Mark McGwire Admits To Using Steroids

[andymays]

http://cbs2chicago.com/sports/mark.mcguire.steroids.2.1418850.html

Excerpt:

Mark McGwire finally came clean Monday, admitting he used steroids when he broke baseball's home run record in 1998.

McGwire says in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Monday that he used steroids on and off for nearly a decade and he apologizes for his actions.

He says: "I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era."

[PhantomOnTour]

Okay Clemens, your turn.

[PhantomOnTour]

You too Bonds.

[PhantomOnTour]

Dont bother with it Sosa-we dont even care about you.

[cj]

In a similar story, the sun admits to being hot. Now tell us something we didn't already know.

[Greyfox]

It seems that all mens feet are made of clay.
Will we hear of Tiger cheating on his wife next?
Oh....that's not news.....but what about 'roids?
He sure developed from that scrawny kid who came on tour.

[Dave Schwartz]

The sad part about this is that for many fans it destroyed the continuity of the game by changing the scale by which we measure homeruns. Unfortunately, baseball cannot ever go back.

Remember when those extra 8 games caused an asterisk? Perhaps all those records set by the "steroid boys" should have a "**" next to them.



Dave

[OTM Al]

Still don't care about this as those golden age players didn't use them because they weren't easily available. Be assured that if they were, they would have used (and I'll still argue they WERE being used knowingly or unknowingly at least by the early 60s). The game means much more than records to me I guess.

[skate]

The sad part about this is that for many fans it destroyed the continuity of the game by changing the scale by which we measure homeruns. Unfortunately, baseball cannot ever go back.

Remember when those extra 8 games caused an asterisk? Perhaps all those records set by the "steroid boys" should have a "**" next to them.



Dave

I heard that...we might run out of "Asteriskisses".

[Robert Fischer]

the NFL doesn't even test for HGH yet.
McGwire admits to using HGH and Steroids
you see certain NFL teams and 9/10 of the non "skill" players are pumped with 40lbs of extra muscle weight it kind of gives you a flagrant tip off. I mean the cowboys are great to watch, they're like an all-star team of huge freaks, but are these guys organs gonna hold up into there early 40s?

some of these horses are obviously getting juiced as well, it's not hard to tell that certain barns are using potent medication, and unfortunately the signs point to some of the barns that tend to get the premiere horses.

This kind of comment usually gets flamed on the message boards... I remember when i got flammed when I said Barry Bonds was taking steroids back in the late 1990s. It isn't that difficult if you have any experience seeing steroid or GH use to notice things and at least think "this is either a VERY muscular horse/ballplayer or ..." particularly if the development is rapid.

in horses, from what little I know of veterinary medicine, my impression is that steroids are totally accepted for occasional recovery,injury,etc use.. but you also see the signs of abuse in attempt to maximize muscle growth, and GH makes sense as an alternative if they even test for steroids for horses now.

It's all part of the game, and in a way it helps a gambler, because he sees all these things, and a lot of others are oblivious. However any temporary gain, is going to be at least partially offset by the negative effects it has on the sport. I strongly believe these sports are better without juiced up participants, and for the most part it's better for the participants themselves not to "have" to use all these drugs.

[JustRalph]

I stood about 20 feet away from Mcgwire at a Red's game the year he broke all the records........ Looking at the guy was like looking at a monster. his arms were incredible........my brother and I went to our seats for the game and started talking about how many needles he must be going through in a week........some guy behind us says to us "He is the best thing that ever happen to baseball, you shouldn't talk like that" I wish I could run into that idiot today..............

Cincy Enquirer writer puts it into perspective

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100112/COL03/301120073/Congrats++Unnaturally+Big+Mac

"Mark McGwire is the poster player for why any 50-homer season is now looked upon with a yellow eye. He wasn’t the first player to juice. He remains the most memorable. On Monday, in a series of scheduled, scripted interviews, McGwire achieved the most memorable feat of all:

Through his pathetic, self-reverential ramblings – steroids didn’t help him hit homers, he said; it was a “gift’’ – and his transparent need to apologize, so he could get a job in the game, McGwire achieved something no clay-foot before him had:

He made us not give a damn.

The fight is over. The good guys lost."

I feel sorry for the Maris family.........after they were forced to sit through that scam for the benefit of MLB and its glorious comeback..........

[Greyfox]

I'm sure there must be legal beagles somewhere on this board.
What are consequences, if any, of lying or misleading a Federal Inquiry?
Or did he wait 8 years to be past some type of statue of limitations?
For God's sake, even "balloon boy Heene" was going to be charged with lying to a Federal official? What about charging McGwire?

*********************

I forgot:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/11/jones.doping/index.html



"WHITE PLAINS, New York (CNN) -- Olympic track star Marion Jones was sentenced in a federal court Friday to six months in prison, two years of probation and community service for lying to federal prosecutors investigating the use of performance-enhancing substances."

[cj]

Didn't he plead the 5th?

I'm sure there must be legal beagles somewhere on this board.
What are consequences, if any, of lying or misleading a Federal Inquiry?
Or did he wait 8 years to be past some type of statue of limitations?
For God's sake, even "balloon boy Heene" was going to be charged with lying to a Federal official? What about charging McGwire?

