Banned Substances and the Future of Sports at He's Fit

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Banned Substances and the Future of Sports

Posted January 16, 2008 at 03:00 PM by Christopher Jack

Section: In The News, His Health, Physical Health

When Roger Clemens recently appeared on “60 Minutes” for being accused of injecting steroids and HGH (human growth hormone) and to gain a competitive edge in his baseball career, he accomplished about as much as his predecessors such as Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire in attempting to clear his name by claiming that his athletic trainer was mistaken. Clemens’ testimony brings some important questions to the table: what is the future of competitive sport, and what banned substances will athletes turn to next?

Brian McNamee, Clemens’ former trainer, told baseball drugs investigator George Mitchell that he injected Clemens with steroids and HGH in 1998, 2000 and 2001, allegations the pitcher denies. Clemens claims McNamee had actually injected him with B12 (used to combat anemia) and lidocaine (a pain-killer), and that McNamee is lying and mistaken.

The New York Times interviewed a doctor to theorize on why Clemens would inject Lidocaine and B-12. The doctor explained that lidocaine is a common local anesthetic whose injectable form would probably require a prescription. He also said that vitamin B12, which doesn’t require a prescription, is only given to elderly people with anemia and vegans who have a serious deficiency of the vitamin, and that B12 is not and really could not be an energy enhancer. The doctor said that for someone like Roger Clemens, who certainly looks robust, the likelihood that he would be deficient in vitamin B12 is a stretch, and that B12 would have no physiological effect. It would only be a placebo. Now, wouldn’t it be strange for McNamee, a certified trainer, to mistake lidocaine for HGH (human growth hormone, a banned substance)? Why would he make that mistake?

But the overall truth is that Clemens’ remarks on 60 Minutes only exonerated his name to the extent of those who have been accused before him, such as Barry Bonds ( who took flaxseed oil), Rafael Palmeiro (who took B12), and Mark McGwire ( who took androstenedoine). Regardless of whether Clemens took banned substances of the course of his career, this type of attention is not good for the future of baseball.

In an article recently printed for the New York Times, author Alan Schwarz, who seems to have no idea as to what a protein shake is, took to unearthing some other goodies consumed by athletes. Schwarz found (unsurprisingly) that athletes – similar to college students who are attempting to gain a mental edge during finals week—are addicted to painkillers and energy drinks.

What is particularly interesting, though, is that lidocaine is a substance normally injected under the direction of a physician or nurse, not usually through the direction of an athletic trainer or strength coach – not that I’m drawing excess attention to Clemens’s guilt, or the guilt of his athletic trainer.

In light of The Mitchell Report and Clemens’s presumed injection, I’d like to stake a moment to highlight that steroids pretty much saved baseball following the ’94 strike. If it wasn’t for the soaring number of home runs, thanks in part to the McGwire and Sammy run of ’98—which we now know is due to a surge in steroid use—baseball would still be suffering from low fan attendance and loyalty. With all of the bans on substances, what is the future for baseball?

For all those baseball fans out there, take a moment to think about where America’s favorite pastime has come over the past 30 years, and then think about why. Where is the future of baseball headed? Is it a direction that we’d like to pursue?

Research sources and for more information: [NY Times]; [picture]; [Yahoo Sports]; [About.com: Baseball]