ShedMaster
Senior Member
- Reaction score
- 5
I think he does it just to piss you off. :doh:
why is the nba so bald
- Thread starter billybob
- Start date
G
Guest
Guest
Bob Booley said:
Geez. Booley, you did overeact!
First off I think the word you want to use is cynical, not pessimistic. I AM cynical of many things but actually rather optimistic in general. How else could I come to this board everyday? :lol:
And I never said that all the players in the NBA take steroids. I simply said that it WAS MY OPINION that many do. That would go for the other sports you mention and you don't need to take my word for that, simply read any number of articles by former athletes who played the sport and took the drugs.
As far as my contributions to the board are concerned, I am fine with them.
Now, I suggest you take a chill pill. You certainly have some issues with aging that YOU will have to confront someday.
G
Guest
Guest
No anabolics in pro sports.?
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Testimony of athletes may resurface in trial
By Mark Zeigler
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
January 8, 2004
One by one, they have appeared on the 17th floor of the Philip Burton Federal Building on Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco.
Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and Benito Santiago from baseball. "Sugar" Shane Mosley from boxing. Bill Romanowski and Tyrone Wheatley from football.
The drug investigation
* Steroid THG not found in samples from 2002 Games
Who's talking
Here are some of the athletes who testified before the federal grand jury in San Francisco in the BALCO case:
Baseball: Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants), Jason Giambi (New York Yankees), Gary Sheffield (New York Yankees), Benito Santiago (Kansas City Royals).
Boxing: "Sugar" Shane Mosley.
Cycling: Tammy Thomas.
Football: Bill Romanowski (Oakland Raiders), Tyrone Wheatley (Oakland Raiders), Barret Robbins (Oakland Raiders), Johnnie Morton (Kansas City Chiefs).
Swimming: Amy Van Dyken.
Track and field: Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Kelli White, Regina Jacobs.
Busted
Athletes who reportedly failed urine tests for the previously undetectable steroid tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG:
Dwain Chambers: British sprinter one of world's best.
Regina Jacobs: Won 25 U.S. middle-distance titles.
Kevin Toth: Won shot put at 2003 U.S. nationals.
John McEwen: 2003 U.S. champ in hammer throw.
Bill Romanowski: Has extensive ties to Victor Conte.
Barret Robbins: Went AWOL at 2003 Super Bowl.
Chris Cooper: Defensive tackle for Oakland Raiders.
Dana Stubblefield: Defensive tackle for Raiders.
Officials have said four U.S. track and field athletes tested positive for THG, and so far only three have been identified. Athletes who the U.S. Olympic Committee has confirmed tested positive for the banned stimulant modafinal, which reportedly came from BALCO as well:
Kelli White: Could lose 100-and 200-meter world titles.
Chryste Gaines: Fastest U.S. sprinter by season's end.
John McEwen: So far, only one also positive for THG.
Chris Phillips: Fifth in 110-meter hurdles at worlds.
Sandra Glover: Second in 400-meter hurdles at worlds.
Eric Thomas: 2003 U.S. champ in 400-meter hurdles.
<http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/utbullets/utbullet.gif> Note: Everyone except Phillips failed tests taken at the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships last June at Stanford. Phillips tested positive at the World Championships at Paris in August. White flunked tests at both events.
– MARK ZEIGLER
Tim Montgomery, the world record holder in the 100 meters, came on Nov. 6. His girlfriend, Marion Jones, came a week later, along with Olympic swimming gold medalist Amy Van Dyken and five NFL players.
Barry Bonds came on Dec. 4 and stayed for 5½ hours before slipping out through a freight elevator to a basement garage.
All have come to testify before a federal grand jury investigating the owner of a Burlingame lab who may or may not have provided some of the biggest names in American sport with banned performance-enhancing substances. Victor Conte owns Balco Labs, and his attorney has confirmed his client is a target of the investigation.
The grand jury, which convenes each Thursday, appears to be nearing the end of its list of witnesses and is expected to issue indictments this month. But it is what comes next that could reshape the way Americans look at athletes they so devoutly idolize.
There is little doubt that the parade of superstars has been asked by the grand jury about muscle-building and endurance-boosting drugs that are banned by nearly all sports federations. There also are reports that the athletes were offered limited immunity from future prosecution in exchange for their testimony and that some then admitted using those very substances.
What isn't clear is whether that potentially explosive testimony will see the light of day.
Grand jury transcripts are sealed and generally remain so unless indictments are handed down and – here's the key part – the case goes to trial. Once a person who testified before the grand jury becomes a potential trial witness, his or her grand jury transcripts can be entered into evidence. And trial evidence usually becomes part of the public domain, available for anyone to review.
All of which means: Should Conte be indicted and strike some sort of plea bargain with the feds, the grand jury transcripts from Bonds, Jones, Mosley, et al., would remain sealed. Probably forever.
