NY Daily News: Ankiel linked to HGH

...and it will be a standard element of athletic training.

It wasn't that long ago (but before my time, just saying) that ballplayers wouldn't lift weights...screw up your swing, your pitching mechanics. Same for the NBA--everyone was skinny stringbean until Michael Jordan got tired of Laimbeer dragging him up and down the court, and he started lifting weights. Now it seems ridiculous, to think that athletes and trainers wouldn't understand the benefit of muscle. We'll be saying the same thing about hgh a couple of decades from now (or sooner), and we'll be asterisking the hell out of everything that happens before and after.

Quite a conundrum for professional sports leagues/owners, no? Provide a legal and safe way for players to recover faster, play longer, stay physically healthy while you recoup your multi-billion dollar investment? I'm not even being cynical, it just makes sense.

 

I'm not sure I'd apply tragic to Ankiel's situation, either. But no matter what stupid stuff the guy did, having a player die still qualifies.

 

HGH already is being used by millions of Americans who can afford it. The only reason it's not being used by even more people is that it has a pretty steep cost. I'd be willing to bet that 20 years from now it -- or some advanced form -- will be commonly used to aid the healing and recovery of sports injuries. It works.

 

but, doc's still don't write prescriptions so players can hit home runs.

 

But they could write legitimate prescriptions if physical recovery became an approved use.

That's where this is headed...not just for athletes, but for the general population. It won't be about hitting home runs, it will be about healing faster and staying stronger, whether you're a pitcher or a bus driver with arthritis.

 

still doesn't make it legal in 2007.

 

Doctors write prescriptions so people can heal better and faster. Ankiel was still a pitcher and recovering from "Tommy John" surgery when he allegedly purchased HGH three years ago.

 

from a florida drug house that filled fake prescriptions ... if the story i hear/read is correct.

 

Correct. It does not.

Cranberry--if Ankiel had a legitimate use for hgh related to his surgery, he probably could/would/should have asked the doctors who did his surgery, doncha think?

 

Seriously -- this didn't occur to you at all?

 

Ideally, yes. Unfortunately, while HGH obviously helps in the process of healing and injury recovery, I'm pretty sure those reasons don't come under doctors' guidelines for prescribing the drug ... yet.

Athletes are pretty far ahead of the curve. Personally, I take issue with the guidelines more than I do with the people who do what they feel necessary to salvage a career in which there's such a small window of opportunity.

But, heck, I'm known to drive over the speed limit, too, so don't take my word for it.

 

logic class, please.