a March 2005 hearing, The New York Times has reported.

Waxman has grown skeptical of statistics provided by Selig and Fehr that showed a significant downward trend of positive tests results from 2003 to 2004, the report said.

"It's clear that some of the information Major League Baseball and the players union gave the committee in 2005 was inaccurate," Waxman said in a written statement. "It isn't clear whether this was intentional or just reflects confusion over the testing program for 2003 and 2004. In any case, the misinformation is unacceptable."

Sometimes one wonders whether these guys intentionally cover up doping issues, or whether they are simply uninformed or inept.  Further --

The issue centers on the fact MLB had suspended drug testing for much of the 2004 season in response to the federal government's investigation of BALCO, The Times said. Selig and Fehr failed to disclose this in their testimony, which did reveal the number of failed drug tests processed in 2003 was about 100 but was reduced to about 12 the next year.

"In 2004, each player was tested on an unannounced, identified basis for the unlawful use of steroids," Fehr said in written testimony to the committee, according to The Times. "No player knew when he was going to be tested."

The information from 2003-04 came to light in former Sen. George Mitchell's report of December 2007 in a section titled "Allegations of Advance Notice of Tests," nearly 300 pages into the 409-page report.

The Mitchell report disclosed that the anonymity of the drug-testing program required by MLB's collective bargaining agreement had fallen into doubt after federal agents raided two companies involved in BALCO survey testing, resulting in the temporary shutdown of baseball's testing.

"In the course of these searches, the agents seized data from which they believed they could determine the identities of the major league players who had tested positive during the anonymous survey testing," the Mitchell report states on Page 281.

Further, it says: "Ultimately, the Commissioner's Office and the Players Association agreed to a moratorium on 2004 drug testing. While the exact date and length of this moratorium is uncertain, and the relevant 2004 testing records have been destroyed, [Deputy commissioner Rob] Manfred stated that the moratorium commenced very early in the season, prior to the testing of any significant number of players."

The suspension of the program "lasted for a short period," according to Manfred, the Mitchell report says.

Waxman's concerns come less than three weeks after the MLB and its players implemented a new, more regimented drug-testing program and nearly four months after his committee held hearings in which Roger Clemens and his former personal trainer Brian McNamee testified about performance-enhancing drugs and allegations by McNamee of their use by Clemens.

Interesting, a little deception to the congressman.  Will Waxman call a steroid balk?

 

Superstar steroid investigator Jeff Novitzky traded from the IRS to the FDA

Superstar steroid investigator Jeff Novitzky, the investigative heavyweight behind the BALCO probe, appears to be traded from the IRS team to Team FDA.   The New York Times covers this story:

Jeff Novitzky, the federal agent whose investigation into performance-enhancing substances has exposed cheating in professional sports, left the Internal Revenue Service recently and joined the Food and Drug Administration to focus on the distribution of illegal drugs, according to an F.D.A. official and two lawyers who were briefed on the change.

Novitzky has joined the F.D.A. Office of Criminal Investigations as a special agent with all the same investigative powers he had during his 15 years with the I.R.S., the lawyers said.

Novitzky will remain based in the Bay Area and continue to work closely with the United States attorney’s office in the Northern District of California, the lawyers said. One of the lawyers said the F.D.A., which has fewer agents than the I.R.S., had been courting Novitzky for some time because of his work as the lead investigator on the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative case. So far, eight people have pleaded guilty in connection with the Balco investigation, including the track star Marion Jones.

Despite the trade, Novitzky will remain in the Bay Area.  Already in the FDA lineup, Novitzky was swatting at Jose Canseco:

Novitzky and two other federal agents were in Los Angeles on Tuesday to interview José Canseco in connection with their investigation into Miguel Tejada and Clemens, who are suspected of making false statements as part of separate Congressional investigations into the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Canseco was questioned for three hours, his lawyer, Greg S. Emerson, said in a telephone interview. He said Canseco was questioned about “the things we expected.”

Why did Novitzky jump teams from IRS to FDA.  Appears that a career advancement might be one issue, as well as joining a team with more talent, and better hitters in the lineup.

“I think it would give him more exposure to just doing that type of work,” Sparlin said by telephone Tuesday. He added: “For Jeff to go as far as he did in Balco was a stretch for the I.R.S., too. I think he was allowed to go a lot further than he would otherwise because of the impact.”

F.D.A. investigators work with grand juries and use subpoenas. False statements to an F.D.A. agent are no different under federal law from false statements to an I.R.S. agent; the track coach Trevor Graham, who is charged with three counts of making false statements to Novitzky, goes on trial May 19.

The F.D.A. office was involved in Operation Raw Deal, which resulted in 124 arrests in September. That case focused on human growth hormone and steroids coming from China to underground labs in the United States.

There are no reports about salaries, arbitration, trade details, or contracts.  We expect Novitzky to hit cleanup for the FDA.  There were some rumblings that Novitzky was using HGH to increase his power, however these should be quickly dismissed...

 

Cops on 'roids present big problems

Lately the sports world water calmed down, just in time for the political storms to blow in. However, another group of roid users -- law enforcement -- now grabs the headlines.  (see companion story on federal authorities looking at cops on 'roids)

The Tennessee Highway Patrol announced an investigation of THP troopers engaged in steroid use or trafficking.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol is investigating allegations of troopers using or selling steroids, a spokesman says.

Mike Browning said Monday night an internal investigation is under way into the accusations.

"It's based on allegations that came to us," he said. "We take it seriously."

A similar investigation at the Metro Nashville Police Department led to temporary disciplinary action this year against three officers, who were stripped of their badges and guns.

A Michigan grand jury indicted four policemen and a biker for a steroids trafficking ring in the Detroit area.

Four police officers and a member of the Highwaymen Motorcycle Club (HMG) have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Detroit on charges ranging from lying to federal agents, lying to a grand jury, and committing various drug offenses.

In addition, a formal criminal complaint was filed against Detroit area attorney Lee O’Brien for lying to federal agents. All charges arose from an FBI investigation that resulted in the indictment of over forty HMG members and associates last year.

David Tomlan, a Garden City police officer, was brought to the attention of the FBI by the Garden City Police Department after they discovered he had become an HMG member. Tomlan’s employment with the police department has since been terminated.

Miami police arrested a Miami police officer for purchasing steroids through the Internet.

Miami Officer John I. Fedak, a U.S. Marine reservist who recently completed a tour in Iraq, has been arrested on charges of buying steroids through the mail, police said.

He is the third Miami officer arrested this week...

Fedak, 26, was cuffed late Wednesday, charged with possession of a controlled substance.

Miami internal affairs investigators ''received information'' that Fedak, six-foot-two, 175 pounds, had been buying steroids for his own use.

Detectives teamed up with Miami-Dade police, the FBI and U.S. postal inspectors to send a phony delivery -- a package containing four vials of steroids -- to Fedak's home.

Fedak, knowing the package contained steroids, signed for the delivery and was arrested, according to his arrest report.

The Village Voice reviews the recent New York police steroid busts:

While NYPD officials boast about what they claim is a steady drop in crime on the streets, crimes committed by cops may be on the upswing.

In the past couple of years, the city's cops have not only been caught up in steroids investigations, like the one revolving around Lowen's Pharmacy in Bay Ridge; they've also been nabbed for running a Canada-to-Long-Island dope ring, stealing guns from their evidence rooms and selling them, providing muscle for an Albanian stick-up crew, pimping out teenaged girls, ratting out their own department to gangster pals, and stealing drugs to give to their informants.

Ouch.  Does anyone want policemen, who carry deadly force to be increasing their aggressiveness by 'roiding?  Seems the world has gone goofy.

 

Another US Congress committee holds steroids hearings: Uniform testing laws?

The AP publishes this lenghty article on Rep Bobby Rush's "House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection" hearings, which invited America's sports leagues chiefs.

Some members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection used Wednesday's hearing to express doubts that the leagues have done enough since a similar session before the same subcommittee in 2005. Several called for a federal law to legislate drug testing for all the major professional sports.

"Let's get it right this time. ... Let's go ahead and get something into law that is acceptable," Texas Republican Joe Barton said. "It's no fun having this hearing every two to three years."...

There were no players at Wednesday's hearing. Instead, the commissioners sat side-by-side with their sport's union chiefs: Bud Selig was inches away from Donald Fehr; Stern was next to Hunter. Then there was the NFL's Roger Goodell and Gene Upshaw, and the NHL's Gary Bettman and Paul Kelly.

The NBA's David Stern disagreed with PED testing mandates:

No, thank you, said Stern, who twice interrupted lawmakers to cite the progress made by all four leagues since the 2005 hearing through collective bargaining with their respective unions. He and the other witnesses also cautioned against a one-size-fits-all law that would apply to their very divergent sports.

"Federal legislation in this area is not necessary for the NBA," Stern said. "Nor do I believe that a uniform, federally mandated approach to drug testing for all sports leagues would be appropriate."

