Drugs in Sports

Roger Clemens twice declined entreaties by George Mitchell to respond to allegations that he had used steroids, USA Today reports. Mitchell said that last summer and fall, as his investigation developed, he sent the players union requests to interview players who faced accusations of drug use. Clemens never responded, Mitchell said. More »

To the list of celebs implicated in steroids investigations, add 50 Cent and Mary J. Blige. The Albany-based probe that has already fingered major pro athletes also involves entertainers, the Albany Times Union reports, indicating steroid use has grown far beyond the realm of sports. Other stars who received the illegally prescribed drugs, which are believed to have anti-aging properties, include Timbaland, Wyclef Jean, and Tyler Perry. More »

Taking its cue from the Mitchell Report's findings, Major League Baseball today announced it has established a permanent investigations unit to check allegations of drug use by players in the grand old game. An ex-NYC cop and former FBI agent will lead the department - whose goal is "protecting the integrity of our sport," said baseball commissioner Bud Selig. More »

A federal judge threw the book at Marion Jones today, sentencing the disgraced Olympian to 6 months in prison for lying about steroid use and participating in a check-fraud scam. Jones begged the judge not to separate her from her family, and prosecutors said they were okay with a zero-month sentence. Instead, the judge gave her the maximum sentence recommended in her plea deal. More »

Congress will investigate baseball legend Roger Clemens' vehement denials that he used steroids. Both Clemens and his accuser, personal trainer Brian McNamee, were scheduled to testify next week before the House committee that exposed drug abuse in baseball. But their testimony has been postponed a month for a wider and more aggressive probe by investigators, reports the New York Times . More »

Hours before baseball's Hall of Fame voting announcements, Mark McGwire can only hope that early polling is inaccurate. It seems the eighth leading home run hitter will receive nowhere near the 75% necessary to be enshrined in Cooperstown, the New York Times reports. The genial redhead's widely presumed steroid use is believed to have doomed his chances. More »

Roger Clemens played a recording of a heated, expletive-laden conversation to reporters today as proof of the hurler's innocence on steroid claims, the AP reports. In the talk, former trainer Brian McNamee—who has said he injected Clemens with steroids—did not deny Clemens' claim of innocence. Clemens' lawyers pitched this as proof that the hurler's version of events is true. More »

Pitcher Roger Clemens' claim that he took injections of B-12 vitamins—not steroids—is a page right out of the book of lame stories by Orioles player Rafael Palmeiro, who was laughed into obscurity after a similar tale, writes a skeptical Chicago Tribune columnist. Clemens will insist on "60 Minutes" tonight that he thought what his trainer says were steroids were vitamins—inviting the question: Wouldn't taking a pill have been easier?   More »

Roger Clemens, who has vehemently denied the allegations of steroid use made in the Mitchell report, has now been asked to make that pitch under oath in front of a congressional committee, the Washington Post reports. The committee also wants to hear from his former strength trainer, Brian McNamee, along with Yanks Andy Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch, and Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomoski. More »

Martina Hingis received a 2-year ban from competitive tennis today after testing positive for cocaine at last year's Wimbledon tournament, the BBC reports. The former world No. 1 had already announced her retirement, so the ban may not mean much, but she also has to return about $130,000 in prize money from her third-place Wimbledon finish and from subsequent events, the AP reports. More »

Olympic 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin won't be competing this year in Beijing—or in any other track and field meet—after receiving a four-year ban for a failed drug test in 2006. The sprinter had been arguing his case, saying, for one thing, that a prior doping charge shouldn't count as his first offense, reports the Washington Post. More »

Calling the Mitchell Report "wrong," Roger Clemens' lawyers have begun their own investigation into claims that Clemens used steroids and HGH, the New York Times reports. The Rocket will field questions in an open session with the media on January 6—the night his 60 Minutes interview is set to air. More »

Roger Clemens shot back against steroid allegations today, posting a video online in which he says,  "I did not use steroids, or human growth hormone and I've never done so." In the less than two minute video, the Rocket refutes information provided in George Mitchell's report by former trainer Brian McNamee, saying it "is simply not true," reports the Times . More »

Documents in the federal case against disgraced Olympic athlete Marion Jones, made public yesterday, reveal the extent of her use of performance-enhancing drugs. The Bay Area lab that supplied Jones turned over a ledger detailing her use of human growth hormone, steroids, EPO, and other drugs in 2000 and 2001, during the period in which she won five medals at the Sydney Olympics, reports ESPN . More »

A newly released report suggests that the only MLB personnel expected at the Jan.15th congressional hearings will be Bud Selig and Donald Fehr, ESPN reported last night. The 86 players named in Senator Mitchell's investigation are likely to be under no obligation to speak before the committee, and Rep. Tom Davis warned that to do so might risk accusations of perjury. More »

If Roger Clemens doesn’t fight to clear his name, then he’s guilty in Curt Schilling’s book, and his post-1997 stats should be cleared from the record books. “There aren’t many options as a fan other than to believe his career 192 wins and 3 Cy Youngs he won prior to 1997 were the end,” Schilling wrote on his blog. More »

Responding to accusations in the Mitchell report, Roger Clemens today denied using steroids, Newsday reports. “I want to state clearly and without qualification: I did not take steroids, human growth hormone or any other banned substances at any time in my baseball career or, in fact, my entire life," the Yankees pitcher said in a statement. "Those substances represent a dangerous and destructive shortcut that no athlete should ever take.” More »

Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, one of the bigger names cited in the Mitchell report on doping in baseball, admitted today that he used human growth hormone, the AP reports. Pettitte says he used HGH twice in 2002 to speed his recovery from an elbow injury. "I accept responsibility for those two days," he said. More »

An unnamed player who was found to have purchased anabolic steroids managed to keep his name out of George Mitchell's scathing 400-page report on drug abuse in baseball, the New York Times reports after interviewing the former senator. Contacted by Mitchell's investigative team, the player and his lawyer provided evidence that, though he'd purchased the drugs, he never used them. More »

The attorney for Roger Clemens says the Hall-of-Famer is outraged that he was named in yesterday's report on steroid use in baseball, the Houston Chronicle reports. "There has never been one shred of tangible evidence that he ever used these substances, and yet he is being slandered today," said the lawyer. More »