LetsRun.com Editorial Calling For Convicted Drug Cheat Steve Mullings To Be Pulled From 2005 NCAA Meet

If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying, and it ain't cheating unless you get caught.

this is insane... bottom line... this guy is a convicted drug cheat and should have no place in our sport until his ban is up (i dont think he should even have a place then). it is unfair to the other runners competing who have worked their entire lives to get to this level. there is no place in the sport for drug cheats, and no one on the board would ever want to line up in a race like this against someone who tested positive for a performance enhancing drug. miss state should be ashamed.

Feel free to repost it. Sometimes posts that reply to other posts get deleted if I remove a post above them. In fact I would like Dudley's email myself as others have emailed us privately and said to contact him.

I tried to remove a few posts from the same ipaddress but under different names that were spamming the boards. If someone wants to contribute to the discussion that is fine but people are not supposed to post under multiple names the same info in the same thread.

And there is a poll on the front page on this issue now in case you haven't seen it:

http://www.letsrun.com/

On a side note, marijuana is a banned substance but not a performance enhancer. Discuss.

I haven't tried marijuana but have no objection to it.

A lot of people think it helps them, one way or another, or they wouldn't use it.

If someone thinks eating a pop tart helps them to run better or faster, should pop tarts be banned?

Personally I don't like pop tarts, and think anyone eating them would be at a disadvantage and get sick.

has he been convicted by the ncaa????? how about noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. let him run. thats the rules set by the ncaa. he deserves to run. until he tests positive by the ncaa he should run.

For the record, I was making a Dieter Baumann-related joke with the toothpaste thing, which 99% of people reading the post got. I'm well aware that isn't how extra testosterone would be delivered to the body. Some of the specifics talked about (that his T:E ratio was NFL but not IAAF allowable) are exactly what we're asking for, especially given that MSU would like to pretend the ban doesn't exist.

The other thing is that while WADA the IAAF et al are nowhere near infallible, I tend to put more faith in their reasons for suspension than what could be construed as convoluted reasoning from a couple Letsrun posters, perhaps relying upon some yet unseen mythical evidence. The whole Ockham's Razor thing. TB seems like a pretty stand-up guy, though, so I'm interested in what he brings to the table.

(p.s. Selective Criticism... the only thing more flawed than your logic is the No Child Left Behind Act, and your posts are proof of that.)

wejo wrote:

Feel free to repost it. Sometimes posts that reply to other posts get deleted if I remove a post above them. In fact I would like Dudley's email myself as others have emailed us privately and said to contact him.

Hopefully he will repost it. It's somewhat funny that you say that they should report their side of the story, then you delete a post where the sprints coach had provided a lengthy response in an email.

I guess that you could just wait until MSU has a chance to provide some defense at this point. Hopefully trackshark will have that up soon.

remember, wejo and rojo are not the only moderators and they are actually the least likely to delete posts because they aren't on here as much as other moderators. maybe wejo did delete it but i wouldn't assume he did.

I find it mildly amusing that a frenchman (Gustave Flaubert) best known for his novel on adultery is on this board talking about right and wrong, legal and ethical, etc.....interesting choice of screen names......

A noble cause, and surely most of us agree with it in principle.

A few people are simply annoyed with the Johnson brothers for thrusting themselves in the spotlight -to that I say, thats life... just because you're a tool sitting in front of the computer instead of making stuff happen is not a reason to condemn their efforts.

The issue I see with this is from a legal standpoint. Has anyone realized that the Miss. St. coach is legally bound to NOT reveal information about Student- Athletes? Additionally, the Jamaican federation is legally bound as well. These people cannot just go around spewing shit out the mouth, because they open their broadsides to lawsuits.

Additionally, what legal grounds does Miss. St. or the NCAA have to suspend this athlete? None! If either organization attempted to suspend him without reason, again, lawsuits come flying.

This hints to the fact that, given that Rojo really wants to make an impact regarding this issue, he has approached it in a poor manner tactically. Realize: the only way this issue of drug suspensions can be solved is if the NCAA recognizes other bodys' drug tests.

To the point, I feel as that the "higher road taken" involves motion through the proper channels, fighting the beauracracies in the process, and finally, achieving a lasting triumph that will (hopefully)bring honor and good to life, limb and country, etc, etc.

Instead, a route has been taken that looks decidedly immature and childish - of which even many "uninformed opinions" on the messageboard have had the heed to note.

A for effort though, right.

Here is the first letter:

I appreciate your concern for the sport of track and field as well as the rest of the student/athletes at the NCAA track and field championships. I can tell that yourself and the rest of the world is only getting one side of the story. Steve's case is in the appeal process to higher court. As much as I am concerned for the sport of track and field I have a greater support and concern for the student/athletes that have chosen to come to this university. I can tell you with a 100% without a doubt Steve Mullings did not take anything. if there was any doubt in my mind he would not be competeing at all this outdoor season as well as next season. Hopefully time and documents (that we have) will show that the sample taken on June 26, 2004 was not Steve's sample. As matter of fact whoever sample that was tested should not have gone through this same process. If his appeal is denied or he still remains banned he will be pulled for future competitions. As far as not having him on scholarship as most say we shouldn't have him on, his scholarship will be honored due to the fact I will not pull an opportunity for a person to get an education. I guess we should give him the death penalty because without an education that will be what we are doing anyway.

