Post: #1

Quote:Inside a hotel room in Austin, Texas, a pharmacist advises a professional athlete on taking performance-enhancing drugs.

“One anabolic, and I can give you something to use right now, is this Delta 2 stuff. It’s a steroid. There’s a bunch of football players who take this,” he tells Liam Collins, a British hurdler reporting undercover.

In another conversation, a Vancouver pharmacist poses a question to the same athlete.

“Have I doped people? Oh yeah. And no one’s got caught because the system is so easy to beat. That’s the sad fact.”

Later, a Naturopath doctor explains how he would destroy medical records if investigators came looking for them.

“I can just document everything not in this chart but on my own chart. And if somebody ever comes sniffing for it, it’s very easy to just delete and say no, this is the real chart. If say, WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] comes sniffing around.”

Normally these conversations take place behind closed doors, but a new investigation by Al Jazeera is bringing them to light. Liam Collins, working on behalf of Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit, spent six months undercover investigating the murky world of performance-enhancing drugs — what athletes refer to as “the dark side.”

“For me, it was an opportunity to be the guy, to go undercover, and make a change,” said Collins. At 37, he competes as a hurdler at an international level. For the investigation he claimed that he was making one last push for the Rio Olympics and was willing to do “whatever it takes” to get there.

The investigation has exposed the crucial role of pharmacists and doctors in creating and prescribing programs of performance-enhancing drugs designed to cheat the testing system. It also raises questions about some well-known athletes in American football and baseball who the medical professionals claim to work with.

The athletes and medical professionals who responded to requests for comment denied any wrongdoing. This includes Peyton Manning, a football player for the Denver Broncos, whose wife, one pharmacist alleged, was supplied with human growth hormone.

That pharmacist, Charlie Sly, has disavowed his statements to Collins that were caught on hidden camera.

Manning in an interview Sunday on ESPN emphatically denied that he has ever used performance-enhancing drugs. He also said he is “sick” that his wife, Ashley, “is being brought into this."

Regarding his treatment in 2011 for a severe neck injury, the Denver Broncos player said, “I busted my butt to get healthy.

“Time and hard work was my best medicine,” Manning said. “It stings me [that] whoever this guy is says that I cut corners, I broke rules to get healthy.”

Manning said he used a hyperbaric chamber, received 35 days of treatment to enhance blood flow in his muscles, and had nutrient therapies. “All under coach authorization,” he said. “Anything else this guy is insinuating is complete garbage.”

In a statement, the Broncos said, “Knowing Peyton Manning and everything he stands for, the Denver Broncos support him 100 percent. These are false claims made to Al Jazeera, and we don’t believe the report.”

Sly also named baseball players Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals and Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies as athletes he supplied with human growth hormone. Both have denied the allegations.

But the investigation raises questions about whether medical professionals are helping athletes cross to the dark side, and whether doping in sport is reaching new levels.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/20...oping.html

Post: #2

At least they're keeping busy. Love the make-busy-work investigations.

Post: #3

Good shit. Those guys think they are untouchable.

Post: #4

Is anyone really surprised? The recovery rates of some of these guys are quite astonishing. An example that comes to mind is AP from his acl tear.

Post: #5

How exactly is this news? Pro athletes and olympic athletes have been on the gas since forever.

For many decades, there was no testing in pro baseball for instance. They test for some things now, but not for hgh.

Most if not almost all of your favorite players growing up were on the gas, from Roger Clemens to Sammy Sosa.

Post: #6

Honestly, the prohibition on HGH is absolutely ridiculous. A case can be made for prohibiting it for "overall wellness" but anyone who could afford it with an injury would take it if they were aware of the benefits. They pretty much prescribe it for all rich people that get a serious injury, it's just not standard because it's too expensive to be covered by insurance.

Post: #7

Manning segment @ 40:38.

On the 2016 predictions thread, I guessed that Manning would retire. Anyone else think that this, his age, and injuries will force him out?

Post: #8

"HGH you taste so good....."

Post: #9

There is a naivety by the general public when it comes to many things and performace enhancement in sports is one of those. I personally don't care what they use as long as they continue to perform at superhuman levels and allow the game to remain competitive. Those who think it's unfair or cheating are playing themselves since you can't cheat if everyone is on the same substance. Hard work, drive and genes will still play a part as I was working out with someone on gear whose physique didn't really impress me. Yes, his body changed substantially in a short time but I seen much better.

