MILWAUKEE — Ryan Braun certainly doesn’t fit the image fans conjure
up when they hear that a baseball slugger has been accused of using
performance-enhancing drugs.
Since he
joined the Milwaukee Brewers in 2007, Braun has belted big home runs not
with cartoonishly large muscles, but with a sweet swing and an
ultra-quick bat. Last season, he helped drive the Brewers to the
playoffs and was voted the NL’s Most Valuable Player.
Now
Braun finds himself fighting a 50-game suspension after news leaked that
he has tested positive for a banned substance. He steadfastly maintains
his innocence.
A spokesman for Braun said in a statement
issued to ESPN and The Associated Press that there are “highly unusual
circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan’s complete
innocence.”
ESPN cited two sources Saturday in first
reporting the result, saying Braun tested positive for elevated levels
of testosterone, adding that a later test by the World Anti-Doping
Agency lab in Montreal determined the testosterone was synthetic. Braun
is appealing, according to people familiar with the case.
And
fans may be inclined to believe Braun, given his clean-cut image and
that he hasn’t tested positive or even been suspected of using banned
substances in the past. And, perhaps above all, the fact that he doesn’t
look like a human science experiment.
But there is a long
history of athletes accused of taking banned drugs insisting they did so
to recover from injuries. Sports medicine experts acknowledge the drugs
may help, raising the possibility Braun might have been doing just
that.
Norman Fost, a professor of pediatrics and director
of the bioethics program at the University of Wisconsin, said vigorous
exercise breaks down microscopic muscle fibers.
“One theory is that anabolic steroids hasten the repair of those muscle fibers, and allow you to work out harder,” Fost said.
Dr.
Susannah Briskin, a primary care sports medicine physician with Rainbow
Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, says the potential injury
recovery benefits associated with anabolic steroids have been tested on a
limited basis but only on animals.
“This stuff will never end up being studied with humans,” Briskin
said. “Any medical study must start with, ‘Do no harm.’ The problem is,
there’s been a lot of harm proven in studying anabolic steroids.”
According
to a document on the Mayo Clinic’s website, the potential injury
recovery benefits of performance-enhancing drugs are part of their
appeal to athletes.
“Besides making muscles bigger,
anabolic steroids may help athletes recover from a hard workout more
quickly by reducing the muscle damage that occurs during the session,”
the document says. “This enables athletes to workout harder and more
frequently without overtraining. In addition, some athletes may like the
aggressive feelings they get when they take the drugs.”
Braun
has dealt with nagging injuries in recent years, and other players have
acknowledged they used performance enhancers to help them recover from
injury.
One of the most well-known is pitcher Andy
Pettitte, who said he used human growth hormone to recover from an
injury, not to enhance his performance. Given the generally positive
public reception to Pettitte’s admission, Fost wonders why more athletes
accused of using banned substances don’t just follow his lead.
“What
amazes me and mystifies me is that every athlete hasn’t figured out
that’s a correct answer — and an answer that seems to be deemed
acceptable,” Fost said.
And Fost doesn’t necessarily see
anything wrong with athletes taking a substance that helps them recover
from their injuries. He believes health concerns about steroids haven’t
been sufficiently proved, and blames the media and Congress for creating
an atmosphere he likens to the Salem witch trials.
“That’s the big question — why is it ‘cheating?“’ Fost said.
Braun did not respond to a request for comment from the AP.
“We
are dealing with an incomplete set of facts and speculation,” Brewers
chairman and principal owner Mark Attanasio said in a statement. “Before
there is a rush to judgment, Ryan deserves the right to be heard. We
are committed to supporting Ryan to get to the truth of what happened in
this unfortunate situation.”
As Braun awaits his appeal,
doctors continue to promote awareness of the potentially harmful effects
of performance-enhancing drugs in youth and high school sports.
And
despite ongoing education efforts, Briskin has suspected some of her
patients were using them — especially those who have “unrealistic weight
goals,” like football players whose coaches have asked them to bulk up
and switch positions.
One patient actually asked her for them.
