A lesson in this story

[Athlai]

Not sure if customs would like you bringing copious amounts of BZP into Australia Heathster.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Not sure if customs would like you bringing copious amounts of BZP into Australia Heathster.

I'd have to collect it from Balclutha first; and that presents enough problems in itself.

(i) Getting BZP back from Balclutha
(ii) The fact I'd rather not visit one of the ****test towns in NZ.

 

[Burgey]

Yip. Most probably anyway. Looking at 14th April through to 19th April.

Interesting choice of post to quote to ask that question. You looking to crank up?

Nah, just thinking if you do, well they have these Beagles at Customs....

Just seeing if you still wanted to catch up for a brew somewhere? Rumours that Michael Phelps will be in attendance are just that, rumours .

 

[TT Boy]

It's just steroids, what's the big deal. Aside from his stupidity at bringing them to Dubai. And not taking a proper masking agent. Punishment is way too harsh anyway. First there should be a confidential warning, followed by a couple games off, then six months, then a year, etc. I'm more annoyed by a thousand other things in cricket, to worry about steroids.

With that said, he should be banned forever for reasons of excessive stupidity. At the very least you could pull of a Warne and take a masking agent on top, so there would at least be a question mark and you can maintain your denial even if you get banned. Being caught for possession, or just straight up taking nandrolone without any masking agent is so completely stupid - I can't fathom it.

Spot the Yank. Go cheer A-Roid…

 

[Son Of Coco]

Yeah, I'm not excessively bothered about the steroid use. It's the fact that he's obviously a disruptive influence - this has been demonstrated by several things besides the steroids - and isn't being punished for it that concerns me. It just sets a bad example and means that more bad influences are going to come through.

And much as steroid use being banned is silly IMO (if it's available to all, what's the difference?), once it's banned you need to make it clear to people that they abide by the rules. My reaction to the first steroid case was a "nothing can be proven there" but since then it's become obvious he has taken banned substances knowingly and you can't just let people be seen to be getting away with rule-breaking.

 

[silentstriker]

I would root for him without change if I were a Yankee or A-Rod fan. MLB has never been in better financial state (economic crisis considering). Steroids never has, and never will, have any sort of tangible effect on endorsements, attendance, or fervor of fans in support of their team. Some journalists get holier-than-thou about it, but the fans have never cared, aside from the fun people have at booing Barry Bond types. Frankly, the steroid era has seen attendance go up quite a bit at MLB games even though everyone knows that it's full of steroid users. People don't care, and neither do I.

A-Rod doesn't need me cheering for him, and I don't as I support the Phillies, but this doesn't affect my view of him one way or another. The Phillies won the World Series this past year. If tomorrow it turns out that there was a guy in the Phillies dugout the entire season, giving Nandrolone shots to the entire lineup right before every plateappearence - you know what I'd say? Give that guy a medal - he should get a free meal at all Philly restaurants for life. We won the World Series. I don't give a crap who used steroids in the Philly lineup.

Of course, if someone used steroids and got banned for a season which cost us games, I'd be annoyed obviously. Use steroids, or don't - just win. I really don't get the big deal, and the penalties are way too much for such a minor infraction. I mean, PCB's hilarious attempts notwithstanding, people get banned for years. Warne got banned for a full year, and for what? Maybe, possibly, using a masking agent for a steroid which might possibly have helped his body heal from an injury faster than otherwise. Oh the horror!

 

[nightprowler10]

SS giving Americans a bad name...

 

[Sanz]

I would root for him without change if I were a Yankee or A-Rod fan. MLB has never been in better financial state (economic crisis considering). Steroids never has, and never will, have any sort of tangible effect on endorsements, attendance, or fervor of fans in support of their team. Some journalists get holier-than-thou about it, but the fans have never cared, aside from the fun people have at booing Barry Bond types. Frankly, the steroid era has seen attendance go up quite a bit at MLB games even though everyone knows that it's full of steroid users. People don't care, and neither do I.

A-Rod doesn't need me cheering for him, and I don't as I support the Phillies, but this doesn't affect my view of him one way or another. The Phillies won the World Series this past year. If tomorrow it turns out that there was a guy in the Phillies dugout the entire season, giving Nandrolone shots to the entire lineup right before every plateappearence - you know what I'd say? Give that guy a medal - he should get a free meal at all Philly restaurants for life. We won the World Series. I don't give a crap who used steroids in the Philly lineup.

Of course, if someone used steroids and got banned for a season which cost us games, I'd be annoyed obviously. Use steroids, or don't - just win. I really don't get the big deal, and the penalties are way too much for such a minor infraction. I mean, PCB's hilarious attempts notwithstanding, people get banned for years. Warne got banned for a full year, and for what? Maybe, possibly, using a masking agent for a steroid which might possibly have helped his body heal from an injury faster than otherwise. Oh the horror!

So it is all about Winning and some stupid organization making gazzillions of Dollars ?