So does Conte fall on his sword to save his former clients, or does he fight for his innocence knowing that America's biggest athletes could be asked in open court, under oath, if they've ever used anabolic steroids?
"Each of these cases seems to take on a life of its own," says Charles LaBella, a former U.S. attorney in San Diego who handled numerous grand jury cases. "When you add a celebrity status to it, they take on an even different life.
"A healthy number of federal investigations, to the extent that charges are brought, are resolved before trial. But when you talk about the celebrity cases, I think fewer are resolved before trial. I don't have any hard numbers on that, but it just seems that way."
The case traces its roots to last spring, when the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency heard from an unidentified track and field coach claiming he had access to a substance Conte was providing to his clients.
The coach overnighted a syringe with remnants of the substance, which top U.S. anti-doping scientist Don Catlin later identified as a "designer" anabolic steroid he called tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG. Subsequent tests for THG turned up five positives, one in British sprinter Dwain Chambers and four in U.S. track and field athletes – all with ties to Conte.
The USADA notified federal authorities, and on Sept. 3 a team of federal agents raided Conte's Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative in Burlingame, his home and an off-site storage facility. Two days later agents raided the Burlingame condominium of Greg Anderson, Bonds' childhood friend and his personal trainer since 1998. Anderson, who also is considered a target of the investigation, is known to work with Conte.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, agents found vials with labels indicating they were anabolic steroids, testosterone and human growth hormone in the storage facility. They also reportedly seized a computer hard drive and a manila envelope in Anderson's home that had logs of names, substances and a schedule for administering them.
An estimated 40 athletes and their associates received subpoenas to testify before the grand jury, and on Oct. 30 they began appearing on Thursdays at the Philip Burton Federal Building.
Several news organizations have reported that the questioning has focused on an array of substances, banned or otherwise, that Conte may have provided the athletes and the tax implications of how they paid for it. Athletes, the reports said, were asked about "the clear" and "the cream" from Conte, the former being THG that was ingested orally and the latter a testosterone cream rubbed on the body.
New York Daily News reporter T.J. Quinn claimed he overheard a portion of Bonds' testimony from the hallway outside the grand jury room, a contention court officials denied. Quinn wrote that Bonds testified he knowingly took only legal supplements and vitamins but acknowledged that he didn't know what was in many of the substance packets Anderson gave him.
Prosecutors also are believed to have asked witnesses about modafinil, a drug used to treat narcolepsy that showed up in urine samples of at least a half-dozen track athletes last summer. Modafinil is considered a banned stimulant by the World Anti-Doping Agency, and some suspect it could be used as a masking agent to hide the presence of more powerful substances in urine tests.
One wild card in all this could be human growth hormone, or HGH. It has many of the same muscle-building qualities as steroids, and it is considered the drug of choice by some elite athletes because, while expensive, it is currently undetectable. And Conte himself once told Testosterone magazine: "I know of a number of athletes who use growth hormone, and most of them are reporting tremendous benefits."
Romanowski's ties with Conte date to his days with the Denver Broncos in the 1990s. In 1999, law enforcement officers said Romanowski's wife, Julie, told them her husband got HGH from Conte and injected it into his leg. The interview was part of a drug case against Romanowski that ultimately resulted in his acquittal, in part because a Colorado judge ruled the interview with his wife was improperly conducted and her statements were thus inadmissible in court.
Another wild card is Patrick Arnold, a chemist from Seymour, Ill., who is being investigated as a possible source of THG and other performance-enhancing substances. Arnold was one of the key figures behind the U.S. marketing of the "legal steroid" androstenedione that baseball slugger Mark McGwire acknowledged using in the late 1990s.
Cyclist Tammy Thomas, the only witness to discuss her grand jury testimony publicly, said federal prosecutors asked her about Arnold.
The grand jury last convened on Dec. 11, hearing several hours of testimony from Romanowski, before breaking for the holidays. Legal experts say it will either issue another round of subpoenas or decide on indictments.
The Conte camp has declined to outline its legal strategy should Conte be indicted, specifically whether he would go forward with a trial knowing its potential implications on the grand jury testimony. But one of his attorneys, Robert Holley of Sacramento, has said the legal process could be "bigger than the Kobe Bryant (sexual assault) case when you talk about the way sports are looked at in the United States."
Or as Dr. Gary Wadler, an expert on drugs in sport, told The Washington Post recently: "This is our seminal moment. It raises the specter that so much of what we've come to believe has no legs, that the records we thought were incredible may, in fact, have been incredible. That . . . it was Penn and Teller, it was an illusion, brought on not by magic but by illicit drug use.
"Maybe."
