rician blast

With regards to other sports, I think: Football has a huge amount of PED use (guys do NOT develop those physiques without help...no matter how much tuna fish they're eating). Tennis has some individuals using stuff...not necessarily bulking agents but stuff for recovery and stamina, a la cyclers AND: Come to think of it...I wonder if Tiger Woods juices? Yeah, I f***in' said it, tell yer friends.

The more I think about it, the more I agree with you. Now there have been some allegations that the union worked very hard to turn some results into "false positives" and given some of the accusations that Orza tipped off players in 2004, I wouldn't put it past the union to have somehow manipulated results in the survey as well. Now, can you imagine if the result was 4%? And there was no testing policy implemented in MLB? It'd have meant guys were free to use as they saw fit, and fkn Craig Counsell would have hit 30 HRs!

It's hard to punch a guy in the face if he's got a visor on.

I'd love to see someone come out now and say "I'm on the list of 104 players who tested positive in 2003. Here's what I used...and I did it because a lot of other guys were doing it, felt like I needed the edge to keep up statistically and financially." That comes a lot closer to truly coming clean. IMO, it's natural human emotion to be competetive, be jealous, want to be adored, etc. Combine that with the financial incentive of using...and the fact that other guys who may or may not be your equal are using, and are thus garnering the adulation and $$$ you crave and you have the recipe for epidemic PED use. THAT IS THE TRUTH and I'd find it refreshing if someone would say this.

a valid question. I suspect that comment was an effort to illustrate how new he was to all of this, how naive he was and how he simply got caught up in the culture. Problem is he WAS the culture, or became it, he and everyone else who did it.

Bring him in...get another former juicer in the mix.

Liek I said, he's got more credibility than most guys right now...he's still a tool, but he's been on the money so far.

I too want to see the other names, it is unfair to expose only one player. Oh, by the way, his admission is sort of an idiotic denial, it takes him 45 seconds to answer the question of whether he used banned substances, and he only says he did AFTER saying: There was tremendous pressure on him (excuse 1) The culture was different (excuse 2) He was stupid and naive (excuse 3) I don't like false excuses...man the f*** up, you purple lipped pussy. Admit you did it because everyone else was. Help baseball really "come clean" or at least cleaner. BTW, still I don't blame him for doing it! If a Sox player is named, I hope he has the balls to say Yes I did it, here is what I used, I'm not going to go into the details of when and for how long, it doesn't matter, I did it because I wanted to hit more taters, or recover faster...I too wanted the edge that my opponents and teammates were getting. That's coming clean enough for me.

"Yeah, Ozzie, that s*** does make your nuts shrink like crazy, but if you check really carefully you can still find those little fellas in there somewhere....yeah, there's one now...gotcha little fella" http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blogs/trentonian/yankeessuck/uploaded_images/arod.bmp-732811.jpg

I'm talking about the "woe is me" ******** not fooling anyone...so he did it in Texas because of enormous pressure, but NOT in NY where the pressure is 100x that of Texas? Does that make sense? That's what the f*** I am talking about, man. Well first, I'm not stupid, I think that's pretty obvious. Perhaps we're getting caught up here in your definition of "pressured into it." Now I have clearly stated that I believe he did it to keep up with the other juicers, particularly since he wasn't going to let guys like Burks and Bichette and such out-slugg him..similar to what Example 1 stated about Bonds...but your earlier comments seemed to say he "gave in to pressure" as if it were out of his control...he very concsiously made the decision to use. I think we're both in agreement there.

That's too bad, Ryder has been a solid two-way player and means a lot to this team.

Yup, high style points, good content, his delivery was excellent, exept for the part where he stops and puckers his lips over and over...he tried to sell that as his remorse getting to him, but I actually think he simply forgot what he was supposed to say next. I'll have to visit the NY blogs and see if they all buy it or not. Edit: NY Post and Daily news...about 75% negative, 10% who cares and 15% believe him or commend him for "coming clean" and say now we can move forward.

ahem, Sheffield, [cough, cough] Giambi [cough], PEDitte [cough] Clemens...right, no PED culture in the Bronx. And ARod, a very intelligent man, with very savvy handlers, was banking on exactly that...he sold it, you bought it...kinda knew that would be the case. You HAVE to be kidding? So he "gave in"? Didn't want to to it, but was somehow persuaded to? He DID need to use, because he didn't want to be just great...he wanted to be the BEST and keep up with the other PED users. He even said that it was a culture, no? Doesn't that scream of keeping up with the other sluggers? Can't believe anyone buys this ********...which, by the way, he'd never have admitted had not the report been leaked and he'd still be telling you, me and Katie Couric that he never used PEDs. Jeezus krist, open your eyes.