(more on the issues after the jump)

"In spite of the fact that they want to pronounce that they have it under control, I still think that it's not fully under control," said the subcommittee's chairman, Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill. "And we have to do more."

The committee should consider sports frauds law -- that would protect the consumer.

NHL to share in Congressional scrutiny on steroids

Faceoff.com tells us that the NHL will face off against Congress soon.

Finally, testing in the development and minor leagues -- where bulking up is most crucial for players wanting to make the show -- is non-existent or ineffectual. As baseball has shown, those at the beginning and end of their careers are most vulnerable to using performance-enhancing substances. (Just see the confessions of Boom Boom Geoffrion's grandson, Shane Monahan, who used steroids in his MLB career in the '90s.) But the NHL plan largely ignores the kids who need HGH to gain another 15 pounds to make the big time.

Generally, the NHL would not come to the forefront when steroids and professional sports are discussed.  Dick Pound disagree with this thought, once slamming the NHL's policy on steroids. However, Congress is going to check this out.

You can excuse Kelly being obliged to defend this stuff. He inherited the plan from his predecessor Ted (The Snoop) Saskin. His chance at creating a better plan will come when the CBA is renegotiated -- or Congress tells Bettman that his plan is a sham.

But there isn't a fig leaf -- enhanced or otherwise -- behind which the NHL owners can hide. Oh, sure, Bettman will regurgitate the line that NHLers have almost never failed the well-announced tests for Olympics or world championships. And that the NHL alone among the sports leagues has avoided the scourge of drugs. Bully. When you don't start testing your players until 2005 and the outside tests come at predictable times, it's like saying you don't speed between radar traps. Who can prove otherwise?

Maybe Congress should talk to Nazarov -- as they did Jose Canseco -- before hearing the well-worn blather from the NHL's head office about its pristine record when the rest of the sports world was using performance-enhancing substances. Or maybe the Congress knows little about the NHL and cares even less.

For once in the NHL's life, ignorance could be bliss.

Maybe Congress can 'ice' this one.

Seven reasons why Congress should be concerned with steroid/dope use in sports.

“The responsibility” of government “for the public safety is absolute and requires no mandate. It is, in fact, the prime object for which governments come into existence.” Winston Churchill

Why should Congress investigate steroid and doping in baseball, among other things?  Why should federal security agencies (FBI, IRS) probe steroid dealers and juicing sports stars.  After all, the war in Iraq drags on, costing billions of dollars and thousands of lives; the economy appears to headed into the dumpster, based on the Iraq deficit spending as well as the loans from the Chinese and Japanese; and the nation continues to be obsessed with terror, meanwhile not starting at ground zero by conserving energy which is a significant part of the Middle East equation.

Let us count the ways.

1.  Sports, including baseball is a multi-billion dollar business.  The New York Yankees value hits a high at $1.2 billion, while the lowest value for a baseball club is the Florida Marlins at $244 million.  Add up the value of the other 22 teams in baseball, then move on to the NFL, NBA etc.

MLB revenue alone was $6.075 billion.  MLB commerce by definition is interstate, unless every game is the Royals v. Cardinals, or the Cubs v. White Sox, or Mets v. Yankees.

Using PEDs to artificially pump up statistics, to influence the outcome of games, and to gain an advantage of non-PED users must invoke sports fraud somewhere along the line.  Interstate sports fraud.

2.  Those wonderful stadia where baseball players perform their heroics use taxpayers monies.  Local taxing authorities provide much of the economics might for these stadia, while the owners and players collect billions of revenue.  However, the bonds floated for construction of these edifices utilize federal tax free bonds.  Once again billions.

3.  The drugs used by juicers fall within federal regulation.  The DEA regulates the use of anabolic steroids, as Schedule 3 drugs.  Any use of these drugs must include a valid prescription by a licensed registered physician, prescribed for a legitimate medical condition.  We cannot tell the amount of concern, worry, time, and expense spent at the medical level when any scheduled drug is prescribed.

4.  The supply networks for these illegal drugs all operate outside the law.  The juice is brought in from Mexico and from European counties.  The Russian mafia controls some of the traffic.  Chinese HGH makes its way into the black PED market.  Rouge chemists synthesize steroids outside any regulation or control of the USDA, the DEA, and legitimate regulated pharmaceutical companies.  The federal government subsumes responsibility for stopping these illegal drug distribution networks.

5.  Use of anabolic steroids, HGH, EPO, stimulants and other methods of doping fall within the interest of public heath.  The Center for Disease Control tracks the use of these drugs.  There are several reasons for concern:

• The use of PEDs leads to long term side effects.  Psychiatric, cardiac, endocrine, and digestive side effects cost time and money to treat.  Aggressiveness costs lives in homicide (when juiced cops assault suspects, or pro wrestlers kill their family) and suicide, endocrine problems costs money in treatments (for gynecomastia etc.), and the various liver, blood, skin, and other medical side effects .  Cardiac side effects lead to blood insufficiency, and heart failure over chronic use; see how many chronic users of anabolic steroids and HGH will undergo heart procedures which likely were exacerbated by dope use.
• If you don't care about the human aspects of disease, you might care about the monetary results of public health problems.  Those problems above will be paid by your insurance company or by Medicaid and Medicare, this raising your rates and likewise raising your taxes.
• Steroids are addicting.  That leads to abuse, and combined with other substance abuse constitutes a very real problem in public health.  Substance abuse treatment centers now see patients addicted to steroids (#4 in the UK).  Guess who pays for these costs?  The taxpayers.
• There is evidence that the shiny pumped bodies of dope-bloated sports heroes exacerbate Muscle Dysmorphia in patients, thus increasing street use of steroids.  Again these non-athlete users of anabolic steroids and PEDs suffer all the medical and legal problems mentioned above.

6.  Despite the nausea caused in some quarters about sports stars serving as heroes and role models for youth, the phenomenon is real.  Part of the deal Roger Clemens gets in his 36 million a year, stems from his entertainment and hero value.  If Clemens were paid what he is worth to society then his salary would be much less.  However, the fact of the matter is (and Clemens probably hasn't given it a thought) that his inflated salary comes from the kids and adults (who wish they were kids) who fantasize about athletic feats.  With that adulation comes responsibility, including the responsibility at a minimum not to get stuck in the butt with illegal drugs.

Don't want that responsibility?  Don't like the idea that millions of kids put your poster on their walls (and you collect the royalties)?  Then play sports for the love of the game in back lots or softball diamonds;  you will find the pay scale is much less than pitching for the Yankees.

Lucky 7.  The moral argument carries much less weight these days.  In the avaricious society that constitutes America, greed and publicity far override values such as honesty and moral direction.  We hesitate to even include cheating as a reason Congress should look at PED use, because of the widespread acceptance of dishonest methods as a way to acquire fame and money.

Perhaps if cheating once again became verboten the Keith Obermanns of the world could spend less time on their view that their government deceives the public.  Lying and cheating tolerated at any level increases the tolerance of dishonesty at the next level.

Apparently the people who would direct Congress to sit down only for Iraq, the economy, and other weighty issues don't care about public health, sports fraud, illegal drug use, and the overall tenure of a cheating culture.  Fine, then who cares if your sewers flow smoothly, if you have running water, if electricity and phone service work, or if traffic drives on the right side of the street;  all these issues are trivial compared to an 600 billion dollar war.

Only with the last round of Congressional hearing did the MLB strengthen anti-doping measures.  It's about time that the MLB improves and tightens the entire anti-doping act once again; what better way to put motivation into the owners and the union than to show off MLB (and other sports) shortcomings on a national stage.

Clemens backing down from this fight: Congressional deposition

Has Roger Clemens met someone he can't intimidate?  Clemens, through his lawyer Rusty Hardin, appears to be backing away from a Congressional deposition.  The New York Daily News says why:

Any attempt by Roger Clemens' lawyer to use the defamation suit the pitcher filed against his former trainer to keep Clemens from being deposed by congressional investigators is a "smokescreen," according to Richard Emery, the lawyer for Brian McNamee...

According to a report on ESPN.com, sources close to Hardin said the lawyer has said the deposition might interfere with the defamation lawsuit Clemens filed last Sunday against McNamee.

"Hardin's frivolous defamation claim can be no basis to protect Roger from testifying," said Emery, a libel specialist. "He initiated it and I can't believe Congress would or could be manipulated by that action. ... If he's backing away now on that basis, it's a smokescreen."

Why would Clemens back down?

"This backtracking by Hardin is indicative of him getting cold feet. Roger will never testify," said Emery (McNamee's lawyer).

A deposition allows staff lawyers for the committee time to push witnesses on points in ways congressmen often don't. Any inconsistencies between the deposition and later testimony during a hearing could be exposed.

 

There it is.  Staff lawyers in a deposition could rough up Clemens more than congressmen in a televised hearing.  Clemens may still be compelled to testify if he is subpoenaed by Congress.  No broken bats allowed.

