|
|
[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
0 6 - 0 8 - 2 0 0 5 Lewis: Canseco deserves an apology
Daily Republic Maybe we all owe Jose Canseco an apology. Yeah, it's a scary thought, but maybe the Sultan of Syringe wasn't lying in "Juiced," his sensational tell-all book that kicked the steroids controversy into hyperspace.
Canseco was accused by the players he fingered of being everything from a liar to a cheat, thug, criminal, rat and a variety of others not fit for print. Given that Congress got involved with the whole mess, it's a shock that Canseco wasn't branded as a war-mongering fascist or a troop-hating pinko. It's looking like we were all wrong. It's looking like Jose told the truth. Check out the list of players Canseco outed in his book: He supposedly shot up with Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi, Raphael Palmeiro and Ivan Rodriguez while implicating Sammy Sosa and Bret Boone. Let's run down the list: Palmeiro, tested positive for steroids; Giambi, admitted steroid use; McGwire, pleaded the Fifth so he didn't have to admit steroid use in front of Congress. While the other three haven't been directly linked to steroids, rampant speculation and good old-fashioned common sense tell you there could be a connection. Boone's career has been in a free-fall since testing started in earnest, and Sosa's power numbers are in the same terminal drop. Sosa averaged 38 home runs in the three years before his 66-bomb outburst in 1998. In '98 and the four years following, Sosa averaged 58 home runs, until dropping to 40 in a injury-plauged 2003 campaign and then 35 and 14 in '04 and '05. Yes, both these players are getting old and age could be the heavy factor, but Boone's inhumanly massive arms on a tiny 5-foot-9 frame and Sosa's prodigious 30 home run jump from '97 to '98 (36 to 66) suggest otherwise. That leaves only Ivan Rodriguez, who has been mostly free of speculation and accusation, but even he showed up to camp this year 15 pounds lighter. It's looking like Jose told the truth. And that's the unfortunate part of the steroid's scandal, especially after Rafael Palmeiro's "he did" result - players that should be presumed innocent are now automatically guilty. Any slugger who has a bad year will be dismissed as a juicer. Any fireballer pitcher who loses some zip off his fastball will be a cheat. Giambi started the season slowly, bounced back offensively, and is facing critics who claim he's still using steroids. Drug tests are proving otherwise - for now. The only shocking thing about the whole terrible ordeal now is waiting for the next positive. It's too bad, also. As someone who became completely engrossed in the home run chase in '98, I can personally attest to the pleasure and allure of watching athletes perform nearly inhuman feats. At the end of the '98 season - and up until his Congressional testimony - McGwire could do no wrong in my eyes. Unfortunately, Jose told the truth. |
|
|
