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Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

TransMonk Mar 02 2010 08:19 AM

So, I was on the eliptical machine yesterday evening, huffing and puffing, 25 minutes into my hour workout and trying to concentrate on the calories being burned out of my body. I have the TV tuned to Sportscenter, which is a horrible show, but I need the mindless babble while I'm melting fat and Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader requires too much brainpower. Sportscenter was recycling the day's news...Jets are going to release Jones, Syracuse is #1, Canadians are good at hockey, college football players are looking for jobs, and A-Rod is being questioned about some doctor who was providing PEDs or steroids or some such to MLBers. I was paying enough attention to this last story to crack a smile through my exhales at A-Rod's "no comment" to questions involving his involvement with this doctor. However, as I went back to counting how many reps per minute I was doing, I heard that weenie Mike Greenberg say at the end of the Dr. PED story: "...and New York Met's shortstop Jose Reyes." Because I was not paying attention, I have no idea as to the context of why Reyes would be mentioned in the story about PEDs, doctors and A-Rod. Did anyone else see this...and if so, can you help a brother out with some context?

metirish Mar 02 2010 08:23 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 02 2010 08:28 AM

It's nothing , Reyes got a perfectly legal blood spinning treatment from a doctor in Canada who is suspected of trying to bring performance-enhancing drugs across the border.The FBI spoke to Reyes about the doc and that was it....we hope. I guess some people are wondering out loud why all these rich athletes are going to Canada to get treatments that are available in the USA.

TransMonk Mar 02 2010 08:27 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Whew...that's a relief. I can't help but think ESPN is trying to sensationalize the story by including Reyes' name. This is how rumors get started. Especially with Jose batting 3rd right now. Or maybe I should just pay closer attention. Thanks, Irish!

Edgy DC Mar 02 2010 08:28 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

I guess some people are wondering out loud why all these rich athletes are going to Canada to get treatments that are available in the USA. Seems to be a reasonable question, given the context.

metirish Mar 02 2010 08:29 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[quote="Edgy DC"] I guess some people are wondering out loud why all these rich athletes are going to Canada to get treatments that are available in the USA. Seems to be a reasonable question, given the context.

No doubt , and of course it becomes a bigger story when Tiger Woods and Rodriguez are some of his clients.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 02 2010 08:35 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Well, I don't doubt Reyes is just as dirty as A-Rod, and that this whole "blood-spinning" bullshit isn't just an elaborate cover for serious doping and I wish Reyes would just distance himself from this prick, who got caught when he forced assistants to run HGH across borders from him and was associated with any number of athletes who are are proven cheats. Good stuff in the Snooze on this just the other day.

metirish Mar 02 2010 08:41 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Yeah, I would tend to agree with that JCL. Woods brings the guy to Florida and he's not licensed to practice for treatment after his knee surgery. Obviously there is a lot of shady stuff going on with him. Question. Would the Mets know that Reyes was seeing this guy?

Frayed Knot Mar 02 2010 08:46 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[quote="metirish"]Would the Mets know that Reyes was seeing this guy?

Not necessarily.

I just got a kick out of the differences in the way the two (AR & JR) handled the questions thrown at them.
- Reyes didn't try to deny seeing the guy, talked openly of the questioning he went through and just claimed that any treatment he got from his is all above board, yadda, yadda.
- ARod, on the other hand, gives some kind of awkward and lawyerly, '... ummm, I don't think I should comment at this time while the process is still ...' whatever, whatever.

themetfairy Mar 02 2010 08:50 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Blood spinning? What the heck is that? It reminds me of the movie Ruthless People, when Bette Midler is telling her kidnappers that she hopes she doesn't miss her doctor's appointment. When Helen Slater asks what's wrong, Bette says that she's going for her urine injection. "Why?" asks Helen. Bette answers, "It promotes weight loss." Helen - "Does it work?" Chubby Bette, snapping, "Yeah, it works!" That sounds about as medically sound to me as blood spinning, whatever the crap that is.

Edgy DC Mar 02 2010 08:53 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

I suspect willful ignorance is the gateway to a lot of dirty athletes. You're rich and famous, but everybody wants your job and it can all come crashing down in moments. Some money-grubbing charlatan has a technique that can help you. Your conscience is briefly pricked and you ask, "You're not doping me are you?" And he responds, "No... NO! Whoah, uh-uh. Never even thought about it, but I totally understand your concern. We're just taking some blood, and... spinning it. Not doping it but spinning it, you see." You should know better, but he's telling you exactly what you want to hear. By the time you wise up, you're in too deep to turn back, and all that's left is the cover-up, and the lie piled on lie that it entails.

