WHY IS PAULA RUNNING SO FAST?

i couldn't agree with you more. running should be an honest sport to test the limits of the human body.

"OATMEAL, TEA, AND SCONES CHEATS OUT!"

Especially the ones who put the brown-sugar and butter on their oatmeal! THAT IS JUST EVIL!

I agree with you 100% that drugs have to go, but it will never happen at least in our lifetimes. These Bureaucrats could easily get a hard line stance on the issue, but they are too busy pushing papers around and staying in fancy hotels etc.

Why not put a one strike and you are out for good rule in there, with someone spiked my toothpaste as not a viable defense. Also, they should strip away all the important medals the person won throughout his/her career and give them to the next clean person in the race. They could also press charges for stealing prize money from clean runners and go for a grand theft felony charge.

Of course this would never happen because it is not in the bureaucrats best interest to actually clean up the sport. The best that you can hope for is that they promote the appearance that the sport is relatively clean which is what they are doing right now. So, for the non runner, the Olympics etc. appears to be clean and that is all that matters.

I once visited the park where Flo Jo has her statue erected with non running friends. I made a comment about how it was funny that a steroid junky had her statue errected. They immediately chastised me for the comment as if I was a ahole for talking bad about an American hero. To the non running public she is a hero and that is all that really matters to the bureaucracy.

It would be great to have a clean sport, but it would also be great if we had peace on earth. Both are not going to happen anytime soon.

Please Jason change the record it is getting a bit borring.....

Brown Sugar and Raisins are essential to a good bowl of oatmeal...

I had heard that at one race she was not tested and they werent planning on testing her and she demanded to be tested and even offered to pay the cost of the additional test herself. Anyone heard this?

JasonInKunming wrote:

Is Paula willing to go this far? I HOPE SO.

No!!! I hope Paula is NOT willing to do this for any reason. I used to grow marijuana and only recently learn that such is a felony. The less laws a country can get by on--the better. The less the police and the government are in our lives the better. Plus, I reiterate my position above regarding Bill of Rights--even though it is a little messed up.

At least quit with the all-caps thing, it's really moronic.

Several years ago, I was at a USATF coachng clinic, where the staff was comprised of several experienced and knowledgable long-time coaches. One evening over dinner, the topic of drugs in the sport came up in conversation. The general feeling at that time was that it was basically impossible to be world class, perhaps even to be high-end national class, without "doing" something. Certainly, there are non-illegal supplements which produce some results - creatine for example. However, I personally find it VERY difficult to believe that the majority of Top end athletes in any sport, unless there is constant and random unannounced drug testing, are any where near "clean." And the reasons for this are the same as they are for many of our world's other ills - ego and money. The days of just about any sport being just that - sport - are pretty much gone. At the top end of just about every sport, there is prestiege to be had, at least in a certain circle, and good money to be made, at least in a relative sense. Why would "sport," which is really just a subset, or micro-cosim of society be moving in any direction that was much different than the one toward which society as a whole was movin? It may not be right, good or pretty, but reality is reality.

cat man must be sniffing to much cat nip.

um.. NO. you smoke it

how did he do the all red thing?

Where do you draw the line though... EPO, HGH, all illegal... but what about all the stuff that can be bought leagally ("fitness supplements") to give a chemical advantage??? How is VAAM any different than a milder Creatine? And how is creatine justifiably legal?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/in_depth/2000/drugs_in_sport/859465.stm

Fitness supplements

There is also much controversy surrounding a new generation of fitness supplements that are widely used by athletes as a legal alternative to anabolic steroids.

These include creatine, a substance found naturally in the body and in foods such as meat and fish.

Creatine is sold legally over the counter in synthetic form as an amino acid powder. It helps build muscle and speeds recovery from training.

A recent national newspaper poll of top athletes found that more than half had admitted taking the substance.

However, some experts believe creatine could cause long-term damage to health. It has been linked to kidney damage and shorter term problems such as muscle cramping and dehydration.

Other amino acid based supplements that can be legally used by athletes include:

Glutamine - claimed to reduce fatigue, build muscle and boost the immune system;

Trypthophan or 5HT - claimed to boost production of the "fight or flight" hormone adrenalin;

Protein powders - claimed to improve recovery after training and increase strength and muscle growth.

i'm thirsty wrote:

how did he do the all red thing?

Because he's not a feline at all, he's actually just a huge HTML nerd.

Is ANY sport?

I know those Pro Golfers are doping.

Anyways I agree that something must me done. I don't know if searching rooms is the answer. I think the people at the top need to impliment better drug testing. I think they could have drug testing that keeps up with the times and BLOOD testing, not urine would help. Get rid of the 400 protests and appeals that are available. One appeal and done. It isn't really that tough.

I'd like the Chinese police to search his room.

How about innocent until proven guilty? You know, one of the whole cornerstones of our society. And people storming into athletes' homes to search for drugs - Do you really want to live in that type of society? I sure as hell don't. It might be easy to say you wouldn't mind it if you know you will never be national or worldclass, or if you are speaking theoretically knowing that it will never happen. Jason, with as much as you profess the freedom of speech, I have a hard time envisioning you welcoming an unannounced USATF SS inspection to search through all your things.

Someone also mentioned Paula's freezing of blood samples for later testing and whether it was a bluff. A bluff? She has already given the samples. A bluff would be if she took the Sammy Sosa route and said that she would give blood samples to be frozen, but having no intent on giving the samples. In a bluff, she would be relying on her not being called on to give them, not freely giving them and hoping no system is ever developed that could locate the drugs. That isn't a bluff, that is taking a giant chance if you are guilty.

Clearly, a number of you don't trust the athletes at the top and that is fine. However, with that distrust, how can you be comfortable to trust people not to sabotage another athlete's career. How many of Paula's competitors and critics would love to see her come out with a positive drug test? I'm guessing a great deal. Paid-off officials or sneaky athletes planting drugs in someone's home, or putting EPO in someone's food so that a positive test will show up. For those of you paranoid enough to believe everyone is one drugs, surely you can envision the amount of corruption that could arise in the systems you propose. You are assuming a 100% accurate and 100% corruption-free system. And this simply isn't and never will be reality.

Is it unfortunate that there are drug cheats in the sport? Of course. I wish it wasn't the case and I do find myself often wondering who is clean and who isn't. But there is no way to eliminate them all. I would rather have some drug cheats that manage to get around the system than have some innocent athletes lose their entire careers and reputation.

"innocent until proven guilty" reminds me of "if i can't see you, you can't see me"