| Published When We Feel Like It |
Vol.
16, No.1
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Dιjΰ vu all over again . . . Does this quote sound familiar? "We meet this morning to hear the testimony on the proper and improper use of drugs in athletic competition and the related issue of the adequacy of current efforts to curb the improper use of drugs by athletes. We are particularly interested in these concerns as they pertain to college, high school and amateur athletes, although, to be totally consistent, I think it is proper to pursue the use or abuse, as it may exist or not exist, in the professional ranks as well." So said Senator Birch Bayh, of Indiana, at the opening of Senate hearings held by the Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency. The date of the hearings was . . . June 18, 1973. Add hearings . . . Among the athletes who testified was sprinter Eddie Hart, who told the committee, "The reason for athletes using the drugs was simply because their competitors were using the drug, and in order to obtain an equal advantage, they would take the drug themselves." Sound familiar? Last hearings . . . Speaking of familiar sounding, this exchange was between Senator Bayh and Dr. Carl S. Blyth of the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports. Dr. Blyth - I think the State and local medical societies have to take a firmer view against the unauthorized use of drugs. I think that they have to have some guts about it and stop it where they find it. I will give you one example Senator Bayh - Why should that take guts? Dr. Blyth - Courage then. Senator Bayh - Why should that take anything more than a normal amount of determination to stop this kind of thing? Dr. Blyth - Too frequently we turn our back to it I guess. Senator Bayh - Because by gosh, if there is any area in which there is a groundswell of public opinion, it is with regard to stopping drug traffic, drug abuse, drug misuse. If there is anyplace we ought to be able to command enough energy to get the job done, it ought to be the area of athletics, which is supposed to and I think basically does epitomizes the finest in competition and good health and living practices. Do we have a problem there of some people who are timid in enforcing the prohibition of drug abuse in this area? Dr. Blyth - Well, the implication in these kinds of hearings is that there is a problem. I am not convinced that the problem is as serious as we have been led to believe in the newspapers. Fool me once . . . Some twenty years ago, author George Plimpton fooled many sports experts with his brilliant Sports Illustrated profile of Sidd Finch, a make-believe New York Mets phenom, published on April Fools' Day. Not everyone learned from that lesson. This year, competitive cycling magazine VeloNews published an April Fools' story stating that International Cycling Union President Hein Verbruggen was resigning and that World Anti-Doping Agency head Dick Pound was going to replace him. Four days later, the Boston Globe's Olympic beat-writer John Powers bit on the story and reported that Pound was "likely to be named president [of the UCI] as of the end of June." The following day, the Globe, citing a "reporting error," published a correction. Add fool me . . . The VeloNews byline credited the article to one "Philippe Farceur." Sweatin' it out . . . We're not sure which of these two sporting competitions excited us more: the 6th annual World Sauna Championships, held in, naturally, Heinola, Finland, or the International Rock Paper Scissors Championships, held in Toronto. Each of these competitions has its unique rules and traditions. Indeed, despite the laid-back reputation of sauna users, the rules are strict. According to the website, "Before going to the sauna the competitors will have to wash up in the facilities provided by the organizers. The competitor must wear a normal swimsuit. In men's swimsuit the length of the trouser leg must be under 200 millimeters (measured from the middle seam of the trousers). The width of the women's swimsuits sleeves must be under 50 millimeters and there can be no collars in the swimsuits. . . . The competitors will have to sit in the sauna with buttocks and thighs on the seat. Posture must be erect; forearms must stay on the knees and arms have to be in an upright position. Touching skin with hand is forbidden. Disturbing the other competitors in the sauna in any way is strictly forbidden." And you thought the PGA were sticklers. Add sweatin' . . . The RPS, meanwhile, is steeped in tradition. The organization's website, reports that the World RPS Society traces its roots to the Paper Scissors Stone Club, founded in London in 1842. An article in Think Three Magazine , "the leading periodical resource on RPS strategy, culture and style since it began publishing in the early 1920's," states that the organization has been unable to discover RPS' origins. That has led to problems. The issue of "which culture actually 'invented' the game has been considered by many to be the underlying cause for several of today's most heated national rivalries on the World RPS Pro circuit." We're pretty sure this isn't an April Fools article.
Department of Bad Timing . . . For its 2005 Major League Soccer preview issue, Soccer America magazine ran a split cover featuring two prominent forwards: D.C. United's Freddy Adu and the Los Angeles Galaxy's Carlos Ruiz. Unfortunately, the Galaxy traded Ruiz to FC Dallas before the season started.
