Name names or keep quiet, Sabbatini tells Gary Player

[Uisce Beatha]

I've been rubbing The Cream on for years, and it ain't done *feces* for my game.

But it has affected your vision.

A very dangerous thing if one is driving across the country.

[Clive]

Hey!  That was for medical purposes!

[Uisce Beatha]

Maybe Gary was speaking of Shaun Micheel. 

http://sports.espn.go.com...olf/news/story?id=2947619

Gary Player was saluted by some and vilified by most for saying he knew for a fact that at least one player had tried performance-enhancing drugs, although he refused to identify the player.

Turns out at least one player at Carnoustie was taking a steroid.

"I suspect in the next year, I'll be getting more and more questions about it," former PGA champion Shaun Micheel said. "I'm not a doctor, but I'm married to a lawyer, so I know how to answer the questions."

Micheel was diagnosed two years ago with low testosterone, and he has been taking a synthetic steroid (Testim 1 percent) and says he could be on the drug for a while. He said doctors told him his testosterone level should be between 700 and 800 for someone his age (38), and his is around 480. It was 260 when he was diagnosed in April 2005.

"I think people have a better understanding of it because I've been outspoken about it," said Micheel, who wears "Testim.com" on the front of his cap. "I've been on it a couple of years, and I suspect I'll be on it a long time. Once you start taking something, your body stops making it. If I were to test way high ... it wouldn't benefit me in any way. I'm in the wrong sport for something like that to happen."

He catches some flak from players, but only because of how he takes the drug. It's a clear gel he rubs into his shoulder.

"That's where I get harassed the most," he said. "They say I'm using the clear. I do laugh about it. But I don't want to take this stuff. I don't like taking stuff for a cold."

[Aske]

what about anyone on advair?

[Uisce Beatha]

what about anyone on advair?

They don't call her The Big Wheesy for nothin'.   

[stroh]

Only one Weezy round here honey!

[Seamus]

I go with "enhances performance". Or "makes you suck less".

Like beta blockers. Or using illegal steroids to recover quickly from an injury.

It's not illegal in this sport, until someone says it is.

This was the argument for years in Baseball. Isn't it illegal just to have certain steroids w/o a prescription ?

[MP]

I go with "enhances performance". Or "makes you suck less".

Like beta blockers. Or using illegal steroids to recover quickly from an injury.

It's not illegal in this sport, until someone says it is.

This was the argument for years in Baseball. Isn't it illegal just to have certain steroids w/o a prescription ?

HGH...human growth hormone.  I worked in a Pharmacy that compounded the stuff.  Some of the fake patients' names were pretty funny.   I wonder if we indirectly distributed to the Tour.   

[dystopia]

I haven't seen this reported much, but Player had some interesting followup comments.


Player puts Alliss in his place over issue of drugs in golf
http://sport.scotsman.com/golf.cfm?id=1170422007

...
On at least two occasions the following day, Alliss accused Player of turning up, stirring up the mud and then moving away.

After signing for 72, one shot more than his age in the Senior Open at Muirfield yesterday, Player was in no mood to back down about his drug cheat claims. "I was shocked by his [Alliss'] comments because he doesn't know anything about it [drugs in golf]," said the winner of nine majors. "He clearly doesn't know anything about it. But why was he saying I was a 71-year-old man as if I was in my grave? I could reply and say a 75-year-old man should be au fait with what was happening. He just has no idea.

"He also wanted to know why I hadn't named the players [on drugs]. Someone said to me 'what do you think about human growth hormone?' and then asked for my word not to ever mention what he's doing. He told me he was trying it. My advice to him was he shouldn't do it. Am I then going to go and mention names when someone has spoken to me in confidence? If I did that, they would crucify those guys. Perhaps justly so, because the average man doesn't know [golf doesn't have a drugs policy]."

Player also said he was taken aback when his remarks were reported so prominently. "I was very surprised by the reaction because this is what the golfing bodies have been saying and the game has been highly criticised by the Olympic committee as the last sport to have a policy on drugs. Tiger Woods and other top players have also been calling for testing, so why the big fuss when I say something ?
...

[Uisce Beatha]

One guy supposedly asked Player what he thinks about HGH and somehow that translates to an estimated ten players on steroids?  Player expounded upon his estimate with...

"I might be way out," Player said. "Definitely not going to be lower, but might be a hell of a lot more."

New math. 

I love Gary Player and so does the rest of the planet.  As a result of that adoration I believe he's getting a bit of a pass on this.

[MFAWG]

Player also said he was taken aback when his remarks were reported so prominently.

I don't think Player has been 'Taken Aback' by anything for a couple of decades, so I think he's being droll at best here.

"I was very surprised by the reaction because this is what the golfing bodies have been saying and the game has been highly criticised by the Olympic committee as the last sport to have a policy on drugs. Tiger Woods and other top players have also been calling for testing, so why the big fuss when I say something ?

OTOH, that makes a certain amount of sense.

If El Tigre says testing is a good idea, is it because he's overwhelmingly concerned with public perception, or because he smells smoke?

If it's the former, not to worry: PGA fans seem to be in about the same place baseball fans were in the halcyon days of the 80's and early '90's when Mark McGwire and others became  walking cautionary tales on steroids while fans, media, and everybody else turned a blissfully blind eye.

If it's the latter, he's probably just paranoid...