Steroids Blog

Curtis Wenzlaff, a convicted drug dealer, who claimed to have supplied steroids to Mark McGwire says that he think that the baseball slugger was not completely truthful about his steroid confession while telling the reason of using performance-enhancing drugs in his interview with Bob Costas on the MLB Network on Jan. 11, 2010.

It was remarked by Wenzlaff said while speaking with ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” on Thursday that McGwire’s goal was to use steroids to get “bigger, faster, stronger” for improving his on-field performance.

From MLB.MLB.Com:

McGwire said in his interview with Costas that “in the winter ‘89 into ‘90, I was given a couple weeks worth, tried it, never thought anything of it, just moved on from it.”

It was only later, following the injury-ravaged 1993-94 seasons that McGwire says he once again began using PEDs to recover from injury. McGwire contends that his use from ‘94 on was a low-dose regimen designed solely to return him to health, not to augment his performance.

“I chuckled,” Wenzlaff said when asked his reaction to McGwire’s claim that he took steroids to heal from injury. “If excelling and kicking [butt] on the field is the end result, I guess that’s a healthy, good feeling. But for health, there are other things you can take for health that are anabolic, but it wouldn’t be that type of combination.”

Wenzlaff also said he thinks the combination of drugs he provided McGwire would’ve helped his hand-eye coordination.

“When you implement into what you are doing — for instance, hitting — an individualized, specialized program with muscle growth and explosiveness … while you’re on your drugs, it will improve your hand-eye coordination,” he said.

McGwire, the Cardinals’ newly appointed hitting coach, then reintroduced himself to St. Louis fans during the club’s Winter Warm-Up on Sunday and received a standing ovation.

The revelation by Wenzlaff is believed to hurt image of the baseball slugger, once more for sure.

Present steroid (testosterone) doping tests in international sports must be scrapped at they are ignoring variations in hormonal activities, as per a research published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

It is regarded that testosterone and various other hormones propelling the levels of testosterone in the human body such as growth hormone are some of the most commonly abused performance enhancing drugs in sport.

From News-Medical.Net:

They included 57 men of Black African origin; 32 of Asian origin; 32 of Hispanic origin; and 50 of white (Caucasian) origin in their research. All the men were aged between 18 and 36.

The results revealed the genetic variation in almost one in four (22%) of the African footballers; in eight out 10 (81%) of the Asian players; one in 10 of the white men, and in 7% of the Hispanic players.

Based on these findings, the Swiss researchers “recalibrated” the thresholds for each ethnic group.

The new T:E ratios were: 5.6 for men of African origin; 5.7 for white men, and 5.8 for men of Hispanic origin. For men of Asian origin, the ratio was 3.8.

A single indiscriminate threshold to pick up steroid abuse in international sport is “not fit for purpose,” the authors conclude. Instead, the reference ranges should be tailored to an athlete’s individual endocrinological (hormonal) passport, they suggest.

“[Such a] passport may detect modifications induced by abuse of testosterone and its precursors, but also alterations in the steroid profile caused by indirect androgen doping products,” they conclude.

The study comprised of tests that were conducted on steroid profiles of many football players from different ethnicities after steroids were deliberately added to their urine samples.

A compilation of revolutionary training methods is now out in the market to teach young people on proper way of enhancing their bodies and performance. BASES which means balance, agility, strength, explosiveness and speed, is a new DVD series created by former Tigers Curtis Granderson, and Tigers strength and conditioning coordinator Javair Gillett.

This program aims to help anyone who aims to succeed in nearly any athletic endeavor without using steroids. BASES creators want to educate youngsters that steroids are not the answer to enhance performance and get better.

From Yahoo News:

One concern during the steroid era that wasn’t talked about as much as it should have been is the potential impact on our youth. If professional players felt enough pressure to cheat to get better, weren’t kids going to think the same way?

Well, there are a lot of guys out there promoting ways to improve the right way. While playing for several organizations, I came across numerous trainers who knew how to get the same results without performance-enhancing drugs.

While their methods vary, one trait exists in all of the trainers’ programs: hard work. Nothing can beat a strong work ethic. Well, perhaps one thing can. When work ethic is combined with the right methods — diet, rest, training and flexibility – the results can be tough to beat.

They have put together a DVD series called BASES, which stands for balance, agility, strength, explosiveness and speed. Their series is all-encompassing and will help anyone whose goal is to succeed in nearly any athletic endeavor.

The on-going issues on steroids that feature popular sports personalities may influence young individuals that it is okay to cheat or use performance-enhancing drugs to get better. This is the main concern of the BASES creators and the other sports and fitness experts.

In order to educate students and athletes about the bad effects of steroids to the body, National Football League funded two local high schools with $30,000. Through the Atlas and Athena program, these high schools can create new approaches in teaching and promoting healthy nutrition and sports among students to avoid using of prohibited drugs.

Will C. Wood and Vacaville High Schools celebrated the kick-off ceremony of the program last Monday. This was initiated by Dr. Linn Goldberg, one of the founders of the program. During the ceremony, Dr. Linn showed the participants a slide presentation of the negative effects of steroids in the body. She informed the participants that many have been deceived by this regulated substance as they are portrayed as a good thing.

