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Dan
Chief Pontificator
Joined: 22 Mar 1999
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Location: Salem, OR
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 Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2003 12:55 pm Post subject: Charlie Francis' History of Drugs in Sport |
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Anabolic Athletics: A Brief History of Drugs in Sport
by Charlie Francis
http://www.t-mag.com/nation_articles/180ana.html
(forwarded to me by Conway)
Some stuff you've no doubt read before, some very interesting tidbits, and a hilarious anecdote or two. Here are some excerpts:
| Quote: | | Interestingly, 1968 was the first time an official complaint about steroids was being heard. This complaint wasn’t made by sports authorities, but by the World Health Organization. Apparently steroids were being dumped in some third world countries with a kickback volume incentive for doctors. The doctors became quite creative in finding reasons to prescribe steroids, citing everything from malnutrition to menstrual cramps. Coincidentally, the two main countries cited in the report were Kenya and Jamaica, countries that burst into prominence at the 1968 Olympics. |
| Quote: | | Two eager throwers went to a pediatrician to try to score a prescription for some of the rare GH. The doctor became incensed, "Think of the poor dwarf children who won’t get to grow because selfish athletes like you have hogged the supply!" The throwers looked down, at a loss for words, until one laughed and said, "Hell Doc, give ‘em some roids and turn ‘em on to midget wrestling!" Not amused, the doctor showed them the door. |
| Quote: | | Erythropoetin is naturally produced in the body to regulate the production of hemoglobin, allowing victorious users to proclaim their drug-free status in interviews while their less sophisticated competitors are still gasping for breath. |
Dan
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Conway
Olympic Medalist
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| Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2003 11:15 am Post subject: |
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I see you did post it ... While some may be tired of hearing about "DRUGS", it is unfortunately a part of the sport ... And this article does a very good job of chronicling its history ... Quite frankly it has caused me to look at the whole issue a bit differently ...
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Conway
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Dan
Chief Pontificator
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| Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2003 11:24 am Post subject: |
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I was tempted to add a bit of editorializing to my above post, but I decided to let the article speak for itself as much as possible. I think there's something in there for everyone to chew on, no matter what your view of the drug situation.
I was particularly interested in Charlie's view of what role the drug testers played in creating the need for cleaing up the sport. Of course, he may be somewhat biased on that subject, given how he got caught up in it (literally), but it's the sort of thing that my gut feeling says no one will be able to refute.
Dan
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Conway
Olympic Medalist
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| Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2003 12:35 pm Post subject: |
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Well it is sort of a government creating need to justify existence sort of thing . .. Which is woven throughout the fabric of govenment throughout history ... Kind of hard to prove or disprove actually ... Which came firt the chicken or the egg ???
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Conway
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Dan
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| Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2003 1:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Which came firt the chicken or the egg ??? |
I wish someone would come up with an analogy I'm not allergic to. 
Dan
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MJD
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| Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2003 5:48 am Post subject: |
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| Been kicking around for a couple of years. |
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Dan
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| Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2003 10:36 am Post subject: |
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But no less relevant today...
Dan
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Ducks Fan
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Location: Near 101101th, Or
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Dan
Chief Pontificator
Joined: 22 Mar 1999
Posts: 9334
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| Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 1:21 am Post subject: |
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Thanks, that's a unique and interesting look at the drug situation.
| Quote: | | "Vets and Mexican farmacias, that's where you get the best stuff." |
Hmm, that certainly turns the moral debate over drug use on its head. It's ok to dope the stuff we eat, but it isn't ok to dope ourselves...
| Quote: | | a specialist in the hot new field of anti-aging medicine, which involves helping people ... try to stave off the effects of growing old with a combination of nutrition and drugs, including HGH, steroids, and testosterone. |
Reminds me of the Charlie Francis statement in either Speed Trap or Training For Speed that entertainers have long been regular users of steroids for their muscle building and fat burning effects. I guess it's ok to worship movie stars for being "unethical."
| Quote: | | supplying drugs solely for the purpose of increasing my athletic prowess—is not illegal, but it would certainly be frowned on by many of his colleagues. |
Huh? How is supplying prescription-only drugs for athletic (i.e. non-medical) reasons not illegal? 
