Researchers at the University of Southern California found a new drug compound that show anti-tumor effects. According to the research, 2.5-dimethyl-celecoxib appears to target tumor cells and surrounding blood vessels without having side effects that are associated with Cox-2 inhibitors. As per the findings, the drug compund also show anti-tumor effect even while attacking the vasculature that provides the blood supply necessary for tumor growth.

Professor of pathology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, Florence M. Hofman said that the blood vessels, if left behind, within the tumor would help the tumor cells to survive and re-grow. He also stated that they believed that DMC might aid in treating brain tumors, such as gliomas, which are highly vascular and also appeared as a promising long-term treatment, as it didn’t show negative cardiovascular effects linked with Cox-2 inhibitors.

Cox-2 inhibitors are most commonly used as anti-inflammatory drugs and have been effective in treating certain kinds of cancer, explains Hofman. But, its pro-longed prescription can cause greater risk of heart attack and strokes while DMS retains anti-tumor activity without inhibiting the action of Cox-2.

From Science Daily:

Researchers at the University of Southern California have identified a new drug compound that appears to target tumor cells and surrounding blood vessels without the negative side effects typically associated with Cox-2 inhibitors.

The compound 2.5-dimethyl-celecoxib (DMC) appears to have a strong anti-tumor effect while also attacking the vasculature that provides the blood supply necessary for tumor growth, according to data presented at the AACR 100th Annual Meeting 2009. The findings were presented on April 19.

“If left behind, the blood vessels within the tumor will help the tumor cells to survive and re-grow,” says Florence M. Hofman, Ph.D., professor of pathology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “We believe that DMC will be particularly useful for treating brain tumors such as gliomas, which are highly vascular.

The research aimed the effectiveness of the DMC compound by isolating endothelial cells that line the inner surface of blood vessels from human nonmalignant brain and glioma tissues and treating them with DMC.

The findings showed that the drug was not cytotoxic to endothelial cells associated with tumors and also suppressed cell proliferation and migration without showing negative effects on normal tissues.

In the last Hofman said that their research was focused on brain tumors, but they believed that the drug might work for various different tumors that depend on blood vessels. However, further research would help them in understanding its full potential.

Adding a new and important finding to the already existing treatments of cocaine addiction, the UC Irvine pharmacological researchers have discovered that blocking of a hormone related to hunger regulation can limit cocaine carving.

The study, led by Shinjae Chung and Olivier Civelli, examined the work of melanin-concentrating hormone with dopamine, present in the brain’s “pleasure center” for creating an addictive response to cocaine use. The researchers revealed that blocking of MCH in these brain cells could limit cocaine addiction desires.

The study is first of its kind and highlights the relationship of MCH with dopamine in cocaine hunger and shows that it occurs in the nucleus accumbens, a part of forebrain that plays a vital role in addiction and pleasure and fear feelings.

Civelli, a professor of neuropharmacology, told that the finding indicated MCH as a key regulator of dopamine in a brain area linked with pleasure and addiction feelings. He also said that they believed that MCH findings might lead to discovery of new treatments that would aid in breaking cocaine addiction and also for other drugs, like amphetamines and nicotine.

From Science Daily:

UC Irvine pharmacological researchers have discovered that blocking a hormone related to hunger regulation can limit cocaine craving. Their findings could herald a new approach to overcoming addiction.

Led by Shinjae Chung and Olivier Civelli, the study identified how the melanin-concentrating hormone works with dopamine in the brain’s “pleasure center” to create an addictive response to cocaine use. The researchers further found that blocking MCH in these brain cells limited cocaine cravings.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter essential to the normal functioning of the central nervous system. It also is associated with feelings of pleasure and is released in the brain during eating, sex and drug use. Heightened levels of the neurotransmitter have been detected in the nucleus accumbens of drug addicts.

The UCI researchers conducted tests on mice and found that when conditioned to develop cocaine cravings, test mice showed increased level of MCH and dopamine in their nucleus accumbens. But, when blocking of MCH proteins were administered by experimental compounds those carving signs disappeared. In addition, both the leading examiners found that mice lacking key receptors for MCH exhibited significantly fewer cocaine cravings.

For general information, Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is essential for the normal functioning of the central nervous system and is released in the brain during eating, sex and drug use. That’s why increased levels of the neurotransmitter can be detected in the nucleus accumbens of drug addicts.

