Wejo, that's a bit much to call LaShawn Merritt a drug cheat." Maybe you were trying to be funny, but you just come off as not understanding what it means to "cheat." Yes, Merritt was convicted of using a banned substance, but who believes that he got any athletic performance enhancement or intended to by using Extendz? (Sprinters lean with their chests, btw.)
????? wrote:
Wejo, that's a bit much to call LaShawn Merritt a drug cheat." Maybe you were trying to be funny, but you just come off as not understanding what it means to "cheat." Yes, Merritt was convicted of using a banned substance, but who believes that he got any athletic performance enhancement or intended to by using Extendz? (Sprinters lean with their chests, btw.)
I think that Leshawn believes he got an athletic performance enhancement by using Extendz. Do you really buy the story that he took Extendz for "personal reasons"?
Wariner is seen as the great white hope of sprinting and Merritt got in the way of the media story by eclipsing him so Letsrun and other media outlets and track bodies such as USATF will be taking Merritt to the woodshack for ruining their 'story' of the white guy who 'overcomes' to take his place atop the sprinting podium. I get dewey eyed just typing it. The actual facts of the case are secondary - the media loves a good story of overcoming and wants to pick who the heroes are.
It's sort of like how Bob Costas upbraided Ato Boldon for daring to suggest that Usain Bolt's performance in Beijing was the greatest Olympic performance ever. He was like hello - 'have ya ever heard of a guy named Michael Phelps.' Poor Ato had to do a quick mea culpa, afterall NBC paid a lot of money for the games and had a vested interest in shaping the story of the games. NBC had decided Phelps was the hero of Beijing from the get go and had even managed to get Olympic officials to rearrange the schedule so that Phelps could race in prime time though it was the wee hours of the morning Beijing time. They even consulted with Phelps to see if swimming that early works for him.
So my point is the media picks its heros. Wariner good guy, Merritt villain.
Wariner is seen as the great white hope of sprinting and Merritt got in the way of the media story by eclipsing him so Letsrun and other media outlets and track bodies such as USATF will be taking Merritt to the woodshack for ruining their 'story' of the white guy who 'overcomes' to take his place atop the sprinting podium. I get dewey eyed just typing it. The actual facts of the case are secondary - the media loves a good story of overcoming and wants to pick who the heroes are.
It's sort of like how Bob Costas upbraided Ato Boldon for daring to suggest that Usain Bolt's performance in Beijing was the greatest Olympic performance ever. He was like hello - 'have ya ever heard of a guy named Michael Phelps.' Poor Ato had to do a quick mea culpa, afterall NBC paid a lot of money for the games and had a vested interest in shaping the story of the games. NBC had decided Phelps was the hero of Beijing from the get go and had even managed to get Olympic officials to rearrange the schedule so that Phelps could race in prime time though it was the wee hours of the morning Beijing time. They even consulted with Phelps to see if swimming that early works for him.
So my point is the media picks its heros. Wariner good guy, Merritt villain.
spade wrote:
????? wrote:Wejo, that's a bit much to call LaShawn Merritt a drug cheat." Maybe you were trying to be funny, but you just come off as not understanding what it means to "cheat." Yes, Merritt was convicted of using a banned substance, but who believes that he got any athletic performance enhancement or intended to by using Extendz? (Sprinters lean with their chests, btw.)
I think that Leshawn believes he got an athletic performance enhancement by using Extendz. Do you really buy the story that he took Extendz for "personal reasons"?
You are a fool to the nth degree!!! Do you really think Lashawn took Extendz to enhance his performance on the track? Are you that dumb or are you just playing dumb?
That's why the media from 96 countries voted Bolt the sportsman of the year over Phelps in 2008. Yeah, it's all a big racist conspiracy.
RunwithZit wrote:
So my point is the media picks its heros. Wariner good guy, Merritt villain.
This makes so little sense that it is hard to respond to.
I can't quite figure out what the media have to do with Merritt being a drug cheat. Please elaborate.
Also, in a mixed wish of having the heart of a teacher and also wanting to put you down, it is spelled 'heroes' and 'media' is plural.
slapacracker wrote:
spade wrote:I think that Leshawn believes he got an athletic performance enhancement by using Extendz. Do you really buy the story that he took Extendz for "personal reasons"?
You are a fool to the nth degree!!! Do you really think Lashawn took Extendz to enhance his performance on the track? Are you that dumb or are you just playing dumb?
Merrit is the dumb one. Either taking Extendz to enhance his performance or mask a performance enhancing substance. Same deal. Keep making excuses for him though, I'm sure he appreciates your support.
Yes, this is pretty bad reporting.
Merrit had 3 or so positive tests this past off season since his last race.
This drug is on the banned list but is over the counter and is not proven to enhance athletic performance.
Because of the steroidal nature of the drug and the strict wording of the rules, Merrit will likely receive a two year ban from the sport.
He is a professional athlete. He should not put this in his body and will likely be punished by the rules.
Now the brojos take the liberty to, in their minds, wipe out all of his past performances.
Because if someone recently has taken something on the banned list then they must have been taking something else all along but just didn't get caught.
But that person's competitors could not have also been taking something since they have not yet been caught. So they get upgraded.
It doesn't work like that. Ramzi is still the 2005 double Gold medalist and 2007 Silver medalist. Merrit is still the reigning World and Olympic Champion.
I do believe there is a strong possibility or even probabilty that Merrit used something in the past. I can't help but feel the same way about Wariner too, though. You know, the faster guy.
Merritt not Merrit. Sorry.