Mowing them down . . . Lawn mower and engine manufacturer Briggs & Stratton is sponsoring a program called "Diamonds in the Rough." For the second consecutive year, the company is soliciting 150-word essays from children ages 7 to 12 about their local ball fields. The company's website says winners are eligible for "$5,000 worth of refurbishment to their local ball field" in the following cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Miami, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington D.C. Add mowing . . . One grand prize winner will be "awarded $20,000 to refurbish their baseball field, as well as a clinic from Major League Baseball Hall of Famers, Lou Brock and Carlton Fisk." That would be the Lou Brock who played much of his career as a St. Louis Cardinal on an artificial surface. The long wait is over . . .The NFL recently released "Autumn Thunder: 40 Years of NFL Films Music," a 10-CD package that features a whopping 182 tunes. With such song titles as "Forearm Shiver," "Gut Pride," and "Headcracker Suite," it's obvious that "Autumn Thunder" isn't for the faint of heart. As Tom Hedden, the NFL Films' director of music, put it, "Whether it's one of Sam Spence's classic folk-song inspired tracks from the late 1960s or one of Dave Robidoux's massive heart-pounders from the late '90s, this music is designed to grab football fans by the subconscious and drag them right into the middle of the play!" And, action . . . In January, acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns returned to PBS with "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson," a two-part documentary about the former heavyweight champ. The film confirmed the obvious: the "jockumentary" is in vogue. Last year, HBO released "Hitler's Pawn," about Jewish high-jumper Gretel Bergmann's unsuccessful struggle to make Germany's Olympic team in 1936. This year, two acclaimed sports docs have been released "Watermarks," directed by Yaron Zilberman, about Jewish women athletes in Austria during the 1930s, and "Dust to Glory," directed by Dana Brown, about the Baja 1000 off-road race with a third, "A League of Ordinary Gentlemen," about pro bowlers, due out in May. Add action . . . Two sports-themed docs were among the entries at the recent 2005 Sundance Film Festival in Utah. "Murderball," directed by Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro, is about "quadriplegics who play full-contact rugby in 'Mad Max'-style wheelchairs overcoming unimaginable obstacles to compete in the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece." The film won Sundance's American Documentary Audience Award. Also premiering at Sundance was "Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story," directed by Dan Klores and Ron Berger, a "story of violence, love, sex, politics and media centered around the life of Griffith, a six-time world welterweight champion." (The film will air on the USA Network in April.) Finally, according to Variety (September 16), SpikeTV network is now producing sports docs, including "Hardwood Dreams 2," which revisits players from Los Angeles' Morningside High the focus of a 1994 documentary entitled "Hardwood Dreams," ten years later, and "Viva Baseball," also directed by Klores, about Latino ballplayers. Last action . . . Of course, documentaries rarely do well at the box-office. The top-grossing sports movie of 2004? "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," with $114 million. Ice freeze . . . What's happening in Michigan? The Tigers have languished below .500 for more than a decade, the Lions have not made the playoffs since 1999 and the NBA champion Detroit Pistons played host to the "Malice at the Palace" brawl with the Indiana Pacers. Now, the fortunes of Michigan's college hockey teams, which have always ranked among the top in the nation, appear to be in decline. For the second consecutive season, no university from Michigan qualified for the men's NCAA Frozen Four. Previously, at least one Michigan team made it to the Frozen Four from 1991-1999, then from 2001-2003. The last time Michigan teams had a two-year absence from the Frozen Four was in 1982 and 1983. STEVE KETTMANN
Indeed, Canseco's allegations about performance-enhancing drugs so roiled the sport that Congress called special hearings to investigate Major League Baseball's drug policy. What few people know is that journalist Steve Kettmann is the ghostwriter of "Juiced." Kettmann was a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1990-1998, covering the Oakland A's as the paper's beat-writer from 1994-1998. His tenure coincided with Canseco for one year, 1997, during Canseco's second stint with the A's. Since leaving the newspaper, Kettmann had written extensively about steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs for such publications as the New York Times, the New Republic, and Wired.com. For Juiced, Kettmann interviewed Canseco over a period of several months, often meeting with the slugger at his San Fernando Valley home. It's been a busy time for the prolific Kettmann. Last year, he wrote "One Day at Fenway: A Day in the Life of Baseball in America" (Atria Books see www.kettmann.com). That book has already made the big screen: the cover of "One Day at Fenway" can be glimpsed briefly in the new film "Fever Pitch." SportsLetter spoke with Kettmann, by phone, from his home in Brooklyn. David Davis SportsLetter: How well did you know Jose Canseco when he played with the A's in 1997? Steve Kettmann: A good friend of mine on the A's beat was a guy named Pedro Gomez, who at the time was covering the team for the Sacramento Bee and is now an on-air reporter for ESPN. Pedro had gone to high school with Jose in Miami, at Coral Park High, and so they knew each other. There were times in 1997 