Bradshaw & Steelers: Two Decades of Steroid Abuse

I am of tired of hearing about steroids in sports as a person can possibly be, but the most recent former athlete to come forward really got me thinking. Hall of Fame Quarterback Terry Bradshaw admitted to taking ‘steroids’ in the 70s. I have a couple of problems with this. First steroids have dominated the media, we are now even concerned about it in horse racing. There is not a day that goes by where you are not constantly reminded of the scandals and controversies associated with it. Beyond the redundant nature of the coverage associated with these stories is the fact that Bradshaw has now fueled the fire with a very vague admittance of his use. To those in the general public meaning those not in the medical field, those who have not played sports at a competitive level, and those who are not particularly knowledgeable with either of those fields the connotation of the word Steroids is a kiss of death. During Bradshaw’s comments on his use he stated

We did steroids to get away the aches and the speed of healing. My use of steroids from a doctor was to speed up injury, and thought nothing of it… It was to speed up the healing process, that was it. It wasn’t to get bigger and stronger and faster.

That is where we get into the differences between anabolic steroids and corticosteroids. To break it down easily and quickly in layman’s terms: Anabolic Steroids are most commonly related to hormones specifically testosterone. They effect protein which in turns helps one build cell mass especially in muscles. Hence performance enhancing, cheating, bigger, stronger, faster, ect. Corticosteroids on the other hand help with such thing as response to stress, inflammation, and immune systems. They are used for a wide variety medical treatments and are administered in a variety of ways. Cortisone is a form of these steroids that are used regularly in professional sports and more importantly are not illegal/banned. They would take care of the getting away from aches part, but the long term effects actually hurt the athlete. I would delve further, but that would be going to far for my particular point.

Terry Bradshaw was a great athlete, is a great commentator, and a seemingly good person. The second problem I have with this story is that the lack of clarification of what he took is disturbing considering the effects that anabolic steroids had on the rest of his teammates. According to an article written by on CBS Sports 34 former Steelers players have passed away since 2000, with 16 of them being under the age of 59 (8 in their 50’s. 5 in their 40’s, 2 in their 30’s) . Seven of those 34 were linked to ‘heart problems’. This story goes on and on, with reports of attempted suicides, heart failures, partial brain damage, ect. I hate to add Bradshaw on a list of former Steelers who have allegedly lost their lives due to the steroid use in the 70’s and 80’s, but he needs to be more careful and much clearer about his use. If not only because of how sensitive the steroid issue is on a whole today, but out of respect and consideration for fellow teammates who have \suffered far worse fates.

4Real Out...
More after the jump...

Bring in Mitchell, He'll Get to the Bottom of this

We've all seen the list:


Barry Bonds, Jason Grimsley, Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts, Timbaland, 50 Cent, Mary J. Bli...What?


According to the Albany Times Union, which is in fact a real newspaper, the list of linked superstars with steroids and HGH isn't only in the clubhouse. So far Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, Timbaland, Wyclef, and Tyler Perry have all been linked to a Steroid scandal brewing in Queens, NY. Seriously. Also mentioned, but not directly with the Queens bust, was Sly Stallone (who was linked to HGH in Australia in May 2007).


Do we need to put an asterik next to Timbaland's album sales? Will we have to take back Sly Stallones star on the Walk of Fame (if he has one). At least now we know what's really in that Formula 50 Vitamin Water, 1 part water, 1 part grape flavoring, 2 parts winstrol. Also, this let's us know that one of the unknown side-effects of steroids is being bullet-proof. Sweet.
More after the jump...

I Cheated...

...but only because playing fair didn't work.

First HGH was the new wonder-drug in the club-houses, the most popular by far. It was seen as the fountain of youth and a much better option than say, oh I don’t know, anabolic steroids. Now that players are being linked to it there’s a new addiction in the club-houses. “I uhhhh I admit that I used it but wait….I only used it once or twice and it was for medical reasons.”

Andy Petite, Paul Byrd, Fernando Vina, Brian Roberts among others are all treating us like idiots. They think that we’re buying this, “well, now that you caught me, yeah I did it, but it was only like once, I swear, and it was only because the rehab wasn’t working”. Well yeah, drugs work better than rehab, and if rehab isn’t working the drugs will, it doesn’t take an idiot to figure that out. If my swing is late, that means my bat’s too heavy, so if I drill a hole in the top and fill it with cork or Superballs, my bat will be faster and I’ll get more hits. I only corked my bat because my swing wasn’t working and I had to try something else. Welcome to the world of cheaters. This is really just insulting, you cheated, own it. So here’s a nice report by F.P. Santangelo. He actually admits to using HGH and that it was wrong, at first he explains it was for rehab but immediately says he felt the guilt and that he knew it was wrong and that he isn’t trying to cover it up. AND he tells us that it is bad, “I admitted it and I faced the music. And if by me being embarrassed helps generations to come not have to make the difficult decisions that I had to make, then it's good that this all came out. But I don't want to be Mr. Public Speaker and go talk to every high school in the world. Through my radio show, I just hope to get the word out about how bad this stuff is.”