5er wrote:
RunwithZit wrote:So my point is the media picks its heros. Wariner good guy, Merritt villain.
This makes so little sense that it is hard to respond to.
I can't quite figure out what the media have to do with Merritt being a drug cheat. Please elaborate.
Also, in a mixed wish of having the heart of a teacher and also wanting to put you down, it is spelled 'heroes' and 'media' is plural.
Whatever grammar cop - you may want to check your punctuation. I hope you derived some psychic benefit from your 'put down'.
spade wrote:
slapacracker wrote:You are a fool to the nth degree!!! Do you really think Lashawn took Extendz to enhance his performance on the track? Are you that dumb or are you just playing dumb?
Merrit is the dumb one. Either taking Extendz to enhance his performance or mask a performance enhancing substance. Same deal. Keep making excuses for him though, I'm sure he appreciates your support.
Now you are telling us a dick medicine can mask a performance enhancing substance? You must know more than most doctors. Its pussies like you who never succeeded in sports, who get a thrill seeing someone else who did succeed fall down. Get a life and stop looking for the worst in people.
Well, one could look at Merrit's career as at least tainted and question when did he start using PEDs.
I think this is logical for the BroJos, when someone cheats (and has the silliest of reasons; my toothpaste was spiked, I wasn't cheating, just enhancing), they call into question their entire or at least recent career. Why should we believe them when they say otherwise?
The only thing we have in T&F is the nuclear option of declaring all of an athlete's performances null and void once they test positive. It's not legally binding, just a matter of perception. It's difficult to catch even a habitual cheater like Ramzi, so when we do catch someone, and they admit to taking the substance, their name needs to be blacklisted forever. Otherwise we'll constantly be listening to their excuses of "oh, I only took it once, and not to boost my performance". Right. The fact that a professional athlete took a banned substance and thought he wouldn't get caught tells you that he thinks he won't be caught when taking other banned substances. He doesn't deserve any more benefit of the doubt than Marion Jones or Rashid Ramzi.
I am so sick and tired of people defending cheaters like Merritt. And the people who play the race card and say that people are out to get Merritt because he is black need to have their heads examined. The man regardless of his skin color knowingly broke the rules of the sport even after he had seen numerous examples of the zero tolerance policy at work. There are two possibilities. Either he is stupid, which I don't buy, or he is a cheater that goes against everything that the sport stands for and should pay the price of a zero tolerance policy that he was all to aware of. It's time that all people, including celebrities, realize that if they are going to make bad decisions they are going to be punished for it.
Guys who know the rules and know how to beat the system told LaShawn what to say - he got busted, the "Extendz" is a simply a cover story.
slapacracker wrote:
Now you are telling us a dick medicine can mask a performance enhancing substance? You must know more than most doctors. Its pussies like you who never succeeded in sports, who get a thrill seeing someone else who did succeed fall down. Get a life and stop looking for the worst in people.
There is a reason it is on the banned substances list you moron. It's not like WADA just throws any old drug onto the list just for fun, there is a reason. Merritt is an idiot, plain and simple. How as a pro athlete you can put anything into your body that you are not 100% sure is fine is idiotic. He just lost a ton of money to make his dick maybe a little big bigger. And for the record I don't think he is a cheater, just an idiot. However, what he took could mask steroids.
RunwithZit wrote:
5er wrote:This makes so little sense that it is hard to respond to.
I can't quite figure out what the media have to do with Merritt being a drug cheat. Please elaborate.
Also, in a mixed wish of having the heart of a teacher and also wanting to put you down, it is spelled 'heroes' and 'media' is plural.
Whatever grammar cop - you may want to check your punctuation. I hope you derived some psychic benefit from your 'put down'.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Yeah, I did enjoy those insults. It's so easy!
Any interest in explaining what 'the media' have to do with Merritt being a drug cheat? Care to find some negative articles about Merritt BEFORE he was outed? That show how 'the media' wanted Wariner to be the hero instead?
Fact is, Merritt was a hero gold medalist until he was caught. Then he was caught and became an outcast, as he should have been. System worked!
What exactly is the problem here? If there was, as you seem to be suggesting, some bias against Merritt that is just now coming out, maybe it would have come out in the past. But you know no one said anything negative about the guy pre-bust, don't you? So you just throw out mindless accusations.
Well, zit, how's that?
I also find dismissing Merritt as a "convicted drug cheat" a bit exagerrated.
Unless I'm missing some basic facts:
- He was convicted for DHEA (was he convicted of something else?)
- He failed 3 tests, 3 months in a row
DHEA is a weak drug, not really known for it's athletic performance enhancing benefits, especially for young athletes. It's an adrenal steroid, and not an anabolic one.
That he got caught 3 months in a row, points to a real ignorance that he put himself in a position to fail drug tests. It doesn't sound like any cover-up. I can't believe any professional athlete would knowingly put himself in that position, especially with a weak substance not necessarily known for the kind of performance enhancement he needs in the 400m. But even if he did, we must chose between genuine ignorance, or stupidity, and not a willful participation in some kind of secret performance enhancing drug program.
Of course he should have known better, and he broke some very clear rules, but calling him a "convicted drug cheat", or concluding that DHEA helped him beat Wariner is a bit too much. This simply isn't the same magnitude as the BALCO scandal, or lying to federal prosecutors, or taking some 5th generation synthesized EPO. Attempting to gloss over this distinction, with a catch-all phrase, is a step towards ignorance and mis-information in itself.
Do we have any scientists here? I am sure it was on the banned list for a reason and he got caught. Therefore he is a drug cheat. Case closed folks.