Pettitte, Vina admit to using HGH; Latest - Clemens denies usage

[dlk9s]

Now I'm not trying to make light of the situation, I think the steroid problem is serious, and needs to be addressed (even moreso than it is now), but I really can't be all that disturbed by someone taking a prescription drug that they obtained illegally when it wasn't banned by MLB. Really, my reaction to this is "big deal". This isn't any different than say, Brett Favre eating Vicodin like candy, and just about everyone was willing to give him a pass on that one.

 

I'm just saying, as far as "seriousness of offense" goes, taking a prescription drug illegally really is pretty tame.

Taking steroids and/or HGH to cheat in sports is FAR different than being addicted to a painkiller. I'm not sure why you don't see that.

 

[Big Reed]

to me, there are many other ways a player can and has cheated in baseball. The spit ball and corked bat comes to mind. Putting those holes at the top of your bat. barry bonds uses a special hickory wood for his bat. his claim is that in doing so the bat breaks a lot fewer times. anybody who knows anything about trees knows the wood from a hickory tree is a lot harder than an ash tree. it's almot as if he uses a steel bat. While many say he's doing juice, I suspect his bat also had a lot to do with his home runs. Players steal signs. Pitchers intentionally hit batters. players spike players. players use uppers and downers. they drink coffee and eat a lot of sunflower seeds. they get LASIK surgery. Why are cortisone shots legal? now they have energy drinks. I have no idea what is in some of those energy drinks, but it's definitely not gator aide. Cyclists do blood doping. I'm sure some baseball player has probably thought about doing the same. They are always looking for the edge.

 

perhaps what MLB should do is just allow players to do anything to their body they want to much like pro wrestling and the NFL does. the NFL testing program is a joke. maybe all of the stolen base artists should take what marion Jones took to increase their speed. Allow home run hitters to take HGH. they are anyway. let the pitchers throw their spit balls if they can. let the batters use steel bats. allow hockey brawls. Forget the record books, the fans would love the new game. it's obvious the fans loved the steriod and hgh era. let them have more of the same - just legalize it rather than lieing about it and looking the other way. admit MLB is purely for entertainment purposes and not a real sport.

[Thurston Fluff]

While most of the things you mentioned are cheating Big Reed none of them make non-cheaters make a choice between potentially harming their health simply to have a fair chance of competeing for a job. To me that's the distinction between PED use vs other forms.

[Tbadder]

Maybe the answer is to force every player to take a nearly fatal injection on a consistent basis. It could be administered by the commissioner's office. Heck, maybe Bud could poke their arses. I'd pay a lot of money to see that picture. That way players wouldn't obtain the stuff by illegal means as any addtional injections would prove fatal. We'd have an equal playing field. As far as the moral aspect--who cares? They'd being going into it with eyes wide open. Besides, what are health and long life in the face of wealth and fame? And when you come to think of it, is a major league baseball player any smarter than a racing horse? Okay, Ted Simmons, but is there anyone else? (silence, eeire silence)

 

I thought not.

[Big Reed]

I realize that the real reason sports are banning steriods is the Lyle Azado death attributed to steriods. Steriods didn't kill Alzado. His lifestyle did. Steriods haven't killed Hulk Hogan or Arnold Shwartznegger. My sister in law has been taking steriods and other drugs for her multiple sclerosis condition for the past 10 years. She is nowhere near death. if pro sports was really concerned about a player's health, they would ban smoking including the weed, and drinking alcoholic drinks as well as steriods and no more late nights out at the strip clubs. Athletes need their sleep. To some, drinking beer actually makes you a better bowler. it should be banned in bowling alleys as an unfair advantage. pro bowling has to step up and take action. Now even golfers are being accused of juicing up. what next? the Williams sisters are really boys?

 

I also disagree with the policies of the Olympics. I couldn't believe they banned an Olympian for using a hair growth product for his head's hair. They said the hair growth product "COULD" be used as a masking agent for other drugs. one look at the guy and it was kind of obvious he wasn't taking any other drugs or trying to mask anything except the bald spot on his forehead. . and his performance before the Olympics didn't indicate he was a drug freak. he was balding, so he was using one of those hair products. but because it "could" be a masking agent for something , he was banned.

 

the entire act of banning steriods and HGH in sports seems rather hypicritcal to me. We aren't saving anybody's lives by banning steriods. All we are saving are some old baseball records we didn't want broken. Sometimes we become too righteous!

