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Anonymous Hotline to Uncover Steroid Users in Baseball

April 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Major League Baseball has acted on some of the recommendations from the Mitchell Report with the implementation of an anonymous hotline to uncover users of performance enhancing drugs in the sport (“Baseball uses anonymous hotline to nab steroid cheats,” April 10).

The hotline, recommended by Sen. George Mitchell in his report on baseball and steroids and implemented by commissioner Bud Selig in January, is one of the tools the investigative unit is using to catch drug cheats, along with information from outside investigators.

Everybody is baseball is said to have access to the anonymous hotline which hopes to break the so-called “code of silence” of steroid use in baseball. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Steroids and Baseball Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Missouri Baseball and Football Stadiums Threatened by Steroid Use

April 2, 2008 By Leave a Comment

State Representative Jeff Roorda has introduced legislation to coerce professional sports in the State of Missouri to change their rules by increasing penalties for anabolic steroid use in their respective sports.

Roorda, a Democrat from Jefferson County, filed a bill today that would bar state tax credits from going to professional sports teams in a league that does not place at least a one-year ban on athletes caught using steroids.

That would mean: No state breaks for the Cardinals, as well as the Royals, the Chiefs, the Rams, the Blues, the state’s minor league baseball teams, or pro soccer outfits…

“Since when in baseball is it four strikes and you’re out?” Roorda said in a statement today.

Never mind that in baseball, it is not one strike and you’re out either. Roorda obviously intends to highlight what he believes to be a weak steroid and doping policy in Major League Baseball. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Steroid Commentary, Steroid Law, Steroids and Baseball Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Theory of Roidactivity an Accurate Predictor of Steroid Use in Baseball

February 26, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Nick Garcia claims his “theory of roidactivity” is the most reliable statistical tool for predicting steroid use in baseball. It applies a statistical formula to the “career trajectories of suspected steroid users.”

Garcia began to study the career trajectories of known steroid users such as Jose Canseco, Ken Caminiti and Jason Giambi.?His statistical analysis showed that each aforementioned player’s performance in the areas of batting average and home runs significantly and quantifiably spiked after he?began taking steroids.

The “theory of roidactivity” is detailed in Nick Garcia’s book, “A Very Big League of Their Own: Cracking Baseball’s Steroid Code.” I’ve added it to my reading list.

[Read more...]

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Sports Supplements as a Gateway to Anabolic Steroid Use

February 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I asked Dr. Jay Hoffman, Professor and Chair of the Department of Health and Exercise Science at the College of New Jersey,  about the theory that sports supplements are a gateway to anabolic steroid use. He replied in an email:

I do not believe that this is the case. There really isn’t any documented evidence to support such a claim. Although all anabolic steroid users I would venture to guess use sport supplements – I do not necessarily support the hypothesis that increasing supplement use would increase anabolic steroid use.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Steroid Commentary, Steroids in Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Jersey City Police Officers Linked to Lowen’s Pharmacy Steroid Scandal

February 21, 2008 By Leave a Comment

The New York Police Department (NYPD) turned over the names of over two dozen and maybe as many as forty Jersey City officers to the internal affairs unit of the Jersey City Police Department (JCPD). They are under investigation for improperly obtaining anabolic steroids from Lowen’s Pharmacy.

The NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau launched an investigation last month after 27 names of NYPD officers were among those buying steroids and growth hormone from Lowen’s Pharmacy; only a few officers faced internal charges and none faced criminal charges. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Steroid Law, Steroids and Cops Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Does Texas High School Steroid Education Video Work?

February 5, 2008 By Leave a Comment

The State of Texas University Interscholastic League (UIL) produced a steroid education video entitled “The Making of a Champion.” The steroid education video was released in conjunction with the introduction of steroid testing in public high school sports in Texas.

The video features lengthy segments featuring high school teenage athletes who used steroids and suffered. The video implies that anabolic steroids caused stroke and paralysis in one case; it implies that steroids caused suicide in the other case (Taylor Hooton). This type of “scare tactic” approach is common in state produced steroid education and anti-drug productions. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Steroid Commentary, Steroid Health, Steroid Law, Steroids in Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Roger Clemens Statistical Report Tries to Refute Steroid Allegations

January 28, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Agents for Roger Clemens at Hendricks Sports Management released a detailed statistical analysis of Roger Clemens’ performance over the course of his career.  In summary, the report lists various factors occurring later in his career that contributed to the maintenance of a high quality of pitching by Roger Clemens. These factors include adaptions in “style of pitching” including “mastery of the split-finger fastball,” reduced pitch count, contractually shortened seasons, and  a reduction in travel.

The report also uses statistics to show that Clemens’ performance had unpredictable “ups and downs” or “peaks and valleys” over the course of his career. The report asserts that “straight trend lines in performance” simply do no exist in Major League Baseball. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Steroid Commentary, Steroids and Baseball, Steroids in Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Drug Testing to Reduce Steroid Use by High School Athletes

January 26, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Most people at every point on the steroid regulatory spectrum, from the advocates of steroid legalization to anti-steroid zealots, agree that anabolic steroid use by teenagers is bad. There are a few people who believe steroids are good for children, pre-teens and teenagers. But in general, most people agree with government efforts to reduce steroid use in teenage athletes. Unfortunately, they seem to accept all anti-steroid efforts without question regardless of their efficacy or lack thereof. People seem to be content with “feel good” endeavors that accomplish little. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Steroid Commentary, Steroid Law, Steroids and Baseball, Steroids and Football, Steroids in Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Abuses by the Justice Department in Mitchell Report Steroid Scandal

January 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment

The $20 million dollar Mitchell Report on anabolic steroids in professional baseball relied largely on the testimony of two former baseball trainers, Kirk Radomski and Brian McNamee. And the only reason the Mitchell Report contained such such evidence of steroid use by baseball players was because the Department of Justice forced Radomski and McNamee to cooperate with investigators from the Mitchell Report as a condition of their plea agreements. Was this an abuse of the government’s criminal powers? Was this legal? Was this ethical?
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Steroid Commentary, Steroid Law, Steroids and Baseball, Steroids in Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Efran Marrero, Steroid Withdrawal, Depression and Suicide

January 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment

The parents of Efran Marrero, a high school baseball player who committed suicide after the use of anabolic steroids, provided testimony at the congressional hearing entitled “The Mitchell Report: The Illegal Use of Steroids in Major League Baseball.”

Three and half weeks after he quit using steroids “cold turkey” my son took his own life – a victim of the deep depression that accompanies withdrawal from these drugs.

This type of emotional testimony really has a strong effect on me as I’m sure it does on many others. Unfortunately, such emotional testimony is useless when it comes to scientifically, logically and rationally informed public policy. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Steroid Commentary, Steroid Health, Steroids and Baseball, Steroids in Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
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