(We address the immunity issue after the jump)

Congress asks Clemens and Pettitte to shoot from the hip on steroids

The US House of Representatives will hold hearing on steroid and PED use in sports beginning January 15.  New York baseball teams appear to be supplying many of the invited guests.  From the Mets comes Kirk Radomski.  The New York Yankees send over Andy Pettitte, Brian McNamee, and Roger Clemens.  Should be fun.

Or not, as Clemens and McNamee are currently carrying on a media war about what and when NcNamee injected into Mr. Clemens.  Steroids?   HGH?  B-12?  Lidocaine?  Will Congress be interested in what substance lurked in the syringe?

From Bloomberg:

      Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens and the trainer who says he injected Clemens with steroids have been asked to testify before a congressional committee.           

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has asked Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young award winner, and trainer Brian McNamee to appear at a hearing Jan. 16 on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the sport.           

New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, former player Chuck Knoblauch and former clubhouse assistant Kirk Radomski have also been asked to testify.           

The committee is reviewing former Senator George Mitchell's report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball. The report claimed that major league players and management ignored drug use in the game and said All-Stars such as Clemens, Pettitte and Miguel Tejada used steroids or human growth hormone.           

Rusty Hardin, a lawyer for Clemens, said the pitcher welcomes the committee's interest in the issue.           

``Roger is willing to answer questions, including those posed to him while under oath,'' Hardin said in an e-mailed statement. ``We hope to determine shortly if schedules and other commitments can accommodate the committee on that date.''           

The House committee will hold a related hearing on Jan. 15 to get testimony from Mitchell, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, said panel spokeswoman Karen Lightfoot.

The situation looks to be heating up for MLB players and executives.  What if Clemens doesn't RSVP his invitation?  (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Baseball pitching great Roger Clemens, who denies claims he used steroids, was asked on Friday to testify before a U.S. congressional panel investigating use of performance-enhancing drugs.

There was no immediate word whether the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee would subpoena Clemens if he refused to appear voluntarily on January 16.

   

Bill Moyers talks of a society on steroids

Bill Moyers publishes an excellent essay examining the society on steroids.  Moyers appears not happy with the corruption at the core of the country.  The cheating culture, as always, leaves a stench of corruption weakening all.

So what do we learn about ourselves from the Mitchell Report? That something is flowing through our veins other than red corpuscles. It turns out owners, players and the players' union were complicit in ignoring the growing use of steroids and other illegal drugs in our national pastime. But suppose our national pasttime has become our national pathology? Ours is a society on steroids, and we're as blind as baseball's owners were a decade ago.

In our drugged state, we cheer the winners in the game of wealth, the billionaires who benefit from a skewed financial system -- the losers, we kick down the stairs. We open fire hoses of cash into our political system in the name of "free speech." Television stations that refuse to cover government make fortunes selling political bromides over public airwaves. Pornography passing as advertising assaults our senses, seduces our children, and pollutes our culture. Partisan propaganda gets pumped up as news. We feed on the flamboyance of celebrities. And we actually take seriously the Elmer Gantrys who use the Christian Gospel as a guidebook to an Iowa caucus or a battle plan for the Middle East. In the face of a scandalous health care system, failing schools, and a fraudulent endless war, we are as docile as tattered scarecrows in a field of rotten tomatoes.

Moyers ties things together, as only a man of broad vision can see.

You don't get a level playing field with performance enhancing drugs, any more than you get an honest government with political action committees and bundled contributions, or a fair economy with some derivatives, hedge funds, and private equity managers taxed at rates lower than their janitors. You get a level playing field only when the fans demand it. Suppose people stopped attending games in large numbers, stopped watching on TV, stopped buying the products hyped by the icons. The leveling would happen, or baseball as a money-making business would die. It's not likely to happen. If we can't organize to stop a brutal, bloody war in Iraq, or rectify an economic system that divides us further every day, we can hardly expect collective action from baseball fans.

So what are the excuses we use to exonerate the drug-cheats:

• Everyone was doing it (corruption)
• PEDs do not work, or have not been proven scientifically (give us a break; are we going back to the sports medicine stance pre-1984 which was rejected by the athletes as capricious)
• There is no proof of doping (do we need steroid molecules dripping from the liver tumors as shrunken testicles dangle helplessly, before fans believe the game was hijacked? by PEDs)
• We love home runs ( so we cheat the fans and the game itself; and we let the athletes suffer the health consequences of steroid use as they artificially pump up the numbers for the superficial thrills)
• Sports have always cheated (mired in corruption, we cannot rise above a level of depravity, but rather invent new more powerful ways of dishonesty)

As Moyers adds:

There was a lesson in George Mitchell's report that I'm not sure even he recognized. The day Americans don't feel strongly enough about the need for level playing fields to fight for them -- the day when cutting corners and seeking an edge become the national pastime -- is the day democracy will be lucky even to find a seat in the bleachers.

Iraq families charge Blackwater guards with steroid use

The AP and CNN both carry breaking news that a lawsuit brought by Iraq families against the private American security force Blackwater, says the Blackwater guards are juicing. Balckwater 'roid rage = dead Iraqis.

A quarter of Blackwater security guards in Iraq use steroids and other "judgment-altering substances," according to a lawsuit filed by the families of several Iraqis killed or wounded in a Baghdad shooting in September...

The suit, filed Monday in Washington, accuses the company of fostering "a culture of lawlessness" among its guards and says the use of excessive force helps the company preserve a key selling point -- the fact that none of its protectees have been killed during the four-year-old war...

     The lawsuit accuses Blackwater of war crimes, wrongful death, assault, negligent hiring and emotional distress. The plaintiffs include two wounded survivors of the September 16 shootings around Nusoor Square, in western Baghdad, and the families of five people killed in the incident. Iraqi authorities say the guards killed 17 people in an act of "premeditated murder."

Blackwater denied the charges.

Blackwater has denied any wrongdoing, arguing its contractors used necessary force to protect a State Department convoy that came under fire from insurgents.

The lawsuit accuses Blackwater of failing to control the use of steroids among its guards -- an allegation Burke said came from "people in that community," and one she said would be backed up as the case progresses.

 

Sources say there are significant problems with the law enforcement use of steroids.  We shoudl document all the cases -- as we keep a watch on these things; suffice it to say there are many cases a week of cops using steroids or getting busted for juicing.  Although some mild controversy exists about the aggressive effects of gear, it sure isn't a stretch to image drugs producing the effects of testosterone enhance aggressiveness.  Several trials looked at how the juice may increase aggressiveness in law enforcement.

Blackwater, an organization much in the news lately, evolved from former Navy Seals; special forces are thought to juice up.

More interesting point: Blackwater put together bids to help patrol in the 15 billion dollar programs for the 'war on drugs'.  We just got lots money invested in lots of wars these days...Maybe Blackwater could sponsor a pro cycling team?

Could the Mitchell Report prevent Barry Bonds from visiting Aruba?

In the 'Wow, I Never Thought of That' department, the New York Times says that the Mitchell Report may adversely affect the Visa status of foreign players in the USA.  Story here.

Ten days ago, Robert Hill sent a memo to clients and other interested parties. “ALERT,” the memo began in capital letters. “Anticipated December Release of Mitchell Report May Have Unintended Consequences for Foreign Athletes.”

Hill, familiar with Major League Baseball and its players, many of whom have been his clients, is an immigration lawyer in Washington. He knows that if the former senator George J. Mitchell names foreign players in his report on steroid use, which is expected to be issued next month, the athletes could have difficulty receiving the visas they need to play in the United States.

Is that true?  Do Visa officials avidly read the newspapers and the blogs that beat these issues into the ground (a little self confession there)?  The Mitchell people -- looking pretty thorough on this -- looked into the possibility:

A Mitchell spokesman, John Clarke, said Mitchell had looked into the visa matter and had been told that the commissioner’s office “has no knowledge of any player being denied a visa” because of a suspension for a positive test.

Hill, the immigration lawyer, seemingly is falling all over himself to notify the US officials of the possibility (thus enhancing his business??).  What a tattle-tail:

In his memo, Hill explained the potential problem: “Depending on the facts alleged in the report in any given case, a named player may find himself denied a visa at a U.S. Consular office abroad, detained and denied admission at a U.S. port of entry upon returning to the U.S. to report for Spring Training, or have an application for permanent residence denied.”...

Hill also raised the possibility of a player’s being considered a trafficker of illegal substances.

“I’ve had discussions with consular officials in the last couple days about whether a player who obtained steroids for their own use shared it with other players or put them in touch with people who provided him with steroids,” Hill said.

However, the Times did not look into the reverse possibility: US players could not obtain a Visa/Passport to travel to foreign countries. Really, does the US want testosterone or Clomid users spreading their infertility around the world?  As much as everyone would fear poor Neifi Perez could not play next season, fans might start worrying Barry Bonds would not be able to vacation in Aruba or other foreign country if named in the Mitchell Report.   This might be disastrous.

More business for the attorneys, it would seem.

Why the delay in the Bonds indictment?

