Anybody else sick of MLB?

[steve B]

Originally Posted by dstudeba

Baseball doesn't have rigorous testing by any stretch. Cyclists and Olympic athletes make far less money, have much stricter testing and they still dope.

And people think ballplayers don't dope?

That was one of my thoughts when Selig was claiming baseball had the most rigorous testing program. Riders in the Tour de France get urine tested nearly every stage, and the stage winners get blood tested. And there is a 0 tolerance policy -Eat a poppy seed bagel, it's a positive test for opiates and a 2 year ban unless you've got proof like a breakfast reciept.

That's not to say that cycling is clean, or really ever has been. Guys who rode in the 50's and 60's openly admit getting amphetamines duringthe race, and 70's riders have said the early hematocrit testing for blood doping was ignored. (max level was 50, the blood would be taken and an hour later the lab guy would tel the team "49.5, you're OK" - one guy thinks that was a team average)



What's fascinating is some of the non PED performances. Jim Thome comes to mind in Baseball.
And the international cycling federation released a list showing the top riders and the level to which they were suspect - yes, that's right suspect. Have the wrong doctor, ride for the wrong team, miss a bit of paperwork or train in the wrong place with the wrong guys and you get tested more often.

One name stood out - Fabian Cancellara. Listed as absolutely NOT suspect. Consider that he wins time trials, and event practiacally made for PEDs by huge margins like nearly a minute and a half over the 2nd place rider in the 09 world championship. That's a miute and a half over the second best clean rider, and much more over guys who have been caught doping. Id have to consider those wins to be some of the most dominant performances in any sport, maybe similar to a clean pitcher holding a juiced bonds to 0 for 40.

On another note, I sometimes think that the test results are the result of sloppy lab work. Floyd landis was negative one day, positive for Testoserone the next than negative again. And lost his appeal.

Steve B