Steroids, proposed policy, etc. etc.

[Frymaster]

Ok, so i was watching ESPN, and briefly glanced at the bottom line and saw this part:
Juan Rincon, P MIN is suspended - i'm thinking wtf did he do? then i see this:
10 days - and it immediately hit me; roids. everyone knows that the 10 days is the worst, because you know its from roids, err, performance enhancing drugs. me being a major twins fan, i think this is a huge loss for them until he returns. thoughts on all the suspensions so far? this is by far IMO the biggest-named player to be suspended yet.

also, thoughts on Bud's proposed 50 game 1 time, 100 game 2 time, lifetime ban for 3rd offense proposed steroid policy? i'm glad it wasn't in effect when juan got caught :)

personally i think that the proposed policy is actually better. as far as i know, the current one has....nothing to get you banned? i'm unaware of the exact details, but you get my point. discuss please

[Pfef63]

personally i think that the proposed policy is actually better. as far as i know, the current one has....nothing to get you banned? i'm unaware of the exact details, but you get my point. discuss please
1st offense - 10 days (days, not games)
2nd - 30 days
3rd - 60 days
4th - season
5th - for life

That system is a complete joke.

Of course the new policy is better. PLayers have been warned over and over not to do this, and if they are dumb enough to do it, then they pay the price. Just wait until the CBA expires and HGH testing gets put into the system...we'll have a lot of fun then.

[brianmil]

Selig's policy is very positive. Although, i think giving a player a third chance is too much. Nonetheless it's a step in the right direction.

[TheDawgPound72]

The players union will probably negotiate it to look something like this:

1st time- 25 games
2nd time- 75 games
3rd time- Season (162 games)
4th time- Lifetime ban

What I would want is:

1st time- 50 games

The only reason it's only 50 games is since it does happen where a player takes a wrong supplement that he doesn't know about. I'll give players that. They should, however, be smart enough to know what they are taking. They should also be forced to go in Rehab, and should not be reinstated until they are rehabed. They should also be turned over to the authorities, since it's illegal, something that hasn't been talked about.

2nd time- Lifetime ban

The league has no place for cheaters. This would be somewhat unpopular, but it would teach players the rules.

[wils0646]

I was completely surprised about the Rincon suspension. Then again, we don't know if he used steroids, but he did use a banned substance. I was watching Baseball Tonight and Tim Kurkjan said that relief pitchers are probably the most likely to use steroids in the league. He also showed that Rincon's K/BB ratio has went drastically up over the last two years, indicating something happened. I hope this doesn't put the Twins' organization in a bad light.

I also believe they should pass tougher legislation and now I think they probably will. Selig has now put the union in a predicament to sign this new deal. They will be harrassed by the public if they don't reach some sort of compromise or agreement on the steroid issue.

[Big Van Vader]

Pro athletes should be allowed to use steroids. It makes them more entertaining. I dont see what the big deal is.

[Frymaster]

Pro athletes should be allowed to use steroids. It makes them more entertaining. I dont see what the big deal is.

maybe the fact it's considered "cheating"?

[Devastation]

Pro athletes should be allowed to use steroids. It makes them more entertaining. I dont see what the big deal is.
It takes away from the validity of the game.

It's supposed to be between two teams on a level playing field.

If people take steroids, it balances the game unfairly in their direction.

[Big Van Vader]

Any pro athlete can take em. Its their own fault if theyre at a disadvantage. Steroids make the game more exciting, they run faster, hit more homeruns, and are bigger and all around better. Juice use should be encouraged and legalized. If society could just get over demonizing them, everything would be great and sports would be even more exciting.

[piggyman18]

I honestly hope you're kidding. If they were legal, skill would not mean shit. It's whoever has the most access to the drugs. Hell, I could win the World Series MVP if I were rich and had access to as much steroids as I want.

[Pfef63]

These aren't any normal kind of steroids. It's called Human Growth Hormone. It's what Giambi said he used. This HGH is given to AIDS Patients to help them fight that, along with dwarfism. The side effects include enlarged faces (including foreheads), and it even improves eyesight (if you're one of those guys that says steroids can't help you hit a baseball, quit now).

The only way HGH can be detected is through blood tests. However, the current Collective Bargaining Agreement only allows for urine tests.

This, my friends, is what Bonds, Giambi, Sheffield and everyone else involved in BALCO has been using. This is why Sheffield came out last year and said "Give me a cup to pee in, I'm clean"

Paraphrasing an article from WebMD:
Oct. 2, 2000 -- Never mind urine and blood tests to detect performance-enhancing drugs -- with what's coming down the pike, the future of drug testing in sports could call for much higher-tech intervention. The International Olympic Committee's World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) predicts that gene therapy will be the next big thing among those athletes willing to do anything for the gold.

"It certainly is possible," says Inder Verma, PhD, president of the American Society of Gene Therapy and a professor at The Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif. "You could take growth hormone or erythropoietin (EPO) from [a person's] cells and deliver it to the same person. Whether this is going on now, I don't know, but it is perfectly possible."

Even high-tech molecular tests like PCR would be worthless unless you knew the gene delivery site, says Verma. Essentially, you'd need a full-body PCR, Verma says. "You could inject the gene in any number of places -- the muscle, the big toe, the liver, the lung, anyplace. And you could only detect it if you know where [it had been injected]. The genetic 'message' is not in the blood. The only thing we could detect in serum is that the person has more EPO [than normal]."

Right now, hGH and EPO are the most likely candidates for gene therapy abuse, Verma tells WebMD, but he doesn't rule out a host of as-yet-undiscovered agents. Researchers "could [identify] an enzyme that would give a greater degree of stamina by reducing the heart rate and allowing you to breathe more oxygen in, for example," he says. As the Human Genome Project unfolds, the list of potential performance-enhancing genes is bound to grow.
The whole thing can be read here (http://my.webmd.com/content/article/28/1728_61910.htm)

As you can see, this is a serious issue. If you dont think steroids help you hit a baseball, or should be used for entertainment purposes, then you should be hung by your foot for the whole town to laugh at. I used to be one of those people, but I've since broken out of that ignorant shell I was in.