Along with 97% of the civilized world, we questioned the delay between the BALCO grand jury and the Bonds perjury/obstruction indictment.  The New York Times joins the party today.

We speculated that the reasons may be many-fold:

• Laying off Bonds as he pursued the career home run record
• The difficulty in obtaining exactly the correct witnesses, as Greg Anderson -- Bonds' steroid dealer -- sat in jail on a contempt order
• The turnover of San Francisco US attorneys

The Times addresses the issue here.  The Times appears to speculate the delay had more to do with the imbroglios at the local US attorney's office.  Original USDA Kevin Ryan fell to the Gonzalez scandal.  Replacement Scott Schools lasted a couple months.  Interestingly, a new USDA name came from Washington --  Joseph Russoniello  -- on the day of the Bonds indictment.  Thus, confusion at the Department of Justice could add to the Bonds mystery.

Otherwise the Times adds little to the speculation.  It notes that Anderson may be compelled to testify - with immunity -- at the new Bonds trial, under the threat of heading right back to jail if he doesn't cooperate.

The Times, along with most journalists, believes the Govt's claim that there were positive tests stems from Conte's operation which tested blood for steroids.  However, that is risky:

According to a partial transcript of grand jury testimony released Thursday, a prosecutor questioning Bonds said the test was “associated on a document with your name, and corresponding to Barry B. on the other document.” Victor Conte Jr., who founded Balco and served four months in prison for illegally distributing steroids and money laundering, said he did not believe the test result would be a problem for Bonds. He said it would be difficult for the government to prove that the test actually belonged to Bonds because of gaps in the chain of custody. Further, he said, many legal hormone treatments in 2000 contained ingredients that could cause elevation of steroid levels in the blood.

“I was aware of this all along, so to see this now, what they say is their smoking gun, I don’t see it,” Conte said in a telephone interview.

The Times ends with this speculation:

The government could also have some surprise witnesses. “It’s traditional that prosecutors don’t show all their cards in the indictment,” West said.

President Bush feels foul about Barry Bond's indictment

Present George Bush, once the owner of the Texas Rangers, reacted today to the announcement of his DA's indictment of MLB slugger Barry Bonds.  From Bloomberg:

Bonds, 43, made false statements about using steroids in grand jury testimony, U.S. Attorney Scott Schools in San Francisco said today in a statement. He is the first major league baseball player charged in the probe. Allegations of steroid abuse by athletes led to congressional scrutiny and tougher penalties by sports leagues. They've also raised questions about the validity of some sports records, especially Bonds's.           

``The president is very disappointed to hear this,'' said Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, in an e-mailed statement. ``Clearly this is a sad day for baseball.''

Bush owned the Rangers from 1989 to 1998, scoring some big bucks when he sold the team.   Several admitted or suspected juicers passed through the Rangers stable of sluggers during the Bush ownership including: Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, Jose Canseco, and Ivan Rodriguez.  Might more observant owners averted this crisis in baseball long ago, had they promoted integrity in the game?         

Bush commented on steroid use in the 2004 State of the Union:

To help children make right choices, they need good examples. Athletics play such an important role in our society, but, unfortunately, some in professional sports are not setting much of an example. The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football, and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message -- that there are shortcuts to accomplishment, and that performance is more important than character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches, and players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough, and to get rid of steroids now. (Applause.)

Yes, Mr President, perhaps owners, player reps, coaches, and players might have taken a better lead on the steroid issue...about a decade ago.

Presidential candidate Bill Richardson talks baseball: Supports an asterisk for Barry Bonds

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a Democratic candidate for president apparently didn't see the Bonds interview last night.  In a Playboy interview, Richardson says the Bonds record deserves an asterisk (from MSNBC).  Richardson also discusses Mickey Mantle and the Red Sox.

Richardson also spoke about the way forward in his campaign, talking to dictators, baseball -- including Barry Bonds and growing up with Mickey Mantle as an idol but later becoming a Red Sox fan -- and why he and his wife never had children....

On Barry Bonds: “There’s no question Bonds is a great player and should be in the Hall of Fame. But I believe there should be some kind of an asterisk placed alongside his record. It should say, “There is a strong possibility that he used steroids.”

Bonds said in an interview with Jim Gray that he will not enter the Baseball Hall of Fame, if there is an asterisk on HR ball #756.

Sounds like we might see how good a diplomat Richardson can be.  Mentioning Mickey Mantle and the Boston Red Sox in the same sentence is verboten; he then discusses Bonds and a HR asterisk.  Somebody isn't going to like this.

We doubt Barry Bonds will show up in Iowa to promote Richardson before the Iowa caucuses this January.

News flash: Preliminary results just in on 2006 Tour de France; Landis loses

In now the world's longest race, Floyd Landis appears not to be the winner of the 2006 Tour de France.  Spain's Oscar Pereiro, who crossed the finish line second, could be named the 2006 winner (Pereiro experienced his own doping troubles in 2006-7).  MSNBC timeline of Landis episode here.

You will recall in July of 2006, Floyd Landis finished first in the Tour de France (we didn't say won).  However, his urine showed a high testosterone:epitestosterone (T:E) ratio, which not only voided his first place finish for the time being, but also started a joke a world wide obsession on T:E ratios.  The 2006 Tour title hovered out there (in absentia we guess) until arbitration, which interesting enough took place at Pepperdine California not France (we said it was a long race).

In the meantime, Landis published a book about how the French anti-doping lab sucked, and David Walsh published another book on how much Lance Armstrong sucked.

The Landis hearing went into deliberation in May, with promised results in a couple weeks, or at least before the 2007 Tour began.  The decision, however, did not make opening day of Tour 2007.

Now, in September 2007, Stage 2 of the Floyd Landis 2006 decision appears decided; Landis loses this stage.  AP Story here.  Also note Landis will receive a 2 year ban from pro cycling events.

Floyd Landis lost his expensive and explosive doping case Thursday when arbitrators upheld the results of a test that showed the 2006 Tour de France champion used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback victory, The Associated Press has learned.

The decision means Landis, who repeatedly has denied using performance-enhancing drugs, must forfeit his Tour de France title and is subject to a two-year ban, retroactive to Jan. 30, 2007.

Landis may have won Stage 1  (the race), lost State 2 (The USADA hearing), but may push on to Stage 3 -- The world court of Sports Arbitration.

If Landis doesn't appeal, he'll be the first person in the 105-year history of the race to lose the title because of a doping offense.

According to documents obtained by AP, the vote was 2-1 to uphold the results, with lead arbitrator Patrice Brunet and Richard McLaren in the majority and Christopher Campbell dissenting.

The ruling, handed down nearly four months after a bizarre and bitterly fought hearing, leaves the American with one final way to possibly salvage his title — an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Of course, the US Anti-Doping Agency considers the verdict a victory for anti-doping.  Floyd Landis considers the loss a loss for athletes.  And lawyers all over just consider it more compensation.

"Today's ruling is a victory for all clean athletes and everyone who values fair and honest competition," U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart said.

It's a devastating loss for Landis, who has steadfastly insisted that cheating went against everything he was all about and said he was merely a pawn in the anti-doping system's all-consuming effort to find cheaters and keep money flowing to its labs and agencies.

Landis didn't hide from the scrutiny — invited it, in fact — and now has been found guilty by the closest thing to a fair trial any accused athlete will get.

Landis, who has a month to file his appeal, is still weighing his legal options, according to a statement released by his legal team.

"This ruling is a blow to athletes and cyclists everywhere" Landis said. "For the Panel to find in favor of USADA when, with respect to so many issues, USADA did not manage to prove even the most basic parts of their case shows that this system is fundamentally flawed. I am innocent, and we proved I am innocent."

We provide more information on this decision after the jump, as the day goes on...Landis will hold a news conference later today to announce his future plans.

Congressional hearings on pro wrestling

With all the pressing serious problems facing this country, and the world, one must register surprise that the US Congress apparently will hold hearings on the use of PEDs in professional wrestling.  The New York Daily News says it will happen:

A congressional panel that grilled Bud Selig, Paul Tagliabue and David Stern about performance-enhancing drugs in sports two years ago will hold a hearing next month on steroids and professional wrestling.

The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection will hold the hearing in late September, three months after World Wrestling Entertainment star Chris Benoit allegedly strangled his wife and suffocated his 7-year-old son before hanging himself with a weight-machine pulley in his suburban Atlanta home.

"I am extremely concerned about the possible illegal and destructive practices by professional entertainment athletes that negatively influence the younger generation," said Rep. Bobby Rush, the Illinois Democrat who is the chairman of the committee. "We must make sure that today's wrestling sports heroes are not using illegal performance-enhancing drugs that, unfortunately, can and have led to their untimely deaths."

So there you go.  We all complained and whined about the steroid use in pro wrestling;  Congress picks up on a topic and runs with the publicity ball.

