J.C. Romero might have learned the age old lesson the hard way. Actually, make that the extremely hard way…<
The burden of proof is always on the athlete. Always.
In other words, don’t ever assume innocent until proven guilty when it comes to the wild and wacky world of doping and drugs policing. Don’t put much faith in basic things like common sense or due process, either. Just don’t.
That’s because as soon as an athlete begins to trust any of the sports bureaucracies, he’s done. All J.C. Romero needs to do is to ask around. There are plenty of athletes who have had hard-earned championships stripped or Olympic dreams denied because of silly things because they didn't know what they were using had ingrediants that were on the "banned list."
For instance, maybe a guy had a sore throat and took a dose of cough syrup without a note from a doctor filed to the proper agency. Or maybe an athlete used the wrong hair gel not knowing that some have traces of the infamous steroid, androstenedione. Do they sell hair gel at GNC?
But guess what? The test came back positive. Don’t even think of washing your hair.
Or maybe a guy took dozens of drugs tests before a sample was sent to a questionable lab in France at the most curious time. Even though the guy passed every test before and after his event, that one sloppy sample can ruin a career and a bank account just like that.
Floyd Landis lost $2 million of his own money fighting his case – one that any self-respecting judge in the U.S. would have laughed right out of court – because of testing errors and protocol violations without even the consideration of due process.
J.C. Romero will lose 50 games and $1.25 million of his own money for going to GNC...
Even though his own union initially told him there was nothing he could buy over-the-counter that would elicit a failed test.
Even though the opinions of two different nutritionists and his own team athletic trainer gave him the go-ahead to take those supplements purchased at shop in a mall in Cherry Hill, N.J.
Even though MLB, the MLBPA and everyone else agreed that the positive doping test Romero turned in (despite piles of negatives before and after) was from the vitamins he bought in Cherry Hill.
Even though the chemist behind the supplement he took also was the inventor of “The Clear,” worked for BALCO and was sentenced to jail for conspiring to distribute steroids.
Even though Romero trusted the people he was supposed to put faith in and thinks he acted without negligence, the Phils’ pitcher was found guilty by MLB based on an arbitrator’s ruling of “negligence.”
Yeah, get that… Romero tells everyone what he was taking and when he was going to take it, they say OK and then tell him he was guilty of being “negligent.”
Shoot, he would have been better off taking the stuff Victor Conte and the BALCO gang was dishing out. So yeah, Romero tested positive for vitamins and Barry Bonds never tested positive for anything.
Good work, guys.
“Basically, I am being punished for not having a chemistry lab in my house to test everything I put in my body, because reading the ingredients on a label is no longer good enough,” Romero said. “I am all for catching the guys that cheat and punishing them. But I feel like I'm the victim of system where a player like me is punished because other players before me have blatantly broken the rules.”
The MLBPA, at least to a degree, have Romero’s back. They admit there is nothing else they can do to lessen the penalty for the Phils’ pitcher since the appeals process has played out.
“We strongly disagree with the commissioner's discipline and with the arbitrator's decision. Romero ... legally purchased nutritional supplements from national chain stores in the United States. Nothing on the labels of those supplements indicated that they contained a trace amount of a substance prohibited under Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Neither player intentionally ingested this prohibited substance, but the arbitrator nevertheless found, wrongly in our view, that the players' conduct violated the Program's ‘no fault or negligence’ standard.
“The union respects the arbitration process and treats the decision as final. In our view, though, the resulting discipline imposed upon ... Romero is unfair. [He] should not be suspended. [His] unknowing actions plainly are distinguishable from those of a person who intentionally used an illegal performance-enhancing substance.
“The association and the commissioner's office must now act to prevent future similar occurrences within baseball. The association remains committed to a strong Joint Drug Program, but will continue to advocate forcefully for fair treatment of our members.”
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is remaining tight-lipped about Romero’s case and defended Doug Lien, the team’s strength and conditioning coordinator whom Romero consulted.
Whether or not there was a communication breakdown, Amaro isn’t saying.
“We can't really comment on the specifics of it,” Amaro said. “I support how Major League Baseball has handled the drug policy issue all along and we continue to support it. Again, we cannot comment on the specifics of the issue. I'll sound like a broken record here, but the fact of the matter is we're supportive of J.C. It's an unfortunate event. We'll deal with it, and we'll move forward from it.”
Unfortunate, indeed. But it is not without its merits. You see, Romero learned a bit here about how he is accountable for anything that is in his body. The collective bargaining agreement is easily available. It’s online for anyone to read – whether one is a chemist or not.
Since the burden of proof is always on the athlete, Romero should be aware of the company he keeps. Actually, he should be aware of the company the makers of the products he ingested keep.
Because speaking of BALCO, it is interesting that the supplements Romero took, called 6-OXO Extreme, cost $70 for 60 capsules and are made by none other than Patrick Arnold. For those without their doping scorecard handy, Arnold was the chemist for Conte at BALCO. He also is widely credited with creating “the clear,” the famous undetectable steroid that BALCO provided to athletes.
In 2006, Arnold pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute steroids, and was sentenced to three months in prison and three months of home confinement. He was among five people convicted in the BALCO case. As part of his plea agreement, he did not have to name athletes and coaches to whom he supplied drugs.
These days he fronts a company called Ergopharm, a maker of supplements that aren’t so covert as his previous work with BALCO.
Romero is kicking himself now.
What now?
Easy.
Take nothing.
If it’s stronger than coffee, Red Bull or ibuprofen maybe baseball and ballplayers should treat it as a banned substance.