When Athlete's Drug Testing Goes Way, WAY Overboard

I'm all for drug testing. I don't care if it's players being tested, managers, clubhouse attendants, Dave Dombrowski...whoever it is, I really don't care. These people put themselves out in the public light and have earned every suspicious eye. I think the drug testing should be as thorough and as comprehensive as science has possible. If they come out with a good HGH test, I'm all for it. There's one thing I'm not for, though, and that's what happened in Sweden according to Deadspin: you cannot suspend someone for taking medicine for high blood pressure.

Like David Pinto of Baseball Musings I'm really angered by these revelations. And this is not the first time I've heard of ridiculous suspensions like this. Zach Lund was suspended in 2006 for taking anti-balding medication like Propecia according to the New York Times--even though he had disclosed his use of this to his sport and started using it before it was ever banned by an anti-doping agency--and Washington Capitals goalie Jose Theodore was suspended for the same thing in 2006 according to ESPN. This past Olympics, female Russian hockey player Svetlana Terenteva tested positive for using cold medication, but according to the New York Times, she was only reprimanded. Yes, taking cold medication when you play a Winter Olympic sport is very wrong.

And, yes, according to the National Post, Paralympians do cheat. But as that article says, the goal of those cheating athletes was to boost blood pressure. But Glenn Ikonen, a Swedish Paralympic curler, tried to lower his blood pressure, to--you know--save his life. I'm not sure if the anti-doping agencies have seen the news, but high blood pressure kills. And as someone who takes a beta blocker, this isn't something you take lightly, even in your 20s. But Ikonen isn't in his 20s...he's 54 (in the picture above from the Telegraph, Ikonen is the old dude in the middle)!

"I am shocked. I couldn't imagine this. I am an old man. I'm 54 years old. I would never take anything I can't take," Ikonen said in a statement released by worldcurling.org.

I'm shocked too, Glenn. Shocked and appalled. A two year ban for trying to save your life (according to The Local, Ikonen checked before it was a banned substance so he wasn't trying to hide it)? Shame on you, anti-doping agency; you truly are shown to be the biggest "dopes" of all.

John Shuster Fails Again For USA Men's Curling, Gets Killed on Wikipedia

Oh no...John Shuster did it again! After missing three shots to win curling games in a 24-hour span, Shuster, the Armando Benitez of Curling, missed another chance to close a game today against Denmark. He is truly the Charles Smith of curling having missed four game-winning shots in a row. KSL.com tells it like it is:

American skip and final shooter John Shuster missed a chance to knock out a Danish stone. His last rock jammed on another one of his own and kept Denmark in scoring position.

Someone on Wikipedia got in on the action as well. Check out how torched Shuster's Wiki page is (click to view):

I wanted to post that before someone changed it. That is amazing. The last part was the best:

"Shuster said he draws inspiration from Bill Buckner, Brad Lidge, Scott Norwood, and the city of Cleveland.

He currently works as a quality control specialist for Toyota."

Boom! Roasted!

Update 3:42 PM: The Wiki page has been changed but you can enjoy the screenshot over and over again.

Update 3:51 PM: Jay is right, it is a race between the Wikipedia editors and the John Shuster haters. Will try to get as many of them as possible up on the blog but you can see the history of comments here

Curling's John Shuster Is No Mariano Rivera

I said earlier today that one of the sports I like the most in the Winter Olympics is Curling. Part of the appeal is that it's much like baseball in the innings (called ends, and there's 10 of them), the turned-based progression, the relaxed feel and the idea of last licks (called "the hammer" in Curling) with some elements of other sports weaved in and out. With the ability of the teams able to qualify for these Olympic games, the hammer usually becomes the most important person as the closer of the group. And the hammer is the "skip" on the team; the guy who calls the shots. And the skip for the United States team is John Shuster, who probably had the worst 24 hours of his life as he was unable to close out two matches on three separate occasions.

Mariano Rivera is the best closer in baseball history. Robert Horry was known as "Big Shot Rob" because of his late-game heroics in big spots. When the Los Angeles Lakers needed a big shot at the end of their championship run last season, Kobe Bryant was given the ball the Lakers had confidence he could get it done. John Shuster said he wanted to be that man for the US Olympic Curling Team, said that he wanted to be the guy to throw during crunch time, said that he wanted the pressure. He said that if he got the chance, he would win it for the United States.

He was wrong.

The United States had plenty of chances to win in their opener against Germany but ended up falling 7-5, thanks to a few errant throws by Shuster and company. In their second game against Norway, according to ESPN.com "Shuster had put his team ahead after the ninth end on a clutch deuce, but Norway evened the match at 5 on the final stone of the 10th to force another end." Shuster had a chance to win it in the extra 11th end (as Michael Kay would say "bonus cantos") but his shot at a wide open spot was too hard and the United States team fell to 0-2.

Less than 24 hours later, the United States team was back in action playing the Swiss. The Americans knew that three losses was probably too much to make the semifinals so they needed a win. But after falling behind 4-0, it looked pretty bleak. The United States team rallied back behind Shuster and some sloppy Swiss play to take the lead going into the 10th. The United States seemed on the verge of victory with Shuster just having to seal the deal against the Swiss. This time, he was too short. A measurement confirmed it and we were going to the extra end.

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