Larry Brown Sports

At this summer’s U-17 World Cup tournament in Mexico, juicing was apparently somewhat of a problem. Of the 24 teams that began the tournament, 19 of them had players who tested positive for an illegal anabolic drug called clenbuterol. Tests in Germany after the conclusion of the tournament revealed traces of the drug in 109 of 208 urine samples.

What started this doping fad among the young players?  According to this AP report via Dirty Tackle, there was no fad at all.  In fact, the players were accidentally drugged through the food they ate at the hotels in Mexico.  FIFA medical director Jiri Dvorak called the positive drug test results “highly surprising” but and issue of “public health” rather than a problem with players doping.

One team that was able to avoid the issue altogether was tournament champion Mexico.  Apparently the feeding of banned anabolic substances to livestock is a significant issue in Mexico, so the Mexican U-17 squad switched to a fish and vegetable diet before the tournament began.  Whether or not the lack of drugging gave them an advantage is unknown at this point, but I highly doubt their failure to share the information with the rest of the class was a coincidence.  Stories like these give new meaning to the concept of home field advantage.

The NFL is set to begin testing for HGH, possibly as early as Week 1 of the upcoming season. Colts receiver Anthony Gonzalez believes the league is going to find a lot once testing is underway.  According to the Indy Star, Gonzalez said he would not be surprised if HGH use was widespread across the NFL.  That should not come as earth-shattering news to anyone, but it certainly carries more merit when coming from a player than a member of the media.

“How many guys are on it, that’s hard to say,” Gonzalez said. “It could be 10, it could be a hundred or more; either way, it’s too much. But around the league, you see guys on Sunday, and things don’t add up; they don’t look right. I see guys I saw in college, now they’re in the NFL and they look totally different. I don’t know how prevalent it is at this point, but to say that it’s not being used, that’s wrong.”

The NFLPA can’t be happy about those comments.  Players try to protect themselves from random, invasive testing for a number of reasons.  Steelers safety Ryan Clark is one player who expressed concern with the testing, arguing that the players wanted to get a new CBA done so badly that testing was overlooked.  Clark and others wonder if the test will be “too invasive” and the league will use the blood to search for more than just HGH.  I can’t see that happening, and even if they did they would be in extremely hot water if they released the results.

If people are indeed using HGH, testing is necessary and will help clean up the game.  After all, it’s not like they’re testing for deer antler spray.

Chest bump to Shutdown Corner for the story.

LBS spoke with former nine-time All-Star center fielder Fred Lynn. Lynn is working with the SUBWAY Baseball DeSIGNS tour, which is a traveling display of baseballs designed by kids and autographed by celebrities. The balls, which you can see here, will be auctioned off in late August with all proceeds benefiting the Little League Urban Initiative.

We talked with Lynn about the All-Star Game, what factors have led to baseball becoming a pitcher’s game again, and whether he would have considered using steroids as a player. We also asked him if he ever wondered what his career would have been like had he signed with the Yankees out of high school instead of attending college and getting drafted by the rival Red Sox. He also told us that the All-Star Game being played for home field advantage is gimmicky. Our interview follows.

LBS: Personally, you had a lot of success playing in All-Star games. You’re facing some of the finest pitchers in baseball in these All-Star games. How were you able to do it?

Lynn: All-Star games are usually played sometimes early in July. I was always a good hitter in June and most of the time that followed up into the All-Star Game. When you play in those games, my focus was extremely high. You’re facing Hall of Fame pitchers, and you know it at the time — you want to do really well. I enjoyed playing on that stage against the best players on the planet. Fortunately for me, I did pretty well on that stage.

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Manny Pacquiao has issued a statement in response to a report alleging his steroid use. The report was given credibility when it was shared on twitter by boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley Thursday.

The report first appeared on May 3rd on a gambling website and it says a former sparring partner of Pacquiao used to inject Manny with steroids. The report alleges that Pacquiao began using steroids in the lead up to his fight with Oscar De La Hoya because he needed to overcome the size difference between the men. They say the former sparring partner issued the interview in a “top secret location” in Las Vegas. As if that Austin Powers image doesn’t give you enough reason to laugh, the fact that there’s no real source to the report should crack you up.

Anyway, nothing would have happened with this “report” if Shane Mosley hadn’t made something of it. Think about it — this “report” was published on May 3rd yet nobody had heard about it until Mosley tweeted it. Mosley wrote Thursday:

“Pacquiao ex-sparring partner came out a couple days ago stating that he would inject him w steroids – since Ricky fight look that up … These are not my words it comes from a article And his sparring partner but if it is true!!!! Than what do you say please google”

Then Mosley added that Pacquiao hit him harder than he had been hit his entire career. Floyd Mayweather Jr. caught wind of his report and he encouraged his nearly 1.2 million followers on twitter to go read it. The report seems so phony I won’t bother linking to it. But after Mosley and Floyd started to spread the report, Pacquiao’s camp decided to respond by issuing a statement:

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There are several different ways to describe Manny Ramirez during his fun, entertaining, aggravating, and tumultuous 19-year Major League Baseball career. After the way he exited the game for good on Friday, there are only two ways to characterize his legacy: Manny Ramirez was a cheater and a quitter.

Ramirez of course was informed by MLB of his second drug-related offense in spring training, and rather than sit out 100 games which is the penalty for a two-time offender, Manny decided to retire. The Tampa Bay Rays had invested in him, given him a spot in the lineup and clubhouse, and built a few marketing campaigns around him. All that had to be scrapped after Manny unceremoniously dumped the team, and now they are left with a hole in the lineup.

It doesn’t matter that Manny was struggling to start the season — with plenty of reason as we now know. The man who faked injuries several times and faked a knee injury to force his way out of Boston did what he has done throughout his career — put himself first over the team (a charge for which he later admitted). The consummate “I guy,” Manny decided to take the year off and run away from baseball after his second positive test instead of apologizing, going clean, and trying to help the Rays like the “leader” they made him out to be. Nope, Manny is walking away from the game, likely to be heard from sparingly throughout the rest of his life.

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A person claiming to be a Villanova baseball player recently posted a series of questions on a steroid.com message board asking for advice on managing his cycle. Let’s put aside the legal and ethical issues at hand for a second. How about focusing on how dumb someone can be to post incriminating information like that on the internet for public viewing? I know we’ve seen players kicked off their teams for saying things on facebook and criticizing coaches on twitter, but those comments don’t exactly have legal ramifications.

Here’s the thing: if you’re going to solicit advice regarding illegal activities, don’t be so darn conspicuous while you’re doing it. As Deadspin pointed out, the player in question titled his thread “Villanova baseball player 1st cycle.” He then went on to say he plays college baseball, gave his measurements, and said he was looking to bulk up to get drafted. He asked for advice on how to modify his current steroids cycle. No joke.

The steroid.com poster’s username is “ultimatepr27,” (as you can see above) and the dimensions listed in the post description matches up closely with the only player on the roster whose initials are P.R. Let’s just hope Paul Rambaud (or whomever it was) really wasn’t that stupid. If he really wanted everyone to know his business why didn’t he just tweet Jose Canseco for the advice? Dummy.

The picture on Shane Carwin’s Web site shows him in a muscular pose, biceps flexed and bulging. Fans may have had a sneaking suspicion about how he got so big (not to mention Brock Lesnar, Alistair Overeem, and many other fighters), but it was probably buried in the back of most people’s heads. Until now.

As LBS contributor Alan Hull points out, MMA fighter Shane Carwin and wrestler Kurt Angle along with five others were named as people having ties to a convicted steroids dealer.

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