The Congressional committee should find a more proper investigatory mission than 'protect the kids' (unless you're a pro wrestler's kid).   The superficial statement above by the great representative of Illinois doesn't impress us.   The homi-suicide of the Benoit family, and the numerous steroid-related (possibly not directly caused) deaths of relatively young wrestlers however does concern public-health minded citizens.

We suspect an investigation will find a sport-wide mess of WWE pressure for revenue and attendance, and use of steroids, HGH, stimulants, pain killers and narcotics, benzodiazepines, alcohol, and anti-depressants that adds up to killer cocktails.

Steroids aren't the only problem in public health

We blog about steroids as a public health problem here.  However, there is far more wrong in the USA public health domain than just steroids.  Recent reports show that health care in the US is #42 (by one measure) and falling. The New York Times editorial is found here:

Here's a wrenching fact: If the U.S. had an infant mortality rate as good as Cuba's, we would save an additional 2,212 American babies a year.

Yes, Cuba's. Babies are less likely to survive in America, with a health care system that we think is the best in the world, than in impoverished and autocratic Cuba. According to the latest C.I.A. World Factbook, Cuba is one of 41 countries that have better infant mortality rates than the U.S.

Since 1958, the infant mortality rate fell in the US.  However in 2002, the trend reversed.  Infant mortality rose.  It appears infant mortality is higher in New York than in Beijing China.  That's progress,  huh?

"America's children are at greater risk than they've been in for at least a decade," said Dr. Irwin Redlener, associate dean at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and president of the Children's Health Fund. "The rising rate of infant mortality is an early warning that we're headed in the wrong direction, with no relief in sight."

The bad news continues with life expectancy.  New York Times again:

Americans are living longer than ever, but not as long as people in 41 other countries.

For decades, the United States has been slipping in international rankings of life expectancy, as other countries improve health care, nutrition and lifestyles.

Countries that surpass the U.S. include Japan and most of Europe, as well as Jordan, Guam and the Cayman Islands...

A baby born in the United States in 2004 will live an average of 77.9 years. That life expectancy ranks 42nd, down from 11th two decades earlier, according to international numbers provided by the Census Bureau and domestic numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics.

We talk about the racial issue with regard to Barry Bonds.  Here is a worse situation: the mortality for black males in the country lags behind other groups...by almost 9 years.

Black American males have a life expectancy of 69.8 years, slightly longer than the averages for Iran and Syria and slightly shorter than in Nicaragua and Morocco.

This is about more than national health service, but about obesity and poverty, and a shift of money to the wealthy.  Clearly over 40 million Americans who don't have health insurance coverage (and thus receive less than optimal health care) is a factor, however there are other factors:

-- Adults in the United States have one of the highest obesity rates in the world. Nearly a third of U.S. adults 20 years and older are obese, while about two-thirds are overweight, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

''The U.S. has the resources that allow people to get fat and lazy,'' said Paul Terry, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Emory University in Atlanta. ''We have the luxury of choosing a bad lifestyle as opposed to having one imposed on us by hard times.''

-- Racial disparities. Black Americans have an average life expectancy of 73.3 years, five years shorter than white Americans.

-- A relatively high percentage of babies born in the U.S. die before their first birthday, compared with other industrialized nations.

Steroid and PED use is a public health problem.  Steroid abusers contribute to morbidity (high blood pressure, severe heat problems, hepatitis, infections, psychiatric conditions) mortality (pro wrestlers and pro cyclists who dope show a propensity to die young), and legal problems.  However, this is just a small part of the overall public health decline in the USA.

(Note: someone loves us: Thanks Slav!)

 

Steroids injected into politics: Edwards, Giuliani, and Obama

So now politicians throw barbs about steroids around like accusations of higher taxes.  John Edwards said this about Rudy Giuliani '“What Giuliani is, is George Bush on steroids.” (Rolling Stone)

We have shared an elevator with Rudy Giuliani.  Rudy is no Arnold Schwarzenegger at all.  He clearly needs steroids.  Very weak pecs and lats.  Edwards added:

Edwards said. “Giuliani, Romney and the rest of the Republicans running for the nomination are going to give the country four more years of crony capitalism, which is exactly what we have now. We have insurance companies and drug companies and oil companies running this government. They need to be stopped. And Giuliani just wants to empower them.”

Now that's a different issue altogether than steroids isn't it?  Edwards accuses Giuliani of steroid use, and then ends up talking about gang activity.  Where is the logic?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, The New York Daily News accuses Barack Obama of using steroids:

After taking hits for being eager to talk with any tyrant, Sen. Barack Obama yesterday rolled out a counterterror plan to show he can be tough, too - vowing to hunt down terrorists in Pakistan.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and others jumped on the Illinois Democrat and White House hopeful last month when he proclaimed he'd meet with hostile leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Cuba's Fidel Castro and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Obama countered by mocking as "Bush-Cheney lite" Clinton's stance that she'd talk to dictators only under certain conditions.

But yesterday, Obama sounded like Bush on steroids, warning Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to crack down on Al Qaeda safe havens in his country.

"Let me make this clear: There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again," Obama said. "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will."

President Bush's national security adviser, Frances Townsend, angered Pakistanis in July when she made similar comments.

"There must be no safe haven for terrorists who threaten America," Obama said. "We cannot fail to act because action is hard."

He also launched another scorching attack on Clinton, slamming lawmakers who, like her, backed "a dumb war." Obama said while he knew better, "the political winds were blowing" the way Clinton voted.

"Congress became co-author of a catastrophic war. And we went off to fight on the wrong battlefield," he said, then took a shot at Clinton's belief that America is safer now than before 9/11.

So Obama, apparently on-cycle, is taking on Pakistan then Hilary Clinton for good measure.  Sounds like 'roid rage to us, although once again Obama hasn't really bulked up.  Perhaps he is on a cutting cycle?  Or maybe using EPO for endurance?

Only Al Gore looks like he is juicing.  Hey anyone measure Gore's head and foot size?  Interesting ticket...Gore and Bonds: Roids are Great for 2008.

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'.

Perhaps this Landis thing is a big deal

More on the Landis leak from today.  A former administrator in the UCLA lab (Don Catlin) isn't happy.  Of course he is a Landis advisor.  Story here in Bike Biz:

Paul Scott, former director of client services at the UCLA lab, is now working as a consultant to the Landis team. He was one of the experts appointed by Landis to watch over the LNDD retesting. However, Scott claims he was denied full access to all of the retesting, a breach of WADA's rules.

“In my years at the UCLA lab, I’ve never seen anything like what I experienced at the LNDD yesterday. The limitation placed on me and Simon [Davis – an Isotope Ratio Mass Spectometry expert also selected by Landis to observe the retesting] demonstrates the lack of objectivity in this process.

"USADA’s interest in controlling and limiting our observation of the retesting is an example of one of the most egregious problems in the fundamental science of anti-doping that I have experienced."

He said he was denied entry to the LNDD yesterday. As such, the analysis of two samples was conducted without a Landis representative as witness. Why were the two Landis experts refused access to key tests? Because the two experts from USADA decided not to be present: and instructions had been left that, if the USADA bods were missing, the Landis bods would be excluded.

"Such behaviour constitutes a clear and direct infringement of Landis’ rights while casting severe doubt on the integrity of an already dubious process," said a statement from the Landis camp.

Scott said: “Good science does not fear being an open book. Any science that is not neutral and objective is not science at all. Labs acting under the direction of prosecuting Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) are, by definition, not independent. As service providers hired by ADOs, they have a vested interest in the results desired by their client. In this case, the client is USADA and the lab is the LNDD. From what I have witnessed so far, I have significant concerns that their analysis will render results that are scientifically invalid.”

All the B samples have now been destroyed in the retesting and Landis cannot have them independently evaluated.

Steroid Nation available in China

Alerted by The Wizard of Odds, Steroid Nation panicked briefly.  Our critical information (smile) might not be making it into the site of the next Olympiad -- mainland China.  The Wiz noted that that site's URL is blocked by China.  Thus, we tested The Nation's availability to the huge mass of Chinese sports fans (on The Great Wall of China site).

We rest easier now.  We made it past the Great Firewall of China.  We continue our mission to inform the literate universe of the status of anabolic agents.

Bud Selig well compensated for looking the other way

It might be cogently argued MLB commissioner Bud Selig does not deal well with the performance enhancing drug issue.  Several unfinished steroid and HGH scandals continue to unfold in the majors:  Barry Bonds and BALCO; Jason Grimsley and HGH; and the recent Gary Matthews Jr. and Operation Netroids.

Nonetheless, being baseballs chief executive officer pays the bills. Story here in the Olympian.

Selig received $14.5 million in the 12 months ending Oct. 31, according to Major League Baseball's tax return, which was obtained by the Sports Business Journal.

Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, received $4,875,000, the publication reported in this week's issue. Pay for executive vice presidents included $1.92 million for Rob Manfred (labor relations), $1.3 million for John McHale Jr. (administration) and $1,245,000 for Jonathan.

$14.5 million buys alot of Bud Lite or HGH/T4.