“I’m
like, ‘Are you aware that’s an illegal substance, and I can go to jail
for prescribing it, and you can go to jail for taking it?’,” she said.
Still, she says, performance-enhancing drugs remain remarkably easy to get, whether it’s through somebody at a gym or online.
“You can pretty much buy anything on the Internet,” she said.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Clenbuterol Hydrochloride
Clenbuterol is really a bronchodilator that's utilized in numerous areas of the planet. This particular medication is actually dispersed within 20 mcg pills, the syrup, as well as shots. This particular medication is actually categorized like a sympathomimetics. These people impact the actual sympathetic anxious program in lots of ways. They're mediated through the submission associated with adrenoceptors. Your body offers 9 kinds of receptors which are categorized through leader or even beta. They're subcategorized through kind quantity.
Clenbuterol aka Clenodex is generally accustomed to deal with asthma, hypertension, cardio surprise, arrhythmias, migraines, as well as anaphylactic surprise. Goodman as well as Gillman’s The actual Medicinal Foundation associated with Therapeutics Release explains the result
Clenbutaxyl is wearing your body because “Most from the measures associated with catecholamines as well as sympathomimetic brokers could be categorized in to 7 wide kinds: (1) peripheral excitatory motion upon particular kinds of sleek muscle tissue for example individuals within arteries delivering your skin, kidney, as well as mucous walls, as well as about the gland tissue, for example individuals from the salivary as well as perspiration glands; (two) the peripheral inhibitory motion upon particular other forms associated with sleek muscle mass, for example individuals within the walls from the stomach, within the bronchial sapling, as well as within arteries delivering skeletal muscle mass; (3) the heart excitatory motion, accountable for within improve within heartbeat as well as pressure associated with contraction; (four) metabolic measures, for example a rise within the price associated with glycogenolysis within lean meats as well as muscle mass as well as freedom associated with free of charge essential fatty acids through adipose cells; (5) endocrine measures, for example modulation from the release associated with insulin, rennin, as well as pituitary the body's hormones; (6) CNS measures, for example respiratory system excitement as well as, along with a few of the medicines, a rise within wakefulness as well as psychomotor exercise as well as a decrease in urge for food; as well as (7) presynaptic measures which lead to possibly inhibition or even facilitation from the discharge from the neurotransmitters for example for example norepinephrine as well as acetylcholine. ”
Clenbuterol 20 is really a picky beta-2 sympathomimetic, mainly impacting just among the 3 subsets associated with beta-receptors. This particular medication offers hardly any beta-1 revitalizing exercise. Because beta-1 receptors tend to be carefully associated with the actual heart results of those brokers, this enables Clenbuterol 40 to lessen reversible air passage blockage along with much less cardio unwanted effects in comparison with nonselective beta agonists.
Medical research along with Clenbuterol display it is very efficient like a bronchodilator. You will find not many person issues as well as sufferers find this particular medication to become really efficient. Clenbuterol additionally displays an incredibly longevity in your body from around thirty four several hours. This particular can make constant bloodstream amounts simple to accomplish along with merely a solitary dosage every day. This particular can make Clenbuterol an extremely simple medication to make use of, as well as sufferers appear to utilize it because aimed.
Clenbuterol can be used in several nations however it is not authorized with regard to make use of in the usa. It might possess some thing related to the amount of additional asthma medicines currently being used which are efficient. Consequently numerous medication businesses don’t discover Clenbuterol lucrative sufficient to endure the procedure using the FDA with regard to authorization. Lots of people in the usa buy Clenbuterol about the dark marketplace.
Clenbuterol may be proven to possess anabolic exercise within pet investigation, which makes it an extremely practical medication with regard to sports athletes. This particular substance is also the recognized thermogenic, along with beta-2 agonists such as Clenbuterol proven to straight promote body fat tissue as well as speed up the actual break down associated with triglycerides to create free of charge essential fatty acids. This particular can make Clenbuterol an extremely appealing medication.
