ALBERTO RELEASES STATEMENT

OnTheFence wrote:

I find it hilarious that the NOP haters keep saying that there is some sort of PR firm spamming the LRC boards to make it look like people are supporting AlSal.

Once Big Ben struck midnight the massive number of pro-NOP posts ceased. Come again in the wee-hours of the US east-coast morning and watch the pro-NOP post resume.

This bulk-spamming will not last long. Salazar only has so much he will spend on this, and PR firms are a huge expense.

Magness is a clown (why Alberto ever gave him that job I'll never figure out) and the Gouchers are certainly emotional, not very bright, head-cases. Their accusations carry little weight have little merit. Alberto might be a cheater, but Magness and Gouchers......their words mean so little to me.

But at least we figured out Alberto's mood swings and attack on Schumacher: too much Androgel (and of course it's believable he was taking the stuff.)

Tyrone ReXXXing wrote:

But at least we figured out Alberto's mood swings and attack on Schumacher: too much Androgel (and of course it's believable he was taking the stuff.)

Salazar would be an idiot --indeed he is-- to take Androgel.

"One of the biggest risks with AndroGel and other testosterone products is an increase in cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes. The makers of AndroGel now face a growing number of lawsuits filed by men who suffered strokes, heart attacks and blood clots after using the drug."

Alberto got his heart attack after 2006. Which is the year that he was experimenting with Androgel.

If someone rubs someone else with Androgel, doesn't the person rubbing also absorb Androgel?

Just saying...

So let's assume AS does indeed have legitimate long standing hypogonadism.

Testosterone replacement is generally administered by:

1. Doctor office injections

2. Doctor office Pellet implantment

3. Oral steroids/ pills

4. Gel/ patches

Of the 4 methods, injections are generally preferred by most doctors to monitor health and prevent possible abuse. The pellet implants offer long term treatment to provide for travel and variable schedules and are minimally invasive. Oral steroids/ Pills are largely disfavored for long term use due to increased liver toxicity. (They also happen to be detectable for a long time on drug screens)

The gels/ patches are popular in some circles for convenience. They also apparently clear the body very quickly according to Al Sals own research.

I find it highly curious that AS would elect for the method of treatment that is both a) susceptible to distribution and b) minimally detectable on drug screens. AS is of course entitled to appropriate medical treatment and privacy.

However, as a coach of world class athletes, he had to know that carrying testosterone gel around with him in the company of world class athletes could expose him and his charges to a huge amount of scrutiny.

In my opinion, al sal carrying testosterone gel around to high altitude training camps and DL track meets is akin to a dea agent keeping a kilo of cocaine from the evidence locker in his personal car. It is at best a questionable professional judgment call.

Rojo deleted my comment wrote:

What a joke, I responded to this saying Rojo is a joke and an idiot and that the biggest running forum is run by two goons who can't even read yet still bash NOP anyways.

It got deleted, at least try to act neutral. Why are you guys so pathetic?

A whole bunch of pro-NOP posts just got taken down about 10 minutes ago. This post will probably also be taken down. Which side is whitewashing now?

People tacitly defend him every time they say something stupid about his critics.

Do you really think that a single person here believes that Salazar is crooked as hell because that one comment? Or because of any single comment he's made or single thing that he's done? it's the big picture, you goofy mothervucker! You and some others keep dancing this crazy jig between serious pieces of evidence against Salazar, so you can declare each piece unsubstantial before abandoning it and two-stepping over to the next. That's no way to go through life, son.

What you believe about the ethics of other people in not merely irrelevant -- it has crippled your thinking.

Uh, lemme think about that for a minute. YES. Unless he just wanted Galen to grow a bigger wang. Maybe he wanted both.

Are you really asking if Goucher and Magness would have known for sure if Salazar was personally rubbing Androgel on Rupp?

What puzzles me is that you'd ask such a stupid question despite clearly not being a stupid person.

Quit thinking you can read minds and making wild guesses about which NOPers had access to what secret rooms.

I am feeling more pro-NOP as the anti-NOP sentiment rises. Oh rojo rooojooo nooooo

Bump

HGHed wrote:

One tidbit - Galen has had 2 TUEs for prednisone since 2010.

So what? Prednisone is prescribed millions of times per year in the US. It is not a PED. Take too much and it will kill you.

GG

Not fogured out wrote:

Tyrone ReXXXing wrote:

But at least we figured out Alberto's mood swings and attack on Schumacher: too much Androgel (and of course it's believable he was taking the stuff.)

Salazar would be an idiot --indeed he is-- to take Androgel.

"One of the biggest risks with AndroGel and other testosterone products is an increase in cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes. The makers of AndroGel now face a growing number of lawsuits filed by men who suffered strokes, heart attacks and blood clots after using the drug."

http://www.drugwatch.com/testosterone/androgel/

He probably had his heart attack because of years of taking testosterone.

Please don't pretend to understand medicine by posting the first link that comes up under a Google search and is from ambulance chasing attorneys' site. Stiner got his medical degree from Wikipedia and Brojos took it hook line and sinker backed up with some conversations with doctors unfamiliar with specifics.

