A sports blog with Richard Justice

HGH is the perfect crime (until the guys with the windbreakers and badges show up at your door)


Suddenly, there’s a link between HGH and

Albert Pujols.

It’s not the strongest of links, but it’s the first tie between the game’s best player and the performance-enhancing drag of choice.

There has never been a positive test for human growth hormone, according to a terrific piece

on the subject in today’s USA Today. Yes, the IOC tests for HGH. No, they’ve never caught anyone.

Research aimed at developing a more reliable test is ongoing. One has been expected for months, but so far hasn’t been delivered.

The Major League Players Associate will use the unreliability of testing as an argument against agreeing to HGH testing.

These people always come up with reasons not to do the right thing. They believe integrity should be part of the collective bargaining process.

It shouldn’t.

The union should agree to the same HGH testing standards now used by the IOC. Even if there’s not a realiable test for HGH, agree to the testing that now exists. Store the blood samples and hope that more reliable tests will soon be available. Send a message you’re serious about getting performance-enhancing drugs out of the game.

The bottom line is simple: Tell fans you’re serious about getting HGH out of your sport. Otherwise, you’re condoning cheating.

Meanwhile, the best way to catch HGH users may be criminal investigations like the one that has snagged Jason Grimsley.

Other players are going to be named. Some of them may be surprising. This story won’t end with Grimsley.

So HGH may be the perfect crime. Except that it’s against the law.

Categories: General

11 Responses

  1. Kevin says:

    I’m beginning to think that the state baseball is in right now is not primarily the fault of Bud Selig, but the Player’s Association. Until recently, they would never agree to a drug testing policy, but Bud Selig had his hands tied since he and MLB couldn’t afford another strike. So he let it go until it blew up in his face. Then, when a plan was finally put into place, it was weak. It took Congress threatening to step in before the MLBPA would agree to the penalties that are currently in place. Now, they are going to argue against having a test in place for HGH. Why don’t the players seem like they want to clean things up? What are they trying to hide or hold on to? Is this thing wider, deeper and more far-reaching than we could know?

  2. adt says:

    I think it is true that the lack of testing fuels HGH use, but what really fuels HGH use is the opportunity to make say between $40 and $100 million in a matter of 5 – 7 years, and for you and your family to be set for the rest of your life at age 30.

    We may as well all get use to it, when you are talking about the enormous amounts of money that are now involved in all of the major sports there is going to continuously be a lot of people who are willing to take the risk and get that extra “edge” or just “keep up” with the other guys.

    If HGH use is as rampant in baseball as Jason Grimsley says it is then you can be assured that HGH use is also rampant in the NFL, NBA, NHL and all the other “big money” sports.

    The world has changed and I do not know if we are going to be able to go back to the “way it was”. It may be that the old TV show “The Six Million Dollar Man” may be closer to the truth than everybody would like it to be. Here is a description of the TV seriies “Air Force Colonel Steve Austin…… is almost fatally injured in a plane crash. Many of his damaged parts are replaced by experimental bionic limbs, including his right arm, his left eye, and both legs. These bionics give him superpowers such as increased speed and strength and the ability to see long distances”. Sound familiar?

    Before long , thanks to medical science, we may have individuals who are “part human”, “part machine” and “part computer”. What is sports going to do then?

  3. Doug says:

    If the test is not reliable, can there not be false positives? If so, then of course they shouldn’t agree to the testing. Otherwise, they should suck it up and do everything in their power to maintain/restore the credibility of their talent and the game.

  4. robley says:

    I’m begining to think that the whole steroids thing is a red herring. The Jason Grimsley case proves that if you can’t pitch (or hit) to begin with, steroids aren’t going to help you anyway.

    In other words Mark Mcguire, Barry Bonds, etc etc were talented players whose skills improved with steroid use. They were good without the juice. They were even better with it. Now if steroids had turned a bad pitcher like Grimsley into a good pitcher then you could call it cheating. But it didn’t, He remained less than mediocre through it all. So why the big fuss?

  5. Steve Monaco says:

    “So HGH may be the perfect crime. Except that it’s against the law”

    Your comment here shows how little you actually understand about the range of people who are using HGH these days. What about veteran baseball players attaining HGH legally from anti-aging clinics? HGH’s use is widespread now and it has proven to be safe and effective in helping people ease into later life more comfortably.

    It’s unethical to say to an aging pitcher he can’t take HGH to improve upon his own natural levels to that equivalent to someone 15 years his junior. There’s way more to this issue than saying “The bottom line is simple: Tell fans you’re serious about getting HGH out of your sport. Otherwise, you’re condoning cheating.” It should be about creating a level playing field not discriminating against those who can benefit most from it’s safe use.

  6. Joe says:

    If the truth was known. Most fans (not me, when this much money is at stake) would be shocked to know how many ball players have used some type of performance drugs. I feel safe to say 90% of all ballplayers have or are presently using some form of drugs. There is too much money and money rules.

  7. Venus says:

    As always, the sports arena is just a magnification of what goes on in the average American’s life. In the past, hard work and honor earned respect, and is what ultimately made a man wealthy. Sports heroes wanted to make history, so to speak, by honestly being the best on a level playing field. I think the archaic words were pride and character. Today, in corporate America and sports, the motivating forces are money and fame – and the end justifies the means, period. Honor and integrity are considered traits of the weak and naive, and such individuals have no chance when competing with such evil. Welcome to the new America, folks.

  8. sam in greatwood says:

    Does anyone still even read these blogs now that Vince Young left town? No one even seems to have enough passion left to comment in response to the blogs. Not even John McClain blogs anymore. Does he still work for the Chronicle or did he move to Tennessee? If he did, do you think he has an extra room?

  9. Dave says:

    What is “serious” about submitting to a test that doesn’t exist? Find a usable, workable test and then it’s fair to ask the players to go along but until then your just going on a fishing expedition that accomplishes nothing.

  10. martin vela says:

    C’mon Richard, HGH is not against the law. Doctors freely prescribe it at “anti-aging clinics”. I took it for a year, quite legally. The interesting thing is I quit because of a common side-effect, carpal tunnel syndrome. Why would baseball players tolerate such a risk or impediment to a crucial part of their anatomy? Who knows, but HGH is not illegal, in fact, given the right patient, it is a rather remarakble drug.

  11. GTTofAK says:

    Am I the only one who remembers that drug testing was accepted by the world in no small part because it is a noninvasive procedure. Blood testing is an invasive procedure and while you may think that a little prick of a needle isn’t a big deal that little prick makes the jump from noninvasive testing to invasive testing and that is a big deal.