People who make use of Clenbuterol are searching for some thing that will assist all of them shed excess fat as well as improve muscle tissue. Medication as well as Technology within Sports activities as well as Physical exercise released an evaluation within July associated with 1995 displaying how the info is actually solely in line with the outcomes of anabolic actions within creatures with regard to bronchodilator. It's result in continuing discussions regarding Clenbuterol actually becoming anabolic whatsoever. A lot of those that make use of Clenbuterol declare it's assisted these phones construct muscle tissue although some sports athletes state it had been the waste materials of the cash.
There are several feasible unwanted effects connected by using Clenbuterol such as trembling from the fingers, sleeplessness, perspiring, greater bloodstream stress, as well as nausea or vomiting. They ought to diminish following while using medication for any 7 days since the entire body gets familiar with the actual medication within their program. In order to counteract along side it results think about beginning with an extremely little dosage associated with Clenbuterol as well as gradually growing the total amount every day before you tend to be getting the entire dosage. Males eat two -8 pills daily as well as ladies eat 2-4 pills every day.
Clenbuterol may cause the body heat to increase the fifty percent level approximately. The reason being the body is actually burning up much more power through body fat. A person won’t really feel unpleasant using the heat alter. This isn't the medication with regard to long-term make use of because the potency of it'll reduce with time. The amount of time it will likely be efficient depends upon the person however it will probably be through 4-6 days. An indicator that it's no more operating is actually that the body's temperature results to normalcy. Growing the actual dosage won’t assist. You can test to prevent utilizing it for some days after which check it out once again.
Clenbuterol may burn off much more body fat if it's coupled with thyroid the body's hormones for example Cytomel.
Numerous sports athletes have experienced incredible outcomes utilizing both of these medicines collectively. They've not really needed to alter their own diet plan possibly. This particular mixture of medicines can also be employed for growth hormones treatment which boost the thermogenic as well as anabolic impact.
Clenbuterol aka Clenodex is generally accustomed to deal with asthma, hypertension, cardio surprise, arrhythmias, migraines, as well as anaphylactic surprise. Goodman as well as Gillman’s The actual Medicinal Foundation associated with Therapeutics Release explains the result
Clenbutaxyl is wearing your body because “Most from the measures associated with catecholamines as well as sympathomimetic brokers could be categorized in to 7 wide kinds: (1) peripheral excitatory motion upon particular kinds of sleek muscle tissue for example individuals within arteries delivering your skin, kidney, as well as mucous walls, as well as about the gland tissue, for example individuals from the salivary as well as perspiration glands; (two) the peripheral inhibitory motion upon particular other forms associated with sleek muscle mass, for example individuals within the walls from the stomach, within the bronchial sapling, as well as within arteries delivering skeletal muscle mass; (3) the heart excitatory motion, accountable for within improve within heartbeat as well as pressure associated with contraction; (four) metabolic measures, for example a rise within the price associated with glycogenolysis within lean meats as well as muscle mass as well as freedom associated with free of charge essential fatty acids through adipose cells; (5) endocrine measures, for example modulation from the release associated with insulin, rennin, as well as pituitary the body's hormones; (6) CNS measures, for example respiratory system excitement as well as, along with a few of the medicines, a rise within wakefulness as well as psychomotor exercise as well as a decrease in urge for food; as well as (7) presynaptic measures which lead to possibly inhibition or even facilitation from the discharge from the neurotransmitters for example for example norepinephrine as well as acetylcholine. ”
Clenbuterol 20 is really a picky beta-2 sympathomimetic, mainly impacting just among the 3 subsets associated with beta-receptors. This particular medication offers hardly any beta-1 revitalizing exercise. Because beta-1 receptors tend to be carefully associated with the actual heart results of those brokers, this enables Clenbuterol 40 to lessen reversible air passage blockage along with much less cardio unwanted effects in comparison with nonselective beta agonists.
Medical research along with Clenbuterol display it is very efficient like a bronchodilator. You will find not many person issues as well as sufferers find this particular medication to become really efficient. Clenbuterol additionally displays an incredibly longevity in your body from around thirty four several hours. This particular can make constant bloodstream amounts simple to accomplish along with merely a solitary dosage every day. This particular can make Clenbuterol an extremely simple medication to make use of, as well as sufferers appear to utilize it because aimed.