[Save a link to this article and return to it at http://www.savethis.com] [Save a link to this article and return to it at http://www.savethis.com] [Email a link to this article] [Email a link to this article] [Printer-friendly version of this article] [Printer-friendly version of this article] [View a list of the most popular articles on our site] [View a list of the most popular articles on our site]
Testimony of athletes may resurface in trial
By Mark Zeigler
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
January 8, 2004
One by one, they have appeared on the 17th floor of the Philip Burton Federal Building on Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco.
Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and Benito Santiago from baseball. "Sugar" Shane Mosley from boxing. Bill Romanowski and Tyrone Wheatley from football.
The drug investigation
* Steroid THG not found in samples from 2002 Games
Who's talking
Here are some of the athletes who testified before the federal grand jury in San Francisco in the BALCO case:
Baseball: Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants), Jason Giambi (New York Yankees), Gary Sheffield (New York Yankees), Benito Santiago (Kansas City Royals).
Boxing: "Sugar" Shane Mosley.
Cycling: Tammy Thomas.
Football: Bill Romanowski (Oakland Raiders), Tyrone Wheatley (Oakland Raiders), Barret Robbins (Oakland Raiders), Johnnie Morton (Kansas City Chiefs).
Swimming: Amy Van Dyken.
Track and field: Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Kelli White, Regina Jacobs.
Busted
Athletes who reportedly failed urine tests for the previously undetectable steroid tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG:
Dwain Chambers: British sprinter one of world's best.
Regina Jacobs: Won 25 U.S. middle-distance titles.
Kevin Toth: Won shot put at 2003 U.S. nationals.
John McEwen: 2003 U.S. champ in hammer throw.
Bill Romanowski: Has extensive ties to Victor Conte.
Barret Robbins: Went AWOL at 2003 Super Bowl.
Chris Cooper: Defensive tackle for Oakland Raiders.
Dana Stubblefield: Defensive tackle for Raiders.
Officials have said four U.S. track and field athletes tested positive for THG, and so far only three have been identified. Athletes who the U.S. Olympic Committee has confirmed tested positive for the banned stimulant modafinal, which reportedly came from BALCO as well:
Kelli White: Could lose 100-and 200-meter world titles.
Chryste Gaines: Fastest U.S. sprinter by season's end.
John McEwen: So far, only one also positive for THG.
Chris Phillips: Fifth in 110-meter hurdles at worlds.
Sandra Glover: Second in 400-meter hurdles at worlds.
Eric Thomas: 2003 U.S. champ in 400-meter hurdles.
<http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/utbullets/utbullet.gif> Note: Everyone except Phillips failed tests taken at the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships last June at Stanford. Phillips tested positive at the World Championships at Paris in August. White flunked tests at both events.
– MARK ZEIGLER
Tim Montgomery, the world record holder in the 100 meters, came on Nov. 6. His girlfriend, Marion Jones, came a week later, along with Olympic swimming gold medalist Amy Van Dyken and five NFL players.
Barry Bonds came on Dec. 4 and stayed for 5½ hours before slipping out through a freight elevator to a basement garage.
All have come to testify before a federal grand jury investigating the owner of a Burlingame lab who may or may not have provided some of the biggest names in American sport with banned performance-enhancing substances. Victor Conte owns Balco Labs, and his attorney has confirmed his client is a target of the investigation.
The grand jury, which convenes each Thursday, appears to be nearing the end of its list of witnesses and is expected to issue indictments this month. But it is what comes next that could reshape the way Americans look at athletes they so devoutly idolize.
There is little doubt that the parade of superstars has been asked by the grand jury about muscle-building and endurance-boosting drugs that are banned by nearly all sports federations. There also are reports that the athletes were offered limited immunity from future prosecution in exchange for their testimony and that some then admitted using those very substances.
What isn't clear is whether that potentially explosive testimony will see the light of day.
Grand jury transcripts are sealed and generally remain so unless indictments are handed down and – here's the key part – the case goes to trial. Once a person who testified before the grand jury becomes a potential trial witness, his or her grand jury transcripts can be entered into evidence. And trial evidence usually becomes part of the public domain, available for anyone to review.
All of which means: Should Conte be indicted and strike some sort of plea bargain with the feds, the grand jury transcripts from Bonds, Jones, Mosley, et al., would remain sealed. Probably forever.
So does Conte fall on his sword to save his former clients, or does he fight for his innocence knowing that America's biggest athletes could be asked in open court, under oath, if they've ever used anabolic steroids?
"Each of these cases seems to take on a life of its own," says Charles LaBella, a former U.S. attorney in San Diego who handled numerous grand jury cases. "When you add a celebrity status to it, they take on an even different life.
"A healthy number of federal investigations, to the extent that charges are brought, are resolved before trial. But when you talk about the celebrity cases, I think fewer are resolved before trial. I don't have any hard numbers on that, but it just seems that way."
The case traces its roots to last spring, when the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency heard from an unidentified track and field coach claiming he had access to a substance Conte was providing to his clients.
