The Roid Question Not Asked

In Kirk Radomski's book, Bases Loaded, Radomski breaks down the typical list of questions that potential customers would ask regarding roids and HGH such as:

• How frequently should I be taking this stuff?
• Is there anything I can do that would help more?
• How much weight am I going to put on?
• When I come off am I going to lose everything?

The question that no one asked Radomiski during his time supplying PED's to athletes was, "Is it safe?" None of these athletes cared about their health, they just wanted results and PED's to help them either get to the show or get that one last contract that would set them up for life...long term health be damned.

When you've spent your entire life playing ball, you only know one thing...that's playing ball. For some players, they did whatever it took to make the show or stay on the field. Whether it was right or wrong, is something only they can answer.

The NBA & PED's

One sport that is under the radar regarding PED's is pro basketball. Most of the NBA drug issues relate to marijuana and are shrugged off by most of the media. The most serious and recent drug offense occurred several years ago and involved a player who is currently playing in the postseason. The charismatic Chris "Birdman" Andersen of the Denver Nuggets served a two-year ban for violating the league's anti-drug policy, using a "drug of abuse." Marijuana does not fall under this category.

In Kirk Radomski's book about how he became the central figure in the Mitchell Report, Bases Loaded, he writes that he supplied PED's to a NBA player for several years. The player told Radomski that other players were using as well. Specifically, he provided anabolic steroids. He does not name the player.

I'm surprised Radomski supplied anabolic steroids rather than HGH. After learning about all the benefits of HGH, I'm shocked more NBA players aren't using it to recover from injuries. After all, that was the MLB player's association repeated line when all the names came regarding the Mitchell Report: "I only used HGH and it was only to help my teammates. I used it to recover from an injury and get back on the field quicker." It's a great line, sounds noble, but if it was a legit form of recovery, it wouldn't be banned by the World Anti-Doping Authority. It's still looking to get an edge that other competitors don't have.

Since there's no test, who is to say that everyone or most injured NBA players aren't using HGH? In baseball, it's safe to assume that players are still using and will continue to use HGH until there is a test or a stiffer penalties, but that will be the day.

Selig Still in Denial about Role in Roid Era

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig still does not get it.

Speaking to the media last week in Arizona, he defended his role in the roid era that will ultimately define his tenure rather than implementing a wild card, inter league play and other clever marketing ideas to keep the turnstiles spinning after the 1994 work stoppage.

"It's been an interesting experience for me in the respect that we've cleaned the game up. I'm proud of where we are.''

Selig said, if there's work still to be done, it's in being able to test for human growth hormone. He said, "there's not a test, regardless of what people say. If there's a test we'll use it. I can't wait to sit down and tell you that we now have a test for HGH.''

Selig's frustrated with this topic, however. "If I sound frustrated it's because you get into revisionism 15-20 years later and it's the wrong set of facts you're revising,'' Selig said. "My frustration is we started (steroid education) in 1998. Where were we sleeping?''

You were sleeping from 1991 until drug testing was put in place. Steroids have been banned in baseball at the MLB level since 1991 when Fay Vincent added them to baseball's then drug policy. After the 1994 strike and the public outrage that ensued, MLB needed something to get the fans back on their side and into the ballpark. The first year was Cal Ripken hitting the streak and then it was the gradual assault on the home run record that generated the buzz. How could the Commissioner, a former owner, put the halt on a booming business, falling records and an insatiable appetite following his game? The Commissioner could have done the right thing if he had a moral compass, questioned what was going on (he prides himself on being a baseball historian), but instead he chose the path of least resistance and the game has suffered as a result. Bud Selig is not the only one to blame; the MLBPA fought drug testing every step of the way as Selig is found of reminding people. Clean players also did not speak up.

Other areas that show Selig doesn't get it: he states he's cleaned up the game, but then admits there's no test for HGH. Bud, it can't be both ways! The job of cleaning up the game is not finished nor will it ever be: the cheaters will always be out in front of the testers. Cleaning up the sport is not a task like cleaning your car; the latter can be accomplished, the former needs to be constantly monitored and can never be deemed "finished" because someone will always be looking for an advantage. Other than those points, you should be very proud of your accomplishments on this issue.

Tony Mandarich Owns It...After the Fact

In this week's Sports Illustrated, Rick Telander, follows up on the Tony Mandarich cover story he wrote in 1989. Mandarich comes clean and admits to steroid and HGH use back in the day both while playing in the NFL and college football for the Michigan State Spartans (MSU). He also admits being hooked on painkillers throughout his NFL careear. All of this is detailed in his book, My Dirty Little Secrets-Steroids, Alcohol and Painkillers: The Tony Mandarich Story.