Post: #10

The great Bill Burr's take :

"Our roided up guy beat your roided up guy!"

Post: #11

(12-27-2015 07:19 PM)Moma Wrote:  There is a naivety by the general public when it comes to many things and performace enhancement in sports is one of those. I personally don't care what they use as long as they continue to perform at superhuman levels and allow the game to remain competitive. Those who think it's unfair or cheating are playing themselves since you can't cheat if everyone is on the same substance. Hard work, drive and genes will still play a part as I was working out with someone on gear whose physique didn't really impress me. Yes, his body changed substantially in a short time but I seen much better.

When the Olympic runners were all busted years later for juicing they sort of swept the whole issue under the rug from the public's eyes. A lot of medalists from many countries (including the U.S.) were stripped but it didn't make much waves in the news.

All these big time athletes have been on drugs since the cold war. The cold war necessitated performing at super human levels to win the medals race. It was only media propaganda which led people to believe the U.S. wasn't juicing. Everyone was and still is.

This stuff just filtered down into pro sports where instead of the cold war race it's now big money on the line.

It's just that the methods of detection will never fully catch up with all the designer peformance enhancing drugs being pumped out. That's why they keep blood samples for so long.

Post: #12

Delete

Post: #13

Post: #14

Who gives a fuck? It's not like these guys are stealing a paycheck form you. I want to see Adrian Peterson play more often and I want to see Barry Bonds hit the ball 700 feet.

Post: #15

(12-27-2015 10:39 PM)Mr. Brightside Wrote:  Who gives a fuck? It's not like these guys are stealing a paycheck form you. I want to see Adrian Peterson play more often and I want to see Barry Bonds hit the ball 700 feet.

Jeff Novitzksi, former Federal Agent who oversaw the case against Barry Bonds et al, says it's all about ensuring the integrity of the system & that it's for the children...

Post: #16

Envious people always disgust me.

If one guys sees another guy on the totem poll, he will spend his whole life, doing whatever possible, to knock him off.

It's why I despise most people.

Post: #17

Of course it's a level playing field at the top, but I get the reason for paying lip service to banning PEDs (and I don't think it's all about envy either). For example there would be a lot of young athletes that would turn away from their sports if they knew at the outset that they'd have to use them, and many parents would never allow their children to participate. Of course, to succeed there needs to be that mindset of doing whatever it takes to get there and I'm not against it, but open usage would be terrible for any sports image. Speaking from my own perspective, there's no way I would have been prepared to go that route as a young man.

Post: #18

(12-28-2015 10:46 AM)Kieran Wrote:  Of course it's a level playing field at the top, but I get the reason for paying lip service to banning PEDs (and I don't think it's all about envy either). For example there would be a lot of young athletes that would turn away from their sports if they knew at the outset that they'd have to use them, and many parents would never allow their children to participate. Of course, to succeed there needs to be that mindset of doing whatever it takes to get there and I'm not against it, but open usage would be terrible for any sports image. Speaking from my own perspective, there's no way I would have been prepared to go that route as a young man.

To perform at the top level in any sport you have to be pushing your body to the limit, risking severe injuries that could end your career and fuck up the rest of your life.

Yet parents and youths will quite happily sign up for that.

All PEDs do for top-level athletes is ensure that they get better results from the hard training they'd be doing anyway.

"I'd hate myself if I had that kind of attitude, if I were that weak." - Arnold

Post: #19

Goddamn, a whole lot of decent people's lives are completely ruined because of this documentary. Really messed up.

On a deeper level, perhaps Al Jazeera is doing this as a terrorist act, trying to undermine America's sports heroes and sports industry to weaken the morale of the American people.

Post: #20

I can't believe they haven't found a way to blame this on Tom Brady yet.

Post: #21

(12-27-2015 04:41 PM)lex the impaler Wrote:  Is anyone really surprised? The recovery rates of some of these guys are quite astonishing. An example that comes to mind is AP from his acl tear.

AP has been a physical freak from high school Probably in the best shape of any athlete