Clenbuterol can be used in several nations however it is not authorized with regard to make use of in the usa. It might possess some thing related to the amount of additional asthma medicines currently being used which are efficient. Consequently numerous medication businesses don’t discover Clenbuterol lucrative sufficient to endure the procedure using the FDA with regard to authorization. Lots of people in the usa buy Clenbuterol about the dark marketplace.
Clenbuterol may be proven to possess anabolic exercise within pet investigation, which makes it an extremely practical medication with regard to sports athletes. This particular substance is also the recognized thermogenic, along with beta-2 agonists such as Clenbuterol proven to straight promote body fat tissue as well as speed up the actual break down associated with triglycerides to create free of charge essential fatty acids. This particular can make Clenbuterol an extremely appealing medication.
People who make use of Clenbuterol are searching for some thing that will assist all of them shed excess fat as well as improve muscle tissue. Medication as well as Technology within Sports activities as well as Physical exercise released an evaluation within July associated with 1995 displaying how the info is actually solely in line with the outcomes of anabolic actions within creatures with regard to bronchodilator. It's result in continuing discussions regarding Clenbuterol actually becoming anabolic whatsoever. A lot of those that make use of Clenbuterol declare it's assisted these phones construct muscle tissue although some sports athletes state it had been the waste materials of the cash.
There are several feasible unwanted effects connected by using Clenbuterol such as trembling from the fingers, sleeplessness, perspiring, greater bloodstream stress, as well as nausea or vomiting. They ought to diminish following while using medication for any 7 days since the entire body gets familiar with the actual medication within their program. In order to counteract along side it results think about beginning with an extremely little dosage associated with Clenbuterol as well as gradually growing the total amount every day before you tend to be getting the entire dosage. Males eat two -8 pills daily as well as ladies eat 2-4 pills every day.
Clenbuterol may cause the body heat to increase the fifty percent level approximately. The reason being the body is actually burning up much more power through body fat. A person won’t really feel unpleasant using the heat alter. This isn't the medication with regard to long-term make use of because the potency of it'll reduce with time. The amount of time it will likely be efficient depends upon the person however it will probably be through 4-6 days. An indicator that it's no more operating is actually that the body's temperature results to normalcy. Growing the actual dosage won’t assist. You can test to prevent utilizing it for some days after which check it out once again.
Clenbuterol may burn off much more body fat if it's coupled with thyroid the body's hormones for example Cytomel.
Numerous sports athletes have experienced incredible outcomes utilizing both of these medicines collectively. They've not really needed to alter their own diet plan possibly. This particular mixture of medicines can also be employed for growth hormones treatment which boost the thermogenic as well as anabolic impact.
Baseball's Steroid Era Isn't Over
People shouldn't be surprised that the Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun has been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.
The steroid era in sports isn't over. It's pretty tempting to think otherwise. Tempting to look at mandatory drug testing and fewer home runs and the incredible shrinking Mark McGwire and conclude performance-enhancing drug use in Major League Baseball is as passé as, well, Jose Canseco.
Here's the thing about the steroid era: The whole concept is bogus. In reality, there's no such thing—no definable time period on a neatly marked calendar, with a Patient X beginning and a Mitchell Report ending, like the Renaissance or the Jurassic Period or seven seasons of HBO's Arli$$.
Instead, there is simply steroid use. Present and ongoing. And that will never, ever cease. Not in sports. Not outside of sports. Definitely not in baseball, no matter how many years have passed since Roger Clemens was greeted with a verbal eruption to match the diner scene in "When Harry Met Sally," as opposed to federal subpoenas.
Last week, ESPN reported that the Milwaukee Brewers' star left fielder and National League Most Valuable Player tested positive during the playoffs for synthetic testosterone, a performance-enhancing drug. Braun, who is appealing the result, told USA Today that whole matter was "B.S."