WHat a f***ing joke of an interview. He didn't know what he was taking? He only did it because of the pressure in Texas? He stopped (conveniently, eh?) after 2003, the only time he was caught? I smell a big f***ing lie coming out of his purple lips. Nope, I ain't buying it at all. That said, I still understand why guys do it, especially the highest paid guy...but I know he's a f***ing liar.

Question: Why do the Bruins NOT drill Jones more?

OK, let me be a little more clear...I don't give a f*** if these guys poison their bodies, s*** out their livers, etc. because they get what they've brought on themselves...and in terms of baseball's purity, I've known since the 80's that guys are cheating, so this is no revelation to me, not in the slightest..I'm numb to it, baseball has been impure in my eyes for 15 yrs or so. Spare me the "every fan should care crap" cuz I love the game, not the players. As for the bulk of my post, my point was I DO understand why they do it, and to be honest if I were in the same position I might also.

Disclosure won't allow baseball to start with a clean slate. Disclosure of the other 103 will still leave out a hefty number of individuals who either flew under the radar despite being users or who just happened to cycle off before their test, or guys who simply weren't part of the random selection process (I'm assuming they didn't "survey" EVERY player). You also can't have a clean slate when even now there are players using PEDs...the players and their handlers are getting smarter, there are labs creating new designer steroids, and there is stuff out there that is not on MLB's banned substance list. Frankly I am not at all appalled at ARod's alleged usage. Put yourself in ARod's shoes: Here you are, one of the most naturally gifted players the game has seen, multi-tool player, in a league that increasingly loves the long ball (I'll focus a lot on HRs, just to make a point): In 1991, only 2 players hit 40 HRs, only 12 hit over 30. In 1992, 2 hit over 40 and only 10 reached 30. In 1993, while you are in the minors, in MLB 5 reached 40 HRs, a total of 22 hit 30+...and that list includes such "powers" as Ron Gant, Phil Plantier, Dean Palmer, Mickey Tettleton, R. Wilkins..and there are hints that some of these guys are using steroids. In 1994, you're still in the minors during this strike shortened season where no one played more than 116 games...25 players were on pace to reach 30+ Hrs, many of them being those rumored to be using PEDs. In 1995 you're almost ready to break in to the league, and here you are, KNOWING that your 10x better than many of MLB's sluggers...you see Albert f***ing Belle slug .690 with 50 HRs, the first 50 HR season in some time, Dante Bichette hits 40, Buhner hits 40, Palmeiro hits 39, 21 guys end up with 30+, christ even John Valentin hits 27, and you hear more whispers of 'roid use. So you break in in 1996, want to make a splash, you've got an ego to start with, maybe you choose to use right away...or maybe your 36 Hrs as a rookie are legit...who knows. What you DO know is that your 36 HRs puts you around 23rd in MLB...23rd! f*** that, I'm not going to be outperformed by guys that can't hold my jock, guys like Ellis Burks, Todd Hundley, Caminiti, Vinnie Castilla, Dean Palmer, Jorge Berroa. Now you're in the bigs and you KNOW what these guys are doing to reach the heights they're reaching...so you consider doing it too. In 1997, still knowing you have more talent than most, you only hit 23 Hrs, .300 Avg, 84 RBI's and you're not about to watch Nomar, or Raul Mondesi, or Chili Fkn Davis, Eric Karros, Matt Williams, Tony Clark, Burks, etc. outhit you. You're gonna get yours. 1998 you hit 42, 12th in MLB 1999 you hit 42 2000 you hit 41, but that isn't enoough...so you turn up the juice. 2001 you hit 52, and you're out-homered by Luis Gonzalez? f*** that! 2002 you hit 57 From 2003 to 2008 you go 47, 36, 59, 35, 54, 35. You've got yours and you know that there are only 3 definites in life...death, taxes and steroids work really well. While I'm speculating, it is not hard to imagine this playing out this way for ARod and for many other MLB players. Now, where exactly he started using? We can speculate on that, but I'm pretty sure it was before being caught in 2003. Steroid and PED use in baseball is epidemic and contagious. There's a lot of ego involved and the financial rewards are too huge to forego. I understand why these guys do what they do and since they're not my role models, heroes or friends I don't really give a f***.

I don't think asterisks are necessary at all. This simply puts the HOF and records in a different perspective...let the fans make up their minds what it means. I do feel sorry for guys who never used and who's accomplishments pale in comparison to those who did use, to the extent that the difference in their performances were driven by PED use.