when Pedro and I would run into Jose on the road, and we would hang out and talk a bit. It was a little different than the whole routine of being a reporter and asking a ballplayer a question. SL: What was your opinion of Canseco then? SK: As a reporter, I remember being struck that Jose was a more interesting quote than most anyone I talked to. A much, much more interesting quote than Mark McGwire, for example, because he understood what a reporter wanted. timing was interesting because, previously with the A's, Jose had been the best player in baseball. By 1997, he wasn't anywhere near that. This was nothing like his 40-40 year [when Canseco had 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases]. He still cared as much about winning and losing, but he was aware that he was getting along in his career. SL: When you were covering baseball then, did you suspect that many of the players were taking performance-enhancing drugs? SK: When I started in 1994, I don't think steroids were on my radar at all. What I remember is one spring training, when Jason Giambi and Mark McGwire were both on the team and were very good friends, Giambi came to camp way thicker than the year before. It was like he had another layer on him. And, in front of us all at Papago Park [the A's facility in Arizona], McGwire joked about Giambi's "spare tire." At the time, every sportswriter and even those of us who've reported on this issue a lot went through the experience of having trouble putting it all altogether. There is just a part of you that always had trouble believing it. One thing about baseball is that, even people who've never covered baseball think they're experts. I think it relates to a lot of us growing up with the sport. I played Little League for many years. I went to A's and Giants games with my brothers. You feel like you know the game. And the game that I knew had nothing to do with steroids. So, it always seemed like a foreign element like, what does not belong in this picture. You mentally want to edit it out of the picture, even if you know it's there. SL: Why do you think the media ignored this story at the time?SK: The mentality [on a newspaper beat] is that your bosses don't want you to burn bridges. They want you, as a beat writer, to be the one that's around, to have access, to get answers to questions. They don't want you pushing the envelope on reporting. In no way is that an excuse. When I look back, I'm critical of myself that I should have raised these questions more. I should have asked more and written more about it and others should have as well. We should have definitely raised the question more. So, any criticism I make of anyone else has to start with criticism with myself. For example, in 1997, I asked Jason Giambi directly about having used "andro" and what it was like taking it. He talked to me a little bit about it. He said it wasn't any big deal he'd used it some and then he stopped. But I should have asked Giambi if he had used steroids. I should have said, "Have you experimented with anabolic steroids, Jason." He would have been mad. He might have refused to talk to me after that. He might have told other players not to talk to me. But I feel I should have done that. I also remember during my first two weeks with the A's, I was talking with Mark McGwire. He looked me up and down and then urged me to try the MET-RX stuff he had in his locker. He meant it in a friendly way. The point is, if I had expressed more interest and looked into it and talked to him about it, I could have established a dialogue with him about supplements. I think there's a mind-set in sports-writing where people think if they've studied up on a player's on-base percentage and know who was the rookie of year in 1972, that they know a lot. Most good baseball reporters including the ones whom I consider the best two, Roger Angell of the New Yorker and Buster Olney, now with ESPN The Magazine talk about how much they don't know. If you remember how much you don't know and ask questions, then you would probably have asked questions about steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. SL: In writing the book, you spent a lot of time with Jose: did you ever feel that he was doing it for the money or that he had an axe to grind? SK: I have not seen any detailed information on Canseco's finances. But I never got a sense of him being in financial need. He lives in this mansion in Encino, where he just did all this work on the house, with a big waterfall and pool. He's living a very comfortable life and driving very nice cars. I also know, from other sources, that he's made some good investments over the years. Now, did he have an axe to grind? Canseco feels that he was made an example of by baseball to send a message to other players about steroids. He felt that he had been treated unfairly by people in baseball and that they had some things to answer for. A lot of people dispute his allegations as paranoid and delusional. But based on how defensive baseball has been on the steroid issue in the last few months, I don't think Canseco's position should be dismissed out of hand. SL: Canseco has contradicted himself on a couple of points since the publication of the book - one point being his retreat from stating that steroids, if taken under a doctor's care, are okay to take. Has that hurt his credibility? SK: My impression on that is that Canseco's position has evolved. I haven't spoken to him in a while he's doing a reality TV show for VH-1. He and I had many conversations on this theme about how, in the future, as we learn more about steroids, a large number of people who are in their 40s, 50s, and 60s will be using them in ways to be more youthful or have more physica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