MCH, in mammals, is involved in the regulation of feeding behavior and energy balance. Researchers, from all over the world, are engaged in searching of compounds that can lower MCH level for potential use in obesity treatment.

McNamee’s lawyers on Wednesday filed a document in Texas federal court, which stated that Clemens should have a word with the prosecutors regarding defamation suit. They said that it was the prosecutors, who had forced McNamee to talk to former Sen. George Mitchell concerning over the steroid abuse issue.

The document was a defy reaction to a motion filed by Clemens’ attorney Rusty Hardin last month in which they solicited Keith Ellison, the U.S. District Judge, to review his decision of dismissing Clemens’ defamation suit. Clemens, a winner of seven times, filed the suit shortly after the release of the Mitchell Report in December 2007. In the report, McNamee had admitted that he infused Clemens with banned steroids and human growth hormone several times in between 1998-2001.

Richard Emery, one of McNamee’s attorneys, said that the thrust of their response was Clemens’ blame on Brian for what he was angry at the government prosecutors for doing- that was- compelling Brian to talk to them and tell the truth.

Emery also said that the prosecutors compelled McNamee to talk and they made the report publicly by their own. Clemens and his lawyers were pointing their fingers at the wrong person.

Earlier, Hardin had argued in court filings that McNamee should not be protected with absolute exception. He also pointed out that Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Parrella, who had led much of the BALCO investigation, gave an argument in case of Tammy Thomas, the cyclist convicted of perjury last year, that the main motive behind the government’s steroid probe was to nail distributors and not athletes or users.

Hardin further argued that McNamee’s statements to Mitchell about Clemens’ alleged steroid use play no role in exposing and prosecuting drug distribution rings. However, McNamee’s lawyers countered with the point that the prosecutors did not tell names of cooperating witnesses and the purpose or scope of their investigations.

From New York Daily News:

Roger Clemens should pick a fight with the prosecutors who forced Brian McNamee to talk to former Sen. George Mitchell, and not with his longtime trainer, McNamee’s lawyers said in a document filed in a Texas federal court late Wednesday.

The document was a response to a motion filed by Clemens’ attorney Rusty Hardin last month that asked U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison to reconsider his decision to dismiss most of Clemens’ defamation suit. The seven-time Cy Young winner filed the suit shortly after the Mitchell Report was released in December 2007 — in which McNamee told Mitchell and his investigators that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone numerous times between 1998-2001 — and it questioned granting McNamee immunity for the statements he made to Mitchell for his report on drug use in baseball.

According to the filing, “No private citizen, approached by the government, could know such things. It is for this reason that the law does not require a witness to be omniscient to be covered by absolute immunity.”

However Emery said that Clemens could file a suit known as a “Bivens Action” against the government for abuse of authority. He further added that if they filed that suit then they would have someone to point the finger at least.

Ex Canby Chief Greg Kroeplin thought he could go scot-free by resigning from his post while one of his officers was being investigated because of his involvement with steroids. But as investigators probe deeper into the case, they discover that the chief is short of being an accomplice and encouraging Jason Deason to continue his misdemeanor due to his lack of action over the matter.

Deason who has been under surveillance for about 18 months had actually lived with Kroeplin before the latter became appointed police chief. It is far from improbable that Kroeplin knew that Deason had been using steroids the whole time that they had been under one roof.

The Canby City Council had sent memo to Kroeplin’s office informing him that they were going to fire Deason. Perhaps to avoid being implicated into the case, he tries to remove himself from the scene by resigning.

From Oregon News:

An investigation by two retired Oregon law enforcement officers revealed a department where officers trying to conduct any meaningful inquiry of Deason’s steroid abuse were thwarted by two chiefs, and the city administrator overseeing the department took the chiefs’ word without strong oversight.

“I rely upon the people who report back to me to be truthful. I trust them unless I have reason not to,” City Administrator Mark Adcock said Thursday. “If there are lessons to learn here, sometimes you can’t trust people as much as you would like to that they’re going to make the right decision.”

Kroeplin’s attorney, Victor Calzaretta, declined comment.

Deason had a history of violence and suicidal tendencies which the authorities of the city agree on to be a threat to the public’s safety if he continued to be on duty. His psychotic tendencies was not beyond Kroeplin’s knowledge and the chief should have taken necessary actions to look into Deason’s case.

Kroeplin himself has questionable credibility because reports reveal that he had several lapses in judgment, lacked professionalism and allegedly committed child abuse in 2003.

