Drugs are Cool.

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McGwire Refuses to Say if He Used Steroids
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By HOWARD FENDRICH and RONALD BLUM
AP Sports Writers

March 17, 2005, 7:48 PM CST

WASHINGTON -- Lined up shoulder to shoulder, some of baseball's biggest
stars told Congress Thursday that steroids are a problem for the sport
but denied there is widespread use. Mark McGwire, choking back tears at
times, repeatedly refused to say if he took the drugs when he was
helping fuel a surge in the sport's popularity with his prodigious home
runs.

On a day of extraordinary theater, House Government Reform Committee
members professed their love of baseball before attacking the sport's
new drug policy and warning Congress could get involved if stronger
steps aren't taken. Except for admitted steroid user Jose Canseco, the
five players repeatedly ducked pointed questions. Major League Baseball
commissioner Bud Selig watched from a few feet away, waiting more than
eight hours for his chance to respond.

Canseco -- whose best-selling book, "Juiced," drew lawmakers' attention
-- said anew that he used performance-enhancing drugs as a player.
Baltimore Orioles teammates Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro said they
haven't.

McGwire in the past has denied using steroids but under oath repeatedly
declined to respond directly, saying his lawyers advised him not to
answer certain questions.

McGwire, peering at lawmakers over reading glasses and his goatee now
flecked with gray, was pressed to say whether he had taken
performance-enhancing substances or whether he could provide details
about use by other players. He responded repeatedly, "I'm not here to
talk about the past."

Asked by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., whether he was asserting his
Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself, McGwire said: "I'm
not here to talk about the past. I'm here to be positive about this
subject."

Asked whether use of steroids was cheating, McGwire said: "That's not
for me to determine."

Earlier, choking back tears, he said he knew that steroid use could be
dangerous and pledged to discourage young athletes from using them.

All of the players offered condolences to the parents of two young
baseball players who committed suicide after using steroids. The
parents testified, too, along with medical experts who talked about the
health risks of steroids.

"Players that are guilty of taking steroids are not only cheaters --
you are cowards," said Donald Hooton of Plano, Texas, whose son,
Taylor, was 17 when he hanged himself in July 2003.

Canseco's book included claims that he injected McGwire with steroids
when they were teammates with the Oakland Athletics and that Palmeiro
used the drugs. In a tense scene, they sat at the same table, never
directly addressing each other. During a break, Canseco was left out
while the other players huddled.

"Steroids were part of the game, and I don't think anybody really
wanted to take a stance on it," Canseco said. "If Congress does nothing
about this issue, it will go on forever."

Several congressmen gushed about the sport, recalling how as children
they collected baseball cards and autographs and looked up to players.
With rare exceptions, members of the committee appeared deferential and
unwilling to press the players, saving their harshest criticism for
baseball officials.

"Why should we believe that the baseball commissioner and the baseball
union will want to do something when we have a 30-year record of them
not responding to this problem?" asked Rep. Henry Waxman of California,
the committee's ranking Democrat.

The wood-paneled hearing room was full when the players appeared, with
camera crews lining the walls and clogging the aisles. Much of the
crowd cleared out when the players left, leaving empty seats for
Selig's testimony.

Lawmakers questioned baseball's new testing plan, including a provision
allowing for fines instead of suspensions. A first offense could cost
10 days out of a six-month season, or perhaps a $10,000 fine.

But Selig said he would suspend anyone who fails a test, adding: "There
will be no exceptions."

While boosting strength, steroids also can lead to dramatic mood
swings, heart disease, cancer, sterility and depression. Using most
steroids without a doctor's prescription for medical purposes has been
illegal since 1991. Baseball banned steroids in September 2002 and
began testing for them with penalties in 2004.

Questions about steroids in baseball have intensified as home runs have
increased. McGwire and Sosa were widely credited with helping restore
baseball's popularity in 1998 when they chased Roger Maris' season
record of 61 homers. McGwire ended up with 70, a mark that lasted only
three seasons before Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit 73.

Bonds and Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees were not called to the
hearing. They testified in 2003 to a San Francisco grand jury
investigating a steroid-distribution ring, and there were concerns if
they spoke to Congress it could hinder the probe.

Baseball fought attempts to compel players to testify, but Waxman and
committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., threatened to pursue contempt
charges.

More than four hours after the hearing began, the players walked in one
by one. Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, a vocal critic of
steroid use, was the first to enter. He sat at one end of the witness
table, with Canseco at the other. Palmeiro, Sosa and McGwire were in
between.

