Pass the Juice…
by Ivette Ricco
December 6, 2004
Well it’s baseball’s turn to get bloody and dirty. It’s their turn at bat.
This season of sports’ desperate times has MLB trying to scrape the dog doo off their cleats.
Forget about the Artest brawl, never mind about the MNF T.O. Nicolette Sheridan towel incident.
We are now in the throes of Major League Baseball’s mother of sports controversy, steroid use at the highest level of America ’s pastime.
MLB the most traditional of all sports, the game that Ruth built, the sport that resists all change has been changed forever by the use of high tech chemicals.
How sad that MLB players have been applying “the clear” and “the cream” and shooting up in order to bulk up and hit homeruns.
I find it amusing that avid baseball fans, baseball owners, trainers, media types, and all those who follow Major League Baseball closely could have been so blind and naïve and profess to not know that the Popeye-look their power hitters had was due to something more than eating spinach and exercising daily.
I don’t follow baseball all that closely but when Mark McGwire started to smack home runs out of the park in 1998 in super human style and when his head took on the appearance of a small melon resting on his big body, well, I thought something wasn’t right.
And then when Jason Giambi lost a ton of weight and muscle mass and explained that he had changed his diet, well, I was a little skeptical. Even a Jenny Craig regimen doesn’t produce those results.
And although I would like to believe that Barry Bonds is a great athlete and is worthy of MVP status, it does seem strange that his ability to smash the ball out of the park is commensurate with his muscle mass.
But, hey who the hell am I to doubt the experts in the game?
Yet apparently in spite of the most recent stunning admissions by Victor Conte , Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds, the players union is still fighting any type of real drug enforcement in MLB. And, I have yet to hear a public apology from any MLB owners to the baseball fan.
The recent surge in baseball’s popularity can be directly linked to homerun mania. Fans are eager to see the power hitters knock the ball out of the park, and the players are happy to oblige them.
When the proliferation of homeruns points to the use of performance enhancing drugs, which leads to more tickets being sold, then who will willingly put an end to this cycle?
When owners are making boatloads of money because homeruns equal greater attendance and higher revenues you can expect they will be slow to make any significant changes.
When drug-producing technology outpaces drug-detecting technology, and there is lots of money to be made, how long do you suppose it will take before a newer version of “the clear” or “the cream” is being offered to willing athletes?
MLB has to make changes, and the Players Association has to cooperate, for the good of the sport. But it is anybody’s guess as to how successful a drug-free campaign will be when “just say no” has never slowed down the rampant drug use in America .
But change is necessary not only for the good of the sport or for the image it clearly must defend. But for the sake of young athletes with dreams and aspirations to follow in the footsteps of their heroes. Those footsteps should not include stops at the drug store for hypodermic needles.
Victor Conte has suddenly and inexplicable decided to talk publicly about the steroid scandal and his company, BALCO’s involvement.
He says he wants to tell his side of the story, and a horror story it is.
Conte has gone public and told how he gave Marion Jones performance-enhancing drugs, how BALCO helped Tim Montgomery become the world's fastest man, how he supplied Barry Bonds' trainer, Greg Anderson, with the designer steroid THG.
A shocking revelation and allegation about Marion Jones made by Conte, makes the entire drug scandal scathingly vivid.
“On April 21, 2001 , I was sitting in an Embassy Suites hotel room in Covina , Calif. , about a foot away from Marion Jones . The next day, she was going to try to break the world record in the 300 meters. It was her first competition of the 2001 season, and we were both excited.”
“We'd had a lot of success since the previous August, after I'd arranged for her to receive various performance enhancers including "The Clear," a steroid that later became famous as THG, and nutritional supplements. She was on all of it at the 2000 Games in Sydney , when she won three gold medals and two bronzes. I tell you this knowing Marion passed a lie-detector test saying it's not true. All that shows me is lie detectors don't work.”
“She came to my room for a new piece of equipment I'd brought, a NovoPen injector that looked like a Sharpie and can be used for human growth hormone. I needed to teach her how to use it. Marion wasn't the least bit nervous; she's always in control. She pulled the spandex of her bicycle shorts above her right thigh. She dialed up a dose of four-and-a-half units of growth hormone and injected it into her quadriceps.”
Now if that doesn’t make the hair on your neck stand up then you are not a sports fan.
Another person who has come “clean” is Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees. According to news reports Jason Giambi admitted to a federal grand jury that he used steroids, unfortunately his admission didn’t exactly raise eyebrows or the indignation in the baseball community. Thus far I haven’t heard the Yankee organization or Steinbrenner speak out on this matter.
