Canseco and the 'Roids issue

Jose Canseco believes he's been 'Vindicated.'
The other night on American television, the hulk and former Bash Brother with the Oakland Athletics was explaining the role he has had in steroids exposure and the title of his next book. His earlier book, called 'Juiced,' was a runaway bestseller and although he was "blackballed" by Major League Baseball, it seemingly set in motion for the doors to be opened for 'roid users in sports to be exposed.
After Baltimore superstar Raffy Palmeiro and Seattle pitcher Ryan Franklin were hauled on the carpet and banned for 10 games for 'roid use this week, there seems little reason to believe that other sports will not be ripped apart by the "better living through chemistry" philosophy.
Is major-league basketball next?
Is major-league hockey next?
Is major-league tiddly-winks next?
The infiltration of steroids and its affiliated "juice" seems to be prevalent among both young and older athletes.
Probably, the most startling news came from the New York Times this week, stating Palmeiro's positive steroid test was for the very powerful steroid, known as stanozolol. Apparently, the Orioles' slugger now has called the incident an "accident" and not a deliberate act.
Palmeiro tested "positive" for taking the drug known by the brand name, Winstrol. If that sounds familiar, the New York Times website connects Winstrol with Canada's fallen hero, the sprinter Ben Johnson, who was stripped of his gold medal in the 100-meter in 1988 after testing for, yes that's right, stanozolol.
Apparently, Raffy failed the test prior to the U.S. Congressional hearings, where he was so staunch in denying he had ever taken any steroids of any kind. Fibbing to the ninth degree seems to be the modus operandi for numerous athletes.
When Canseco testified before the U.S. body he was apparently isolated from his former fellow players and he claims that MLB and its leader, Bud Selig, has a great deal to hide.
Whether this is true or not, Selig and MLB should expose baseball's underbelly and clean up the sport and do it in short order, before any more damage can be done to America's pasttime.
In 'Slate', Bryan Curtis wrote: "Juiced' is a mesmerizing book, and not just because Canseco throws off stories like that without a trace of self-regard. Canseco has pulled off the impossible: He has written a giddy testimonial to steroids."
Of course, Canseco has, but while one can hold contempt for Jose, he, nevertheless, has pulled back the curtain on a dark side of sports -- not just baseball, but the entire athletic world.
According to Curtis, Canseco was only 5 feet 11 inches and a puny 155 pounds in high school and far from his present 6 feet 4 inches and 250 pounds and Jose has been been quoted as saying, "Steroids, used correctly, will not only make you stronger and sexier, they will also make you healthier."
In 1994, World Wrestling Federation owner Vince McMahon was cleared in his trial for conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids, however, his top superstar Hulk (Terry Bollea) Hogan, in the official court transcript, admitted some of the steroids he had used were Dianabol, Anavar, Winstrol, testosterone, and Deca Durabolin.
Now Winstrol has come to the forefront again -- this time in baseball.
With the Palmeiro and Franklin's suspension, perhaps, the U.S. Congress should take another closer look at the athletes' names that have swirled around the TGH issue such as NFLers Barret Robbins, Bill Romanowski, Chris Cooper, and Dana Stubblefield.
The late Ken Caminiti, the former Houston Astro and San Diego Padre, once told Sports Illustrated that drug use was widespread. "It's no secret what's going on in baseball. At least half the guys are using steroids." Caminiti died under strange circumstances.
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NIKE STILL LEADS BY A MILE: Although there's still quite a gap in the running shoes biz, Adidas is about to gobble up Reebok for some $3.8 billion. What it means is that the world's second and third-biggest sports goods companies own more than 21 per cent share of the U.S. market with Nike far in front at 36 per cent. Incidentally, Reebok has the inside track on sporting euipment for the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB. Now, I still have a pair of worn down ol' running shoes lying in a closet somewhere. So what are they worth? Did I hear someone say: I'll give you a dollar?'

SOMETHING ODD: In seraching for odd items for this Thursday column, the Ol' Columnist came across this news story out of Moscow. It seems Chechnya's government has banned slots because they consider them un-Islamic. Apparently , the one-armed bandits are popular, but Ramzan Kadyrov, one of the region's top officials, and the religious leaders and elders have banned them.

GONE TO THE DOGS: (From Uncle John's Bathroom Reader): Q. Is a dog year the equivalent of seven human years? A. No -- it is actually five to six years. The average life expectancy of a dog is 12-14 years. However, most dogs mature sexually within six to nine months, so in a sense there is no strict correspondence to human years.

TO ERR IS HUMAN: In the mad rush of Saturday night's CASCAR 300 at Sun Valley Speedway, the Ol' Eyeballs apparently deceived me, for race winner D.J. Kennington passed his rivals three laps from the mad dash to the finish, according to the official scoring sheet. Brad Graham and Don Thomson, Jr. finished a close second and third. Mea culpa.