McDermott fails a drugs test

Brett McDermott, the Rugby ace, has failed to clear a drug test. Traces of steroids were found in his urine after Rugby Football League testers visited him at his Dalton home on March 2.

The Barrow Raiders forward was in the middle of a six-match ban for stamping and punching at the time.

From Nwemail.co.uk:

In his first interview following the test results and his retirement – hastened by his wish to avoid tarnishing Raiders – the father-of-three said he had taken a healing agent to speed his recovery and aid his return to his day job as a coal man.

He said: “When I was banned for seven weeks, I fit in to get my elbow fixed.

“I took some orals from the gym to speed things up. With work, I wanted to get back to fitness as soon as I could.

“I didn’t ask what was in them. I knew they were anabolic, but I didn’t ask what was in them, I just wanted to get back playing and working and this sorted us out.

“There are things you can take in competition and out of competition and I thought, as long as I’m clear when I’m playing, I would be fine.

“I was never taking any performance-enhancing drugs when I was playing.

“It’s a bad way to end (my career). I hope people don’t judge me on what I have done now, but rather what I have done in the past.

“All I did it for was to get back as quick as possible for work and for rugby.

McDermott will have an appeal hearing with the RFL on May 10.

Trial of ex-Padre Giles will have no steroid talks

According to a San Diego Superior Court judge, any evidence of alleged steroid use by former Padres outfielder Brian Giles should be excluded from his ongoing palimony trial against his former fiance.

Judge Jeffrey Barton made this ruling in response to a request by attorneys of Giles before the trial.

From Signonsandiego.com:

Giles’ attorney, James Scott, said this pre-trial request was made because of their concern that Olvera “will try to throw any kind of mud against the wall they can. That’s the reason for the prohibition on the issue.”

“I’ve represented Brian since 2003,” Scott said Monday. “He was never involved in it.”

They argued that Olvera had no expert witness to testify about it, that it was irrelevant to the case and that testimony about this subject would be highly prejudicial.

Olvera is seeking more than $10 million in damages in her palimony and domestic violence suit against Giles. She cited four incidents of alleged domestic abuse -- all denied by Giles -- and said he broke an oral agreement with her to provide for her and her daughter after they broke up in 2008. His attorneys have made the case that she refused to sign a prenuptial agreement and that this is part of a pattern of her seeking money from wealthy men.

It was argued by the attorneys that the ex-fiance of Giles, Cheri Olvera, would apparently attempt to prove Giles’ use of Adderrall (an amphetamine) and anabolic steroids to prove him mentally or physically predisposed to anger or violence.

Florida man pleads not guilty

Richard Sciacchetano, a Florida man with reported ties to organized crime and who allegedly provided large quantities of marijuana to a Danbury area drug ring has pleaded not guilty to a conspiracy charge Thursday in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport.

Sciacchetano is accused of being the primary supplier of marijuana to the drug ring, according to court documents.

From Newstimes.com:

The operation was run by Bethel resident Mark Mansa, 46, and it distributed at least 1,000 pounds of marijuana in the last year alone, according to a federal prosecutor handling the case.

Sciacchetano, an older man with curly gray hair who was using a wheelchair to enter the courtroom Thursday, has been detained by federal authorities since his arrest Feb. 28.

During his brief arraignment hearing Thursday, Sciacchetano pleaded not guilty to the single charge of conspiring to possess and distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana.

Sciacchetano, according to federal court documents, was the main supplier for Mansa and Brookfield resident Glenn Wagner, 48, who allegedly purchased between 20 to 30 pounds a month of marijuana and distributed the drug to "lower-level dealers."

Wagner, who is also facing weapons charges for a sawed-off shotgun police say they discovered during a search of his North Lake Shore Drive home in late February, has also pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Mansa is facing several charges for allegedly selling anabolic steroids, including conspiracy to distribute and several counts of possession that stemmed from controlled purchases with an undercover informant last spring, according to court documents.

Ban for four Chinese swimmers

A three-man FINA panel has revealed that four Chinese swimmers were guilty of using banned substances in the World Championships in Perth.

The accused athletes have been suspended for two years from all competition.

From Independent.ie:

A THREE man FINA panel yesterday found four Chinese swimmers guilty of using banned substances in the World Championships in Perth, Australia, and suspended them for two years from all competition.

FINA said the suspensions went into force immediately. A temporary suspension period, which was in force from Jan. 14 until April 25, will be deducted from the two-year total.

