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Pastimes : NNBM - SI Branch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: altair19 who wrote (52221)	6/8/2006 8:15:07 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 104155

Selig must again put foot down ___________________________________________________________ By RICHARD JUSTICE The Houston Chronicle June 8, 2006, 1:48AM Last summer when there was a widespread belief that baseball wasn't serious about ending the use of performance-enhancing drugs, Bud Selig said: "If people believe there's a problem, then there's a problem." That's where we are this morning. Baseball has a problem. Here we go again. Once more, the game's integrity is on the line. Baseball must now begin testing for human growth hormone. There's no other choice. For the first time since baseball toughened its drug-testing plan, the loophole we all knew existed has been blown open with the report that veteran pitcher Jason Grimsley has admitted receiving and using human growth hormone. He reportedly has named other names as well. Don't think for a minute Grimsley is the biggest name using HGH. It's only a matter of time before someone much more significant is exposed. Blood testing necessary Even if no one else is caught, the perception will remain that players are still doping and the men who run the sport are looking the other way. If baseball does nothing, if the Major League Players Association refuses to agree to testing for HGH, the game will be announcing that it's condoning cheating, that it was never really serious about getting rid of performance-enhancing drugs. There's no other way to certify Albert Pujols and Roger Clemens and every other player is clean. Otherwise, every player who does something spectacular will be under the umbrella of suspicion. Until now, Selig has resisted. He hasn't liked the idea of blood tests and has hoped a urine test for HGH would become a reality. Union leaders have been adamant in their opposition to blood testing. Tough luck. Time's up. It's time to tackle HGH Even though there's no urine test for HGH, even though there are questions about how effective blood tests are at detecting HGH, baseball must try. Olympic officials love to admonish baseball and other professional sports for not testing for HGH. They have the higher moral ground because they do test. Never mind that the tests might not be any good. There apparently were about 500 tests for HGH given at the Winter Games. Number of positive tests: zero. All of which is an irrelevant side argument. For the first time since baseball toughened its steroids-testing program, a major league player allegedly has admitted using HGH. Now the choice is to do nothing or to take the next step in getting performance-enhancing drugs out of the sport. Such tests won't end cheating. Let's not kid ourselves about that. There's cheating in every competitive sport on earth. Always has been, always will be. Sophisticated athletes can cheat without being caught. Those doing the testing play a cat-and-mouse game, each attempting to outsmart the other. This is another irrelevant side issue. Selig must be able to stand up and say: "We're doing everything we can. We're doing everything the International Olympic Committee is doing. We're doing everything our scientists tell us can be done." I'm guessing he's preparing just such a statement. I'm guessing he also knows where it's headed. Union leaders will refuse. They'll want to make it a negotiating point in the labor agreement that expires after this season. In other words, they'll want Selig to bargain for the sport's integrity. This is where rank-and-file players have to assert their will. Veteran players who care — Curt Schilling and Steve Finley, to name two — must force the issue. Grimsley's story has legs. Congressional leaders again will threaten legislation. They won't do it, but they'll get all kinds of television time. I've been slow to come around on this issue. I didn't believe a significant number of players were using HGH. I might be proved wrong over the next few months as more names leak out, as we learn exactly what Grimsley said and who he named. This part of the story qualifies as good news. Another cheat has been exposed. Like hundreds of others, Grimsley believed his secret was safe. He'd do what he had to do to get better, and no one would ever know. He was ignoring the fact that he was breaking the law, that the feds were seriously pursuing these drug rings. Barry Bonds probably thought his secret was safe, too. So did Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi and Rafael Palmeiro. Now every other player who has used performance-enhancing drugs has to wonder. Will his mistress write a book? Will his trainer be busted? All the cheats are sleeping a little less soundly this week. chron.com