Whatever the final outcome, the most surprising part of the whole story wasn't that Braun flunked a test—it was that so many people seemed surprised by the news. A New York Times article noted that Braun was " everything a baseball player was supposed to be, a guy who aced every test." In a statement, Brewers owner Mark Attanaiso called Braun "a model citizen in every sense of the word ... a person of character and integrity." Two years ago, MLB commissioner Bud Selig specifically cited Braun as one of the clean young players who demonstrated the effectiveness and deterrent value of baseball's drug-testing program. Until now.
Fact: The notion that baseball is now relatively drug-free is laughably naïve. At best. Akin to believing in unicorns and/or the moral sanctity of college sports amateurism. At worst, it's disingenuous propaganda, a steaming platter of marketing hooey, served hot and fresh to a public that prefers its heroes free of weeping backne. Steroids are here to stay, because baseball is a competitive sport, and bigger, stronger, faster means the difference between first place and first loser.
Pop quiz: when did Selig say of steroid use in baseball that "we had a problem, and we dealt with the problem?"
a) In 2005;
b) In 2005, six years before Manny Ramirez dabbled in female fertility treatments;
c) In 2005, three years before MRI scans of Clemens' buttocks abscesses were introduced into the Congressional record;
d) All of the above.
Unconvinced? Try the following thought experiment. Picture a sport where court cases have been prosecuted. Where cheaters have been shamed and jailed. Where drug-testing grows ever more stringent, and the game's guardians repeatedly boast that each positive test proves not that deterrence is futile, but that the program is working as intended.
Now ask yourself: Is anyone ready to declare an end to the steroid era in track and field?
While working for Merrill Lynch, American shot-putter Adam Nelson once had to cut short a client meeting when urine collectors demanded he provide a random sample. Right then and there. Stop, drop, aim for the plastic cup. The process is invasive. Embarrassing. Tougher than anything required by baseball. Par for the Olympic sports course. And still not enough.
When it comes to juicing, the cat-and-mouse game between testers and cheaters is akin to Tom and Jerry. The rodent usually wins. After all, testing isn't foolproof. There are loopholes. Loopholes inside of loopholes. Ways to game the system. As Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reports:
It's easy to understand why Braun would use PEDs. MLB took 3,868 tests between the beginning of the 2010 offseason and the end of the 2011 World Series. Everyone on a 40-man roster took one within the first five days of spring training, which knocked off about 1,200. Each took another unannounced test during the season. And MLB threw in 1,200 more random tests for the rest of the year, playoffs included. The likelihood of a player's drug use aligning with a random test is tiny.
A few months ago, I spoke with BALCO mastermind Victor Conte, a man who knows a thing or 10 about sports doping. During an hour-long phone conversation, he regaled me with examples of how to beat current doping protocols; earlier this week, he told Yahoo! Sports that baseball players could hoodwink tests simply by taking drugs at night.
Small wonder, then, that Conte calls drug testing "IQ testing" - as in, you have to be stupid to get caught. He's hardly alone. Years ago, after President George W. Bush called for the eradication of steroids for sale in professional sports during a State of the Union address, I asked Penn State epidemiologist and performance-enhancing drug expert Dr. Charles Yesalis two simple questions.
"When the Mark McGwire scandal broke, I said one thing you could do is have all these sports federations pool $100 million each and give it to chemists around the world, give them five years and see what research does to close loopholes," he told me. "Frankly, I wouldn't bet my house on that. With every loophole that closes up, another one opens."
Remember THG, the designer steroid at the heart of the BALCO scandal? It was engineered to be undectable. Disgraced sprinter Kelli White passed tests while using it. So did Marion Jones. Testers only caught on to THG when disgruntled track coach Trevor Graham slipped them a sample—reportedly in a used syringe—and told them to look for it.
Look back at some of the biggest doping busts of the previous decade. A pattern emerges. Testing doesn't catch cheaters. Police work does. State and federal investigators nabbed a South Carolina doctor who filled illegal steroid prescriptions for three members of the Carolina Panthers' 2004 Super Bowl squad. In 1998, customs officials at the French-Belgian border uncovered the biggest drug scandal in Tour de France history. Likewise, well-meaning chemists didn't dig up the book-length allegations against Bonds. Dogged cops and reporters did.