While steroids remain on vogue in the Major League, sports officials in Pierce College make sure that their athletes don’t follow suit. What the baseball players do in pro sports is being emulated by the younger athletes but this is not however a concern at the said institution because they maintain their stand against performance enhancing drugs that have ruined many careers. There is an intense competition in collegiate sports: hoping for a shot in the pros, maintaining good grades and scholarships. But cheating just isn’t one of the means to cope with these tremendous pressures. And using steroids is a form of cheating.

Androgenic-anabolic steroids are derived from testosterone which is a potent hormone secreted from the male testes. Testosterone is responsible for the primary and secondary sexual characteristics in men. When it is in its synthetic form it is used to treat pubertal deficiencies like growth problems and underdeveloped masculine characteristics in boys. But eventually steroids found its way in professional sports. Their high availability encouraged many to abuse them, causing increased incidents of steroid overdose and complications because they can cause very potent side effects.

From The Round Up News:

One of the most recognized cases of steroid use in sports was in 2003, when Major League Baseball outfielder Barry Bonds was involved in a steroid scandal after his trainer, Greg Anderson, was accused of and charged with supplying anabolic steroids to a variety of athletes.

Many coaches in the Pierce Athletic Department feel strongly about the use of steroids in professional sports negatively influencing younger students.

“I think it’s a bad thing,” said John Bushart, assistant coach of the Pierce baseball team. “Obviously, a lot of Major League players have done it and I don’t think it sets a good example for young kids.”

The National Collegiate Athletic Association or the NCAA formulated a banned substance policy that required drug testing among college athletes. Since Pierce College doesn’t have any problem with steroids use among its players, they find no need to impose a drug test. However, they do comply with the policy instituted by the NCAA.

The steroids controversy is creating quite a mess in the world of professional sports. The carnage is getting crazy and more names are being dragged into the fore. Doubts whether baseball heroes today are really deserving of the accolades they have been bestowed. More still question the credibility of the MLB players. Baseball has now become a world of cheating and lying.

The latest to be named in connection with the use of performance enhancing drugs, as reported by the New York Times, is Dodgers pitcher Ismael Valdez. Joining him is Troy Glaus who reasoned that his use of the drugs was to speed up the recovery of his injury. Scott Schoeneweis was also identified with steroids but he said he had stopped taking them because he was a union representative.

From Examiner News:

According to the Times account, Valdez did not take steroids until he left the Dodgers after the 2000 season. He allegedly found an Angels doctor who injected him with steroids in 2001 because the “Anaheim Angels doctor told him that his testosterone levels were low.” Then Valdez allegedly continued his steroid use upon joining the Texas Rangers in 2002.

That steroids would be connected to the Rangers in that period is hardly a surprise. That squad featured Rafael Palmeiro, last seen famously lying to Congress about his own steroid use. For the record, Raffy hit 43 homers that year, the second-highest total of his career at the age of 37. Alex Rodriguez was also on that team, and has since admitted taking steroids at that time. A-Rod hit a staggering 57 homers that year and drove in 142 runs. Amazingly, he finished second in the MVP race to … wait for it … admitted steroid user Miguel Tejada.

Who else doesn’t use steroids? This act shouldn’t be tolerated because it is sending the wrong message to the fans, especially to the young ones who emulate their baseball heroes.

America loves baseball and fans all over the country can’t wait for the day baseball season opens every year. They love the game so much they wouldn’t mind spending most, if not all, their hard earned money for a seat or a souvenir in the games. Dads eagerly teach their children the sport and young wannabe baseball players try to imitate their heroes on the field. With this hero status, these players decide to take the game to the next level, the competition pushing them to be the best in everything they do. Each player wants to make a mark in baseball history that they take extreme measures such taking steroids of performance enhancing drugs, regardless of their effect on their reputation and career.

Headlines screamed steroids controversy since Senator George Mitchell started the investigating how certain baseball icons used them in the 1990s. Sports Illustrated came out with an article about player Alex Rodriguez’s drug test results leaked despite its supposed confidentiality. Jose Canseco authored a book alleging more “heroes” using the said drug. The sport has been tainted that fans are starting to think twice about the game they loved.

Lucas Swineford is one such that he’s urging other fans to give any money or time they would spend on baseball to charity instead this Friday, April 17. This is his way of protesting against players who have taken performance-enhancing drugs. Swineford was inspired to take this action after hearing the report he heard over the radio about A-Rod’s interview with Peter Gammons.