                        

BALCO DAs email revealed trouble in the US Justice Dept. Controversy reaches to Attn Gen Alberto Gonzales, Pres advisor Karl Rove and even Pres George W Bush

Law.com adds to the controversy surrounding the dismissal of several US District Attorneys including BALCO AD Kevin Ryan.  Emails between the DAs and the Bush Justice Dept reveal troubles in the halls of power.

By the time he was fired late last year, former San Francisco U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan's stock seemed to have dropped so low among Justice Department officials that even routine communications were met with dismissiveness and sarcasm.

Seems Washington protested the sentencing recommendations Ryan put forth for Victor Conte and his BALCO buddies.  It even got profane.

As early as last March, e-mails show, Justice Department officials were annoyed with Ryan for issuing a press release that crowed about the U.S. Sentencing Commission's new guidelines for steroid offenses -- a pet issue of Ryan's, since he prosecuted the BALCO steroids case.

"After our conversations, I am fairly surprised that you would not consult with me or anyone else in Main Justice before issuing a press release on something that has nothing to do with your office," wrote Michael Elston, an official in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General.

When Elston forwarded the message, a longtime DOJ administrator gave a short response.

"UFB!" wrote David Margolis, presumably a common off-color shorthand for "unbelievable."

Hiltzik Chat On Landis

(By James)

Michael Hiltzik, the LA Times reporter that has been closely following the Landis case, just finished a chat on the LA times website.  A full transcript can be found here.

Of the more interesting comments (in no particular order) .....

Positivity Criteria

Michael, can you comment on the positivity criteria and the differing standards at different labs?

Michael Hiltzik: Landis asserts, and I've confirmed this, that the positivity criteria for CIRMS at Paris and UCLA are different. Keeping in mind that testosterone breaks down in the body into four metabolites, which can be measured and their ratios compared to a control group of "clean" subjects (sorry for the technical mumbo-jumbo), UCLA measures two of these ratios and requires that both be positive to declare an athlete guilty. Paris measures all four and requires any one to be positive to declare guilt. These are radically different approaches. Think of it this way: Say you have a final exam in, oh, Scripture knowledge. Professor A's test has two essay questions, and he'll flunk you only if you get both wrong. Professor B poses four question, and he'll flunk you if you gent even one wrong. So a failing grade for Professor A (UCLA, in this example), is 0%. But Professor B (Paris) will flunk you even if you score 75% right. Plainly, professor B is going to flunk some students who pretty much know the material.....

New York Senator to sponsor bill on 'steroids'

Update:  It was probably the report more than the Senator.  Sen Schumer actually addresses the HGH issue (here via the AP):

He said human growth hormone, or HGH, is popular because it is harder to detect in drug tests and more difficult to prosecute than anabolic steroids, which are illegal to possess without a prescription. Distributing HGH for non-approved medical uses is already illegal under federal law...

In 2001, the Drug Enforcement Administration acted against a California doctor who had given an agent HGH during a 1994 investigation. And last year, the federal sentencing commission requested public comment on how HGH violations should be punished under amendments to a 2004 anti-steroid law.

Story out of New York today says a US Senator to sponsor a bill that would make the 'steroid' HGH more controlled by the FDA (MSN-NBC).

First, why blame sports competitiveness for anabolic abuse?  It's not competition, it's an environment that tolerates or condones cheating.

NEW YORK - America’s “culture of competitiveness” is helping to fuel the demand for illegal, performance-enhancing steroids, said a prosecutor overseeing a widespread investigation of online steroid sales.

Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares said Sunday the country’s sports culture has led to dangerous use of performance-enhancing drugs.

“We’ve created a culture of competitiveness. ... An industry can only thrive like that if you have a willing consumer base,” said Soares, who appeared in New York on Sunday with U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer. “You want to make varsity. You want to go to this college.”

Further, the Senator from New York gets the anabolic scheme wrong.  Testosterone is a steroid (above) with the steroid 4-ring chemical structure.  He misclassified HGH (Growth Hormone, below) which is a peptide (protein) hormone, and not a steroid. 

Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would introduce legislation that would make it a federal crime to sell prescriptions of controlled substances, and also seeks to put one steroid, human growth hormone, on a list of federally regulated controlled substances. Unlawful sale would be punishable by five years in prison.

Schumer also said the legislation would outlaw the bad-faith sale of prescriptions by doctors who have never met their patients. The physicians who are hired by the online distributors “have become no more than drug dealers,” he said.

Things go wrong when district attorneys turn sociologists, and Senators turn biologists.

Mike Schmidt says steroid users like McGwire have his HOF vote

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

PERHAPS MIKE SCHMIDT is on to something.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pound: it's a doping miracle

(By James)

Pound: it's a doping miracle

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Much more after the jump)

Dick Pound hammers Lance Armstrong

IN an interesting twist, WADA chief Dick Pound revealed yesterday, that not only undeterred by Lance Armstrong's recent attack, he has resolved to hunt down Armstrong even more.  Story in The Age, Aus.

Dick Pound, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), said on Tuesday that an International Olympic Committee (IOC) reprimand will not stop him from seeking answers to doping allegations surrounding Lance Armstrong.

"If Lance thinks this is going to make me go away he is sadly mistaken," a defiant Pound said.

Now in round 10, the ongoing fight between Pound, the swashbuckling head of WADA, and Armstrong, the 7 time Tour de France, megastar, continues in the media.

The retired seven times Tour de France champion has denied using performance-enhancing drugs after reports he used the banned blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO) during his career.

In May last year, an independent investigation cleared him of doping during the 1999 Tour and accused anti-doping authorities of violating testing rules.

Armstrong filed a complaint against Pound for continuing the allegations.

Ruling on the complaint, the IOC Ethics commission recommended the WADA chief had, "the obligation to exercise greater prudence consistent with the Olympic spirit when making public pronouncements that may affect the reputation of others."

Retroactive testing of samples taken during the 1999 Tour were conducted only after an approved test for EPO had been developed.

The French sports daily L'Equipe reported that six of 15 positive results were produced by samples provided by Armstrong.

When Will Landis Get His Hearing And Will It Be Open?

(by James, 'JB')

The Nation has been paying particularly close attention to Floyd Landis' case.  We believe it to be the most important doping case since Ben Johnson in 1988.

First what is the current status of this case?  In a January 30 ESPN article about Floyd:

A three-member American Arbitration Association panel will hear the case. Each side picks one arbitrator, and those two choose the third. The panel selection was completed only recently, although the arbitrator's names have not been made public.

Floyd tested positive on July 28 and only now are the arbitrators empaneled.  Is this a long time?

We are aware of no such statistics, but it is believed that the typical hearing is six to seven months after the initial positive test.  February is seven months.  If the hearing were to happen this month, it would be an average length of time. 

However, it looks like the arbitrators agreeing to such a nearby date is unlikely. Landis' attorney, Howard Jacobs has the right to ask the arbitrators for more documents.  This appears to be a major focus of his defense as Landis has recently added new council.  It will take time to sort this out before the hearing can be scheduled.  Again, from the ESPN article:

The rules governing discovery in anti-doping arbitration cases are much more restrictive than they are in a U.S. criminal or civil court. Landis' lawyer Howard Jacobs, who has defended several high-profile athletes accused of doping including Olympic track star Marion Jones and cyclist Tyler Hamilton, requested a number of additional technical and scientific documents he argued were pertinent to the case last fall. His request was denied by USADA.

Los Angeles-based lawyer Maurice Suh of the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher firm, a former U.S. attorney with experience in prosecuting public corruption and misconduct cases, formally joined the defense team in December. Suh and Jacobs are continuing "efforts to get evidence relevant to Floyd's defense," Henson said. "It's a real uphill battle for them to get basic pieces of information they need to conduct a fair hearing."

Landis was dope tested a total of nine times during last year's tour.  Seven times before his positive test (including one 48 hours before) and two times after (including 48 hours later).  Those other eight tests were negative.  He's hoping the data from these tests will enable him to construct a "longitudinal profile" that will prove his innocence.  (For instance their is some research that suggest the body does not clear synthetic testosterone within 48 hours so the test afterwards could reveal important clues.)

Landis has taken the unprecedented step of posting his defense on line.  And the website Trust by Verify (TBV) has done a yeoman's job of tracking it.  Floyd has not laid out his entire defense, but his friend, Dr. Arnie Baker, has offered this slide show of his opinions about the flaws in Floyd's laboratory tests.  Floyd has also asked for his hearing to be open.  Until we see Floyd's entire argument, we will refrain on commenting on it.

So, who benefits from a delay in the process?  The Blog Rant Your Head Off recently addressed this topic.  The catalyst for his comment was a note from the editor of TBV:

One of the strategies playing out now is the use of time. Landis has said that he’s written off the season, and he’s visibly raising money — whether it’s enough is unclear, but he’s getting some.

On the other hand, Le Tour may start without resolution, which is not to their advantage. It seems to me the agency side has lost whatever time pressure leverage it would normally have against an athlete.