"What would work? Aggressive, undercover police sting operations," Yesalis said. "I'm talking handcuffs. Put it on Cops. But are you willing to do that against Penn State, USC, the Baltimore Ravens, the Los Angeles Lakers, on a sustained basis?"
Good question. A performance-enhancing drug system that regularly nabbed the smartest, most sophisticated sports cheaters likely would be akin to enforcing the speed limit by having police cars stationed at every intersection: expensive, heavy-handed and hardly worth the trouble. Would it even ensure clean competition? Probably not. Prohibition didn't end drinking. Baseball's war on drugs is lot like the war on drugs as a whole—an unwinnable holding action, less a battle against specific, needle-jamming behavior than general human nature.
Where there's a will to cheat, there forever will be a way. And so long as millions of dollars are at stake, you can pretty much count on said will.
"I had a big-time football coach tell me one time, 'Well, steroid use is much like bridge-painting,'" Yesalis said. "'How can you get 800 feet in the air and paint? Well, it's my job.' The numerous elite athletes I've interacted with that have used drugs, about 1,000, they view those drugs as tools of their trade, the way you and I use computers."
If Braun's positive test is upheld, he faces a 50-game suspension. He also gets to keep nearly $141 million, the amount remaining on his Brewers contact. Don't be surprised when people choose to paint bridges.
The steroid era in sports isn't over. It's pretty tempting to think otherwise. Tempting to look at mandatory drug testing and fewer home runs and the incredible shrinking Mark McGwire and conclude performance-enhancing drug use in Major League Baseball is as passé as, well, Jose Canseco.
Here's the thing about the steroid era: The whole concept is bogus. In reality, there's no such thing—no definable time period on a neatly marked calendar, with a Patient X beginning and a Mitchell Report ending, like the Renaissance or the Jurassic Period or seven seasons of HBO's Arli$$.
Instead, there is simply steroid use. Present and ongoing. And that will never, ever cease. Not in sports. Not outside of sports. Definitely not in baseball, no matter how many years have passed since Roger Clemens was greeted with a verbal eruption to match the diner scene in "When Harry Met Sally," as opposed to federal subpoenas.
Last week, ESPN reported that the Milwaukee Brewers' star left fielder and National League Most Valuable Player tested positive during the playoffs for synthetic testosterone, a performance-enhancing drug. Braun, who is appealing the result, told USA Today that whole matter was "B.S."
Whatever the final outcome, the most surprising part of the whole story wasn't that Braun flunked a test—it was that so many people seemed surprised by the news. A New York Times article noted that Braun was " everything a baseball player was supposed to be, a guy who aced every test." In a statement, Brewers owner Mark Attanaiso called Braun "a model citizen in every sense of the word ... a person of character and integrity." Two years ago, MLB commissioner Bud Selig specifically cited Braun as one of the clean young players who demonstrated the effectiveness and deterrent value of baseball's drug-testing program. Until now.
Fact: The notion that baseball is now relatively drug-free is laughably naïve. At best. Akin to believing in unicorns and/or the moral sanctity of college sports amateurism. At worst, it's disingenuous propaganda, a steaming platter of marketing hooey, served hot and fresh to a public that prefers its heroes free of weeping backne. Steroids are here to stay, because baseball is a competitive sport, and bigger, stronger, faster means the difference between first place and first loser.
Pop quiz: when did Selig say of steroid use in baseball that "we had a problem, and we dealt with the problem?"
a) In 2005;
b) In 2005, six years before Manny Ramirez dabbled in female fertility treatments;
c) In 2005, three years before MRI scans of Clemens' buttocks abscesses were introduced into the Congressional record;
d) All of the above.
Unconvinced? Try the following thought experiment. Picture a sport where court cases have been prosecuted. Where cheaters have been shamed and jailed. Where drug-testing grows ever more stringent, and the game's guardians repeatedly boast that each positive test proves not that deterrence is futile, but that the program is working as intended.