Now I realize there is a good chance that came off as sarcasm, but I am genuinely happy that this guy isn’t trying to pull a fast one on us. It’s a sad fact though that when we think about it, the only person who has been up front and honest about this whole thing was Jose Canseco. And he had an ulterior motive, selling his book Juiced.

In case you missed the news, Roger Clemens has been removed as the Texas High School Baseball Association keynote speaker on the topic of, “My vigorous workout, how I played so long in professional baseball”. That’s a pretty short speech. “First eat a solid breakfast, because it’s the most important meal of the day. Then go get your HGH kit, make sure the needle is clean. You don’t want dirty needles. Have a teammate shoot you in the A$$ then hit the gym and mound. I hope this was informative.”

Also while looking up famous corked bat events earlier I came across this Sports Illustrated article from 1999. It is a great story about proven cheater (roids/HGH) Jason Grimsley helping out his Tribe Teammate, and fellow proven cheater (corked bats) Albert Belle. Enjoy.

More after the jump...

Runnin' with the Report

As mentioned earlier the Mitchell Report came out today, live on the radio and presumably TV as well. The list of involved parties is long, and a good majority of them come from the testimony of Kirk Radomski as part of a pleas bargain. Now this list is a lot of hearsay and the physical evidence is not amounting a lot. Many of the players were pointed out in the report due to checks (Radomski didn’t have any checks prior to 2000), packing slips, and his address book.

There is no proof of guilt but here are the players named in the Mitchell Report:

Roger Clemons, Andy Petite, Miguel Tejada, Eric Gagne, Paul Lo Duca, Marvin Benard, Barry Bonds, Bobby Estalella, Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi, Armando Rios, Benito Santiago, Gary Sheffield, Randy Velarde, Manny Alexander, Ricky Bones, Alex Cabrera, Juan Gonzalez, More than half of 2002’s Florida Marlins Major League Roster, Rafael Palmeiro, Jose Canseco, Jason Grimsley, Ken Caminiti, David Segui, Paxton Crawford, Chad Allen, Larry Bigbie, Adam Piatt, Lenny Dykstra, Brian Roberts, Jack Cust, Tim Laker, Jonias Manzanillo, Todd Hundley, Mark Carreon, Hal Morris, Matt Franco, Rondell White, Chuck Knoblauch, Gregg Zaun, David Justice, F.P. Santangelo, Glenallen Hill, Mo Vaughn, Denny Neagle, Ron villone, Ryan Franklin, Chris Donnels, Todd Williams, Phil Hiatt, Todd Pratt, Kevin Young, Mike Lansing, Cody McKay, Kent Mercker, Jason Christiansen, Mike Stanton, Stephen Randolf, Jerry Hairston Jr., Adam Riggs, Bart Miadich, Fernando Vina, Kevin Brown, Mike Bell, Matt Herges, Gary Bennett Jr., Jim Parque, Brendon Donnelly, Jeff Williams, Howie Clark, Nook Logan, Daniel Naulty, Jay Gibbons, Rick Ankiel, Paul Byrd, Troy Glaus, Jose Guillen, Gary Matthews Jr., Schot Schoeneweis, David Bell, Darren Holmes, John Rocker, Ismael Valdez, Matt Williams, Steve Woodard.

As I said earlier, these are the NAMES THAT APPEAR IN THE MITCHELL REPORT. That does not mean there is any guilt among these players unless, like David Segui, they have already officially come forward and admitted so. Also, as I said many of the players denied to be interviewed but were linked to the Steriod scandals so they are named.

As quoted in the report there was mention of “annual players-only meetings during which teammates reminded one another that any personal information they learned during the season needed to be kept in “the family.” He said that players understood that a failure to abide by this unwritten rule would sound the death knell for their careers. Through his lawyer, another former player who admitted his own use of performance enhancing substances claimed that his career as a major league coach would be harmed “perhaps fatally” if he were required to identify other players who had admitted to him that they had used steroids.”

There will undoubtedly be more that comes of this. Interesting note, Mark McGwire is mentioned in the Report but not for Steroids or HGH only the Andro which we all knew about and was not a banned substance at the time but is now. Slammin’ Sammy Sosa was also not mentioned in the report.
More after the jump...