The last-minute withdrawal of some of the best horses from Jamaica from the December 3 Caribbean National Racing Challenge raceday at Santa Rosa Park in Trinidad and Tobago has sparked off a firestorm of criticism about drug testing in local racing.

Eighteen local horses were nominated at various stages for the rich race meet that attracted entries from Jamaica, Barbados, and St Lucia, in addition to the Trinidadian runners.

From Jamaica-gleaner.com:

Lloyd Cobran, manager of racing at the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC), on Monday confirmed that all nominations were intact up to last Tuesday.

However, on Wednesday morning only six remained, three of which, sources claimed, were local-bred two-year-olds owned by Trinidadians and hitching a ride to their new home.

Only three Jamaican horses, from an initial 15, will actually race in Trinidad on December 3.

Dr Paul Wright, owner’s representative for the three horses who will race in Trinidad and Tobago, said steroids use is rampant at Caymanas Park.

Tags: drug testing, racing, steroids

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Sports

The Irish Sports Council (ISC) has stoutly defended its drug testing procedures that have come under heavy criticism after a Kerry footballer was detained until after midnight this week in order to produce a sample.

Dr Una May, director of the ISC’s anti-doping unit, said, “Managers can opt to have their players tested before training starts, we have put that in writing in our agreement with the GAA last spring.”

From Independent.ie:

May said she did not know if the Kerry management had been given this opportunity, because the tester was abroad and uncontactable yesterday.

“But we will certainly remind our testers to be proactive on this issue,” she added.

It took the player over three hours to produce a sample when he was randomly selected for testing after training in Tralee on Tuesday night.

Being detained until after midnight once again raised the thorny issue of GAA players, who are amateur, being subjected to the same stringent anti-doping policy as professional athletes.

May said delays in giving urine samples are inevitable.

“It is a matter of letting nature take its course. Delays are regrettable, but inevitable sometimes,” she said.

May said, “Testing traditionally takes place at the end of training sessions in order to avoid disrupting athletes, but there is no reason why such tests can’t take place before they start training, or during it. Managers can decide the timing of it.”

Tags: doping, drug testing, Irish Sports Council

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Sports

Greater grasp of time management for a selection of elite athletes of New Zealand will be required to execute a controversial new process governing drug testing.

Drug Free Sport NZ has been asked by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to ensure sportsmen included in their registration pool for testing can be found at a precise time of day, 365 days of the year.

From NZherald.co.nz:

The measure is intended to guarantee athletes realise the threat of random testing is ever-present, though Drug Free Sport NZ’s chief executive Graeme Steel doubts its effectiveness.

He also described the initiative as a logistical nightmare and one likely to jeopardise his organisation’s relationship with sportspeople.

Under the Wada protocol, athletes will be required to provide a one- hour window where they are guaranteed to be at a designated place each day of the year.

New Zealand’s Beijing-bound Olympic team will experience a watered down version of the restriction from Sunday, the date all team members must notify their whereabouts to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the duration of the Games, which start in Beijing on August 8.

“It’s going to be a challenge for them and us, and a challenge to our relationship with the athletes,” Steel said of next year’s policy.

Drug Free Sport NZ’s chief executive had lobbied successfully for limiting the size of New Zealand’s registration pool.

Tags: Drug Free Sport NZ, drug testing, IOC, WADA

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Olympics, Steroids in Sports

Manny Pacquiao‘s promoter, Bob Arum, recently hit back in the blood testing row that is threatening to halt the proposed fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Golden Boy Promotions’ Richard Schaefer representing Mayweather said the fight was “in jeopardy” as Pacquiao had refused to undertake a blood test in the days leading up to the fight.

From Espnstar.com:

But Arum issued a riposte on Wednesday, stressing his fighter is clean and that the real reason for Mayweather’s camp making the blood demands was to “level the fight” up.

“Let’s be very clear on the real issues we differ on,” said Arum. “It’s not about being tested. Manny is onboard with that since it’s such a major concern of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

“It’s about who does the testing and the scheduling of the procedures. Manny will submit to as many random urine tests requested. Regarding the blood tests, he will subject himself to three tests; one given in January during the week the fight is formally announced, one 30 days from the fight, no later than February 13, and the final one immediately following the fight, in Manny’s locker room.”

Pacquiao’s camp feel urine tests alone would show substances such as steroids, while his trainer Freddie Roach has said he does not want Pacquiao’s preparations for the fight being disrupted by blood being taken from him in the days prior to the fight.

Roach told Sky Sports said it is absurd that Mayweather wants to hire his own private company to do drug testing.