It was primarily Mandarich's size and SI's initial coverage that led NFL scouts to drool over him at the 1989 NFL Draft where the Green Bay Packers selected him second, ahead of Barry Sanders, Derek Thomas and Deion Sanders. He lasted three years with the Pack, considered one of the biggest busts until Ryan Leaf hit the 1998 draft and redefined the word.

Mandarich in his book alleges that 15 members of the MSU Rose Bowl squad were on the juice. Similar to the crisis in baseball where no one knew that anyone was using roids, the former coach at MSU, George Perles, has a similar recollection: "I wouldn't know about steroids. The NCAA did all the testing. They're the ones you should talk to." Perles is now a member of the school's board of trustees.

In the article, Tony states how he essentially created the Whizzinator in eluding the NCAA from detection after roiding up before the 1988 Rose Bowl. Per Mandarich: "[For] the Rose Bowl in 1988, we were tested two weeks before on campus, and then we heard there was going to be a second test [in Pasadena]. I'd already gotten back on Anadrol-50 (brand name for oxymetholone), a steroid which makes you significantly stronger within a day or two, and now I'm freaking. I'm in this large 24-hour store, about midnight, brainstorming, thinking how am I going to beat this test?

"In the pet area I see this rubber doggy squeaker toy. I get that, then I go to another area and get a small hose, and in the medical area I get some flesh-colored tape. I'm like the Unabomber getting supplies. Back home I rip the squeakers out of the toy, tape the hose into one end and experiment by filling the thing with water. At the Rose Bowl I taped the toy to my back, ran the hose between my butt cheeks, taped the end to my penis, and covered the hose tip with bubble gum. I had gotten some clean urine from somebody else. The tester stood behind me, couldn't see anything, and when I removed the gum everything worked fine."

Mandarich improved upon his Rose Bowl invention at the Gator Bowl the following year by customizing a squeezable glue bottle to replace the doggy toy. "A quarter twist of the cap, no leak, no moving parts—it was almost too easy," he says.

At least Tony is being honest now. Let's ignore for the moment that he lied all throughout his career and as recently as 2003 when he was quoted in article as not living up to the expectations on the football field. I'm sure this admission had nothing to do with selling a book.

Current HGH Test Has Caught No One

For the past eight years, the current blood test for HGH has caught a whopping zero people using the banned substance...that's correct, zero positives. Either no one is using the product or the test is ineffective in it's current state. I'll go with the latter.

In an article in the NYT, over 8,500 athletes have been tested for HGH since 2000 yet not one has tested positive. Osquel Barroso, the senior manager of science for the World Anti-Doping Agency, believed that out of competition testing would lead to positives. The current test will only come up positive if the user has used HGH about 30 hours after it is taken, a serious limitation on the effectiveness of the current test. "Barroso also said that another reason more athletes had not tested positive was that the threshold for a positive test was fairly high. When drug tests are first implemented, the level of detection is often high to avoid false positives, then lowered after thousands of tests have been conducted." The anti doping experts have said that athletes receive the most benefit from HGH when they use it several times a week while training.

Per the course, the MLB baseball union is feigning ignorance. Gene Orza, the general counsel for the players union said, “We are not going to jump to that conclusion that there is a test today. At best, the science is murky today and there are people invested in the test’s development.” Not jumping to the conclusion that there is a test today...a test that is administered at the Olympics?I've heard that rational thinking from the MLBPA before...we do not have a drug problem, etc. It's time to stop the "deny, deny, deny" game and be proactive. You might actually turn some fans back on to the sport.

Jamaicans Receive PED's through Mail

While not answering my last post, how did Jamaica become the sprint capital of the world, apparently, PED's helped fuel some track athletes' performance. While not the big sprinters from the Beijing Games, two members of the Jamaican track team, hurdlers Delloreen London and Adrian Findlay received PED's through the mail. The information discovered only pertains to the receipt and not confirmed actual use of PED's. Yet, when MLB discovered similar information, they took disciplinary action on the player receiving the PED's even though there was no positive test.