From Connecticut Post:

“I was driving in the car and I heard some highlights from the Alex Rodriguez interview with Peter Gammons after he admitted he took performance-enhancing drugs,” Swineford said. What stoked his anger was Rodriguez saying he had to take performance enhancers to deal with the pressure of his $250 million contract.

“I almost drove off the road,” Swineford said. “That’s pressure to you? Watch the news. People are struggling to pay the mortgage and keep the lights on. That’s pressure.”

Angry as he was, Swineford, who works in digital media with Yale University, decided there had to be something positive to come Advertisement out of all the negative publicity over steroid use in baseball.

Swineford is asking fans to donate $13 to a charity of their choice — or one of the 13 listed on the Web site. “That’s half the price of the average ticket to a game,” he said. It’s also Rodriguez’ number.

Swineford also wants fans to remember what Roberto Clemente’s did to baseball thus the boycott he is planning to stage.

Now that baseball season has begun, everyone wonders when the steroids story ends. Players have been charged and someone already stepped forward to confess that he was guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs. On April 6 Jose Canseco tries to fan the dying flame of the steroids controversy back to life. He was at Bovard Auditorium at the USC discussing his book Juiced. He also brings another name to the list of steroid users. Manny Ramirez is now thrust into the spotlight.

During Canseco’s talk at Bovard he dropped several leading questions to make the press speculate that Ramirez is really using steroids. “Why didn’t Ramirez get a long term deal? Why were the owners hesitant to get him in their teams?” He even gave his opinion that Ramirez is “90% on top of the list” but he was not very sure.

Everybody now turns to Ramirez for his take on the issue.

From CBS LA Sports:

Manny Ramirez had a one-word answer when asked if he had anything to say about the accusation that he used performance-enhancing drugs in 2003:

“Nothing.”

Does he have anything he wants to say to his accuser, Jose Canseco?

“Nothing.”

It took a few days before anyone in the media got around to asking Ramirez about the shaky allegations from Canseco. Those allegations are largely supposition on Canseco’s part — his proof is that Manny’s contract negotiations dragged out this summer.

Apparently, it had nothing to do with the economy or Manny’s behavior in Boston. Canseco even had to put a qualifier on it — he is “90% sure” Ramirez is on the list of positive tests from 2003.

The steroids story should be put to rest and it is a good thing that Ramirez chose not to comment any further. If indeed he has nothing to say then there is nothing to talk or write about. Everybody can now concentrate on baseball and put this unpleasant subject behind.

Todd Matherne was convicted for manufacturing and distributing steroids four years ago. He was supposed to serve 7 years of jail term but he was set free before it was completed. Now it is his turn to file a lawsuit against the state of Louisiana for requiring him to pay $50,000 in taxes. He says this bill was brutal and harsh. Bill Dodd of the sheriff’s office on the other hand finds the complaint as trivial, inconsequential and a total waste of time.

From The Daily Comet:

The debt, imposed by the Department of Revenue, stems from Matherne’s violation of a law requiring dealers to pay taxes on illegal drugs by purchasing stamps from the state, said Paul Lapeyrouse, his attorney.

“Most people earn but a small fraction of that amount in a lifetime,” Lapeyrouse says in the suit. “The enormity of this burden will effectively deny to him any semblance of a normal life.”

The Department of Revenue required Matherne to pay the taxes because he did not comply with the law that manufacturers of steroids should buy stamps from the state. They should be placed on the drug labels to prove that taxes were being paid. Non-compliance would require them to pay double the amount.

Todd’s father, Eddie Matherne, was his partner in running the underground lab that manufactured the illegal substances. Steroids paraphernalia were found in his apartment that was the location of their underground lab. Both father and son admit that they make about $50,000 dollars a month in their business. They shipped their products within the country and internationally.

Lapeyrouse says that since the younger Matherne was trying to re-establish his life and the huge tax he needed to pay was worse than being sentenced to prison. Without money it would be impossible for him to start over again.

Baseball fans in college are shocked that their favorite sports hero Alex Rodriguez had admitted to using performance enhancing drugs while he was still with the Texas Rangers in 2001-2003. Apparently, the effects of the news had taken quite a while to ebb. A-Rod was just one of the 104 who were tested positive for steroids. There were 103 more to be revealed. Jose Canseco had already identified some in his book Juiced. Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens were some of those who had been named in the book.