From The Reporter:

Local high schools with funds from the National Football League took the first step Monday in a new approach to teaching student athletes to avoid drug use.

Through the ATLAS & ATHENA program, Will C. Wood and Vacaville High Schools will receive $30,000 from the Raiders organization toward the curriculum and training of the peer-led programs promoting healthy sports nutrition and strength-training as alternatives to use of alcohol, illicit and performance-enhancing drugs for male and female athletes.

“I’m surprised at how many girls would take steroids,” said Brock Hekking, a junior football player at Vacaville High School. Hekking believes steroid use isn’t widespread at local schools, but agrees it’s important to let students know.

A lot of students were surprised to what they have learned during the ceremony. They have seen how steroids ruined many lives and how it deteriorates the health.

The ceremony was attended by Vacaville Unified School District Superintendent John Aycock and Mr. Frank Marrero, the father of the late Efrain Anthony Marrero, who committed suicide five years ago after he stopped using steroids.

In a recent update about the steroid issue, a Daily News reporter was able to buy testosterone enanthate, a syringe and the oral steroid Dianabol at a pharmacy in Dominican Republic without any legal prescription of a doctor.

It is known that you can get hardcore steroids in Dominican Republic easily, but buying a human grwoth hormone without any prescription is quite tough. But the story is quite different from what it appears to be.

Various Dominican supplement shops, pharmacies and black market of Santo Domingo sell growth hormone illegally. When contacted in this regard, several Dominican pharmacies, including the chain Farmax, said that they did not sell HGH. Even one Farmax employee told that HGH could be bought at health clinics with a doctor’s prescription and it is usually prescribed severe medical problems, such as AIDS wasting.

But two other sources confirmed the news that HGH was easily available in bodegas and supplement stores that also sell a variety of performance-enhancing drugs. Though, the price is quite high. The 10-cc vial of Primobolan - good for two injections in a week - approximately costs $95.

From The Daily News:

Hardcore steroids aren’t the only drugs easily obtainable in the Dominican Republic. Human growth hormone - baseball’s scarlet letter - is available on the black market in Santo Domingo, in Dominican supplement shops and even in the island’s pharmacies.

Sometimes even without a prescription.

Baseball banned HGH before the 2005 season, but does not test players for the substance as there continues to be debate on the reliability of an HGH blood test. The league’s current drug testing program uses urine samples only, and HGH cannot be detected in urine. Doping experts believe HGH use among athletes, particularly baseball players, has increased in recent years since a reliable HGH test has yet to be adopted in all sports.

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez’s recent admission to steroid use from 2001-03 has created a steady stream of headlines, but baseball’s HGH headache seems poised to linger for a lot longer.

Baseball players union chief Donald Fehr is making his spring-training rounds and once again addressing a deluge of questions about growth hormone.

However, the president of the Dominican Federation of Sports Medicine and a member of the Dominican Olympic Committee, Milton Pinedo said that HGH is legal with a prescription only. But sometimes you could get it illegally too. Pinedo further said that he did not think use of HGH in the Dominican was as big a problem as steroid use.

It was only before 2005 MLB season that baseball banned use of HGH, but did not test players because of the reliability of an HGH blood test, which still remains a hot topic of debate. The recent confirmation of steroid use was declared by Yankees star player Alex Rodriguez only after his name appeared in the BALCO investigation report.

The fans of Barry Bonds will have to wait more for good news in regard of the legendary baseball player. In recent news after the trial period was extended further, it was estimated that the star’s legal problems could bring him down.

Barry Bonds, despite of some of the best offensive seasons in the game history and being a record holder for most home runs, failed to win the sympathy and consolation of public. It seems that his current legal problems are affecting his career, contracts and status.

However, he broke the record of legendary Aaron’s for most home runs. But still Aaron held the position as the home run king, according to SportsNation. Though, not a single team had approached to sign the aging slugger. For most of the players, Barry Bonds would be a right choice over the other designated hitters, but it seems that most of the teams are not interested to deal with the star in the current conditions.

However, in comparison to Bonds’ legal issues such concerns are somewhat irrelevant. But it does not mean that he should not care about all such issues as Bonds’ trial period, which would start in July, coincides with the Major League Baseball season. It possibly becomes a distraction for the entire game season. Barry Bonds was charged for lying in front of federal grand jury about using performance enhancing drugs.

From ESPN:

In some ways, it seems Barry Bonds has been convicted in the court of public opinion. Despite putting up some of the best offensive seasons in baseball history and breaking Hank Aaron’s hallowed home run record, SportsNation still thinks of Aaron as the home run king, and no team has made overtures to sign the aging slugger. Bonds would immediately be an improvement over the vast majority of American League designated hitters, but teams seem to be unwilling to deal with the circus he represents.

However, these concerns are somewhat petty in the face of Bonds’ actual legal problems. Under indictment for the charge of lying to a federal grand jury about using performance enhancing drugs, Bonds’ trial could start in July, just as the MLB season is heating up. It promises to be (at the very least) a distraction, possibly consuming the entire summer news cycle.

Will Bonds be convicted? Could one of baseball’s greatest be serving time in jail? Would you want your team to pick him up, despite the risk?