According to SI.com, London received two shipments of Somatropin (HGH) and one shipment of Triest (Estrogen) at a Texas address that traces to her along with a matching birth date. The only conflicting information: gender. The document lists the person's gender as male. In Beijing, London was .01 seconds behind the bronze winner in the 100 meter hurdles (which saw American Lolo Jones trip on the second to last hurdle). London was unavailable for comment, but her husband, Lincoln, "confirmed she ordered the drugs in June 2006 after consulting a physician over the phone about vaginal hemorrhaging she was experiencing. He said the shipment arrived when she was away at competition and that she never opened the package. He added that the 2007 package arrived unsolicited and also was never opened." The prescriptions written for London were obtained through the Anti-Aging Group, a network of clinics that advertise HGH and testosterone treatments on its website. The prescribing physician was Victor Shabanah who advertises himself as a "hormone therapist."

Going to a "hormone therapist" for a vaginal hemorrhaging problem...not too many others would have gone that same route. Speaking of the alleged health issue at hand, are we supposed to assume that the vaginal hemorrhaging just cleared up by itself without using what was recommended by the physician? Why even go with the prescription by mail route? A busy world class athlete couldn't cruise down to her local CVS? A mysterious package arrives unsolicited a year later and one can clearly recall that it was "unopened." How many packages does the average resident receive in a year? Regardless of the number, it's human nature to open the package, even if we don't know what's in it, who sent it, etc. We just go wild receiving and opening packages - it brings out the kid in all of us. To be adamant that one remembers specific packages from more than two years ago and that they remained unopened does not pass the sniff test. Nice try Lincoln and Delloreen.

Moving on to Adrian Findlay, an alternate in the 400m hurdles, in November 2006, he received a shipment of Testosterone Aqueous (Testosterone) and Oxandrolone (an oral steroid) to a North Carolina address that traces to him along with matching birth date. Unlike London, Findlay came out swinging in his denial. He said, "I've been running stable all my life. Trust me, I don't use steroids. I guarantee you it wasn't mine and I didn't order it. I have a theory how this was sent."

According to the article, Findlay's prescription was obtained through the South Beach Rejuvenation clinic by physician Daniel J. Hauser. This clinic ensnared MLB'er Jay Gibbons in December and he was suspended by MLB for violating their drug policy.

I would like to believe Findlay, but in his denial, I have a couple questions. Would I know if an athlete is running "unstable"? If you don't use steroids, why did you allegedly order an oral steroid and testosterone? Please provide payment records so you can validate that you indeed did not pay for the drugs. If you have a theory, by all means, share it now or are you waiting until this controversy dies down?

This issue will probably get worse for the Jamaican track athletes before it gets better.

Olympic PED Preview

With the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics a day away, a PED preview is in order.

According to the Chinese Anti-doping Agency, China has conducted over 5,000 doping tests on its Olympic candidates in the past several months. At the same time, the State Food and Drug watchdog has increased their control over the production, use, distribution, import and export of prohibited substances according to officials last week. This is a step in the right direction for the host country, but will the outside world believe everything and/or anything from the government controlled press?

This Olympiad will mark the first where testing methods are in place to detect the use of human growth hormone (HGH). The benefits of HGH include boosting strength and speeding recovery. The new test will track HGH use beyond 48 hours.

At the Sydney Games in 2000, there were 12 positive doping violations out of 2,500 urine tests for a 0.48% positive instance per test. In 2004, at the Athens Games, the most doping violations in Olympic history occurred with 26. There were an estimated 3,375 tests conducted for a 0.77% positive instance per test. The positive instance occurrence per test jumped 60% from 2000 to 2004. If this trend continues, there will be a 1.23% positive instance per test or approximately 55 athletes testing positive at these Games.

In a poll on this blog, the highest number of athletes to be busted for PED's at the Games (8.8 - 24.08) were 21-25 (12% of respondents). The highest possible answer was greater than 25. International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge expects up to 40 athletes to be caught doping at these games. 40 athletes would represent a 54% increase in the number of athletes caught doping from the Athens Games. Rogge's prediction is based on the increased testing and improved quality of urinalysis.

Already doping has ended the Olympic dreams of 20 athletes from all over the world and from sports as diverse as race walking, swimming, middle distance running and weight lifting. Notable athletes banned from competition include:

• Yelena Soboleva, Russian world record holder and favorite in the 800 and 1,500 meters


• Jessica Hardy, American swimmer tested positive for clenbuterol


• Song Hongjuan, Chinese race walker


• The entire Bulgarian weight lifting team (11 members in total male and female)

The Olympic doping testing period began July 27th and runs until the Games end. Let the Games begin.