Steroids

A Northern Virginia chiropractor was arrested on drug charges after a co-defendant accused him of supplying steroids to members of the Washington Capitals and Nationals. The Capitals acknowledged that some of their players had received "routine chiropractic services" from the suspect but denied that any players received steroids. Douglas O. Nagel , 50, of Reston, was arrested Tuesday morning in Virginia and charged by Florida authorities with seven counts of soliciting to deliver a controlled substance, specifically steroids.

The person who perhaps could be helped or hurt most if the National Baseball Hall of Fame offered specific instruction to its voters on whether candidates with a history of using performance-enhancing drugs should be enshrined has his own opinion as to what should happen. Leave it up to the qualifying members of the Baseball Writers Association of America to make their own decision, former Orioles great Rafael Palmeiro says. The Hall of Fame doesn't need to offer any advice beyond what it already suggests about character and integrity, he believes.

Teenagers trying to enhance either their body image or their athletic prowess often turn to steroids or hormonal supplements without realizing the potentially harmful consequences. That's why a new local public awareness campaign about steroid dangers for teens is right on target. A 2003 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that nearly 1 million high school students said they had tried steroids, triple the number who confessed to using them in 1993. The most rapid increase in use was among girls, probably due to their increased participation in sports as a result of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education.

Rafael Palmeiro strolled into the big sports memorabilia show at the Hilton Hotel in Pikesville Sunday wearing an orange sweater, jeans and a hip goatee that made him look like the bass player in a jazz band. He was nearly three hours late. His flight from Texas had been delayed. Mechanical problems, Palmeiro explained as a crowd quickly formed to have the former Orioles great sign baseballs and bats and whatever else was thrust in front of him. "First time back in Baltimore?"

Rafael Palmeiro strolled into the big sports memorabilia show at the Hilton Hotel in Pikesville Sunday wearing an orange sweater, jeans and a hip goatee that made him look like the bass player in a jazz band. He was nearly three hours late. His flight from Texas had been delayed. Mechanical problems, Palmeiro explained as a crowd quickly formed to have the former Orioles great sign baseballs and bats and whatever else was thrust in front of him. "First time back in Baltimore?"

Two Anne Arundel County police officers charged administratively with using steroids for nonmedical purposes have been suspended without pay for 25 days, police sources and officials said yesterday.Three others caught up in the same scandal have been ordered to receive counseling from their superiors, and punishments for three more have not been determined, according to Officer Terry Crowe, police spokesman.Police sources identified John Church and James Cifala as the officers who were suspended by Chief Robert P. Russell.

"Powered by Me: Playing Safe, Fair and Sober," a program for coaches, athletes and parents on the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs -- as well as energy drinks and sports drinks -- will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday in Jim Rouse Theatre at Wilde Lake High School. The "Powered by Me" program is sponsored statewide by St. Joseph's Hospital. HC Drug Free is co-sponsoring it in Howard County with the Wilde Lake High School PTSA and boosters. The National Collegiate Athletic Association-certified substance-abuse education program will address the pressures on athletes to excel, the use of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances to increase strength, power, speed and endurance, the short- and long-term physical and psychological effects of use, and how to get help.

Doctors who deal with sports medicine say there has never been a case in which steroids have caused a cancer like the brain lymphona that led to Lyle Alzado's death yesterday.Dr. Brian Hainline, director of clinical neurology service and sportsneurology at Manhattan's Hospital for Joint Diseases, said yesterday, "The bottom line is that there are no data which would support the linkage between anabolic steroids and brain cancer, specifically primary brain lymphoma."Hainline added, "We should always be open-minded that there could be a link, but there is a danger when you say that this is a cause and effect.

A Bel Air chiropractor was convicted in Harford Circuit Court last week of possessing steroids and was given a two-year suspended prison sentence.Brian L. Regan, 33, of the 1700 block of Ross Road in Forest Hill pleaded not guilty to the statement of facts in the plea arrangement that guaranteed him no prison time.Judge William O. Carr placed the defendant on two years of supervised probation, fined him $5,000, and ordered him to perform 500 hours of community service. Dr. Regan was also ordered by the judge to submit to six random urinalysis tests during the probationary period.

