Porforis
13 years ago
This is a long article, here is the complete article  but a preview is below.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/david_epstein/09/02/nfl.hgh/index.html?xid=cnnbin&hpt=hp_bn10 

The NFL Player's Association has confounded the NFL and science experts in recent weeks by debating the validity of an HGH test that has been widely stamped for a approval by independent scientists, leaving some of those involved in the meetings to suggest that union politics are obstructing the process of drug testing. On Friday, owners of all 32 NFL teams received notice from the league that the HGH test would not be in place for the start of the regular season, though that was the previously agreed upon goal of the NFL and the NFLPA.

In a letter to NFLPA lawyers obtained by SI.com, NFL lead counsel Jeffrey Pash wrote that "we have now almost certainly lost the opportunity to implement this testing by the start of the regular season, and would therefore request that you let us know at the earliest possible time whether there are any remaining issues."

Gerry Baumann, professor emeritus in medicine-endocrinology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and perhaps the world's foremost authority on human growth hormone, thought that any lingering scientific issues were answered in the NFL and NFLPA's meeting last month at World Anti-Doping Agency headquarters in Montreal, which he attended as an independent expert. "To my knowledge, in the scientific community there's very little disagreement about the [HGH] test," Baumann says. "From my perspective, it appears to be quite reliable and quite conservative in terms of it errs on the side of avoiding false positives."

The NFL and the Player's Union agreed in July to begin blood testing for HGH as part of the new collective bargaining agreement, but in recent weeks the union has taken a defensive stance regarding the testing. Until an agreement is reached, the NFL's usual drug testing will proceed without an HGH test.

Baumann, who agreed to speak about the meeting at WADA headquarters in general terms, has been studying and working with human growth hormone for 30 years. He is an expert in the use of growth hormone treatment in adults and has been at the forefront of a number of major human growth hormone-related breakthroughs, among them the first sequencing of the gene that codes for the body's growth hormone receptors. And he has no vested interest in either side. Baumann walked away from the Montreal meeting feeling that, at least among the scientists in the room, there were no outstanding issues about the validity of the HGH blood test. Baumann says that he was asked "very few questions" during the meeting and that "the Player's Association side didn't raise any questions."

David Howman, director general of WADA, got the same impression. "There was no suggestion of challenge to the science," says Howman. "There weren't any high degree science questions that came up with our scientists." Which is why Howman told The New York Times that the union's science team had "accepted the test's validity." That interpretation of the meeting earned him a public rebuke from union spokesman George Atallah who said that Howman "should not be so arrogant and presumptuous to speak on our behalf or on the behalf of anybody from our team." (View the WADA presentation here.)

The scientific team from the union included two scientists from Aegis labs in Nashville and Paul Scott, a lawyer with an undergraduate degree in chemistry and biology and head of Scott Analytics, an anti-doping services firm. When contacted, Scott was not allowed by the NFLPA's legal team to discuss the meeting. Maurice Suh, an attorney representing the NFLPA in the discussions, did not return a call seeking comment.

A conspicuous absence from the union's team at the meeting was NFLPA president DeMaurice Smith. According to three people who attended the meeting, Smith canceled the day before, to the dismay of commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL executives. (Atallah could not be reached by phone and another union spokesman did not return a message seeking comment.)

According to three people who are familiar with the HGH-testing discussions between the NFL and NFLPA, Smith has been under pressure to show some resistance on HGH testing because perception among some players is that the union hastily agreed to it in collective bargaining. As Steelers safety and player representative Ryan Clark put it: "I think people wanted to get a deal done so badly that it was overlooked ... In that sense, players kind of got screwed, for lack of a better word."

Dexter_Sinister
13 years ago
If I were clean, I would be all for the test to keep the playing field even.

If not, I would find some excuse to deny its validity, call it invasive or anything just to weasel out of it.

The Steelers got a lot of beans calling the test into question after their team doc got busted with 6 figures worth of PEDs.

