12.02.2005
Steroids in....Football?!
Say it ain't so, Todd Sauerbrun.
Nice work by unnamed AP reporters in getting this story: Apparently some Carolina Panthers went to a doctor who consulted them on how to beat steroid tests -- namely, by using pure testosterone, which the NFL tests don't detect, instead of manufactured substances like Deca, or Depo, or whatever the cocktail of the day may be. A few arbitrarily numbered points:
1. Athletes cheat in every sport, no matter how supposedly strict the testing.
2. That a punter feels the need to bulk up in this manner should give Leno and Letterman plenty to work with.
3. That a punter feels the need to bulk up in this manner implies quite a bit about the likelihood that, you know, actual position players might feel the need to do the same.
4. This story was up to number two on the ESPN wire this morning; now, at 3:30 PT, it has fallen to sixth, below "Eagles Drop Tampering Complaint Against Cowboys" and "[Larry] Brown brings memories, health issues to Detroit." We can assume that ESPN's story order is based on some combination of the importance placed on the story by ESPN's editors, and the number of eyeballs hitting the page after initial publication.
You are reading about this topic in an MLB forum because of the unavoidable question: Where is the traction on this? The outrage? The congressional hearings? The unexpected mention in a State of the Union address? The asterisks next to Carolina's 2003 Super Bowl appearance in the NFL history books?
In short, could it be that folks don't care about football players juicing up for some reason? Or is it only if those players happen to be Carolina Panthers, as opposed to New York Giants or Dallas Cowboys? Or if they do not happen to be Terrell Owens? What's going on here?
Baseball got into so much steroid trouble because a) grand jury testimony got out, b) star players were involved, and c) records were being broken. Before those three things came together, Bud Selig et al were happy to look the other way. Because this Carolina Panthers story has come up before and no fuss was made, it is fair to assume that the NFL is taking the same approach for now.
Media coverage has an unfortunate tendency to get hysterical and out of proportion to both the importance of a given issue and the rational solution to it, if one exists. Facts get glossed over, reputations besmirched, and rash decisions ultimately made. We're seeing it in baseball now, and it is not without a hint of jealousy that I call for the National Football League to run the same gauntlet, the sooner the better.
Nice work by unnamed AP reporters in getting this story: Apparently some Carolina Panthers went to a doctor who consulted them on how to beat steroid tests -- namely, by using pure testosterone, which the NFL tests don't detect, instead of manufactured substances like Deca, or Depo, or whatever the cocktail of the day may be. A few arbitrarily numbered points:
1. Athletes cheat in every sport, no matter how supposedly strict the testing.
2. That a punter feels the need to bulk up in this manner should give Leno and Letterman plenty to work with.
3. That a punter feels the need to bulk up in this manner implies quite a bit about the likelihood that, you know, actual position players might feel the need to do the same.
4. This story was up to number two on the ESPN wire this morning; now, at 3:30 PT, it has fallen to sixth, below "Eagles Drop Tampering Complaint Against Cowboys" and "[Larry] Brown brings memories, health issues to Detroit." We can assume that ESPN's story order is based on some combination of the importance placed on the story by ESPN's editors, and the number of eyeballs hitting the page after initial publication.
You are reading about this topic in an MLB forum because of the unavoidable question: Where is the traction on this? The outrage? The congressional hearings? The unexpected mention in a State of the Union address? The asterisks next to Carolina's 2003 Super Bowl appearance in the NFL history books?
In short, could it be that folks don't care about football players juicing up for some reason? Or is it only if those players happen to be Carolina Panthers, as opposed to New York Giants or Dallas Cowboys? Or if they do not happen to be Terrell Owens? What's going on here?
Baseball got into so much steroid trouble because a) grand jury testimony got out, b) star players were involved, and c) records were being broken. Before those three things came together, Bud Selig et al were happy to look the other way. Because this Carolina Panthers story has come up before and no fuss was made, it is fair to assume that the NFL is taking the same approach for now.
Media coverage has an unfortunate tendency to get hysterical and out of proportion to both the importance of a given issue and the rational solution to it, if one exists. Facts get glossed over, reputations besmirched, and rash decisions ultimately made. We're seeing it in baseball now, and it is not without a hint of jealousy that I call for the National Football League to run the same gauntlet, the sooner the better.