The coach overnighted a syringe with remnants of the substance, which top U.S. anti-doping scientist Don Catlin later identified as a "designer" anabolic steroid he called tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG. Subsequent tests for THG turned up five positives, one in British sprinter Dwain Chambers and four in U.S. track and field athletes – all with ties to Conte.
The USADA notified federal authorities, and on Sept. 3 a team of federal agents raided Conte's Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative in Burlingame, his home and an off-site storage facility. Two days later agents raided the Burlingame condominium of Greg Anderson, Bonds' childhood friend and his personal trainer since 1998. Anderson, who also is considered a target of the investigation, is known to work with Conte.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, agents found vials with labels indicating they were anabolic steroids, testosterone and human growth hormone in the storage facility. They also reportedly seized a computer hard drive and a manila envelope in Anderson's home that had logs of names, substances and a schedule for administering them.
An estimated 40 athletes and their associates received subpoenas to testify before the grand jury, and on Oct. 30 they began appearing on Thursdays at the Philip Burton Federal Building.
Several news organizations have reported that the questioning has focused on an array of substances, banned or otherwise, that Conte may have provided the athletes and the tax implications of how they paid for it. Athletes, the reports said, were asked about "the clear" and "the cream" from Conte, the former being THG that was ingested orally and the latter a testosterone cream rubbed on the body.
New York Daily News reporter T.J. Quinn claimed he overheard a portion of Bonds' testimony from the hallway outside the grand jury room, a contention court officials denied. Quinn wrote that Bonds testified he knowingly took only legal supplements and vitamins but acknowledged that he didn't know what was in many of the substance packets Anderson gave him.
Prosecutors also are believed to have asked witnesses about modafinil, a drug used to treat narcolepsy that showed up in urine samples of at least a half-dozen track athletes last summer. Modafinil is considered a banned stimulant by the World Anti-Doping Agency, and some suspect it could be used as a masking agent to hide the presence of more powerful substances in urine tests.
One wild card in all this could be human growth hormone, or HGH. It has many of the same muscle-building qualities as steroids, and it is considered the drug of choice by some elite athletes because, while expensive, it is currently undetectable. And Conte himself once told Testosterone magazine: "I know of a number of athletes who use growth hormone, and most of them are reporting tremendous benefits."
Romanowski's ties with Conte date to his days with the Denver Broncos in the 1990s. In 1999, law enforcement officers said Romanowski's wife, Julie, told them her husband got HGH from Conte and injected it into his leg. The interview was part of a drug case against Romanowski that ultimately resulted in his acquittal, in part because a Colorado judge ruled the interview with his wife was improperly conducted and her statements were thus inadmissible in court.
Another wild card is Patrick Arnold, a chemist from Seymour, Ill., who is being investigated as a possible source of THG and other performance-enhancing substances. Arnold was one of the key figures behind the U.S. marketing of the "legal steroid" androstenedione that baseball slugger Mark McGwire acknowledged using in the late 1990s.
Cyclist Tammy Thomas, the only witness to discuss her grand jury testimony publicly, said federal prosecutors asked her about Arnold.
The grand jury last convened on Dec. 11, hearing several hours of testimony from Romanowski, before breaking for the holidays. Legal experts say it will either issue another round of subpoenas or decide on indictments.
The Conte camp has declined to outline its legal strategy should Conte be indicted, specifically whether he would go forward with a trial knowing its potential implications on the grand jury testimony. But one of his attorneys, Robert Holley of Sacramento, has said the legal process could be "bigger than the Kobe Bryant (sexual assault) case when you talk about the way sports are looked at in the United States."
Or as Dr. Gary Wadler, an expert on drugs in sport, told The Washington Post recently: "This is our seminal moment. It raises the specter that so much of what we've come to believe has no legs, that the records we thought were incredible may, in fact, have been incredible. That . . . it was Penn and Teller, it was an illusion, brought on not by magic but by illicit drug use.
"Maybe."
G
Guest
Guest
This speaks well of the NBA. I may have to stand corrected!
In 1983, the National Basketball Association set its drug policy and it is now viewed as the most progressive in all sports. The NBA has the right to administer drug tests to players if it feels there is a need to administer one. If a player is tested positive for the use of drugs, they are banned from the NBA for two years. Players may reapply for entrance to the league with the approval of both the commissioner and the players union. In 1988 the NBA expanded its policy to include random drug testing of the rookies that enter the league in their first year.
In 1983, the National Basketball Association set its drug policy and it is now viewed as the most progressive in all sports. The NBA has the right to administer drug tests to players if it feels there is a need to administer one. If a player is tested positive for the use of drugs, they are banned from the NBA for two years. Players may reapply for entrance to the league with the approval of both the commissioner and the players union. In 1988 the NBA expanded its policy to include random drug testing of the rookies that enter the league in their first year.