The three Chinese women Luna Wang, Cai Huijue and Zhang Yi and male teammate Wang Wei tested positive for triamterene, a banned diuretic used for masking the use of anabolic steroids.

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Barry Bonds, one of the biggest sport stars of the United States of America, has been charged with lying under oath about taking steroids.

Bonds has been charged with perjury and obstructing justice.

From Telegraph.co.uk:

Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, vowed to rid the sport of illegal drugs and stressed that he was awaiting the results of an investigation by a former US senator.
The indictment against Bonds, 43, on four counts of perjury and one of obstruction of justice, was filed in San Francisco on Thursday. It follows a four-year investigation into the sale of performance-enhancing drugs to top American athletes.

The home run record holder of Major League Baseball has been accused of being "intentionally evasive, false and misleading" in his testimony.

Hingis wants to clear name

Martina Hingis, who stormed the world at a young age with her tennis skills, is now fighting a legal battle to clear her name following a positive test for cocaine.

Hingis, while announcing her retirement, said, she did "not want to have a fight with anti-doping authorities."

From Telegraph.co.uk:

Anti-doping officials are astonished by Hingis's decision to go public with the cocaine charge, which arose from a urine sample she gave at this year's Wimbledon, because she is in the middle of a legal process that will culminate in a personal disciplinary hearing by an independent panel in the near future.

Under the rules of the World Anti-Doping Code, any athlete charged with a drugs offence is guaranteed anonymity until he or she is found guilty. Were she to be cleared by the disciplinary panel, her involvement in a doping case would never be known and her reputation would remain intact.

Hingis has hired the London-based lawyer who helped former British athlete Diane Modahl overturn a four-year drugs ban.

McGwire used steroids to bulk up

The efforts of Mark McGwire to reduce the extent of his decade-long doping program seem to be as inauthentic as his home run records.

McGwire's records are under scrutiny ever since a California steroid dealer handed Mark McGwire a sophisticated array of super-potent anabolic steroid almost twenty years ago.

From NYdailynews.com:

That's not only the reaction of Jose Canseco, who lashed out at his former Bash Brother on Tuesday during an interview with ESPN 1000 radio in Chicago. It's also the reaction of an FBI informant who was involved in Operation Equine, a long-running investigation that uncovered McGwire's use of hard-core drugs.

The needles were thick, the anabolic steroids were potent, and the injections were frequent and furtive. McGwire kept them secret for more than 15 years, and now - like Alex Rodriguez before him - claims not to remember exactly what he took in those "small doses."

The informant of FBI, insisting on anonymity, said the regimen of McGwire was one-half cc of testosterone cypionate every three days; one cc of testosterone enanthate per week; the veterinary steroids Equipoise and Winstrol V, one quarter cc every three days, injected into the buttocks, one in one cheek, one in the other.

Education Program for Arlington ISD Students

A partnership has been created between the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation and the Taylor Hooton Foundation for fighting against steroid abuse on a comprehensive education program in the Arlington Independent School District.

The partnership and program details were announced at a press conference at the Hutcheson Junior High School in Arlington.

From Texas.rangers.mlb.com:

The Rangers-Hooton Foundation program will educate and inform Arlington ISD Junior and Senior High School students on the dangers of anabolic and Appearance and Performance Enhancing Drugs (APEDs). The Hooton Foundation and Texas Rangers representatives, including Rangers Foundation President and club Hall of Fame catcher Jim Sundberg will make presentations at numerous Junior and Senior High Schools in the Arlington ISD throughout the school year. The first event was held at Shackelford Junior High in January.

"The Texas Rangers are proud to join with the Taylor Hooton Foundation on this very important project," commented Rangers Managing Partner and CEO Chuck Greenberg. "The abuse of anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs is a serious issue with our youth. The Hooton Foundation is one of the nation's leading advocates of the dangers of these drugs, and we look forward to helping them continue the cause."

Greenberg also said, "We are extremely proud to be working with the Rangers in educating our children about this threat. On and off the field we couldn't have a better partner," Don Hooton, President of the Hooton Foundation said. "Anabolic steroid use continues to be a growing problem among our nation's youth. The most powerful weapon that we have to fight this battle is education, and we are so very pleased that the Texas Rangers are joining forces with us to help insure that students in the Arlington ISD are exposed to the truth about these dangerous, illegal drugs."