From The Batt:

“A-Rod was one of those players that we all had no doubt that he wasn’t taking steroids,” said Texas A&M junior pitcher Travis Starling. “He was kind of the poster child of the perfect baseball player. He worked hard. He showed up every day and he played hard every day and he produced good numbers off of purely his talent and his work ethic, and now we are being told that he did take steroids. So for me individually, as a baseball player, and as someone who enjoys the game of baseball, it is still a shock to me.”

“I think when it’s admitted, you get it out of the way,” said A&M junior infielder Brodie Greene. “People are obviously not going to forget it. You admitted it, and you came out and told your side and that helps you. That’s why I think Bonds and [Roger] Clemens are going to end up hurting themselves in the long run because they are just denying it. I guess they are innocent until proven guilty. I feel that they are on the guilty side but haven’t really admitted it yet.”

Very few had expected A-Rod to cheat by using the banned substances, but he is admired for stepping forward and admitting it. No one knows really what the out come of this steroid era to those who are linked and involved with the use of PEDs, but one thing is for sure, A-Rod is facing a dim future in his baseball career.

The steroids era is taking its toll on children who emulate sports celebrities and icons by taking performance-enhancing drugs to achieve the well-built physique that their sports heroes have. This is a very distressing report supported by statistics that there has been an increase in the number of teenage boys being brought to emergency rooms for having ingested these dangerous substances.

In the past five years, teenagers who have been poisoned of steroid substances have increased from 97 to 138. The growth was almost twofold. What is alarming is the fact that 11-year-old kids are also taking steroids.

From Metro:

DrugScope chief executive Martin Barnes said: ‘Steroids may be viewed as offering a shortcut to the perfect body image, but the reality can be quite different.’

The figures were revealed in a parliamentary answer from public health minister Dawn Primarolo to Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Tom Brake.

He said: ‘The dramatic increase in the number of children being admitted to hospitals for steroid misuse is extremely concerning.

‘It’s clear that many children feel increasingly pressured by society’s obsession with the perfect body and some are using steroids to try to deal with it.

‘Ministers need to wake up to the fact that this is no longer just a problem that affects sports like body building but also an issue for the whole of society.’

Anabolics are very dangerous substances when taken in elevated dosages. An adult body can tolerate the toxicity of these compounds. However, adolescents have not matured physically and their endocrine system has not fully developed to process the toxins being introduced to the body. Bodybuilders and athletes experience aggression and estrogenic side effects. But steroids can stunt the growth of children and may cause liver and kidney damage.

Jose Canseco tries to take advantage of the season’s opening day to draw attention to himself as he stands on the stage of Bovard Auditorium to talk about his steroid use and his book Juiced, where tells all about the wide spread use of performance enhancing drugs in the MLB. But very few came, about 50 people in an auditorium that has a seating capacity of 1,235. That alone speaks volumes on what people think of Canseco. His book was a bestseller but it was not enough to draw a crowd to hear him talk about it. A diminishing star. Steroids had definitely made him infamous.

Clad in a motorcycle jacket, Canseco admits that he still uses testosterone. In 1998, however, he stopped using steroids because he had a depression. It was during this time, too, that he played with Toronto and was able to score 46 home runs. He could have made the choice to quit there but he did not.

From The LA Times:

In fact, 1998 has made him reconsider things. After long telling anyone who’d listen that he might not have made the big leagues without steroids, maybe the year in Canada shows he could have become a star without drugs. He holds tight to this new notion.

“I have regrets,” he says. “The way people look at my career was compromised by using. Then the whole thing fell apart. . . . I was cut off. Not being able to play at 36. That’s how old I was when baseball colluded to keep me out. They were sending a message to all the other players: ‘Stop using, or you will be like Jose.’ “

Canseco keeps talking, unburdening. He seems tinged with a paranoia that makes him easy to dismiss, except he has so often been right.

“I have nightmares, almost every night. I’m on some team, but they will not let me actually play. The bus leaves without me. . . . “

Several players were implicated in his book to have used performance-enhancing drugs. These were Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Giambini, and Juan Gonzalez. Canseco himself admitted to using steroids himself.

