This started as a reply but grew into a post.
Steroids? I don’t know – Murdoc used the argument that he “lifted for 3 years” & that “it takes something else to get that enormous” –
Mark McGwire took performance enhancing substances, true. Androstenedione, a legal supplement was found in his locker. It wasn’t illegal. It helps the body recover more quickly after workouts & after injuries, both of which McGwire had a plenty, esp. in the early 90’s.
HGH? why not. It wasn’t illegal, was barely regulated, & also provided a ready hormone boost, muscle mass, & quick cellular regeneration.
Here’s my argument: this is a pro athlete who can afford the best food, trainers, & supplements. Its his job to do nothing but get ready for his sport. Millions of dollars & countless people are at his disposal. In one off season (September – February) , a guy in McGwire’s position could put on 5 pounds a month – if he went at it hard & continued with it, over a period of years, this could end up being 40-50 pounds of muscle. I used creatine for 2 months & worked out like a madman. In that time, I put on about 20 pounds & increased my bench by 40 & squat by almost 75.
How did McGwire get so “small”? Small? Did you see him? He’s not as large as he was in his last 2 years w/the Cardinals, but this is no Tiny Tim. He’s a monster, still, & what he’s lost in size is due to the fact that he’s out of the league & has moved on to other endeavors.
So, was he juicing? (translation for Georgia:) = taking steroids) It’s easy to make accusations (as evidenced by the mass-media blitz), & is really a no-win situation for McGwire (or any other athlete) – they have already been convicted in the court of public opinion by all of the self-appointed experts, & any denial is seen as a classic CYA. Think about it – we look at the situation & pass judgment. We speak derisively about people that we don’t know, when we don’t have even 1/20th of the information we’d need to make an informed opinion. Ticks me off.
I’m a little sensitive to “judgers” right now.
I had the pleasure of playing basketball against a team of prisoners in my senior year of high school. They were all drooling when they saw me. It made fighting for postition down low a real treat, especially when I’m playing center and my counterpart is 6’7” and before we start playing tells me a story about how he doesn’t wear glasses anymore because someone will smash them into his eyes and make him go blind. Dude, I already know you’re serving a dime; that’s enough for me in the intimidation department. Moving on.
They were the most ripped guys I’ve every seen in my life, and I’ve been on the field at an NFL game and seen the likes of Eddie George, Terrell Owens and other guys who weigh in at 250 but only have 5% bodyfat up close.
Nobody ever thinks that prisoners are on steroids, and that is because just like Bonds,McGwire, and several other professional athletes, all they have to do is lift and exercise. Someone pays them for it, in fact. It makes sense to me.
…the court of public opinion is almost always shallow and off the mark. I said my piece in the last post. good thinking sco…reminds me of the old song from the 60s:
Walk a mile in my cleats.
two words: water retention.
He’s just saying he’d test positive
if i had nothing to do all day but work out & someone else took care of the nutritional part i would look a lot different too. its always easier to pass judgement on others than to take the time to find out the truth. the media is expert at this.
enough silliness. mcgwire was juicing. if he wasn’t he would say so. if he wasn’t he wouldn’t have grown 3 hat sizes at 34 – that’s not natural. he was named by canseco, who may be a patsy but has been on the mark so far.
anybody who wasn’t an eternal optimist (read: my dad, apparently scoey) knew he was juicing 6 years ago. all he had to do was lift and hit HR’s from his entrance to the league, yet he got enormous in his 30’s and he hit more HR’s after 35 than he did in his 20’s (when he was scrawny for season after season).
baseball is a joke of a sport with less integrity than the nba, and that’s saying something. it is no longer the national pasttime as it has been destroyed by selfish cheaters unwilling to just admit they were wrong and move on.
hello sr. digapigmy-
Missed you at breakfast today – man, where’d all the hate come from? And where’d you see that McGwire’s hat size changed? seriously.
Scrawny? 6’5″ & 230#? How about for a point of real comparison: take a look at pictures of McGwire from 1985-2003 (baseball cards would work.) He didn’t just “get enormous in his 30’s”. And, he was a consistent HR hitter from Little League until 2003 (check out his career stats at http://www.mcgwire.com)
Still, I think we’re wasting our time debating, as you “know” he was juicing, & that baseball is a “joke of a sport…destroyed by selfish cheaters” – That’s your opinion. Here’s mine:
Unless there is proof (positive drug tests?) the players are not guilty of breaking the rules of their sport, or the law for that matter. To insist that we “know” anything is foolish – we don’t know, we speculate.
Whether or not the sport has been destroyed: as a mediocre student of sports history, esp. baseball, I acknowledge the sport has had its moments – reference the 1919 Black Sox scandal, 1942-1945’s replacement players farce, Kenesaw Mountain Landis’ iron fisted dictatorship crowned by a barely concealed conspiracy to keep blacks out of baseball, the McCarthy-era commie accusations, the dead-ball era, the juiced-ball era (more tightly wound baseballto produce livelier response,) the betting scandals of Pete Rose, & the worst – the strike shortened season of 1981 & the year of no World Series in 1994. Baseball weathered those crisis’ & will weather this one as well.
Re: having less integrity than the NBA. Please. We’re talking about practice, AI.
Re: no longer being the national pastime – with the diversity of the country (read: soccer fan) & entertainment/recreational opportunities available today, can there be one (1) sport that serves in this role as THE national pastime? I don’t think so, & I don’t think it has to do with ‘juicing’-
thanks for writing b –
football is THE national pasttime.
but i digress. McGwire’s numbers are definitely less fishy than Bonds.
talkin’ ’bout practice? a guy from some team out of the playoffs (don’t remember the team or the name, but you listen to sports radio as much as i do) said he’s not just counting the days until the season ends, he’s counting the hours. at least ai shows up to the games
oh sorry, i was sleeping this morning. the alarm went off and i just couldn’t do it.
B…I saw your face last night…I knew you wouldn’t make it out of bed. It’s OK tho…I slept in too.
Actually, television is THE national sport.