"Even before the controversy surfaced involving Dr. Richard Rydze, the team's longtime physician who stepped aside last season after authorities revealed he'd run up a six-figure credit card bill purchasing human growth hormone, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a history of associations with performance-enhancing drugs.

http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2011/03/23/Office-of-former-Steelers-doctor-searched/UPI-33281300900140/#ixzz1WwU8TwAA 

"In early 2007 Rydze was questioned by investigators with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about buying $150,000 worth of testosterone and human growth hormone, the Times Union in Albany, N.Y., reported."

http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2011/03/23/Office-of-former-Steelers-doctor-searched/UPI-33281300900140/ 
I want to go out like my Grandpa did. Peacefully in his sleep.
Not screaming in terror like his passengers.
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Zero2Cool (2-Apr) : WR who said he'd break Xavier Worthy 40 time...and ran slower than you
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Zero2Cool (2-Apr) : Texas’ WR Isaiah Bond is scheduled to visit the Bills, Browns, Chiefs, Falcons, Packers and Titans starting next week.
Zero2Cool (2-Apr) : Spotting ball isn't changing, only measuring distance is, Which wasn't the issue.
Zero2Cool (2-Apr) : The spotting of the ball IS the issue. Not the chain gang.
Mucky Tundra (2-Apr) : Will there be a tracker on the ball or something?
Zero2Cool (1-Apr) : uh oh
Martha Careful (1-Apr) : Too bad camera's can't spot the ball as well.
Mucky Tundra (1-Apr) : So will the chain gang be gone completely or will they still be around as a backup or whatever?
Zero2Cool (1-Apr) : The method for measuring first downs in the NFL will switch from chain gangs to camera-based technology in 2025, the league announced.
Martha Careful (1-Apr) : A big step in the right direction. Just put in the college system is very very good.
Zero2Cool (1-Apr) : NFL has passed a rule that allows both teams to possess the ball in OT during the regular season
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beast (31-Mar) : It might of gotten more popular recently, but braiding hair (even men) in certain cultures goes back for centuries.
Martha Careful (30-Mar) : Is men braiding their hair a new style thing? Watching the NCAA men's tournament many players have done
Zero2Cool (29-Mar) : Ha. Well, it'd be nice for folks to reset their own password. Via validated email 😏
beast (29-Mar) : Monopoly was supposed to be an educational game, that show how evil capitalism was and how we should avoid it
beast (29-Mar) : Lol, I was thinking username would be better, as then I wouldn't have to keep an email up to date lol 😂
beast (29-Mar) : Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : I was thinking email because I think it'll make folks keep it up todate lol
wpr (29-Mar) : sure is
Zero2Cool (29-Mar) : Monopoly is a rip off of The Landlord's Game
wpr (27-Mar) : 28 days until the draft
earthquake (27-Mar) : Which seemed strange to my 9 year old self, that you could be a fan for a team other than the one you play for
earthquake (27-Mar) : Nothing eventful happened, other than it being clear that he was a bengals fan
earthquake (27-Mar) : And we went and hung out with him one afternoon, I must have been 9 or so
earthquake (27-Mar) : That’s wild, when I was a kid my friend lived in the same apartment complex in De Pere
Mucky Tundra (27-Mar) : Only career highspot was a 200 yard rushing game while playing for the Cardinals
Mucky Tundra (27-Mar) : He is a former Packer. Drafted out of Northern Illinois. Didn't do much in GB.
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Despicable
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : Former NFL. I think Packers too
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : NFL RB Leshon Johnson has been charged in a massive dog fighting operation, with the FBI seizing over 190 Pit Bulls
Mucky Tundra (26-Mar) : Some real irony of a QB as short as Wilson playing for the Giants
Mucky Tundra (26-Mar) : Giants country, let's be the tall beings of lore!
Mucky Tundra (26-Mar) : Russell Wilson signs with the Giants.
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : I was thinking email because I think it'll make folks keep it up todate lol
wpr (25-Mar) : I don't think there is a significant difference. I use a user name for many. Others email.
Martha Careful (25-Mar) : email
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wpr (25-Mar) : Thanks Zero
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beast (24-Mar) : And the only time they have won the Championship in an even year, was the first time they did, in 2006.
beast (24-Mar) : Since 2007, there have been 10 odd numbered years, Wisconsin Women have won the Championship in 7 of those 10 odd numbered years.
buckeyepackfan (24-Mar) : Congratulations Lady Badger Hockey Team. NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!
Zero2Cool (23-Mar) : I don't think it's completed yet. it was just announced last month, right?
dhazer (23-Mar) : did netflix ever release the Packers documentary
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