Following a national trend, the Maryland Racing Commission said yesterday that it is "resolved" to implement a ban on anabolic steroids beginning with the Pimlico race meet April 17. Maryland will follow the recommendations set forth in a Dec. 17 meeting by the Association of Racing Commissioners International and the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium. The RMTC is pushing for the regulation of four commonly used steroids - boldenone (Equipose), stanozolol (Winstrol), nandrolone (Durabolin)

When results of the 2011 Hall of Fame election are announced at 2 p.m. today, it's likely that a key member of the Orioles' last playoff team will be chosen for induction while another will be left out despite impressive on-field credentials. Second baseman Roberto Alomar, who was a 12-time All-Star, including in each of his three seasons in Baltimore, fell just eight votes short of induction by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on his first attempt last year. It would be highly surprising if Alomar and former big league pitcher Bert Blyleven, who fell five votes short in 2010, did not receive the 75 percent needed for enshrinement.

Rafael Palmeiro, whose Orioles and baseball career ended in 2005, months after he tested positive for a banned substance, is one of 19 new candidates on this year's Hall of Fame ballot, unveiled Monday. Despite Palmeiro's being one of just four players in the history of the sport to collect at least 3,000 hits and 500 home runs — the other three are already enshrined — his chances of making the Hall, at least initially, seem remote at best. Instead, it's his former Orioles teammate, second baseman Roberto Alomar, along with pitcher Bert Blyleven, who is considered the most likely to be inducted this summer.

News item: The New England Patriots ran out of patience with superstar receiver Randy Moss this week and traded him to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2011 third-round draft choice. My take: Obviously, there's a short-term benefit for the Ravens, since they play in New England next week, but the Patriots continue to amass early round picks in anticipation of a big assault on the 2011 draft. News item: T.J. Houshmandzadeh continues to express doubts about his role in the Ravens' offense even after he caught the winning touchdown on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

More than two years after Roger Clemens told Congress that he had never taken steroids or human growth hormone, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court to charges that he lied about the alleged doping. Clemens uttered just one phrase to U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton: "Not guilty, your honor. " He had arrived at the courthouse more than 4 hours before his 2 p.m. arraignment. Walton set a trial date for April 5. The charges stem from a 2007 report on doping in baseball that alleged Clemens had used anabolic steroids on multiple occasions in 1998, 2000 and 2001, and human growth hormone on multiple occasions in 2000.

Don't say it ain't so. That is one lesson to be learned from the parade of sports heroes who have been questioned by federal authorities about using steroids and other performance-enhancers. The latest star whose luster has dimmed considerably, former hurler Roger Clemens, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he lied before Congress. The charges stem from Mr. Clemens' 2008 testimony in which he heatedly denied that he had used performance-enhancing drugs. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine.

Few Americans look at baseball with a sharper eye than Ken Burns , the celebrated filmmaker and lifelong Red Sox fan. He has spent at least five of the last 20 years studying the sport with the same perspective he brought to the groundbreaking Civil War project that launched his career. Burns sees the good and bad in everything and has found a way to maintain his joy about the things he truly loves, most notably his family, his work and his guiltiest passion, baseball. When Roger Clemens was indicted Thursday, Burns was at the Comcast SportsNet studio in Chicago, preparing for an appearance on "Chicago Tribune Live.

Sometimes the wheels of progress turn faster than expected.Last week, scientists reported that low-dose steroids are effective for treating rheumatoid arthritis -- but other experts warned that long-term use of steroids can cause bone loss.Now, another group of researchers reports that estrogen-replacement therapy can block the bone-damaging effects of steroid treatment.British and French investigators, led by Dr. G. M. Hall of St. Thomas Hospital in London, studied 106 postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis.

A Catonsville man was sentenced to six months' home detention and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service for distributing vials and tablets of anabolic steroids over the Internet, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore. Michael Schlanger, 48, a former personal trainer for Bally's Total Fitness in Glen Burnie, was arrested last year after federal authorities said they intercepted a package of steroids at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Prosecutors said Schlanger imported the drugs from foreign sources and had them sent to rented mailboxes reserved in phony names.

On Wednesday, Alex Rodriguez became the seventh player to reach the 600-home-run level. He was the youngest to do it and is on a path that easily could give him another 163 homers, and the all-time record, before his contract ends in 2017. Yet Rodriguez's milestone home run wasn't a big event outside of New York. It was more of an interruption in stories about the start of NFL camps and the deterioration of Tiger Woods' short game. How would this have been played if Rodriguez had not wound up on the list of players who tested positive for steroids in 2003?

Slaps on wrist fail Ken Murray Baltimore Sun The AP should have taken the defensive rookie of the year award away from Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing. The organization should not have had a recount, but if I were voting, I would have left him off the ballot entirely. In the short run, Cushing loses salary, some bonus money and image. But in the long run it won't matter much. Two other defensive rookies of the year, Shawne Merriman and Julius Peppers, also failed steroids tests in the NFL, and both pass rushers are being paid very lucratively.