| Quote: | | The race was a minor disaster, and I limped over the finish line so late that they were timing by calendar, not stopwatch. |
Ooh, that brings back bad memories of the first race I organized at OSU...
| Quote: | | One morning I woke up and a scar on my forehead—which I'd gotten from a mountain-bike endo two years earlier—was more or less gone. |
There's my in!! 
| Quote: | | and a pump vial full of Testocream, white stuff that I rubbed on the sides of my stomach. |
I'm sorry, but that just plain sounds wrong. Couldn't they have come up with a better name?
| Quote: | | three injections a week of 1,500 IU each ... $2,000 for ten vials totaling 100,000 IU. |
Unless I totally butchered the math, that's 22 weeks for $2k, or $90 per week. That can't really be right for EPO, can it? The number I've seen thrown around in the past is $1k per week. Slight difference!
| Quote: | | "steroids" is a broad term for various synthetic substances ... and that they promote the growth of skeletal muscle |
That's interesting. I was under the impression that steroids operated on muscles and HGH on bones and tendons. Sounds like there's actually some cross over.
| Quote: | | "Don't give me this you're-getting-fat crap," he said in an exasperated tone. "You sound like some teenage girl. You've lost six pounds of fat and gained 12 of muscle. That's why you're heavier. |
That sounds very familiar. When I took Creatine for a month, I gained 10 pounds and felt the lightest I'd ever been.
| Quote: | | As for the larger issue of drugs in sports, eight months in the world of the artificially enhanced convinced me more than ever that it's critical for an organization like the World Anti-Doping Agency to succeed. |
Can't say that's the conclusion I expected him to come to. Too bad he never digs quite deep enough to realize the "independent" WADA is barely separate from the IAAF and co.
He probably should remove Lagat's EPO positive from the last page, seeing as how the B sample tested negative...
Dan
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X King
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| Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 9:46 am Post subject: |
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I know this is irrelevant, but this is the only track & field forum to talk openly about Drugs within our sport, without the moderator's of those forums deleting the drug-related posts!
Thankyou Dan
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Conway
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| Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 10:12 am Post subject: |
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You know its funny ... Most people want to PRETEND that the issue does not exist ... Which follows form when you read Francis' article ... 50 years of drugs and it took an Olympic medalist testing positive before people would even say yes that's true (referring to Ben in 8 ...
Now here we are in the year 2003 in almost the same position ... Today we have another high profile sprinter (Chambers) with a positive B sample and suspension from the sport ... And the WR holder testifying before a grand jury about his dealings with the same guy that supplied Chambers !!!
Personally I think these things need to discussed if we are ever going ot make headway in this area of the sport ... As long as we pretend everything is ok, it will continue to stink ... But that is just my opinion ...
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Dan
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| Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 12:20 pm Post subject: |
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My willingness to allow drug talk might be influenced by my own views on the matter, but my feeling is it is something that needs discussing for the health of the sport, so long as it is done in responsible fashion.
| Quote: | | Can't say that's the conclusion I expected him to come to. |
I was thinking more about that while trying in vain to get to sleep last night, and it occurred to me that really shouldn't have been a surprise at all. I mean, he did start out saying how much he hated the drug cheats back in his XC skiing days. Makes sense he'd still be harboring those feelings after this experiment.
Dan
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Micah Ward
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| Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2003 1:33 pm Post subject: |
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I think everyone knows my position on the doping topic and I agree completely with the premise that we do need to talk about it and get it out in the open and whether you are for it or against it at least it can be discussed and hopefully some day dealt with in a manner that is devoid of hypocrisy and fair to all.
I guess a running forum is apropriate for a run on sentence? 
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Conway
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| Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2003 1:41 pm Post subject: |
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No Micah ... Just what is your position ???  ... There are new people around ....
Discussion is good and necessary ... At least if one wishes to at some point gain a solution ...
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Micah Ward
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| Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2003 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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That is true...we do have newbies.... 
So for the edification of those who haven't seen our previous discussions:
I am against perfomance enhancing drugs and support efforts to catch and ban cheaters.
Ooooh.....if it were just that simple..... 
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