The steroid controversy involving MLB players may be dying down but high school officials are not likely to forget because this caused them to become more vigilant with their student athletes. The widespread use of performance enhancing drugs in professional sports has sparked a concern in the education sector that the influence of big time athletes could drive the younger ones to dabble with the banned substances as well. However, Cumberland Valley and Boiling Springs High Schools can breathe a sigh of relief because the recent drug tests conducted in these schools have yielded results that a very insignificant number of students are into steroids.

From The Sentinel:

“If we find we are having a problem with steroids, we can say to test for steroids every week of testing,” said Assistant Superintendent Mary Riley. “However, I would say, because of the lack of positive test results for steroids, it does not appear that Cumberland Valley is having a problem with these among our student-athletes.”

Neither is Boiling Springs High School.

“I don’t think it’s an issue in our school district,” said Athletic Director Scott Govern. “I don’t think there is a need at this point. We are a smaller school. I don’t think we have a problem.”

There was a report released by the Associated Press that in 2006 a random testing was performed on 30,799 students from the states of Florida, New Jersey, Texas and Illinois. But after two years Florida dropped the drug testing saying it is getting to expensive and a waste of taxpayers’ money especially at this time of recession.

Some critics say that the reason why the drug tests weren’t working is that the method used could be flawed. If this is so, then schools should concentrate more on the more effective means of preventing steroid abuse and that is to fortify their awareness campaign. Peer pressure is a big factor in drug use and if the kids know the damage that it can do to their lives, they would be wise to avoid these substances.

It seems like economic recession period engulfs the excitement of baseball fans too and so creating problems for Major League Baseball, which is knocking on the doors. In a new Associated Press-Knowledge Networks poll, even hard-cored fans of the game were disappointed with the rising prices of games, which could be the main problem in the upcoming season. The poll results showed that currently the nation’s recession period was the big blow to MLB, whose opening day is less than a week away, whereas soaring salaries and steroids dominated issues were the main worries in past surveys.

About the matter, New York Yankees star Mark Teixeira, who signed an eight-year, $180 million contract said, “Like every election, it’s the economy, and in tough times, disposable income may not be there.”

However, other polls results showed that nearly 60 percent of respondnts agreed that no player, who was involved in steroids usage or other performance-enhancing drugs issues should be given Hall of fame honor. About 85% people also said that the names of players, who were listed in 2003 for positive drugs tests, should be made public. Till so far, only Alex Rodriguez has been identified. Even more than 50 percent respondents said that they were not interested in the World Baseball Classic, the preseason tournament that involves major teams.

However currently, the main concerns of fans were the rising cost of tickets, concessions, parking and other expenditures. Robert Neel, a retired director of admissions at the University of Cincinnati said, “It’s gone up like everything else. The last game we went to, we paid $50 for a seat. That’s pretty steep.”

From The Daily News:

Soaring salaries and steroids dominated fans’ worries in past AP surveys. But with opening day less than a week away, the nation’s recession is delivering the biggest blow.

“Like every election, it’s the economy,” said New York Yankees star Mark Teixeira, who signed an eight-year, $180 million contract in the offseason. “In tough times, disposable income may not be there.”

Nearly 60 percent of fans said no player who used steroids or performance-enhancing drugs should get into the Hall of Fame. Eighty-five percent said all 104 names on the list of players who tested positive for drugs in 2003 should be made public. So far, only Alex Rodriguez has been identified.

Sixty percent said they were not interested in the World Baseball Classic, the preseason tournament involving major leaguers that was won by Japan for the second time.

But the cost of tickets, concessions, parking and everything else added up to fans’ main concern. The toll of attending a game was tops at 45 percent, followed by player salaries (29 percent), steroids/drugs (19 percent) and the length of games (6 percent).

According to the Team Marketing Report, the cost for 2009 has not been determined yet, but last year the average ticket price in majors was around $25.43. To counteract the situation, Major League Baseball has said that about two-third teams among all 30 ones are deciding to lower either their average ticket price or some level of seats. The example was given by the Toronto Blue Jays, which went a step further by offering a season ticket in the upper deck for $76.

Margaret Costello, a retired teacher from Sandusky, Ohio, and fan of Sabathia said, “I’m not happy about the prices.” She also said, “Every sports team in America, every professional athlete is out of line. We have people losing their jobs, and CC Sabathia – I love him, he was my favorite – he gets more millions than a third-world country’s national budget.”

Sabathia, who signed a seven-year, $161 million deal with the Yankees, accepted that sentiment and said, “I’m not surprised with the economy being so bad and the way things are, the price of a ticket is probably going to be high.”