TransMonk Mar 02 2010 08:57 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Wiki says: Blood-spinning is a method used by athletes to shorten the time to heal an injury. Small samples of the athlete's blood are spun in a centrifuge to increase the concentration of growth hormones. Calcium and the enzyme thrombin are added, forming a gel that is high in natural growth hormones. The sample is then injected into the wound, which can then heal as much as five times faster. Using this procedure can fall foul of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) due to possible non-natural elements introduced into the athlete's body. A notable case where this procedure was used is that of NFL player Hines Ward. Following this there have been calls to legalize the procedure as scientists argue that it does not improve performance, only recovery time.

metirish Mar 02 2010 09:08 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

I'm picturing Jeff Goldblum circa "The Fly" and horrible mutations coming for Reyes from the blood-spinning .

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 02 2010 09:11 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[quote="themetfairy"]Blood spinning? What the heck is that? It reminds me of the movie Ruthless People, when Bette Midler is telling her kidnappers that she hopes she doesn't miss her doctor's appointment. When Helen Slater asks what's wrong, Bette says that she's going for her urine injection. "Why?" asks Helen. Bette answers, "It promotes weight loss." Helen - "Does it work?" Chubby Bette, snapping, "Yeah, it works!" That sounds about as medically sound to me as blood spinning, whatever the crap that is.

I remember reading about this in the context of the Tour de France "blood-doping" stories from the last few years. The basic idea-- as I understand it-- is to centrifuge the blood, so that you skim off the red blood cells and get a platelet-heavy goo; the doctor then adds calcium and some naturally-occurring enzyme and make said goo into a gel, which is injected into an area requiring recovery (the idea being, the same growth factors that make for wound-healing work better when concentrated/prodded by the calcium enzyme mix). It's different from the "doping" that the cyclists/other endurance-sport guys supposedly indulge in, which involves concentration-and-storage just prior to competing, and deriving increased endurance/other competitive benefit from the superoxygenated blood. BUUUUT, because of the surface similarities between the procedures, it's still banned by WADA (the world's leading anti-doping agency)... so for international-type competish-- the Olympics, the Tour, the World Cup?-- it's out.

I think the "legality" issue comes into play because most sports-medicine guys don't seem to want to touch it, both because of the (supposed) limited benefit, and the immense risk in being seen as dirty by WADA (and the numerous associations that live by its word). It's legal (or at least, NOT ILlegal), as I understand, but it's not exactly approved, right?

OE: Sucks to your Wiki!

RealityChuck Mar 02 2010 09:13 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[quote="metirish":368cd6ow]Question. Would the Mets know that Reyes was seeing this guy?[/quote:368cd6ow]Reports I've seen said: 1. Yes, the knew. 2. They told him that doctor had a shady reputation and tried to dissuade him from going. 3. Members of the Mets medical staff went with Reyes to make sure the doctor wasn't giving him any banned substances.

Edgy DC Mar 02 2010 09:15 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Carlos Beltran has been added to the witness list. Oooh, you want to make the guy look even creepier? Crop out his face and set it against a white void background.

Ceetar Mar 02 2010 09:24 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[quote="RealityChuck":1hhs4pv1][quote="metirish":1hhs4pv1]Question. Would the Mets know that Reyes was seeing this guy?[/quote:1hhs4pv1]Reports I've seen said: 1. Yes, the knew. 2. They told him that doctor had a shady reputation and tried to dissuade him from going. 3. Members of the Mets medical staff went with Reyes to make sure the doctor wasn't giving him any banned substances.[/quote:1hhs4pv1] Woah.. You expect me to believe a Mets player went to the Mets for permission, the Mets didn't like it, but they worked together in a way to make everyone happy? No way! I mean, obviously it's suspect, but Reyes' comments did seem to suggest he went there as a result of the injury, and that it didn't work, and that it wasn't like he was a regular doctor Jose saw regularly.

themetfairy Mar 02 2010 09:37 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

TM and LWFS - thanks for the info.