Assuming his money holds out, time is working FOR Landis now, not against.

An interesting question to consider is what resolution could happen short of a hearing, which seems likely to be very painful for the agency side. Landis has nothing to lose, and is free to toss any bombs he can find, in public, should it come down to that. Le Tour would like a champion, sooner rather than later. If Landis’ case /is/ good in ways the public has not yet seen, how can the agencies give up and save face at the same time?

(Much good stuff after the jump!)

Congress to MLB: We're (incl. Illinois's Rush) watching you

Report in the Houston Chronicle says the US Congress is keeping an eye on former Sen George Mitchell's steroid probe.

WASHINGTON — Congress is monitoring George Mitchell's investigation of steroids in baseball and could intervene if he doesn't get more cooperation, two lawmakers told the former Senate Majority Leader.

The leaders of a House subcommittee that held hearings on steroids in 2005 pledged their support for Mitchell in a letter sent to him Tuesday and released to the media Wednesday.

If Mitchell's investigation receives a stonewall, then Congress could potentially step in with some subpoena power, not to mention legislative workings.  This letter sounds like a warning shot across the bow of MLB.

"We sincerely hope that all relevant parties will work constructively to facilitate the completion of your investigation and your ongoing efforts to clean up the sport," wrote House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection chairman Bobby Rush (photo on left), a Democrat from Illinois, and ranking Republican Cliff Stearns of Florida.

Stearns proposed the Drug Free Sports Act in April 2005. That bill called for a two-year suspension for a first offense and a lifetime ban for a second, while leagues that failed to comply would have been fined at least $5 million.

It was one of several pieces of legislation about steroids in pro sports that lawmakers stopped pushing after baseball introduced wider-ranging and more stringent drug rules in November 2005.

"Hopefully, similar legislative initiatives will remain unnecessary," Rush and Stearns wrote.

Mitchell told baseball's owners on Jan. 18 that he intends to interview active players and raised the possibility that Congress could compel testimony — something he can't do. Mitchell was hired by commissioner Bud Selig last March after more than a year of allegations against Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and other stars.

"We appreciate your warning to team owners and concur with your recommendation for better cooperation with your independent investigation," the congressmen wrote.

East Germany Pays For Its Doping Past

(by James)

SN vividly remembers it youth when the Olympics, not the Superbowl was the biggest sporting event going. And like the Superbowl, the Olympics had its version of the Carolina Panthers, the East German Sports machine.

The GDR's secret "State Plan" was in fact, a mass, systematic doping of more than 10,000 unsuspecting young athletes with high doses of anabolic steroids. Some where as young as 12 years old. While these athletes achieved exceptional success in international competition, including the Olympics, many have suffered permanent damage to their physical and emotional health.

Now that dark reality is coming home, as the boys at running blog Let’s Run discovered.

184 E. German Athletes to Get 30,000 Euros From German Olympic Committee, Pharmaceuticl Firm, and Insurance Companies
by: LetsRun.com
January 30, 2007

A reader has sent us an update from the trade press, SCRIP World Pharmaceutical News, on East German athletes being compensated for systematic doping during communist rule in the country. We linked to a story in December on the E. German Olympic Committee giving 167 athletes 9,250 euros as compensation for being doped under the guidance of governmental sports authorities.

The SCRIP World Pharmaceutical News story says 184 athletes will in addition be compensated 10,000 Euros by the pharmaceutical firm, Jenapharm, and roughly that same amount from insurance companies, so the total amount of compensation for these athletes will be roughly 30,000 Euros (some reports say everyone will get 9,250 euros 3 times)

Jenapharm produced Turinabol, a synthetic male hormone which was popular with athletes because it "encouraged quality muscle gain without water retention problems" and broke down quickly after ingestion so it was hard to detect.

Some 10,000 athletes may have been doped in E. Germany in an attempt to win Olympic medals, some with very serious side affects. Not sure if financial compensation can make up for their troubles, but it's a step in the right direction.

Director of Michigan High School Athletic Association Opposes Drug Testing; The Nation says to wake up.

In an article penned for The Detroit News, Jack Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA, opposes drug testing for scholastic athletes.

Can anyone see logic in Robert's statement?  He argues that singling out high school athletes for testing because that gives them special attention.  I suppose to reduce anabolic use in high school athletes we should test the band or maybe glee club.

Of course high school athletes deserve special attention.  They are participating in an extracurricular activity, that gives them special notoriety on the sports page, and in the news.  If he hasn't noticed it, the director should take a look at ESPN, where high school games are routinely featured in programming.  Whenever the stakes are high, cheating will occur.  Does this fellow think illogically or just bury his head in the sand?

This thinking not only is backward, but dangerous.  He suggests using eduction to stop PED use in high schools.  That approach, while worthwhile, might prevent a marginal steroid wannabe from using.  Education is likely not going to stop a hardcore steroid user even at the high school level.  Surveillance and enforcement of rules, unfortunately, would be far more effective.

It is dangerous for administrators like Roberts to firmly plant their head in the sand.  Steroid cheaters gain an unfair advantage.  Further, steroid users become stronger, and generate more power in a game.  Might they injure another player, especially in high school, where often the difference between the most powerful players and the less mature, weaker players is startling?  And lastly the director is opening up himself to lawsuits form both injured players, and from athletes who will suffer grave consequences of steroid use later in life.  Former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent has suggests as much.

The Nation cannot emphasize more how misguided this approach is.  The director even calls the educational programs 'enforcement'.  Michigan can do much better than this.

Jack Roberts , executive director of the Michigan High School Athletic Association, said in a statement Monday that he is firmly opposed to drug testing of any kind in state high schools.

Roberts' statement is in response to a column written (Nov. 2006) by USA Today contributing columnist Robert Lipsyte who sided with the notion of drug testing high school athletes.

"Singling out high school athletes for drug testing only adds to this misguided notion that who they are and what they do somehow deserve special attention," Roberts said in his statement.

Roberts said a more cost efficient and effective way of policing performance-enhancing drug use by high school students is through programs like ATLAS and ATHENA, which have proven to reduce use of performance enhancing drugs and other risky behaviors.

Report says BALCO federal attorney Kevin Ryan was fired

Steroid Nation finds this report fascinating, and puzzling.

A report on the politicization of federal attorneys says that BALCO prosecutor Kevin Ryan was actually fired by the Justice Department.  Originally in the McClatchy papers, the article by Marisa Taylor and Greg Gordon. is found here.

The Taylor and Gordon report is disturbing on several levels.  For our interests, it indicates that politics is being played with the federal attorneys.  More importantly for BALCO there are 3 implications:

• Ryan's dismissal appears to be tendered without public comment (reason).
• Ryan was heading up several important and visible investigations including BALCO
• Will an federal prosecuting attorney be appointed with less zest for dealing with the BALCO steroid dealers and cheats

Washington - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is transforming the ranks of the nation's top federal prosecutors by firing some and appointing conservative loyalists from the Bush administration's inner circle who critics say are unlikely to buck Washington.

    The newly appointed U.S. attorneys all have impressive legal credentials, but most of them have few, if any, ties to the communities they've been appointed to serve, and some have had little experience as prosecutors.

    The nine recent appointees identified by McClatchy Newspapers held high-level White House or Justice Department jobs, and most of them were handpicked by Gonzales under a little-noticed provision of the Patriot Act that became law in March.

    With Congress now controlled by the Democrats, critics fear that in some cases Gonzales is trying to skirt the need for Senate confirmation by giving new U.S. attorneys interim appointments for indefinite terms. Some legal scholars contend that the administration pushed for the change in the Patriot Act as part of its ongoing attempt to expand the power of the executive branch, a charge that administration officials deny...

Being named a U.S. attorney "has become a prize for doing the bidding of the White House or administration," said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor who's now a professor at the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "In the past, there had been a great deal of delegation to the local offices. Now, you have a consolidation of power in Washington."...

In the wake of the recent firings of a half-dozen U.S. attorneys, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, filed bills that would restore to federal judges the right to name interim appointees when vacancies develop. On Thursday, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., whose office has confirmed that he inserted language making the change in Patriot Act last year, gave his qualified support to Feinstein's bill.

    Justice Department officials have refused to say how many prosecutors were fired or to explain the firings, but Feinstein has said she's aware of the ouster of at least seven U.S. attorneys since March 2006.

    Former U.S. attorneys who know some of those ousted said they were concerned because the administration in some cases offered no reason for the dismissals.

    Among those dismissed were Carol Lam of San Diego, whose office won a bribery conviction against then-Rep. Randolph "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., and prosecuted several members of San Diego's city council. The Cunningham case is ongoing.

    Also ordered to resign was Kevin Ryan, the U.S. attorney in San Francisco, who was overseeing high-profile investigations into steroids use by major league baseball players and the backdating of stock options by Apple Inc., and other firms.

Did someone get to AG Gonzalez to have Ryan dismissed?

 

Democrats on Steroids

According to the Huffington Post, after listening to the Democratic repsonse to the State of the Union Address, it is concluded that the Democrats are on steroids.

