New Steriods Policy: 50 Game 1st offense

[panerd]

I was skeptical when Congress stepped in, thinking it was more of a dog and pony show. But let's give them credit, baseball was never going to get off their ass on their own.

Link (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2224832)

[Blade6119]

I still think one and done is the right way, but its a step alright

[Bad-example]

Will they be testing non players? Because rumor is Tommy Lasorda has 'roids coming out of his ass.

[molson]

Has it ever been definitively stated anywhere how many players are tested each year, how often, and how this is decided? This is my biggest suspicion of the whole thing,. All I’ve seen is what MLB “can” do - I’ve never seen any affirmative statement of what they’ve actually done, in terms of testing.

[panerd]

Has it ever been definitively stated anywhere how many players are tested each year, how often, and how this is decided? This is my biggest suspicion of the whole thing,. All I’ve seen is what MLB “can” do - I’ve never seen any affirmative statement of what they’ve actually done, in terms of testing.

It looks like this is the new policy (from that page) but like you said I don't know if this is what they can do or what they will do.

Testing frequency
A player will be tested during spring training physicals and at least once during the regular season, with additional random testing. Under the previous agreement, each player was tested once from the start of spring training through the end of the regular season, with additional random testing. Both the new agreement and the previous deal provided for offseason testing.

[Crapshoot]

Pointless, and an example of Congressional grandstanding by nutjobs.

[Raiders Army]

At first I thought this was for the NFL. :eek:

[panerd]

Pointless, and an example of Congressional grandstanding by nutjobs.

Not sure I understand. Isn't it only due to Canseco's book and the Congessional hearings that any policy was implemented at all? Steriod suspensions didn't even exist until this year. Like I said in my initial post I saw it as grandstanding at the time, but it looks like they may have accidently actually accoplished something.

[Ksyrup]

Guess I have bad breath...

http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?t=44525

I still want to know whether they are going to insist on this for the NFL, NBA, and NHL, or whether everybody else is OK as long as MLB agrees to stricter penalties. What BS.

[SackAttack]

My larger concern is whether the testing is truly random now, and not "Oh, by the way, your test is in two weeks."

[kcchief19]

I still want to know whether they are going to insist on this for the NFL, NBA, and NHL, or whether everybody else is OK as long as MLB agrees to stricter penalties. What BS. I'll echo panerd's question of crapshoot here about what is BS about this? Granted, baseball generated the attention about steroids because they initially had no policy and eventually adopted a watered down policy, but it was also because there were clear and evident cases of steroids resulting in inflated performance. And even if MLB is bending to Congresssional pressure, I don't think it's bogus if they are coming up with their own tougher standards and not having it legislated on them by government.

I do think this puts the ball in the NFL's court to toughen their penalties -- it's still a warning for first offense and a four-game penalty for second offense, correct? I think you can do away with the warning and go straight to four games, a year and done.

I will agree that so far the NBA and NHL have gotten a pass. But I think that is in large part because there hasn't been evident statistical performance from steroids -- it's not like guys are putting up Wilt Chamberlain numbers. I think the dearth of offense in both leagues has masked any performance-enhancing issues. That said, I know the NBA tests, but what they do with the test is beyond me. I think everybody in the NBA is on something, it just depends on whether it's illegal or not.

I'm not sure steroids are a prevalent soncern in either the NBA or NHL. I think those leagues are going to more prone to issues with amphetamines and endurance-related substances, and in the case of the NBA with the Indiana Ditchweed.

[Ksyrup]

The BS is that this legislation would have mandated the same penalties MLB has now agreed to. Yet I bet Congress won't push the other sports the way they have MLB. And I don't really care about th NBA or NHL, mostly the NFL.

The NFL's current policy is 4 games, 6 games, then 1 year for a 3rd test. That's basically 40 games, 60 games, and 1 year in MLB terms. The second and third offense penlaties are not as harsh as they should be, or as demanded by Congress of all of the Big Four sports.

[Maple Leafs]

I feel terrible for all the poor players who will be caught by baseball's faulty system. I mean, there were what, a dozen positives last year? And every single one was the result of some sort of phantom supplement or vitamin.

[Blade6119]

The BS is that this legislation would have mandated the same penalties MLB has now agreed to. Yet I bet Congress won't push the other sports the way they have MLB. And I don't really care about th NBA or NHL, mostly the NFL.

The NFL's current policy is 4 games, 6 games, then 1 year for a 3rd test. That's basically 40 games, 60 games, and 1 year in MLB terms. The second and third offense penlaties are not as harsh as they should be, or as demanded by Congress of all of the Big Four sports.

Show me players testing positive for roids in the NFL, even a couple in relation to the 20 or so already last year is baseball, and ill agree...i can think of 2 or 3, and one of those was Ricky Williams and his marijuana...they went after baseball because thats where the major problem was.

[Ksyrup]

I feel terrible for all the poor players who will be caught by baseball's faulty system. I mean, there were what, a dozen positives last year? And every single one was the result of some sort of phantom supplement or vitamin.
Including the minors, I think there were a lot more than that.

On the subject of B12 injections, while there's no evidence that Tejada's B12 caused Palmeiro's positive test, apparently Tejada may be in some trouble over the fact that he permitted others to share his injectable B12. You can't have it in this country without a prescription, and sharing a prescribed drug with others is agaist the law.

[Ksyrup]

Show me players testing positive for roids in the NFL, even a couple in relation to the 20 or so already last year is baseball, and ill agree...i can think of 2 or 3, and one of those was Ricky Williams and his marijuana...they went after baseball because thats where the major problem was.

First - I don't care who tested positive for what in the NFL, the fact remains that the bill put on the table was to apply to all 4 big sports.