[Thurston Fluff]

I notice you left out Ken Caminetti who said he has to take steroids for the rest of his life because his body quit producing it on it's own. To me that's a health issue that no one should be forced to chose just to have a fair shot at a job they would otherwise deserve. I also realize not everyone dies from it just like not everyone dies from smoking. But it has been studied and it does effect peoples health. The fact that your sister-in-law hasn't died from it doesn't mean that it doesn't have an effect on her health. It simply means the alternative for her is worse. I might also point out that taking a drug with a perscription in proper dosage for health reasons comes with the aid, advice and oversight of a doctor. It is hardly a stretch to say is safer for the recipient than having a trainer jam a needle in your butt in the bathroom of a gym. Especially when the reason for taking it is not health related thus the dosages are not meant to take health into consideration nearly as much as it takes athletic gains into account.

[TooLiveBrew]

Now Roger, if you want to assert your innocence regarding PEDs, when I issue the report, just don't say anything. Decline to be interviewed - don't speak a word.

 

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20071013/capt.nyol93310130001.steroids__nyol933.jpg

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http://www.gloob.tv/files/thumbnail/Picture%202_20.png

 

Yes! Guys, I'm innoncent!

[bobbledude25]

Did anyone read the new SI? Heres a small trimmed down version of the section of what was said on Clemens in the Mitchell Report. 1998 he is 6-6 with a 3.74 ERA w/the Jays. He meets Canseco in Florida and asks about roids and shooting up. Magically, he goes 14-0 the rest of the season with a 2.29 ERA. Hmmmm...

[DuWayne Steurer]

Taking steroids and/or HGH to cheat in sports is FAR different than being addicted to a painkiller. I'm not sure why you don't see that.

 

When you're taking HGH to recover from an injury,I think it's quite similar to taking painkillers to be able to be out on the field. I don't think you need to assume what I can or can't "see", when it's simply an opinion.

 

[TooLiveBrew]

But the painkillers don't help re-grow or actually heal faster. There really can be a positive spin on 'I wasn't sure if they were legal or not, and if they helped me get back to being a productive teammate faster, I said ok.' That's the way I'd play it.

[RU Rah Rah]

Schilling apparently has called out Clemens. On his blog, he called on Clemens to give up the four Cys he's won since 1997 if he can't successfully refute the PED allegations in the Mitchell report.

 

Clemens has really backed himself into a corner, especially with the Congressional hearings set for Jan. 15. I don't think he's dumb enough to actually perjure himself there by repeating his denial, but it's going to look horrible for him if he stays away.

[Big Reed]

perhaps Roger can claim that he did not knowingly take steriods or HGH, and that his trainer just told him those shots were just sucrose.

 

I don't know any professional sports trainers. I do know one who used to be a trainer for a college football team. She is now an MD. What are the qualifications of a MLB trainer? is he an MD? RN? Dentist ? vet? if he/she is an MD, he could also legally prescribe any medication for his players. i would think if the trainer has a medical license, he/she would think twice about prescribing a medication for a baseball player that is listed on the banned substances list.

 

This begs the question: are all steriods banned? or just some? Are all HGH prescriptions banned, or just some? is it possible clemens was taking drugs, but they were a new type of drug that baseball and the public hasn't heard of yet? I recall in researching aides that there were some drugs manufactured in France that had not been approved by the FDA for sale in the US. is it possible that Clemens has been taking the lance Armstrong drug? and that drug is neither a steriod or HGH? but rather is something totally different? perhaps Bonds and 200 other major league players are also taking that same drug. perhaps Clemens is taking that drug all the cyclists are taking. i have no doubt clemens is on the juice. but it may be a juice nobody has ever known before.

[RU Rah Rah]

"On Roger's behalf, we are investigating the allegations about him contained in the Mitchell Report," Clemens' attorney, Rusty Hardin, said Wednesday in a statement. "To our surprise, we have identified several people who logic dictates the Mitchell team should have talked to but did not. That's troubling. We are asking questions and we encourage the news media to do the same."

 

This might make my all-time list of attorney PR spin efforts.

[bobbledude25]

What do celebrities do when they have info published about them wrongfully in news tabloids. Simple: they sue. So Mr. Clemens why do the run around w/your attorney and hire private investigators blah blah blah...why not just sue? hmmmmmm