The opening of the new season in less than a week and the MLB is bruised and battered of everything it has to deal with in the off-season. They barely had their rest from the controversies, they are now about to face the pressure of the ballgames. However, before they do so they have to pay attention, at the very least, to what the fans are saying. They have grown tired of the steroids talk and they want some action, pronto. Some excitement was stirred when the news about Alex Rodriguez and several other ball players got involved with performance enhancing drugs. It gave the fans and the media something to talk about for a while. But when it started to dominate the headlines longer than it should, baseball buffs are getting annoyed. They want the old baseball game back.

In a way, the MLB did their best to put the issue under control by imposing penalties on those who are caught on dope. The first offense gets a 50 game suspension, second offense-100 game suspension and a lifetime ban on the third offense.

From The Daily News:

Moving forward there needs to be and outrage – the kind being directed at the crooks who hijacked our economic system. In the end, the marauders who molested Wall St. are no different than professional athletes who use steroids; both are consumed by the money to be made when you toss the rules aside and are governed by nothing more than gluttony.

“Ban ‘em for the whole year,” Red Sox slugger David Ortiz said last month.

While Ortiz’s suggestion is a good start, MLB needs to be tougher than it has ever been before. Here’s what the new punishments should be: a first offense gets you a year ban; a second offense gets you banned for life. No exceptions.

Fay Vincent, who was commissioner in 1989-1992 said they are all working towards a lifetime ban for the offenders. That should make them think twice before they touch any of the banned substances.

The global financial crisis has hit the ballgames as well. A survey conducted by the Associated Press-Knowledge Networks showed the top result that fans found it expensive to watch baseball games these days. This is a rather dismal view especially with the season opening in less than a week. Not to mention that the major league has just come from a steroid controversy which involved its best players. Apparently all the issues in the MLB are stressing the fans out.

From The Associated Press:

That would make for a cheap seat at either of the two new ballparks opening in New York. At the $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium, a ticket in the lower deck between the bases goes for a minimum of $350 and tops out at $2,625.

At the Mets’ Citi Field, it’s $18 just to park.

The average ticket price in the majors was $25.43 last year — up 11.7 percent over the previous season, according to The Team Marketing Report. The 2009 cost hasn’t been determined, but the increases typically outpace the inflation rate.

MLB said two-thirds of the 30 teams lowered either their average ticket price or some level of seats. The Toronto Blue Jays went even further, offering a season ticket in the upper deck for $76 — less than $1 per game for all 81 home dates.

Next highest opinion of the fans in the survey is that players who are, or have been, involved in steroids should not be voted into the Hall of Fame. Fan Robert Moore of Clearwater Florida said that players who were into performance enhancing drugs shouldn’t even be recognized.

Third highest among the fan’s concerns is the exaggerated salaries that the players were getting. New York Yankees Mark Teixeira’s signing bonus was $181 million and CC Sabathia signed $161 million. This is comparable to a third world country’s national budget according to Margaret Costello. Sabathia remains nonchalant about this and just hopes that fans would still watch them this season.

Steroids may not be a cause of concern among European footballers, but another kind of drug addiction is gaining some popularity among England’s elite. A recent test conducted by Uefa doctors in the Euro 2008 had revealed almost 60% of the players were taking non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs. These are not steroids but they cause almost the same side-effecst: problems on the liver and the kidney.

John Terry admits that he uses the anti-inflammatory injections. But his confidence is in the high-tech and expensive medical care that is available in Chelsea and England to prevent complications to keep the headlines from getting into a frenzy.

From Telegraph:

Terry could end up in a wheelchair while even those of his team-mates taking NSAIDs must be made aware of the “side-effect risks“, according to Uefa.

Footballers have always risked long-term pain for short-term gain, pushing their bodies to the brink and beyond. The sight of a Seventies legend hobbling into a commentary box, his knees shot by too many cortisone injections, is a staple of modern match-day life.

In the five months leading up to Euro 2008, Uefa granted permission for 16 of the 368 players due to play in the tournament to receive cortisone injections, while eight more were injected during the June tournament itself.

Those numbers are manageable, greatly reduced from the Seventies and Eighties, as players begin to appreciate the dangers. NSAIDs are now the main concern because of the numbers of players taking pills.