Tags: blood testing, drug testing, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, steroids

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids

February 7 was the day that changed baseball history when Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez admitted that he used steroids in 2001-2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers. This left many fans, supporters and even those in the MLB dumbfounded. They had high hopes for A-Rod, who was predicted to surpass Barry Bonds’ home run record. However, when he was named one of the 104 MLB players tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, his baseball career is looking rather dim.

College fans that looked up to him as one of the most admired baseball heroes were disappointed and shocked. They could not believe that he was capable of cheating because he seemed to be one of the model players fit to be emulated.

From The Batt:

“A-Rod was one of those players that we all had no doubt that he wasn’t taking steroids,” said Texas A&M junior pitcher Travis Starling. “He was kind of the poster child of the perfect baseball player. He worked hard. He showed up every day and he played hard every day and he produced good numbers off of purely his talent and his work ethic, and now we are being told that he did take steroids. So for me individually, as a baseball player, and as someone who enjoys the game of baseball, it is still a shock to me.”

“I think when it’s admitted, you get it out of the way,” said A&M junior infielder Brodie Greene. “People are obviously not going to forget it. You admitted it, and you came out and told your side and that helps you. That’s why I think Bonds and [Roger] Clemens are going to end up hurting themselves in the long run because they are just denying it. I guess they are innocent until proven guilty. I feel that they are on the guilty side but haven’t really admitted it yet.”

For the fans, the players are no longer very believable when they say that they are not taking any performance enhancing drugs. It can be said that they have become disillusioned and some would definitely find it difficult to accept that the icons they used to see playing on the field would lie or cheat. There are 103 more names to be revealed. The fans will just have to brace themselves for more shocking news.

Tags: Alex Rodriguez, baseball, college, drug testing, fans, steroids

Posted in buy steroids, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Sports

There is an outcry to oust Fehr as the union chief and replace him with someone who cares for the welfare of the players and baseball. As he is booted out of the office, his sidekick Gene Orza should follow suit. His arrogance is not doing the Major League any good. He was cornered at a Mets game last month and asked by the media to comment on the state of baseball and what he plans to do about it he evades the questions with a refusal to answer. This speaks a lot about how much he cares about the union. The steroids controversy has placed him in hot waters because of all people in the MLB he should have been the one to know that the players had been doping.

There had been suggestions on who should replace Fehr as the union chief. One is Hank Aaron who had an exemplary performance during his baseball career.

From The Daily News:

Even if he were only a figurehead who would surround himself with lawyers and accountants, baseball needs people like Aaron to let fans trust the game again.

He would be a logical replacement as commissioner as well, except Aaron would have the most to gain by striking Barry Bonds from the record books and re-establishing himself as baseball’s home run king. Better to let someone else make that call.

Therefore, let us do the next best thing and put Aaron in charge of rebuilding the tattered image of the union.

Orza is responsible for the mess why Alex Rodriguez’s results leaked to the press. When the random drug testing was done the MLB players were promised that the evidence would be destroyed but not soon enough for the media to get hold of them. Now the FBI is going to subpoena the results and more names are going to come out. Could this be the end of for some of the players’ careers?

Marvin Miller, the former executive director of the MLB, said that they should not have submitted to the drug testing. This simply means that the union does not care what the Congress thinks, leadership is not going to change, and they had not feeling of regret or remorse.

Tags: Alex Rodriguez, baseball, Don Fehr, drug testing, Gene Orza, MLB, steroids

Posted in buy steroids, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Sports

More and more people are becoming aware of the dangerous effects of steroids. The use of performance enhancing drugs had been exclusively in the field of professional sports. However, because high school athletes are also subjected to the intense pressure of winning and staying in the game, the use of steroids among teenagers have become alarming.

In 2007 an alarming number of 580,000 high school students, majority are athletes, have been known to be taking steroids. This is according to the survey done by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are students who know that steroids are illegal but many more are unaware.

From CBS News:

They’re ingesting what they think are perfectly legal supplements. Instead, says one expert interviewed by Cobiella, the pills are really steroids masquerading as supplements.

The expert adds, “I want parents to know that these are highly dangerous anabolic drugs. … They make you big and strong, but underneath, they cause all kinds of problems.”

Cobiella pointed out that certain words buried in the fine print of such substances could tip off potential purchasers to their actual contents.

Despite the numbers that appeared in the survey, drug tests that were conducted in the states of New Jersey, Illinois, Texas and Florida did not reconcile. In the four states alone out of approximately 30,000 high school students only 20 came back positive. The drug tests were eventually dropped in 2008 because it was costing the government so much money at $200 per student. If the CDCP’s survey reflected the alarming numbers the method of testing them could be flawed. Or the survey is not accurate. Either way the numbers are saying something.

To prevent the epidemic of steroid overdose to spread among teenagers there should be a campaign to educate them on the harmful effects of performance enhancing drugs.