As far as destroying the integrity of the sport. I do believe that integrity means being rightful and unimpaired. The only person or persons in the position to be able judge whether Steve is guilty has to be the individuals that have all in the information and has been through the entire process. It is a shame that there are several United State Citizens that are competeing at the NCAA championships that are under the conditions that Steve Mullings is but yet privacy acts and courts protect them from being hammered by individuals and media. It is a shame that the same freedoms (speech and press) given to us in the United States is being used to judge and call names to a 21 year old foreign student/athete that is not protected by the same freedom.

This is the hardest situation that I have ever been in personnally. It is very hard to have the a large portion of the world against you but I was taught to defend what I feel and know is right. As long as Steve can take everything that is being thrown at him when he knows he is innocent than surely I have the back bone to support him. Thanks for your concern and hopefully once we have been given the OK to release what documents we have then you will realize why I supported Steve.

Sincerely,

Steve Dudley

Associate Head Track and Field Coach

Mississippi State University

And his follow up, to me saying that I hope his athlete is not guilty, and can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was falsely convicted:

Thanks for your email. Its very hard to know the actual feelings of individuals through message boards and emails. If I thought for one instance that Steve would be taking a championship or actual NCAA experience away from an indivdiual I would pull him out in a instant which we may do anyway even with the documents we have on his behalf. Steve did not understand the protocol of the testing procedures. He truly thought that it was a mistake that would be corrected. We should have shown documents early and asked for support from the world to help him fight the JAAA. Instead we listened to the JAAA tell us it would work out and he would have only lost getting to compete in the Olympics in August. Hopefully someday light will be shed on the situation. It is never a good situation when a college student/athlete has to seek council with no money to his or her name. Their only choice is to take what is given to them because they can't hire the $1000.00 per hour lawyer. I hope Steve's situation will give rise to a body that can give support to indivdiuals in Steve's situation to offer not only council but a group that can look at documents and explain if there are errors. In other words Federations like the JAAA should have nothing to do with drug testing. There should be one body that tests, gather's samples, and issues penalties. This takes politics and mis-handling out of the equation.

Thanks again for the email and hopefully you will see that we aren't bottom feeders here in Mississippi.

Sincerely,

Steve Dudley

Not only did he promptly reply to me with intelegent and sincere words, I think he honestly believes that Steve is innocent. I still don't think he should be able to compete, but regardless his coach at least has character.

BroBro

1337hax0r,

I know you goto Miss st. So you are protecting your teamate. But come on if he was on another team your name would be on the petiton too.

#1trackhouse wrote:

1337hax0r,

I know you goto Miss st. So you are protecting your teamate. But come on if he was on another team your name would be on the petiton too.

Not yet.

Where was all the righteous indignation when Justin Gatlin was banned by the IAAF? No one got up a petition to keep him out of the NCAAs! You may think this is a different situation, but of course it's not - the IAAF banned him for using a drug (albeit unknowingly) that was deemed performance-enhancing. Actually it an amphetimine (SPEED), also known as the ADD medicine, adderall.

Please dismount off your high horse and let the NCAA handle it.

Nice emails, from Steve Dudley.

Thanks for posting them.

Hopefully he will repost it. It's somewhat funny that you say that they should report their side of the story, then you delete a post where the sprints coach had provided a lengthy response in an email.

the asst coach posted on here?

I feel like an idiot if it got deleted. Have him contact me at the address above and we'll put up on the site obviously his side of the story.

captaincook..? wrote:

Additionally, what legal grounds does Miss. St. or the NCAA have to suspend this athlete? None! If either organization attempted to suspend him without reason, again, lawsuits come flying.

An athlete does not have an absolute right to compete for a NCAA team. It is a privilege. If a coach wants to abide by an international drug ban and prevent an athlete from competing, he/she is free to prevent the athlete from competing.

As for Mullings side of the story, you'd hope the coaches would have not pretended the ban didnt' exist/hang up on people inquiring about it.

But Mullings has lost round 1- "a" and "B" sample positive. and round 2- Jamaican panel ruling to suspend him. Sure he has the right to appeal to the CAS. He however is continuing to compete while banned. Thus, assuming his ban is upheld (the norm) he should serve a 2 yr suspension from the end of his appeals. I also hope Miss St. would say it would nullify all of its results from when Mullings competed if the ban is upheld at the very least.

Sorry, but adderall is not the same as steroids. The two cases only have passing similarity. Let the NCAA handle it? If they weren't so corrupt in the first place, this wouldn't even be an issue.