Tag Archives: drugs

MLB and Players Agree to In Season HGH Testing

 

baseball and needle

Major League Baseball and the Players Union have agreed to in season blood testing to detect an increase in testosterone. It’s a big step from last year when they only performed blood testing during spring training.

Bud Selig was quoted as saying the agreement is a proud day for baseball, and that MLB will continue to be the leader in drug testing in sports.

“This is a proud and a great day for baseball, we’ll continue to be a leader in this field and do what we have to do. This is remarkable when you think of where we were 10, 12, 15 years ago and where we are today, nobody could have dreamed it.”

According to the new drug testing agreement, the World Anti-Doping Agency laboratory will keep the records of players which will include a baseline testosterone test and will perform a Carbon Isotop Ratio Spectrometry (IRMS) test if a urine sample that varies to far from the baseline test. The WADA laboratory is located in Laval, Quebec.

Source Yahoo! Sports

Baseball Hall of Fame has No 2013 Inductees, First Time Since 1996

image

The Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time since 1996 will have no inductees.

This is the first year that most the players who are suspected to be steroid users are all on the ballot.

Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, and Rafael Palmeiro all received less than 38% of the vote.

The minimum needed to be inducted is 75% and the players are voted in by Baseball’s Writers Association of America (BBWAA).

Five voters left their ballot blank and this is only the 8th time where there was a year with no inductees.

Below is the list of all the players who received a vote

Craig Biggio 68.2%
Jack Morris 67.7%
Jeff Bagwell 59.6%
Mike Piazza 57.8%
Tim Raines 52.2%
Lee Smith 47.8%
Curt Schilling 38.8%
Roger Clemens 37.6%
Barry Bonds 36.2%
Edgar Martinez 35.9%
Alan Trammell 33.6%
Larry Walker 21.6%
Fred McGriff 20.7%
Dale Murphy 18.6%
Mark McGwire 16.9%
Don Mattingly 13.2%
Sammy Sosa 12.5%
Rafael Palmeiro 8.8%

These are other players that also received votes;
Bernie Williams 19 votes
Kenny Lofton 18 votes
Sandy Alomar Jr. 16 votes
Julio Franco 6 votes
David Wells 5 votes
Steve Finley 4 votes
Shawn Green 2 votes
Aaron Sele 1vote

H/T ESPN

Richard Sherman Wins Appeal, Won’t be Suspended

richard sherman 3

When the odds seemed against Richard Sherman the most, he stood by his word and fought for what he knew was true.

“I know what the truth is and anybody else who knows anything knows what the truth is. The truth has been told today. People can say what they want, there are always naysayers. I have great teammates and great coaches and great fans and that’s all I care about.” Richard Sherman

The truth is, Sherman won his appeal of a 4 game suspension for violating the NFL’s drug policy for performance enhancing drugs (PED).

According to the Associated Press Bob Wallace a former NFL executive who overturned the suspension found that collection process was not ordinary. Which resulted in Sherman winning his appeal. Wallace expounded on his reason for granting Sherman his appeal.

“Insuring a sample is collected properly is the cornerstone of the program and when an event occurs that does not happen routinely or that the collector has never experienced while collecting the sample it is incumbent upon that collector to note what happened. Accordingly, Mr. Sherman’s appeal is granted and the discipline is reversed”

Recently the NFL has taken a few losses, from the Saints bounty gate suspension reversals, to this. While the old saying of you can’t fight city hall might still ring true, the NFL is showing they are quite beatable right now.

H/T Espn

Seahawks Cornerback Richard Sherman Blames Failed Drug Test on Teammate

It’s a cold world when your friends start to turn their back on you, and the same can be said when teammates throw you under the bus. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman violated the leagues substance abuse policy and was nabbed for taking adderall.

Shermans’ excuse was he shared a drink from a teammate who sprinkled adderall in his water bottle.

Sherman tweeted that the truth will come out and he’s not worried.

<blockquote><p>This is issue will be resolved soon and the truth will come out. Not worried</p>&mdash; Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) <a href=”https://twitter.com/RSherman_25/status/272936953673031680″ data-datetime=”2012-11-26T05:36:55+00:00″>November 26, 2012</a></blockquote>
<script src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

While that might be true, that is a weak and dumb excuse to fail a drug test. This just goes to show as we get older, not all of us get wiser. For this very reason is why you shouldn’t share certain things. You can never be sure what someone else is putting in their body, so why take the risk and endanger yourself?

If anything he should be suspended on the basis of absurdity alone. We should all use this as a teaching tool, trust no one, teammates, friends, or family and control what you can control.

H/T CBS Sports

 

Joe Haden Suspended 4 Games for Violating NFL Drug Policy

As reported by The Cleveland Plain Dealer, cornerback Joe Haden of the Cleveland Browns was suspended today after losing his appeal by the NFl for the next 4 weeks for violating the NFLs’ drug policy.

The NFL does not reveal what drug the player tested positive for, but as first reported by ESPNCleveland.com August 8th rumor had it that Haden was snagged for Adderall.

Common uses for Adderall are for ADHD, for those not suffering from that illness can also be given a prescription to combat narcolepsy. Some have speculated that Haden was taking the medicine to stay up and party during the off season.

Haden could’ve applied  for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) before using Adderall.

Haden will miss games against  the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bill, Baltimore Ravens and reigning Super Bowl champs, New York Giants.

The Browns already missing key components to their defense could ill afford to lose Haden, linebacker D’qwell Jackson said as much when asked about it during training camp.

“It’s gonna be a major hit — major hit. That’s why we’ve got a lot of the young guys that have to step up.”

 The Browns coming off an impressive performance against Mike Vick and the Eagles will have to find a way to capitalize on their play while missing arguably their best player on that side of the ball.