*********************

I forgot:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/11/jones.doping/index.html



"WHITE PLAINS, New York (CNN) -- Olympic track star Marion Jones was sentenced in a federal court Friday to six months in prison, two years of probation and community service for lying to federal prosecutors investigating the use of performance-enhancing substances."

[Greyfox]

Apparently he plead the fifth in an elusive way.

From Wikipedia:

In 2005, McGwire and Canseco were among 11 baseball players and executives subpoenaed to testify at a congressional hearing on steroids. During his testimony on March 17, 2005, McGwire declined to answer questions under oath when he appeared before the House Government Reform Committee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Government_Reform_Committee). In a tearful opening statement McGwire said,
“Asking me or any other player to answer questions about who took steroids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steroids) in front of television cameras will not solve the problem. If a player answers 'No,' he simply will not be believed; if he answers 'Yes,' he risks public scorn and endless government investigations.... My lawyers have advised me that I cannot answer these questions without jeopardizing my friends, my family, and myself. I will say, however, that it remains a fact in this country that a man, any man, should be regarded as innocent unless proven guilty."[16] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_McGwire#cite_note-15)”

When asked by Representative Elijah Cummings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Cummings) if he was asserting his Fifth Amendment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution) right not to incriminate himself, McGwire once again responded:

“I'm not here to talk about the past. I'm here to be positive about this subject.

[OTM Al]

Sound like he did not then and they simply stopped asking. That's their mistake, not his and besides, despite the connotations of pleading the 5th, it is perfectly legal and cannot be legally held against him.

[wisconsin]

Still don't care about this as those golden age players didn't use them because they weren't easily available. Be assured that if they were, they would have used (and I'll still argue they WERE being used knowingly or unknowingly at least by the early 60s). The game means much more than records to me I guess.

Spot on Al.

The other thing that gets overlooked is that these were readily available in the late 70's and were not banned when this all began. It's not about who was on them, but show me a list of who was'nt.

Let me ask this question. Do you NFL fans have a problem with the rampant usage back in the late 60's into the early 80's? Do you also think that these cartoon character players are working out only the upper body? There are probably drugs that cannot even be detected. Think horse racing with that last comment.

[PaceAdvantage]

Still don't care about this as those golden age players didn't use them because they weren't easily available. Be assured that if they were, they would have used (and I'll still argue they WERE being used knowingly or unknowingly at least by the early 60s). The game means much more than records to me I guess.I don't know about that...looking back on some of those old late-70s Yankee classics, all I see are these bunch of scrawny looking baseball players (by comparison to today).

Guidry, Rivers, Roy White, etc. etc.

Even guys like Nettles were TINY by today's standards...

[bigmack]

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa believes Mark McGwire would have been a premier home run hitter in the 1990s with or without the steroids.
La Russa said in an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday night that the key to McGwire's success, even when breaking Roger Maris' home run record in 1998, was improved mechanics in his swing and not a drug-fuelled power boost. :rolleyes:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gCgLo3o_snjNPs_lwO1b0Nhn8ZHA

[ElKabong]

In a similar story, the sun admits to being hot. Now tell us something we didn't already know.

LOL

[Greyfox]

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa believes Mark McGwire would have been a premier home run hitter in the 1990s with or without the steroids.
La Russa said in an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday night that the key to McGwire's success, even when breaking Roger Maris' home run record in 1998, was improved mechanics in his swing and not a drug-fuelled power boost. :rolleyes:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gCgLo3o_snjNPs_lwO1b0Nhn8ZHA

All records are meant to be broken. New technology allows that to happen.
A "hotter ball"...."better bats..." and so on.
For sure, it takes hand-eye coordination to hit a ball.
To hit that ball farther and with enough power to knock it over the warning track.....and then the wall.....takes more than mechanics. McGwire apologized to Maris' family.
Nuff said....He knows, and now we know....that record by Maris would not have been broken without 'roids, by him or others anyways. It's just that simple.

[newtothegame]

Spot on Al.

The other thing that gets overlooked is that these were readily available in the late 70's and were not banned when this all began. It's not about who was on them, but show me a list of who was'nt.

Let me ask this question. Do you NFL fans have a problem with the rampant usage back in the late 60's into the early 80's? Do you also think that these cartoon character players are working out only the upper body? There are probably drugs that cannot even be detected. Think horse racing with that last comment.