Second - I love how everyone talks about how so many baseball players are likely getting around the testing procedures, but no one thinks that might be a problem in the NFL. And even if they are testing correctly, there's obvously a problem with the manner in which it is administered is The Whizzinator was only discovered at the airport, not in the bathroom.

Third - we never know what substance a player tested for in the NFL, do we? We just hear that X player "violated the NFL's drug policy."

The bottom line for me is that Congress should be consistent, and the NFL should should insist on a lifetime ban for 3rd offenses. That said, I'm not sure whether pot is included in the MLB testing, because if it is, I have a hard time believing no one has tested positive for it. And I'm not sure Ricky Williams needs to be thrown out of the league for a recreational drug. But performance enhancers...yes.

[yabanci]

The BS is that this legislation would have mandated the same penalties MLB has now agreed to. Yet I bet Congress won't push the other sports the way they have MLB. And I don't really care about th NBA or NHL, mostly the NFL.

The NFL's current policy is 4 games, 6 games, then 1 year for a 3rd test. That's basically 40 games, 60 games, and 1 year in MLB terms. The second and third offense penlaties are not as harsh as they should be, or as demanded by Congress of all of the Big Four sports.

You're forgetting that baseball has an antitrust exemption, so when congress says jump, baseball jumps. If you offer an antitrust exemption to the NFL, they will jump even higher. Otherwise, they won't.

[oykib]

I totally agree with you here KSyrup. It's bullshit if Congress just drops the issue for the other three sports.

No one can tell me that steroids don't have an incredible impact on the play of thr NFL, NBA, or NHL.

[sterlingice]

We all know that the NFL is the teflon league. Nothing sticks to them

SI

[Ksyrup]

Kudos to Congress ...



Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Congress puts other pro sports leagues on notice

<HR width="100%" noShade SIZE=1>Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Congress is sending a message to the NFL, NBA, NHL and their players: Now that baseball strengthened its steroids policy, we're turning our attention to you.

But those other leagues and unions aren't necessarily planning to get right to work rewriting drug-testing programs that already have been made tougher since lawmakers began focusing on the issue eight months ago.

"We don't think we need to stiffen our penalties," NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw said Wednesday. "Let Congress act if they want to," Upshaw said. "We have put a responsible model in place. We didn't need Congress to tell us to put it in, so why would we need them to modify it?"

"It's actually our model that they have been holding up as the way to go."

That's true. During the series of House and Senate hearings on steroids in sports, Major League Baseball repeatedly was criticized, and the NFL praised. As NFL spokesman Joe Browne said: "Other sports have modeled their drug programs after ours, which has been around more than 15 years."

But the landscape changed dramatically Tuesday, when baseball owners and players agreed to a 50-game suspension without pay for a first offense, a 100-game suspension for a second offense, and a lifetime ban for a third. Baseball also added testing for amphetamines.

"We have the toughest program now in American sports," commissioner Bud Selig said at the baseball owners' meeting in Milwaukee, "and I'm proud of that."

Under the new deal, a player would miss nearly a third of a 162-game season after a first failed test. The NFL's initial four-game penalty costs a player a quarter of a 16-game season, the NHL's 20-game initial penalty is about a quarter of an 82-game season, and the NBA's 10-game initial penalty is about an eighth of an 82-game season.

"The NFL's policy was recognized as the best in professional sports when they testified in April. Baseball's now adopted more stringent penalties and has a much more complete list of banned substances," Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said.

He and Tom Davis, R-Va. -- chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, which held the March 17 hearing with Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco -- sponsored a bill with a two-year ban for a first offense and a lifetime ban for a second across pro sports. By Tuesday, though, they were supporting legislation sponsored by Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., with a half-season ban, followed by a one season ban, then lifetime ban.

While that legislation was put on hold after baseball's announcement, those four lawmakers, plus the sponsor of another House bill, Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., all made clear the threat of congressional intervention isn't disappearing.

"We'll leave it there and see what the other major league sports do," Bunning said. "We are very anxious to rid all professional sports of any ... steroids or amphetamines."

Or, in Davis' words: "We reserve the right to push the button" on the legislation.

Stearns was most cautious about praising baseball, saying he wants to see a signed deal. Owners could ratify the agreement at their meetings that began Wednesday at Milwaukee. The union's executive board will decide when it meets Dec. 5-9 in Henderson, Nev., whether all players should vote to ratify the agreement -- or if board approval is enough.

"This is a promise and not a policy," Stearns said in a telephone interview. "I've dealt with them before in a hearing and they made promises and nothing happened. I'm not convinced."

He also still thinks steroids rules should be standardized across sports.

"We're still in discussions with some of the other sports," Davis said. "Hockey, in our judgment, has a fairly weak system."

The NHL didn't test for steroids until the current season, and the league and union think they're on the right track, with players' association executive director Ted Saskin saying Wednesday: "Our policy will ensure that performance-enhancing substances never become a problem in our sport."

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly took exception to Davis' comment.

"We don't at all agree that the program we have negotiated and implemented is weak. To the contrary, we believe we have a very strong program in a sport that has no experience or history of problems with performance-enhancing drugs," Daly wrote in an e-mail to the AP.

"We're happy to continue to work and cooperate with Congress to address and hopefully satisfy whatever concerns they might have. It would be premature at best to speculate at this time whether we and the NHLPA would be prepared to make changes to our newly bargained program."

NBA spokesman Brian McIntyre said the league wouldn't comment.

[miami_fan]

Didn't Julius Peppers test positive for steriods? I know he was suspended for four games at the end of the season a couple years ago but I do not remember what it was for.