Those 'roids of ruin

When Victor Conte, James Valente and Greg Anderson were given just slaps on the hands Friday in a San Francisco courtroom for distributing anabolic steroids to elite athletes, all the Ol' Columnist could think about was Lyle Alzado, who once lived in RowdyLand and died at the age of 43 from brain cancer.
As I related in my book, 'Counterfeit Hero -- The 'Roids of Ruin' (to be re-released in September 2005), Alzado blamed anabolic steroids, those high-yield, high-risk junk bonds for the biceps, for his illness.
In the San Jose Mercury, sportswriter Mark Purdy once wrote that "no one had more fun being rowdy than Alzado. He grew up rowdy in Brooklyn. He played rowdy football at Yankton College in South Dakota. He played rowdier football in the NFL. Alzado created a character that was almost theatrical in nature. He ripped off the helmets of opponents, then laughed to reporters about it afterward, bulging out his eyes and growling."
Alzado plied his trade at a high level, but when he died in 1992, he was literally a frail, old man with a bandanna on his nearly hairless head.
"I had my mind set and I did what I wanted to do," Alzado said about his steroid abuse. "So many people tried to take me out of what I was doing, and I wouldn't listen."
He was diagnosed with a rare form of brain lymphoma in April 1991 -- less than a year after his ill-fated comeback with the Los Angeles Raiders.
Even after he stopped playing in RowdyLand, Alzado, who claimed he spent $20,000 to $30,000 on "gas," continued taking them.
Forest Tennant, the NFL's drug adviser from 1986 to 1990, has said steroids can cause two kinds of cancer: those in the sex organs, such as prostate cancer and those in the immune system, such as lymphoma, leukemia and Hodgkin's Disease.
The Lyle Alzado National Steroid Education Program, part of the non-profit Athletes and Entertainers for Kids organization, was developed to educate young people about the damaging and life-threatening effects of anabolic steroids and human growth hormones.
Alzado had his own "Doctor Feel-Good" in Dr. John David Perzik and RowdyLand Lyle was one of his best customers. In February 1991, the California-based medic pleaded guilty in federal court in San Jose to one count of conspiring to illegally distribute a prescribed drug, which put him behind bars at a minimum-security prison at Lompac, California.
Cops confirmed Perzik belonged to a multi-dollar steroid ring that included another Alzado supplier, Steve Coons, a Santa Clara trainer accused of being one of the largest illegal distributor of steroids. By September 1992, Perzik agreed to help the feds prosecute Coons.
Even while Perzik was in jail, he continued illegally prescribing steroids. "He really didn't miss a beat," said California state prosecutor Russell W. Lee. "He kept on going."
Perzik cleared more than $210,000 in profits from the illegal sale of steroids in 1990, acording to documents from the California Board of Medical Quality.
While Alzado's demise was stunning, probably the most dramatic testimony about anabolic steroids came from the mouth of one of the world's most well-known athletes -- professional wrestler Hulk Hogan (aka Terry Bollea) on Thursday, July 14, 1994. Hogan was called to the witness stand during the trial of promoter Vince McMahon on charges of conspiracy and distribution of anabolic steroids to WWF wrestlers.
Although McMahon was eventually cleared of wrongdoing, Hogan's testimony was a blow to the solar plexus.
When asked about specific steroids he had taken, Bollea admitted they included dianabol, anavar, winstrol, testosterone, and decadurabolin, with "deca" his obvious drug of choice.
Bollea claimed that during his second stint with the WWF, 1983-1984, steroid use was quite common, with the figure between 75 and 80 per cent and ringside physician, Dr. George Zahorian, was identified as the medic who could supply wrestlers with everything from steroids to sleeping pills to Valium.
When McMahon and others in his company were cleared of wrongdoing, other sports seemed to have taken it as a green light until Conte, who founded BALCO -- Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative -- along with BALCO vice president James Valente and Greg Anderson, Barry Bonds' longtime friend and personal trainer, stood before U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on Friday.
Federal prosecutors had charged Conte with illegally distributing performance-enhancing drugs through his firm, BALCO, to more than 30 baseball, football and track and field stars, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Conte faced a maximum of 25 years in prison.
What did they get under a plea bargain?
Conte pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids and one count of money laundering. He faces four months in prison; Valente pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute steroids. He is expected to be sentenced to probation; and Anderson pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to distribute steroids and money laundering. He is likely to spend no more than six months in prison, according to the Chronicle. A fourth man, track coach Remi Korchemny, delayed accepting any plea agreement.
And what about such elite athletes as Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Marion Jones, who have been implicated in the international sports doping scandal? It appears they will "walk."