NSAIDs are actually used to treat injuries and problems in the bones and muscles, especially among the elite players in English football. However, Uefa medical committee vice chairman Professor bwarns of the potential harm that NSAIDs can do to the liver and kidney. He is now requesting for a debate regarding this matter. England shouldn’t disregard Ekstrand’s warning this time. He previously conducted a research with findings that players who do not have a break or a period of rest were most likely to get injured 5 times more than those who were off for the winter. This was later proven by Sir Alex Ferguson with the players from Manchester United.

Labeled as a steroid cheater, Justin Gatlin, who is in the midst of his four-year ban, was preparing hard to come back on track. The 27-year-old sprinter is on a four-year suspension from the competitions after testing positive for steroid in April 2006.

After practice session he said, “The track is home and this is where I belong.” When asked about the steroid issue, He also said that he didn’t use steroids intentionally. Gatlin claimed that it was the outcome of a massage done with a steroid cream.

Prior to this, the claim was originally made by Trevor Graham, his former coach, who said that the sprinter, before visiting doping control at the Kansas Relays, was pulled aside for a massage. However, the athlete didn’t make appeal against the penalty from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in August of that year.

Earlier, he got suspension for eight years for testing positive for amphetamines at the University of Tennessee. But the ban was cut to four years due to his claim that the test occurred positive because of Adderall, an attention deficit disorder drug.

But it now seems that Gatlin has kept whole issue on backburner and his eagerly waiting for July 2010 when his ban ends. In this period he is struggling to make a come back and once again will give his competitors nightmares.

From The Daily News:

Justin Gatlin has been away from that home for a long time. The 27-year-old sprinter is in the midst of a four-year ban from competition after a positive steroid test in April 2006. Gatlin maintains that he didn’t knowingly take steroids, claims a vengeful masseuse rubbed him with a steroid cream, causing the positive test. It was a claim originally made by Trevor Graham, Gatlin’s former coach and a BALCO defendant, who said the sprinter was pulled aside for a massage moments before visiting doping control at the Kansas Relays. Gatlin has since adopted the argument, although he didn’t fight the penalty from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in August of that year. He faced a lifetime ban, thanks to a prior positive test at the University of Tennessee for amphetamines found in the Attention Deficit Disorder drug Adderall, so Gatlin jumped when USADA offered an eight-year ban with an option to appeal if he acknowledged the tests.

Miguel Tejada, the star baseball player, was sentenced for a year’s probabtion and fine of $5,000 by federal court on the charges of misleading the Congress. In a 23-minute hearing on Thursday, the legendary player confessed his misleading act. Though any travel restriction was not put on the star by the court.

Tejada admitted that he withheld information from congressional investigators about the use of performance-enhancing drugs by an ex-teammate in 2005. He told U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay that he took full responsibility for not clearing the doubt and confusing the Congress.

Tejada apologized to everyone and said, “I learned a very important lesson.” He also admitted that he himself bought human growth hormone while playing for the Oakland Athletics but threw it without using.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Durham said, “People have to know that when Congress asks questions, it is serious business.” He also told that if you lie we can prove it that you are lying and then there will be no liability.

From ESPN:

Congress referred Tejada to the Justice Department in January 2008, a little more than a year before it asked that Clemens be investigated to determine whether he lied when saying he never used performance-enhancing drugs.

Tejada was the All-Star sitting in court this day, his chin resting on his right hand while Durham talked. Tejada was the past American League MVP receiving his punishment after pleading guilty last month and admitting he withheld information about an ex-teammate’s use of performance-enhancing drugs when questioned in 2005 by congressional investigators.

“I take full responsibility for not answering the question,” Tejada told U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay.

Standing at a lectern facing Kay, Tejada spoke softly for less than a minute, the talented hands he normally uses to grip a bat or field ground balls stuffed in the pant pockets of his pinstriped, three-piece suit.

Tejada became the first high-profile player whose name come with any sort of steroid issue from baseball. The court also gave a warning to another baseball star, Roger Clemens.

Ed Wade, Astros general manager, said in a statement that the team and whole organization was happy that the issue had been resolved. He also said, “Miguel can now focus on baseball and direct all of his energy toward being a key member of the Astros. It was resolved the way Miguel and his representatives believed it would be, and we can now all move forward.”

Tejada’s steroid issue started in March 2005 when Rafael Palmeiro, one of his teammate, claimed that he was tested positive because of a tainted B-12 vitamin injection given to him by Tejada. And from this point onwards, the needle of suspection moved towards the star player.