I am not so sure about timelines here. In one breath you say they were readily "available in the late 70's" then you talk about "usage in the late 60's)..????
I am not saying it wasnt there, or that players werent using then. I just see no evidence of it. The first player I remember was from the Raiders who died shortly after his career was over. That was in the 80's if I am not mistaken. Lyle Alzado died in 92. So most of his career would of been during the 80's and late 70's.
In his autobiography, he says that he bagan using in 69. Now he would know as best as anyone. I just do not think it was widespread in the NFL. During the 70's, Lyle mentions raider players were "asking" him about the drugs.
I just think people didnt know much about them in the 60's. During the seventies, I still think people would of been afraid of them and therefore not widespread usage. Late 70's and on I do think though as the drugs became more and more prevalant, players in order to "keep up" began wider usage. Today, I would think almost all players are on some type of performance enhancing drug. Hell the saints KICKER sat four games for "banned " substance this year lol

[wisconsin]

I am not so sure about timelines here. In one breath you say they were readily "available in the late 70's" then you talk about "usage in the late 60's)..????
I am not saying it wasnt there, or that players werent using then. I just see no evidence of it. The first player I remember was from the Raiders who died shortly after his career was over. That was in the 80's if I am not mistaken. Lyle Alzado died in 92. So most of his career would of been during the 80's and late 70's.
In his autobiography, he says that he bagan using in 69. Now he would know as best as anyone. I just do not think it was widespread in the NFL. During the 70's, Lyle mentions raider players were "asking" him about the drugs.
I just think people didnt know much about them in the 60's. During the seventies, I still think people would of been afraid of them and therefore not widespread usage. Late 70's and on I do think though as the drugs became more and more prevalant, players in order to "keep up" began wider usage. Today, I would think almost all players are on some type of performance enhancing drug. Hell the saints KICKER sat four games for "banned " substance this year lol

In his last Sport's Illustrated interview, he (Lyle Alzado) said 90% of the players were on the stuff in the 70's.

[hazzardm]

I heard McGwire was trying to get back in baseball. His 'confession' was kind of a half truth, just enough to pacify the mobs.

Funny thing, I used to think Jose Canseco was full of crap, and know believe he may be the most truthful one of the bunch.

[BillW]

I heard McGwire was trying to get back in baseball. His 'confession' was kind of a half truth, just enough to pacify the mobs.


I think McGuire is back in baseball. The Cards hired him as a hitting coach a few months ago.

[JustRalph]

Funny thing, I used to think Jose Canseco was full of crap, and know believe he may be the most truthful one of the bunch.

This is the weirdest thing about the whole situation. When Canseco first started talking, the whole baseball world went after him. I should have known he was telling the truth then............

[Robert Fischer]

i've read from a number of sources that the giants equipment manager described that Barry Bonds hat size got significantly bigger, and his shirt size increased dramatically...

the hat stuff is kind of weird but you expect that stuff with the puffy Roid-head and weight water/gain... a little bone increase in the skull never hurt whatever

also says his SHOE SIZE increased from 10.5 to 13 :eek: - now that strikes me as plain weird/gross

[Robert Fischer]

I am not so sure about timelines here. In one breath you say they were readily "available in the late 70's" then you talk about "usage in the late 60's)..????
I am not saying it wasnt there, or that players werent using then. I just see no evidence of it. The first player I remember was from the Raiders who died shortly after his career was over. That was in the 80's if I am not mistaken. Lyle Alzado died in 92. So most of his career would of been during the 80's and late 70's.
In his autobiography, he says that he bagan using in 69. Now he would know as best as anyone. I just do not think it was widespread in the NFL. During the 70's, Lyle mentions raider players were "asking" him about the drugs.
I just think people didnt know much about them in the 60's. During the seventies, I still think people would of been afraid of them and therefore not widespread usage. Late 70's and on I do think though as the drugs became more and more prevalant, players in order to "keep up" began wider usage. Today, I would think almost all players are on some type of performance enhancing drug. Hell the saints KICKER sat four games for "banned " substance this year lol

yea poor Lyle is rumored to have tried all sorts of hormones from anywhere from monkey brains to harvested corpses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyle_Alzado#Steroid_use_and_death
:ThmbDown:

[JustRalph]

http://johndanaher.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/big-head-barry-bonds-clear.jpg

[chickenhead]

so who's the best (likely) non-juicing hitter of the steroid era......Griffey Jr? Frank Thomas?

[PhantomOnTour]

Ichiro Suzuki

[chickenhead]

I love Ichiro...but he was a little late to the party -- debuting in 2001, I guess we can include him.

[PhantomOnTour]

Joe Carter???
Edgar Martinez??

[mountainman]

Sound like he did not then and they simply stopped asking. That's their mistake, not his and besides, despite the connotations of pleading the 5th, it is perfectly legal and cannot be legally held against him.

It's disgraceful that Mcguire wasn't pressed harder about personal steroid use. Bonds going to jail just doesn't pass the smell test now that so many of his peers have turned out to be dirty. I don't care if he lied to 100 grand jurys, Bonds doing time no longer feels right and smacks somewhat of racism. Bonds has payed enough for his sins in terms of public ridicule, incessant villification, and loss of income. Exponentially more than Mcguire, who, unlike Bonds, will soon be welcomed back to baseball with open arms. Why should Mcguire not be similarly ostracized? Because he is white, likeable and never snarled at the press? Or because HIS inquisitors made no attempt to pin him down or damage his reputation as he sat there and read a slickly packaged statement that was elusive and reprehensible if not tantamount to lying??? So Mcguire goes to the dugout and Bonds goes to jail. Guess that'll teach you to be nicer to white America Barry.