"Is anybody really surprised?" said former major league first baseman and current Diamondbacks television analyst Mark Grace .
According to a grand jury transcript in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) case, Giambi said he injected himself with human growth hormone in 2003 and had begun using steroids in 2001.
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig acknowledged that more needs to be done.
"I've been saying for many months: I instituted a very, very tough program in the minor leagues on steroids in 2001," he said at an appearance in Washington, D.C. "We need to have that program at the major league level. This is just another manifestation of why we need that right away. My only reaction is we're going to leave no stone unturned until we have that policy in place by spring training 2005."
In an interview on ABC's 20/20, Conte, mocked MLB's drug-testing program.
"Let me tell you the biggest joke of all," he said. "I would guesstimate that more than 50 percent of the athletes are taking some form of anabolic steroids."
Steroid Dictionary:
"THE CLEAR," (a k a THG)
Medical use: None. A steroid designed to avoid detection, allegedly marketed by BALCO. Scientists say it is related to gestrinone, a synthetic hormone used to treat the female gynecological condition endometriosis, and trenbolone, used to improve muscle quality in beef cattle.
Performance-enhancing use: Elite athletes were told "The Clear" was a steroid "undetectable" by conventional steroid tests.
Side effects: Unknown.
"THE CREAM"
Medical use: None. Another BALCO "designer" steroid. Scientists say it is a mixture of testosterone and epitestosterone, a naturally produced substance with no known function.
Performance-enhancing use: Builds strength. BALCO claimed the drug was "undetectable" on conventional drug tests, which measure the ratio between testosterone and epitestosterone.
Side effects: Unknown.
DECA DURABOLIN (nandrolone decanoate)
Medical use: Injectable steroid, prescribed to treat anemia associated with kidney failure, as well as AIDS wasting.
Performance-enhancing use: Long popular with body-builders, it builds strength and muscle mass, aids workout recovery.
Side effects: Acne; baldness; shrinking of testes; possible prostate cancer risk.
HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE
Medical use: Injectable substance used to correct short stature in children with hormone deficiency, and to treat AIDS wasting.
Performance-enhancing use: It builds muscle and strengthens connective tissue, especially when taken in combination with steroids or insulin. Some users report improved eyesight.
Side effects: Thyroid deficiency; acromegaly, a condition marked by growth of hands, feet and head; enlarged heart.
CLOMID (clomiphene citrate)
Medical use: Female fertility drug.
Performance-enhancing use: Enhances the effect of testosterone and masks use of steroids on drug tests.
Side effects: Headaches, hot flashes. Can exacerbate pituitary gland tumors.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
ATHLETE |
SPORT |
POSITION/DISCIPLINE |
Zhanna Block |
Track and field |
Sprinter, Ukraine |
Barry Bonds |
Baseball |
OF, San Francisco Giants |
Dwain Chambers |
Track and field |
Sprinter, England |
Ramon Clay |
Track and field |
Sprinter, U.S. |
Chris Cooper |
NFL |
Defensive tackle, 49ers |
Chryste Gaines |
Track and field |
Sprinter, U.S. |
Daryl Gardener |
NFL |
Defensive tackle (inactive) |
Jason Giambi |
Baseball |
1B/DH, Yankees |
Jeremy Giambi |
Baseball |
Outfield, Triple A Las Vegas |
Alvin Harrison |
Track and field |
Sprinter, U.S. |
Calvin Harrison |
Track and field |
Sprinter, U.S. |
Regina Jacobs |
Track and field |
Sprinter, U.S. |
Marion Jones |
Track and field |
Sprinter/long jumper, U.S. |
Johnnie Morton |
NFL |
Wide Receiver, Chiefs |
John McEwen |
Track and field |
Hammer, U.S. |
Tim Montgomery |
Track and field |
Sprinter, U.S. |
Armando Rios |
Baseball |
Outfield, Triple A Memphis |
Bill Romanowski |
NFL |
Linebacker (retired) |
Barret Robbins |
NFL |
Center (inactive) |
Gary Sheffield |
Baseball |
Outfield, NY Yankees |
Dana Stubblefield |
NFL |
Defensive tackle (unsigned) |
Josh Taves |
NFL |
Defensive lineman (inactive) |
Eric Thomas |
Track and field |
Hurdler, U.S. |
Kevin Toth |
Track and field |
Shot putter, U.S. (retired) |
Olga Vasdeki |
Track and field |
Triple jumper, Greece |
Kelli White |
Track and field |
Sprinter, U.S. |
Makes you wonder why you keep telling your kids to eat their Wheaties, doesn’t it?
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