Not fogured out wrote:

Tyrone ReXXXing wrote:

But at least we figured out Alberto's mood swings and attack on Schumacher: too much Androgel (and of course it's believable he was taking the stuff.)

Salazar would be an idiot --indeed he is-- to take Androgel.

"One of the biggest risks with AndroGel and other testosterone products is an increase in cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes. The makers of AndroGel now face a growing number of lawsuits filed by men who suffered strokes, heart attacks and blood clots after using the drug."

http://www.drugwatch.com/testosterone/androgel/

Completely agree. For all if the accusations to be false, then 20 some people have to be ruthless, bitter, and vindictive; while Alberto has to be both utterly ignorant of the way his methods will be perceived.

Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt that his explanation for each accusation is 90% acceptable (meaning we think there is only a 10% chance it indicates doping), compounded over 20 independent reports to USADA and ProPublica, results in only a 12% chance that all the data can be calmly swept away as Magness, Goucher, etc all lying pervasively about him.

I find it far more likely that Alberto violated the spirit - if not the letter - of anti doping rules than that 20 people who all proclaimed to love their job would independently approach USADA to VOLUNTARILY report his questionable activity. Sometimes, it's just math.

oldlegs wrote:

My questions are: what there something magical about TUES prior to 2010?

Galen started running serious professional times in 2010.

Sorry if this has already been covered--but why does Salazar say nothing about Farah? I know that most of the allegations are about Rupp but much of the press has been about Farah. I would have thought Salazar would have cleared him as well.

Shifting gears, Salazar is clearly an odd duck. His rebuttal was strong factually but the tone was off. It would have been better for him and Galen if he had been the bigger man and refrained from the attacks on Magness and Adam Goucher. His "Magness is a bad coach with no people skills and hasn't produced any good athletes" and his "Adam Goucher was a washed-up hothead when I met him" themes were not necessary. There is no question that Salazar is a very difficult person. There is also no question that he concocts extreme narratives regularly (everyone is out to get Galen and me; I am the toughest runner ever; you can't win without drugs; I trained so hard that I need to be on special medication my whole life).

Reminds me of Bill Belichick or Bob Knight.

Estimate of professional services NOP/Nike shelled out for legal and PR damage control over the last 2+ weeks.

Legal Team - probably some small Portland/LA? firm that has a track record of dealing with these things. Not in-house counsel! Too risky. Corp. can further distance themselves if things go south quickly..."We did not know..."

Retainer: $50k

Attys., para & clerical time: $75k

Expenses: $15k (just think how many 3rd parties they had to get in touch with to get the story straight...probably involved travel to and from many of these entities...)

PR/Damage control: $25k, + $ for lurkers on LRC MB

Grand total to Date: ~$165,000 (someone is not getting a bonus this year...and it's a WC year!)

During the Great Recession we heard about too big to fail. As far as Nike is concerned this may qualify under those circumstances. They are probably prepared to pull out all the stops...gave them carte blanche, told them to out-source and make it go away.

If I lived in the area, I'd do the PI work on this case for free. You'd be able to glean a lot of intel just from observation of parties involved. Seen going where, when and for how long?

I'll shut up now.

xcrunner6 wrote:

I really think Alberto did a wonderful job here. I watched to doc, read the articles and have been following this really closely, and the evidence, the evidence he pulls from really is what took me by surprise. I mean we all knew he told his athlete's he had documents to refute what all of them had said and wow did he do a great job.

He really, really must not like Steve Magness. Wow did he just rip into that guy. I checked out Steve's twitter for maybe so sort of response, he must not have anything to say. To be called out on be a horrible coach, even at the college level, is harsh, but don't pick the wrong battles?

It's not necessarily a surprise that Magness didn't work out with most of the NOP runners; it is unlikely that they would be open to taking advice from a guy their age who hadn't run as fast as they had, unless he were a special kind of person. And boning one of the runners was obviously not a good idea. At least it was a woman, I suppose.

I can certainly see why Salazar laid into Magness. He gave Magness a huge opportunity, bringing him into NOP when Magness had essentially no coaching experience. Salazar probably figured that Magness ought to have kept his mouth shut about the guy that jump-started his coaching career.

As a healthcare/primary care provider, Alberto's explanation basically rings true (and I'll admit I had joined, against my better judgement, the BroJo's witch hunt). If you have an asthma or allergy flair, you get prednisone 40 mg or 60 mg for 5 - 7 days, maybe more if its a nasty one. If you're hypothyroid, an elite athlete and receiving other treatments (cortisone injections), you're going to need to adjust your dose of thyroid supplementation. Sounds like Goucher had a very attentive endocrinologist, is all. And the tabs Magness describes are pretty much what Alberto says they are, the first two tabs of a 5 day z pak. Either Alberto is an evil genius or just a very intense guy who cares a lot about his athletes (unfortunately caring people are often controlling, the 2 often one in the same).

KAV wrote:

"Both Alberto and Galen have made their position clear and refute the allegations made against them, as shown in Alberto's open letter.

"Furthermore we have conducted our own internal review and have found no evidence to support the allegations of doping."

This is from Nike. People stop being asinine...

Now that was written by Nike Legal, or maybe one of the Clintons.