 

[Sanz]

Warne got banned for a full year, and for what? Maybe, possibly, using a masking agent for a steroid which might possibly have helped his body heal from an injury faster than otherwise. Oh the horror!

You know what If some illiterate dude somewhere in Montana made that statement I would laugh it off but it is just so annoying and disturbing to hear such an argument from you.

 

[TT Boy]

Rather funny how you see no problem with illegal drug use but a couple of words on the cricket field and you get your knickers in the twist...

Guys like Alex Rodriguez had God given talents but threw that all away and tainted his whole career for what? It is not like his stats improved that dramatically, the only thing which did was the added 55lb of muscle mass.

 

[silentstriker]

SS giving Americans a bad name...

Haha, just to be clear, I am not claiming to be representative of all, or most, Americans. Just speaking my opinion, though the data on attendance, endorsements, etc is undeniable. So either people don't care, or don't care enough to stay at home. And new people keep coming despite the so-called 'cloud' over baseball.

So it is all about Winning and some stupid organization making gazzillions of Dollars ?

Well, yes, in sports its about winning. What organization are you talking about, in terms of gazzillions of dollars?

You know what If some illiterate dude somewhere in Montana made that statement I would laugh it off but it is just so annoying and disturbing to hear such an argument from you.

It's not a popular opinion, obviously.

Rather funny how you see no problem with illegal drug use but a couple of words on the cricket field and you get your knickers in the twist...

If you go back to my earlier posts, I used to be anything goes on the field. It's not really the words that bother me.

The time I started to have a problem is when it started to spill over into other things, and the constant he-said, she-said, whining became pervasive, and started to ruin my enjoyment. So now, I think for me to enjoy the game, either drop all presence and have fights, or shut up. It really has nothing to do with 'essence of sport' or 'sportsmanship' or it being 'gentleman's game', or any such nonsense.

Steroids don't alter my enjoyment of sport, so I don't really care. If it means faster bowlers bowl a little faster, or the players I like recover from injuries faster so I can watch them more, it might actually increase the entertainment.

Guys like Alex Rodriguez had God given talents but threw that all away and tainted his whole career for what? It is not like his stats improved that dramatically, the only thing which did was the added 55lb of muscle mass.

He is making about $1,000,000 a week during the season. I don't think that counts as throwing it all way. He has the richest contract in all of sports - $24-$25 million/year. In addition, though some will undoubtedly see his records as tainted now, I certainly don't and I'm not sure if he does, or frankly, cares. Maybe those steroids gave him that slight enough boost to get a contract worth a couple million more a year. That's a tradeoff I'd make every day. It's an easy decision.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Nah, just thinking if you do, well they have these Beagles at Customs....

Just seeing if you still wanted to catch up for a brew somewhere? Rumours that Michael Phelps will be in attendance are just that, rumours .

A drink would be perfectly acceptible. Whereabouts in Sydney are you anyway? I'm going to be in Bankstown. Some kind of meet up might be an idea? In fact, I'll create a thread to stop spamming this one...

 

[nightprowler10]

Several people I know have gone off baseball because of this crap including myself.

 

[Richard]

Hey, I was the one asking the question, you can't reply to it with another question!

 

[silentstriker]

Several people I know have gone off baseball because of this crap including myself.

I'm sure - but more people have come in. Attendance has gone up. TV rights are worth more. Endorsements are more numerous. In the end, the extra home runs by steroids has caused more people to watch baseball than the steroids have put off.

 

[jeevan]

Here's an idea : Asif should go play baseball and leave us old fashioned stuck-up cricket fans alone. More money in it too.

Heard somewhere that some promoter was running a reality-show contest in India to find baseball pitchers.

 

[silentstriker]

Yea, I heard that too. Apparently they found two boys who pitched the ball at around 90mph. They might be in training to play for a minor league system in Boston right now.

 

[Sanz]

I'm sure - but more people have come in. Attendance has gone up. TV rights are worth more. Endorsements are more numerous. In the end, the extra home runs by steroids has caused more people to watch baseball than the steroids have put off.

That's really ridiculous to suggest. It may be true for some bigger cities like NY, Boston, Chicago etc but in smaller markets, there is just so little attendance in the games. You can go ahead and bring in the attendance stats but that wont prove anything because I personally have been to watch games copule of times and there were handful of people in the park yet the official count would be 14K or 20K. Most people dont even go to watch ball game in my time, they go there to have a picnic.

 

[silentstriker]

That's really ridiculous to suggest. It may be true for some bigger cities like NY, Boston, Chicago etc but in smaller markets, there is just so little attendance in the games. You can go ahead and bring in the attendance stats but that wont prove anything because I personally have been to watch games copule of times and there were handful of people in the park yet the official count would be 14K or 20K. Most people dont even go to watch ball game in my time, they go there to have a picnic.

Right but that wasn't better before steroids.

 

[StumpMic]

I feel sorry for Asif being broke and all. Hopefully the settlement from his IPL team will be put to good use to get his life back in order. He really should stop trying to play cricket and move on.