Rob W 0 Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Baseball: Book hits Bonds' steroid denials for ominous home run By Rupert Cornwell in Washington Published: 10 March 2006 The list is breathtaking. Winstrol, better known as stanozolol. Deca-Durabolin, or "Deca". Human growth hormone (HGH), said to delay ageing. A couple of all-but-undetectable concoctions known as "the cream" and "the clear" - the latter referred to by some athletes as "rocket fuel". And the catalogue goes on. There is erythropoietin, which allows the blood to absorb oxygen more quickly, and a fast-acting steroid known as "Mexican beans", as well as trenbolone, a steroid used to improve muscle tone in beef cattle. As one veteran baseball manager said: "I didn't even know there were that many kinds of steroids." But there are, and they may be washed down with insulin, or the psycho-stimulant drug Modafinil, used to tackle narcolepsy - or even Clomid, a women's infertility drug that is said to restore the normal glandular functioning of the male body after such a pharmacological battering. The above is not only a selection of products once available at Balco, the San Francisco company at the centre of the steroids scandal that has haunted baseball for the past two years. They also encapsulate the tragedy of Barry Bonds - generally, however grudgingly, accepted as the greatest hitter of his generation. Since the Balco affair broke in 2004 and with it the revelation that Bonds was one of the company's clients, rumours have swirled that the star outfielder for the San Francisco Giants and holder of baseball's single-season home-run record was using performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds denied all, pointing out that he had never failed a steroids test. Yes, his body might have turned from sylph to bulldog, adding 15 pounds of muscle between the 1998 and 1999 seasons. But, he insisted, that was due to a new gym routine and legal nutritional supplements provided by Balco. Those claims, however, have now been put to the test by a book by Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, the San Francisco Chronicle reporters who first exposed the scandal. The book,Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, Balco and the Steroid Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports, draws on hundreds of pages of documents and computer records, as well as police evidence and grand jury testimony. It makes a detailed case of how jealousy, ambition and the need to prove himself drove Bonds to fuel himself with an array of drugs. Steroids were not banned from baseball when Bonds staged his astonishing late-career surge, hitting 73 home runs in 2001 at the age of 37. But his achievements, shown beyond reasonable doubt to have been fuelled in part by artificial chemicals, now threaten the hallowed sanctity of the statistics that are at the very heart of baseball's identity. Bonds has dismissed the book out of hand. "I won't even look at it," he said. "There's no need to." Major League Baseball surely must do so. Its heartfelt, as yet unspoken, wish is that Bonds goes away, retiring with the excuse of a chronically bad knee. In that way the sport would be spared the queasy prospect of Bonds reaching and surpassing the career home-run totals of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. It would also seal the personal tragedy of Bonds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus 0 Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 not even a real sport tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Bet steroids are rife in football tbh. The testing, in this country at least, is nothing short of a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W 0 Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 Hope you're not making allegations Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Hope you're not making allegations Alex 105163[/snapback] Moi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc-mag 1 Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Hope you're not making allegations Alex 105163[/snapback] Moi? 105164[/snapback] Bet AF pronounces that 'Moy' when he reads it, the fucking whurzle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Hope you're not making allegations Alex 105163[/snapback] Moi? 105164[/snapback] Bet AF pronounces that 'Moy' when he reads it, the fucking whurzle! 105166[/snapback] Where is he anyway? Strumming hand caught in a combine harvester I'd wager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W 0 Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 Hope you're not making allegations Alex 105163[/snapback] Moi? 105164[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zathras 234 Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 not even a real sport tbh. 105132[/snapback] more of a sport than cricket tbh. still shit tbqfh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W 0 Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 I always quite like watching baseball - its quite similar to cricket - at least tehre is some suspense Not a load of 7 ft freaks rushing from one end of a box to the other scoring and then runing back to do the same at the other end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 not even a real sport tbh. 105132[/snapback] more of a sport than cricket tbh. 105248[/snapback] Didn't you use to have Rahul Dravid as your avatar? Typical fad-driven, fickle American tbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 I always quite like watching baseball - its quite similar to cricket - at least tehre is some suspense Not a load of 7 ft freaks rushing from one end of a box to the other scoring and then runing back to do the same at the other end 105251[/snapback] Went to Minor League game in Florida once and it was quite good. Like most sports I suppose you get a far better appreciation of the skills involved when you watch it live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc-mag 1 Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 (edited) I always quite like watching baseball - its quite similar to cricket - at least tehre is some suspense Not a load of 7 ft freaks rushing from one end of a box to the other scoring and then runing back to do the same at the other end 105251[/snapback] Went to Minor League game in Florida once and it was quite good. Like most sports I suppose you get a far better appreciation of the skills involved when you watch it live. 105253[/snapback] Unprovoked Soopafan alert Edited March 10, 2006 by manc-mag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 I always quite like watching baseball - its quite similar to cricket - at least tehre is some suspense Not a load of 7 ft freaks rushing from one end of a box to the other scoring and then runing back to do the same at the other end 105251[/snapback] Went to Minor League game in Florida once and it was quite good. Like most sports I suppose you get a far better appreciation of the skills involved when you watch it live. 105253[/snapback] Unprovoked Soopafan alert 105254[/snapback] Do you go to the games? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W 0 Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 I have tickets booked for the Crows v. Port Aussie rules game in mid may............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythelads 0 Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 What the fúck have indians got to do with most of your posts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zathras 234 Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 not even a real sport tbh. 105132[/snapback] more of a sport than cricket tbh. 105248[/snapback] Didn't you use to have Rahul Dravid as your avatar? Typical fad-driven, fickle American tbh 105252[/snapback] Yeah, I did. I actually enjoy watching cricket a bit more, although baseball can be fun if it's in a pressure (playoffs) situation. And it is true that it's more fun in person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Manson 0 Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Baseball is dull... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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