Tags: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug testing, high school, steroids

Posted in buy steroids, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Sports

As a friend, the Boston Red Sox hitter David Ortiz fully commends Alex Rodriguez for admitting that he had used anabolic steroids back in 2003. As a lover of the game, however, Ortiz believes that it is time for a change in Major League Baseball’s policies in steroid testing. Ortiz said that players who have tested positive for banned substances shouldn’t just be suspended for 50 games. That’s too light even for a first offense punishment. Instead, these players should be banned from participating in the sport the entire year. That should be traumatizing enough to scare them from using performance enhancing drugs.

From Daily News:

Ortiz, who emerged as one of the premier sluggers in the game in 2003 with Boston after spending six largely forgettable years in Minnesota, believes all players on all teams should be tested three or four times a year, and any players testing positive should be banned for the rest of that season.

“If I test positive by using any kind of banned substance, I’m going to disrespect my family, the game, the fans and everybody,” Ortiz said. “And I don’t want to be put in that situation. So what I will do, I won’t use it. I’m pretty sure everybody is on the same page.”

Even if Ortiz is a good friend of Rodriguez, he said that when the news first broke out, he did end up judging the latter. Fortunately, the steroid use was six years ago and should be left there in the past. It is time to move forward. Ortiz believes that Rodriguez is a very talented player and that he has been performing well and has been training hard even without the steroids. According to Ortiz, Rodriguez is clean now. A-Rod is still young and it is inevitable that he would make mistakes. Nevertheless, Rodriguez will pull through and still be one of the best players there ever was.

Tags: 50-game suspension, Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, drug testing, first offense punishment, Major League Baseball, Performance enhancing drugs, steroids

Posted in steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Sports

While some Major League Baseball athletes have turned to the use of anabolic steroids in order to reach the top, other great players have shown their love for the game by staying clean. Jeff Kent is the epitome of the latter. Kent has been an advocate of MLB steroid testing throughout his career. When he was giving his retirement speech last week, he even commended the Major League and the players’ union for the developments in the drug testing policy.

Kent has been quoted several times by other supporters of anti-steroid programs such as Bud Selig and Sen. George Mitchell. For Kent, though, the battle against steroids and illegal drugs shouldn’t stop with what the committee now has. The tests could be much better. Kent even suggested adding blood tests to the routine urine samples taken from athletes since more drugs will be detected.

From San Francisco Chronicle:

“Major League Baseball and the union created a drug policy that’s on the right path. Baseball has brought the game to a better level playing field than it ever was,” Kent said. “Whether I personally had anything to do with that . . . I wanted to put this game in a better place, and I hope younger players just don’t give up and say, ‘We’re in a good spot’ and not make more progress.

“The integrity of the game always needs to be in question.”

Kent added the game’s integrity “was jeopardized for so many years, and I’m completely embarrassed about the steroid era.”

He hit more home runs than any other second baseman in history, and they all came in a tainted era.

Kent is proud that he has treated the sports he loved with the respect it deserves. He is a winner in all aspects of the game and he has never cheated. His accomplishments, both in the field and outside, could give him the chance to put his name in the Hall of Fame.

Tags: drug testing, Hall of Fame, Jeff Kent, Major League Baseball, Performance enhancing drugs, retirement, steroids

Posted in steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball

Just last week, Gov. Rick Perry agreed that the $6 million drug testing program for local high school athletes is a bit too pricey and could be rolled back. The first batch of results is from 10,000 students participating in spring activities and only four yielded positive results. While the 2nd batch of results isn’t in, Perry stated that anabolic steroids aren’t a major problem among Texas teens since the tests only had very low positive results. This comment caused a mixed reaction among the people.

From Dallas Morning News

Yet those results may prove the program’s worth, said Don Hooton, the Plano man who became an anti-steroids crusader after his son committed suicide in 2003.

“This program isn’t designed to tell you if you’ve got a problem or not,” Hooton said. “This program is designed to be a deterrent. That we had low positive results suggest maybe the program is working just as it should be.”

Don Hooton thinks that the low positive count is the result of the steroid testing program. Without the program, students will be less aware of the consequences of using performance enhancing drugs. Hooton wants for the state to wait for the second batch of results before jumping into any conclusions. He also wants to have enough time for his experts under the Taylor Hooton Foundation to analyze the results and review the protocol. He is disappointed that Perry and some critics support the stand that the program has to be removed.

The governor’s office said that there is no official decision on the program yet. Perry also said that he had no issues with the program per se, just the high budget that went along with it.

Tags: Don Hooton, drug testing, Governor Rick Perry, high school athletes, Performance enhancing drugs, steroids, Texas

Posted in steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Sports