MFS62 Mar 02 2010 09:42 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

What set off the investigation was when the Doctor's nurse was stopped entering the US from Canada. Her car was randomly searched, and they found drugs that are still illegal in this country, while legal in Canada. Some of them were "PEDs". That led to an investigation of the doctor and the names of several prominent American athletes were found on his patient lists. There is, as far as I can tell, still no evidence that he prescribed, or gave, anything illegal (in the US) to any of those athletes. Nor is there any evidence that he added anything into the athletes' blood when he re-injected it. Yes, this might be considered blood doping, which is illegal in some sports (someone above mentioned bike racing). But whether it is the exact same thing is still unclear. Later

Ashie62 Mar 02 2010 09:54 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[quote="MFS62":1xx69mw3]What set off the investigation was when the Doctor's nurse was stopped entering the US from Canada. Her car was randomly searched, and they found drugs that are still illegal in this country, while legal in Canada. Some of them were "PEDs". That led to an investigation of the doctor and the names of several prominent American athletes were found on his patient lists. There is, as far as I can tell, still no evidence that he prescribed, or gave, anything illegal (in the US) to any of those athletes. Nor is there any evidence that he added anything into the athletes' blood when he re-injected it. Yes, this might be considered blood doping, which is illegal in some sports (someone above mentioned bike racing). But whether it is the exact same thing is still unclear. Later[/quote:1xx69mw3] Spot on..This type of doping gained prominence in cycling...As far as Reyes, Arod..who knows what crap got pumped into them Its all plasma over the dam now

Valadius Mar 02 2010 09:55 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Here's my guess - he's providing big-name athletes with sexual-performance-enhancing drugs.

Ashie62 Mar 02 2010 09:58 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[quote="Valadius"]Here's my guess - he's providing big-name athletes with sexual-performance-enhancing drugs.

What kinda of esplosion is Reye's referring to?

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 02 2010 10:02 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[quote="MFS62":2g689360] Yes, this might be considered blood doping, which is illegal in some sports (someone above mentioned bike racing). But whether it is the exact same thing is still unclear. Later[/quote:2g689360] Pretty clear, actually. (Psst... Ashie-- reading is fundamental. Reading comprehension, moreso.) Leaving aside the surface similarities, one-- "doping"-- is an injection of fresh, concentrated blood, something which gives a proven/measurable boost to endurance, the night before/day of an endurance sport event. The other is reinjecting a gel derived from the athlete's own blood-- and mixed with calcium and a naturally-occurring hormone-- to promote faster healing. There's no "boost" to anything on-field from said process-- A-Rod, Reyes, and Woods all sought the guy's treatment while injured. To my mind-- and the Feds' mind, presumably-- the question is whether they touched/knew anything about the other stuff that Doc was doing, not whether this particular procedure constitutes anything illegal (sporting-brand or actual, bars-and-fines-brand).

MFS62 Mar 02 2010 10:06 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Now that you defined the difference (which I had not read before), it is clear. Not the same thing. And your guess that they will be interviewed about the illegal stuff makes sense, too. Later

Edgy DC Mar 02 2010 10:10 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

And I'd say there is evidence to suggest actual PED use by the athletes. It's certainly circumstantial and insufficient, but it'd be silly to ignore the red flags.

Ashie62 Mar 02 2010 10:39 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[quote="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr":36c6b5cv][quote="MFS62":36c6b5cv] Yes, this might be considered blood doping, which is illegal in some sports (someone above mentioned bike racing). But whether it is the exact same thing is still unclear. Later[/quote:36c6b5cv] Pretty clear, actually. (Psst... Ashie-- reading is fundamental. Reading comprehension, moreso.) Leaving aside the surface similarities, one-- "doping"-- is an injection of fresh, concentrated blood, something which gives a proven/measurable boost to endurance, the night before/day of an endurance sport event. The other is reinjecting a gel derived from the athlete's own blood-- and mixed with calcium and a naturally-occurring hormone-- to promote faster healing. There's no "boost" to anything on-field from said process-- A-Rod, Reyes, and Woods all sought the guy's treatment while injured. To my mind-- and the Feds' mind, presumably-- the question is whether they touched/knew anything about the other stuff that Doc was doing, not whether this particular procedure constitutes anything illegal (sporting-brand or actual, bars-and-fines-brand).[/quote:36c6b5cv] What did I miss? Thanks

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 02 2010 11:39 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

NP... Monky and I explained the differences 'tween spinning and doping above in the thread.

Valadius Mar 02 2010 12:16 PM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Breaking: Feds want to talk to Beltran now regarding this case.

MFS62 Mar 09 2010 09:59 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

I wonder what sport she plays? http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/201003 ... ost/490080 Later

Fman99 Mar 09 2010 10:01 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[quote="MFS62":8vtuse1u]I wonder what sport she plays? http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/201003 ... ost/490080 Later[/quote:8vtuse1u] I wouldn't really call "being a dumb fuck" a sport. It's more of a pursuit.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 09 2010 10:08 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[quote="MFS62"]I wonder what sport she plays? http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/201003 ... ost/490080 Later

I can see her fearmongering-imbecile hypocrisy from my house!

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 09 2010 10:17 AM Re: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Whoa, she's gone Totally Rougue