After the Alex interview today. Im amazed there is no comment I know gamers aren't at this time as, of yet performance enhancers other than stimulants.

I followed baseball for quite a few years in the 90s especially the HR hitting headlines. I finished school in Chitown and was a Die hard Sammy Sosa fan,,, believing he was a natural athlete compared to many others at the time to be disappointed over the cork bat ect antics that ensued. The Cleveland debacle as well.

I never thought allot of baseball until I went to a Cubs opening game. Growing up in Texas you sometimes take spring for granted. Beers girls and even semi warm weather was a reason to rejoice in Chicago that kept me there threw graduation.

I really feel that the whole steroid controversy created by politics has destroyed the sport to most but the die hard.

There is only college where I live now and I go to maybe two games a year on average. I see more football, but I always believed if foolishly that steriods where more pronounced in football than baseball.

Basketball seems to be the only sport that is immune to controversy, but then this years injuries trades has made it kind of depressing.

Honestly all the bull with roids and controversy has turned me off greatly to pro sports. I almost only watch college games these days. I did get a Phillies game this past year though but that wasn't on my dime. I used to go to Orioles games frequently, those were replaced by minor league games in my area. I went to several of those games this past year b/c you can't beat $5 a ticket and cheap beer :D It's sad all this scandal is ruining the sport :(

Basketball seems to be the only sport that is immune to controversy, but then this years injuries trades has made it kind of depressing.

Pacers vs. Detroit

Ron Artest

Kobe rape trial

The declining ratings during the 90s because of there being no rookie cap and every one and their posse were causing issues.

Jamaal Tinsley

Josh Howard

The cocaine problems in the late 70s through the mid 80s

Magic Johnson and AIDS

The Knicks organization be it Isiah Thomas or Stephon Marbury

9 Coaching replacements already during the season this year

Seattle moving to Oklahoma City

Barkley, alcohol, and a drive to get a blowjob

Michael Jordan's gambling problems and inability to GM a team (whether in Washington or Charlotte)

The cold envelope in the lottery the year Patrick Ewing went first to the Knicks

Tim Donaghy the dirty ref that bet on games he officiated (including playoff games)

etc.

What exactly did he take? some of the stuff they consider to be steroids you can grab at your local GNC so I am wondering what exactly it was.

A steroid that's illegal to be manufactured and distributed in the US but is over the counter in the Dominican Republic and Testosterone.

I love baseball, and I love my Cardinals. My entire room is decked out in Cardinal red, and it's rare that you won't see me in jersey. The steroid controversy has done absolutely nothing to my fandom, except perhaps make me even more appreciative of my beloved franchise and her fans.

We had Mark McGwire. He got up before Congress and cried like a pussy - fuck him.

We've also had hundreds of great ballplayers come through the city over the years. There is no way in hell that I'm going to let some chump deprive me of my pride in our team or of the joy that comes from watching or going to a game.

Would it suck if one of my favorite players turned out to be a fraudulent roid junkie? Of course.

That's why I don't support assholes like Alex Rodriguez.

This isn't some kid trying to rehab, or some guy who has floated around in the minors, just trying to finally make it to the show. This idiot had the most ridiculous contract ever, and he still had to cheat.

The Yankees got exactly what they deserved.

When you go out year after year, throwing around money to attract players like they're whores, you're eventually going to run into a burner. The storied franchise of the past has evolved into a one-stop shop for a chance at a ring. There is no loyalty, there is no cohesion. Each year they manage to field an All-Star team, and what do they have to show for it?

Pathetic.

We had the latest issue of the New Yorker to deliver today, and the cover is a masterpiece of statement on this issue.

I hope folks get a chance to see it.


(Or maybe someone with better skills than mine can get a shot of it and post here)

This is an interesting article about the subject. Did Selig allow MLB to become the WWE? (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Agbr9GornHSCXlm8aSPLw405nYcB?slug=dw-seligmcmahon021709&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)

“In the early ’90s, the federal government came into pro wrestling and tried to put Vince McMahon in prison for steroid use of wrestlers,” Jesse Ventura, former Minnesota governor and pro wrestler told the online news program, Your Turn.

“My question is: They’ve now determined 104 baseball players failed their steroid test in 2003 – 104! They indicted Vince McMahon, why aren’t they indicting Bud Selig?”

McMahon, who beat the conspiracy to distribute steroids charges in 1994, actually ran an honest operation compared to Selig. While Hulk Hogan may have claimed he was just "eating his vitamins," anyone over the age of 12 understood the entire thing was make-believe, just entertainment.

Not Selig. Not baseball. They clung to an illusion they either knew wasn't true or should've known wasn't true. When confronted repeatedly with facts that the game was a sham, they reacted at a glacial pace.
Selig is so surrounded by yes-men and so comforted by apologists in the media – or organizations willing to suspend anyone who mocks him – that he believes his own lunacy.

As someone who enjoy's both, it does appear that recently, WWE(specifically the company, not the business as a whole) has indeed dealt with steroids far better then MLB. They suspended and/or fired a huge chunk of their roster after finding out they did steroids years before, even suspending one of their biggest money makers just weeks before their biggest show. A-Rod apparently just has to bullshit through a press conference and then he's good to go.