Schilling took a shot at Canseco, saying claims in the former slugger's
book "should be seen for what they a an attempt to make money at the
expense of others."

But Schilling also backtracked from his earlier claims of rampant
steroid use, saying "the issue was grossly overstated by people,
including myself." He estimated that only five to 10 of his teammates
in the last 15 years used steroids but said he had never actually seen
anyone take the drugs.
Copyright (c) 2005, The Associated Press

http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/7707.0.html

Cool people use drugs.

"The letter said current practices undermined the right to privacy of
athletes and their defense."

-quote from the velonews link......incredible!

Next thing you'll tell me is driving a car in the US is a right, not a
privilege.

Get the lawyers involved. My Pro Team and NGB has no right to test me
for drugs. Right.

clean PRO

McGuire did not come off looking very well.

Bud Selig looked bad too.

If MLB doesn't do something it could lose its Clayton/Sherman Act exemption.

No Union or Collective Bargaining Agreement could help the players then.

"crit PRO" wrote in message
oups.com...
"The letter said current practices undermined the right to privacy of
athletes and their defense."

-quote from the velonews link......incredible!

Next thing you'll tell me is driving a car in the US is a right, not a
privilege.

Get the lawyers involved. My Pro Team and NGB has no right to test me
for drugs. Right.

clean PRO

I watched some of that debacle. It was funny when the senator attacked
McGwire for using androstenedione, which was a totally legal product
available at any GNC at the time. Meanwhile, Barry Bonds is juiced to the
gills and he doesn't get called. WTF?

Bonds didn't get called because he's currently wrapped up in the BALCO
stuff. Same thing for Giambi and others.

Congress concerned about baseball... Don't they have more important
things to take care of? Like a war, medicare, social security, the
budget, and a few other more pressing issues?? Next thing you know,
they'll open an investigation into the Discovery Cycling team.

Tom

Lots of people forget that MLB exists as we knw it because of antitrust
exemptions. Congress can revoke them by a simple majority vote.



"Tom" wrote in message
oups.com...
Bonds didn't get called because he's currently wrapped up in the BALCO
stuff. Same thing for Giambi and others.

Congress concerned about baseball... Don't they have more important
things to take care of? Like a war, medicare, social security, the
budget, and a few other more pressing issues?? Next thing you know,
they'll open an investigation into the Discovery Cycling team.

Tom

Philip W. Moore, Jr. wrote:
McGuire did not come off looking very well.

Bud Selig looked bad too.

If MLB doesn't do something it could lose its Clayton/Sherman Act
exemption.

No Union or Collective Bargaining Agreement could help the players
then.

"crit PRO" wrote in message
oups.com...
"The letter said current practices undermined the right to privacy
of
athletes and their defense."

-quote from the velonews link......incredible!

Next thing you'll tell me is driving a car in the US is a right,
not a
privilege.

Get the lawyers involved. My Pro Team and NGB has no right to test
me
for drugs. Right.

clean PRO


Schilling came off looking good, but he wasn't under any pressure
either. Of the others Palmero didn't come out too bad IMO. Management
and the Union were exposed again as the complete buffons they are. I
think this get's messier before it's over and I hope the lose their
protection. Baseball does not deserve to be treated any differently
than other sports.
Bill C

On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 04:25:38 GMT, "Philip W. Moore, Jr."
wrote:

McGuire did not come off looking very well.

Bud Selig looked bad too.

If MLB doesn't do something it could lose its Clayton/Sherman Act exemption.

No Union or Collective Bargaining Agreement could help the players then.

Not sure how that impacts things. Weaken the exemption and the
industry that already caves to the players would somehow come up with
something stronger?

Bud Selig as a defender would get innocent men hung and here he isn't
defending the innocent. It will take a year or more, but this is
headed toward a minimum standard for all U.S. sports that will have
teeth.

And I'm waiting to see if they add some provision that the NLRB
decertifies unions that encourage illegal behavior. OTOH, the NLRB has
managed to ignore actual workplace violence...

As for Canseco, he's a money-grubbing ass that has more muddied the
water than cleared up anything. All he seems to have proved is what it
takes to get people to pay attention. IOW, major league baseball
deserves Canseco.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

What ?!!?!? Schilling kept say their was no problem, so he was against
more stringent testing. That doesn't make any sense! If it was truely
clean the players and schiling would be anxious to enact a stringent
testing proceedure to prove their innocents.

He also came off like a arrogant pompous ass he knows he full of ****
but believes that he is to smart to get caught. "I can't speak to
that, sir" Ironic smile.