Now ask yourself: Is anyone ready to declare an end to the steroid era in track and field?
While working for Merrill Lynch, American shot-putter Adam Nelson once had to cut short a client meeting when urine collectors demanded he provide a random sample. Right then and there. Stop, drop, aim for the plastic cup. The process is invasive. Embarrassing. Tougher than anything required by baseball. Par for the Olympic sports course. And still not enough.
When it comes to juicing, the cat-and-mouse game between testers and cheaters is akin to Tom and Jerry. The rodent usually wins. After all, testing isn't foolproof. There are loopholes. Loopholes inside of loopholes. Ways to game the system. As Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reports:
It's easy to understand why Braun would use PEDs. MLB took 3,868 tests between the beginning of the 2010 offseason and the end of the 2011 World Series. Everyone on a 40-man roster took one within the first five days of spring training, which knocked off about 1,200. Each took another unannounced test during the season. And MLB threw in 1,200 more random tests for the rest of the year, playoffs included. The likelihood of a player's drug use aligning with a random test is tiny.
A few months ago, I spoke with BALCO mastermind Victor Conte, a man who knows a thing or 10 about sports doping. During an hour-long phone conversation, he regaled me with examples of how to beat current doping protocols; earlier this week, he told Yahoo! Sports that baseball players could hoodwink tests simply by taking drugs at night.
Small wonder, then, that Conte calls drug testing "IQ testing" - as in, you have to be stupid to get caught. He's hardly alone. Years ago, after President George W. Bush called for the eradication of steroids for sale in professional sports during a State of the Union address, I asked Penn State epidemiologist and performance-enhancing drug expert Dr. Charles Yesalis two simple questions.
"When the Mark McGwire scandal broke, I said one thing you could do is have all these sports federations pool $100 million each and give it to chemists around the world, give them five years and see what research does to close loopholes," he told me. "Frankly, I wouldn't bet my house on that. With every loophole that closes up, another one opens."
Remember THG, the designer steroid at the heart of the BALCO scandal? It was engineered to be undectable. Disgraced sprinter Kelli White passed tests while using it. So did Marion Jones. Testers only caught on to THG when disgruntled track coach Trevor Graham slipped them a sample—reportedly in a used syringe—and told them to look for it.
Look back at some of the biggest doping busts of the previous decade. A pattern emerges. Testing doesn't catch cheaters. Police work does. State and federal investigators nabbed a South Carolina doctor who filled illegal steroid prescriptions for three members of the Carolina Panthers' 2004 Super Bowl squad. In 1998, customs officials at the French-Belgian border uncovered the biggest drug scandal in Tour de France history. Likewise, well-meaning chemists didn't dig up the book-length allegations against Bonds. Dogged cops and reporters did.
"What would work? Aggressive, undercover police sting operations," Yesalis said. "I'm talking handcuffs. Put it on Cops. But are you willing to do that against Penn State, USC, the Baltimore Ravens, the Los Angeles Lakers, on a sustained basis?"
Good question. A performance-enhancing drug system that regularly nabbed the smartest, most sophisticated sports cheaters likely would be akin to enforcing the speed limit by having police cars stationed at every intersection: expensive, heavy-handed and hardly worth the trouble. Would it even ensure clean competition? Probably not. Prohibition didn't end drinking. Baseball's war on drugs is lot like the war on drugs as a whole—an unwinnable holding action, less a battle against specific, needle-jamming behavior than general human nature.
Where there's a will to cheat, there forever will be a way. And so long as millions of dollars are at stake, you can pretty much count on said will.
"I had a big-time football coach tell me one time, 'Well, steroid use is much like bridge-painting,'" Yesalis said. "'How can you get 800 feet in the air and paint? Well, it's my job.' The numerous elite athletes I've interacted with that have used drugs, about 1,000, they view those drugs as tools of their trade, the way you and I use computers."
If Braun's positive test is upheld, he faces a 50-game suspension. He also gets to keep nearly $141 million, the amount remaining on his Brewers contact. Don't be surprised when people choose to paint bridges.
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