The reason steroids are such a big deal in baseball as opposed to other sports, is how they essentially ignored it for so long, even actively fighting against testing. Yes, pretty much every major sport in the US has steroid users, but most of them have dealt with it far better then baseball.

This whole thing also helps me enjoy my team even more, the Rays. I'm not naive enough to think there's no way anyone on that team uses performance enhancers and the like, but the fact that their style of play is apparently more "old school" pre-steroid era, is indeed nice to see.

Except the first person suspended (while on a major league roster) for steroids in baseball was Alex Sanchez of the ... Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays also had Juan Salas fail a steroid test while on the major league roster.

Hell Jose Canseco (Jose Guillen was on the team at the same time too) was on the Rays for two years. John Rocker was on the Rays the same season that was listed in the Mitchell Report as a time when we received shipments of HGH.

My point to this? Every team has been tainted. I'm not knocking your team specifically, they have 7 players that were ever on their team that were named in the Mitchell Report which is nothing compared to say the Yankees with 23 players named in the Mitchell Report.

The Rays are a great team to watch now. Very fun and fundamental in their approach to the game. Hopefully baseball can start moving forward and have stories about the sport instead of more and more stories that are tearing down the sport.

Do steroids really help that much that people are willing to risk careers, name, livelihood to use them? I can't imagine risking all that for an edge.

I recall as a college athelete being tested for drugs quite frequently and I also saw a few people lose scholarships for having used illegal substances. The NCAA doesn't like that so much. Do they test much in MLB or other sports? Maybe they should be tested more frequently?

Honestly all the bull with roids and controversy has turned me off greatly to pro sports. I almost only watch college games these days....


Steroids are rampant in college, if not more than on the professional level, I assure you.

What exactly did he take? ....

He intended on taking Primabolan (a fairly potent compound that acts similar to testosterone, only with far less side effects and water retention), which turned out to be counterfeit and was made from two different compounds - one of which was testosterone.


...

Basketball seems to be the only sport that is immune to controversy...

Enjoy the quiet times for Basketball while you can. Basketball is not immune from performance enhancing supplements. Equipose is one of the most predominant compounds used by basketball players (along with cyclists and long distance track athletes) - it increases red blood cell count and thus directly increases stamina by allowing more consistent and efficient delivery of oxygen throughout the body (and is widely used in horse racing). GH is used by athletes in every single sport not specifically for direct performance enhancment, but for its overall recovery (healing) properties and general sense of well being it provides. You can find more information about that aspect of GH if you research quality of life and HRT/TRT (hormone replacement and testosterone replacement therapy) clinics.


Do steroids really help that much that people are willing to risk careers, name, livelihood to use them? I can't imagine risking all that for an edge.

I recall as a college athelete being tested for drugs quite frequently and I also saw a few people lose scholarships for having used illegal substances. The NCAA doesn't like that so much. ...

In short - yes they do help that much. Steroids do NOT make you god. They assist in making you much better than you could be, much quickly than you could get there on your own. By that I mean, you can not just give an average joe a "cycle" and expect him to be Triple H from the WWE. However you can give a motivated individual with a great work ethic and solid diet a cycle of steroids and watch them make more progress in that short amount of time, than they could over a period of years without.

Colleges DO NOT test for steroids. Only the NCAA does. And then you have a 24 hour notice... which if you know what you are doing is plenty of time for you to be able to get around a drug test. I personally have witnessed many guys pass an NCAA test and I knew for a fact that they were using not only steroids, but multiple other substances.

Except the first person suspended (while on a major league roster) for steroids in baseball was Alex Sanchez of the ... Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays also had Juan Salas fail a steroid test while on the major league roster.

Hell Jose Canseco (Jose Guillen was on the team at the same time too) was on the Rays for two years. John Rocker was on the Rays the same season that was listed in the Mitchell Report as a time when we received shipments of HGH.

My point to this? Every team has been tainted. I'm not knocking your team specifically, they have 7 players that were ever on their team that were named in the Mitchell Report which is nothing compared to say the Yankees with 23 players named in the Mitchell Report.

The Rays are a great team to watch now. Very fun and fundamental in their approach to the game. Hopefully baseball can start moving forward and have stories about the sport instead of more and more stories that are tearing down the sport.

I was talking specifically about the 08 team. You can safely assume that when anyone makes any type of positive comment about the rays, they're referring to last years team, with a small chance of the 2 years before. (when Sternberg bought the team)

Anything before that is just a blur of purified failure. I have a ton of useless stuff like a signed 1997 Pablo Ortega devil rays card card(note: the rays didn't start playing until 98) and a baseball signed by half of the first year team. My dad worked at the dmv where all the new players came to get their new licences and vehicle tags, so with that and the endless free tickets we got all sorts of memorabilia mostly from players no one's heard of cept for Carl Crawford and Boggs. (who was pretty much the only 'big name' player for the rays that I remember seeming to actually give a shit about the team)

Here is the New Yorker cover. An interesting visual commentary.