ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 26px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style6 { text-decoration: underline; } .style7 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2">&nbsp;</td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">&nbsp;</p> <p class="style4">McGwire&#39;s Mea Culpa</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright Jan..11, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style7">&nbsp;F</span>ormer St. Louis Cardinal s slugger Mark McGwire stunned the baseball world today admitting he used steroids for up to 10 years, including his record-breaking 1998 season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When he smashed New York Yankee homerun king Roger Maris 17-year-old single-season record Sept. 8, 1998, the Maris family was at Busch Stadium to personally congratulate him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No one knew then that McGwire was using performance-enhancing drugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Roger Maris, after all, performed the unthinkable besting Yankee Hall of Fame legend Babe Ruth s 60-homerun cosmic plateau.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Babe s single-season homerun record stood for 34 years, before Maris broke it on an extended 161 game-season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Ruth s record was set in a 154-game season, arguably baseball s most impressive accomplishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While Ruth died Aug. 16, 1948 of cancer at age 53, he still remains one of baseball s all-time greats.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McGwire s confession rocked the baseball world not because McGwire was considered beyond reproach but precisely because of his denials since implicated by his Oakaland A s teammate and fellow  bash-brother Jose Canseco.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Canseco outed McGwire and numerous other players in his tell-all 2005 book,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Juiced:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Wild Times, Rampant Roids, Smash Hits &amp; How Baseball Got Big. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Canseco was reviled by former players for daring to tell the truth about Major League Baseball s dirty little secret:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The widespread use of steroids, HGH and other performance-enhancing drugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Canseco s revelations and testimony, both private and under oath, prompted a 2005 Congressional investigation led by former Sen. George Mitchell (D-Maine).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McGwire testified under oath before House Government Reform Committee March 17, 2005, refusing to answer questions about past steroid use.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McGwire s refusal to answer the committee&#39;s questions raised eyebrows, prompting Congress to apply maximum pressure on MLB, both Commissioner Bud Selig and Players Union Chief Donald Fehr, to adopt a tough zero-tolerance steroid policy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McGwire s decision today to admit his past steroid use seems timed with St. Louis Cardinal Manager Tony LaRussa announcing that he would name McGwire St. Louis hitting coach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I wish I had never played during the steroid era, said McGwire, expressing regrets about using performance-enhancing drugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He claims he took steroids and HGH, not to improve his on-field performance but to help heal injuries that plagued his career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McGwire acknowledged using steroids during the 1998 season in which he battled Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa for the homerun title, eventually beating out Sosa 70-66.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>While McGwire lost his homerun crown to San Francisco Giant s slugger Barry Bonds who broke his record Oct. 5, 2001, eventually ending the season with 73 homeruns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since Bond s spectacular feat, he s been dogged by allegations of steroid abuse, HGH and other performance enhancing drugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Bonds, like McGwire, denied any use of performance-enhancing drugs, despite well-documented reports by San Francisco Chronicle Sports writers Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada s 2006 book  Game of Shadows, implicating Bonds with his trainer Greg Anderson of BALCO, Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative, a supplement company that supplied athletes, including Bonds, with the  clear, a cream that contained Human Chorionic Gonadatropin [HCG] hormone, one derived from the amniotic fluid of pregnant women, a potent testosterone booster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McGwires s mea culpa presents problems for Bonds, whose Nov. 15, 2007 grand jury indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice for steroid abuse hangs over his head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McGwires s public confession puts pressure on Bonds and former Boston, N.Y. Yankie and Houston Astro ace Roger Clemens, who, like Bonds, denies any steroid use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come, said McGwire about his mea culpa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> It s time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected, putting more pressure on Bonds, Clemens and others not yet willing to cop to using performance-enhancing drugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>  Big Mac blamed his March 5, 2005 Congressional stonewalling on his lawyer s advice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I m not here to talk about the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I m here to be positive about the subject, said McGwire, refusing to name names or answer any questions.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McGwire s confession comes almost 12 years since his Sept. 8, 1998 record-breaking moment at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While he despised his former teammate Jose Canseco for blowing the whistle in 2005, McGwire now sees the value of coming clean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> That was the worst 48 hours of his life, McGwire reflected on his stonewalling before Congress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Now that Mark seeks a return to professional baseball, he sees the value in telling the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> His willingness to admit mistakes, express regret, and explain the circumstances that led his to use steroids add to my respect for him, said St. Louis Cardinal Manager Tony LaRussa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While there s nothing wrong with asking for forgiveness, McGwire needs to extend a personal apology to Canseco for showing the courage to endure his endless denials, wrath and public scorn for exposing MLB s dirty little secret.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span class="style6">About the Author </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author <i>of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a></i> and <i><a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a></i>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>