For two years in a row, Democratic leadership chose a Virginia politician to give the Democratic response to Bush's SOTU speech. Last year, Governor Tim Kaine and this year, newly elected Senator Jim Webb. Where Kaine came across as mild-mannered nice guy, Mister Rogers, Webb conveyed the toughness associated with Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry: "Go ahead, make my day."

What kind of steroids?  I would say some potent ones, if CLint Eastwood trash talk ensues.

Jim Webb had nine minutes compared to President Bush's forty-five minutes, but managed to convey resolute directness that was notably absent from the State-of-the-Union address. The first theme of Webb's remarks was economic populism. "When one looks at the health of our economy, it's almost as if we are living in two different countries... the middle class of this country, our historic backbone and our best hope for a strong society in the future, is losing its place at the table." ..

The Nation will not enter political debates, however we did think that was an interesting headline.

The Republicans have enlisted JC Watts, Jack Kemp, Jim Bouton, and I believe Steve Largent.  Maybe it is time the Democrats perked up with some modafinil.

Euro Cycling Scandal rockets into stratosphere; Pound and Landis again

Never accuse the Nation of under-hyperbole.  We are learning as we go on.  We were never quite sure whether a unicycle had one wheel or two, or same with bicycle, tricycle....we know now.

The Euro Cycling scandal continues.  Lefevere promises to sue, somebody, anybody (story at VeloNews):

Lefevere called the allegations "complete nonsense and bullshit" and told Belgian radio he will sue the newspaper for 50 million euros...

Lefevere could find himself in a pickle if Belgian authorities decide to investigate the allegations laid down by the newspaper. As president of the professional teams association, Lefevere has been a big supporter of the ProTour Ethics Code, which calls for riders to be sidelined while under investigation. He also heavily criticized Manolo Saiz, ex-manager of Liberty Seguros, as well as Floyd Landis and Discovery Channel for signing Ivan Basso.

Also reported in Velo News, Dick Pound has asked the French Anti-doping agency to delay action against Floyd Landis.

"In December we asked the French agency to suspend its inquiry into Floyd Landis until the end of the American anti-doping procedure," said WADA's Pound. "They seem ready to do that, although without renouncing their judicial rights."

Indeed, although agreeing to a temporary suspension, AFLD is due to convene on February 8 to consider Landis's case. And it is in a hurry to have the case brought to a conclusion.

"The test happened in July; we're almost in February," a spokesman for the agency said. "As far as we know, USADA's next meeting is scheduled for March and we don't know how long it (the Landis inquiry) will take.

"WADA has made a request, but we will apply the law."

  The developments in European cycling occur now fast and furious.  We don't feel we can comment at this point.  We have some inside sources, and will be talking to them soon.

As an editorial comment, everyone would be much better off if Steroid Nation had no material, which would mean no doping, nor doping controversies.  Many issues in the world today are spinning out of control.  The latest events suggest that doping is one of those issues, although less dangerous than the political hot spots.  Nonetheless, we long for the halcyon days of no doping scandals, or no WDA controversies, or no steroid-tainted records;  however that is a pipe-dream as it seems someone always wants to cheat to win.

Perhaps the Nation can compose a 'State of the Anabolic Union Address'?

Allegations of Lefereve and Quickstep bribing officials to pass doping test; Quickstep manager resigns under fire of doping charges

Update here.

The Lefevere/Quickstep doping scandal continues to blow up.  Reports in the newspaper LHN.BE (Het Laatste Nieuws,Belgium) contend team Quickstep bribed officials to pass doping tests (translation):

The last news unpacks today with new charges to the address of Quick.Step-manager Patrick Lefevere. An anonymous renner of the current Quick. Step-ploeg says that the renners use both doping and drugs...

Acte of it are the deposition today in the last news of a renner from the Quick. Step-ploeg. Renners take drugs on parties, they do not have fear being caught, because at controls people are bribed. Lefevere and Van Mol are informed of these practices and even deserve money, sound it. Three types according to the renner are there three types renners at Quick. scooter. You have the renners who but small 100 km must work, who take nothing. Then there are the coureurs who what must go along longer, which gets regularly something extra. Finally have you the top press and it are those renners who get the large resources. year amount According to anonymous getuige the renners give a year amount to doctor Van Mol and those recommends you then concerning certain products.  "if someone was caught, then they knew of nothing."

Cycling News says Quicksteps manager resigned yesterday.

Quick Step-Innergetic's public relations officer Johan Museeuw has confessed to not being "100 per cent honest" during the final year of his cycling career, in what is generally being interpreted as an admission to doping.

Velo News carries the story too.  Museeuw is facing charges.  Accusations include EPO, HGH, anabolic steroids, and amphetamine to riders.

Facing trial on doping charges, former world champion Johan Museeuw on Tuesday admitted to taking drugs in the final months of his career...

The Belgian star stands accused of possessing the banned blood booster erythropoietin (EPO) and two other illegal performance enhancers. He was suspected of being part of a ring of drug traffickers including a veterinary surgeon and three-time world cyclo-cross champion Mario De Clercq and eight other riders and go-betweens.

They are suspected of supplying human growth hormones, stimulants, steroids and testosterone to riders. All will now face trial after Belgian authorities decided there was enough evidence to prosecute the men.

Our report from yesterday is here.

Starbucks to drop milk with bovine growth hormone (rBGH). Sammy Sosa's hat size to decrease.

Starbucks, the coffee chain and favorite pre-workout hangout of most bodybuilders, the Carolina Panthers, several MLB sluggers, and Jason Grimsely, announced that it will forgo products with 'bovine growth hormone'.  Report out here in the AP.

SEATTLE -- Starbucks Coffee Co. is ending its use of milk products that contain an artificial growth hormone, starting in much of the West and New England. Less than a month after announcing that the chain would stop selling items with trans fats in half its U.S. stores, Starbucks said Tuesday it had begun buying only milk products without bovine growth hormone in those areas...

For more than a decade, some advocacy groups have asserted that there has not been enough research on the effects in humans of milk products from cows that were given the hormone, which is administered to dairy cattle during the middle phase of lactation to boost milk production.

Large-scale dairy operators contend there is no scientific evidence to suggest any effect on humans from the recombinant bovine growth hormone, (rBGH), which is marketed as Posilac by Monsanto Co. of St. Louis, which obtained approval from the Food and Drug Administration for commercial sales beginning in early 1994.

"Growth hormones only work on their own kind. A lot of people don't understand that," said Blair Thompson, a spokesman for the Washington Dairy Products Commission.

Environmental groups have long protested against the use of artificially stimulated cow milk.  The groups say the rBGH  (bovine growth hormone) leaks into milk produced in these cows.  Milk producers on the other hand, says rBGH is inactive in humans.  There is concern that rBGH increases IGF-1 (link may req registration) and other peptides that may affect humans.  These peptides are not thought to increase human growth.   Sammy Sosa says he can't read English well enough to evaluate the arguments.

In other news, haberdashers have revealed that hat sizes have seemed to decrease since the Starbucks' decision..... 

US Presecutor in BALCO, and Bonds case resigns

The San Francisco Chronicle reports US Attorney Kevin Ryan resigned Tuesday.  Ryan's work included BALCO, and other important cases.

U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan announced his resignation Tuesday as chief federal prosecutor for coastal Northern California, ending a 4 1/2-year tenure marked by high-profile cases on stock options fraud and steroids in sports and some high-level criticism of his management.

Ryan, 49, reached a "mutually agreeable decision with Washington'' to step down, spokesman Luke Macaulay said. Macaulay noted that Ryan "serves at the pleasure of the president'' but declined to say whether President Bush had asked him to resign.

California Senator Diane Feinstein recently started a campaign hammering the Bush administration for using political patronage in appointing federal judges and persecutors.  Ryan was named by the Wall Street Journal as a target.

t's not clear what effect Ryan's departure will have on his office's investigation of Bay Area companies for allegedly concealing their backdating of stock options granted to top executives. Ryan appointed a task force last summer to look into the practice and has obtained two criminal indictments and a flurry of executive resignations.

His resignation came amid accusations by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and other Democrats that Bush was pushing U.S. attorneys out of office so he could appoint their replacements without Senate confirmation under a little-noticed provision of the USA Patriot Act passed by Congress in 2001.

Citing a Wall Street Journal article Tuesday that listed Ryan among seven prosecutors around the nation who reportedly were being forced out, Feinstein said she was co-sponsoring legislation that would reinstate a 120-day limit on the president's power to name an interim U.S. attorney without Senate approval. After 120 days, federal judges would make the interim appointments, as they did before the Patriot Act.

The Chronicle comments on Ryan's BALCO work:

In perhaps Ryan's best-known prosecution, the founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative and four other defendants pleaded guilty to supplying illegal drugs to star athletes, including the Giants' Barry Bonds. No athletes have been charged, although a grand jury is investigating whether Bonds lied when he denied knowingly taking steroids.