Report: Suspected Drug Dealer Names Capitals And Nationals

[leafs_rock_go_mccabe]

Source (TSN)

The Tampa Tribune and Washington Times report that law enforcement officials in Lakeland, Fla., arrested two people Tuesday on charges of steroid possession, and that the individuals claimed to have sold them to players on the Washington Capitals and Washington Nationals.

At a Tuesday news conference, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said officers arrested Richard and Sandra Thomas on 10 counts of steroid possession with intent to distribute, 10 counts of importing the drugs and one count of maintaining a residence for drug sales.

Judd added that Richard Thomas boasted about being one of the largest sellers of steroids in Florida, and while Thomas did mention the Capitals and Nationals by name, he did not name players.

"Richard Thomas told Sheriff's narcotics detectives when he was asked if he had sold steroids to professional athletes, 'Name the sport - if they played it, I sold it,'" Judd said in a statement. "Then Richard Thomas went further and specifically mentioned two professional sports teams from the Washington D.C. area whose players he had sold steroids to - the DC Nationals baseball team, and the Washington Capitals hockey team. While he stated to detectives that he sold steroids to professional athletes on those teams, he did not mention any specific players' names."

Both teams had no immediate comment when contacted by TSN, but the Capitals said they would release a statement later.

Judd added that detectives have yet to uncover any corroborating evidence to support Thomas' claims, but that an investigation is ongoing.

[SteenIsThaFuture]

"Yawn" so what? Hockey players are on drugs, like baseball players, like basketball players, like football players, like freaking golf players (and for some unknown reason.... NASCAR drivers).

Its no big deal, people have to stop crying over PED's. Theres nothing wrong with them, the athlete has a choice, take 5 years off their lives and become stronger/bigger or don't.

Before anyone brings up records, no record is sacred in sports.... NONE! The length of schedules, change of rules, alteration of competetion level and other factors that influence the game from the past make so many records worthless.

Its their choice let them do it, wouldn't be surprised if over 20% of NHL players are juiced and that being generous.

[tmash]

The problem is if you don't stop it it becomes less and less of a 'choice' as players think they need to take the substances just to keep up. So you end up in a situation where you basically encourage kids and young athletes to take a dangerous substance.

[SteenIsThaFuture]

The problem is if you don't stop it it becomes less and less of a 'choice' as players think they need to take the substances just to keep up. So you end up in a situation where you basically encourage kids and young athletes to take a dangerous substance.

I could understand that and I agree, but I hate how people think that PED users are cheaters or evil people when its nothing from the truth.

[tmash]

I could understand that and I agree, but I hate how people think that PED users are cheaters or evil people when its nothing from the truth.

Well if they are against the rules, then using them would make you a cheater.

If it is a league / sport where they are allowed, using them isn't cheating.

Seems pretty simple to me, in the NHL since they are banned, using them constitutes cheating.

[SteenIsThaFuture]

Well if they are against the rules, then using them would make you a cheater.

If it is a league / sport where they are allowed, using them isn't cheating.

Seems pretty simple to me, in the NHL since they are banned, using them constitutes cheating.

Ok cheating was a bad choice of word (even though its just recently become illegal and I bet if people were found using them from 8-10 years ago, people would still call them cheaters as they do in baseball) such as the images upon Bonds and Arod, even though when they did it it was perfectly legal.

[roy_133]

No surprise. Of course there's steroids in hockey, it helps a hockey player just like it helps a sprinter, baseball/football player or a cyclist.

The excuses I hear in hockey "Hockey players need to be fast so they don't want to be too muscular" are laughable. I heard the samething in baseball/golf (if you're too muscle bound it will ruin your swing), I heard the same excuse in track (If you get too big you'll lose your speed).

I don't know where the perception that any and every steroid makes you 300 pounds of pure muscle came from anyway but it's obviously not necessarily the case.

How big of an issue will it be if it comes to light that star players have taken steroids? Who knows. In baseball it's an incredibly big issue because of the way the stats/records are cherished (IMO), people don't have that much of an issue when an NFL player tests positive.

[tmash]

I'm guessing it's moreso grinders who are barely clinging onto a job and need all the help they can get (also these guys tend to depend on size a little more since they usually need to play physical to keep their spot).

But it wouldn't shock me if star players were involved either.

[gracie12]

Its no big deal, people have to stop crying over PED's. Theres nothing wrong with them, the athlete has a choice, take 5 years off their lives and become stronger/bigger or don't.

Actually, I think 5 years is being optimistic. Depending upon who you talk to you, you could be shaving up to 20 years off your life.

The problem is if you don't stop it it becomes less and less of a 'choice' as players think they need to take the substances just to keep up. So you end up in a situation where you basically encourage kids and young athletes to take a dangerous substance.

Agree 100%.

Its like drunk driving - if some idiot wants to drink & get behind the wheel of a car & drive on a closed course & kill themselves, I dont particularly care. The problem is that they dont drive on closed courses, they drive on OUR shared roads & they put themselves & their passengers at risk.

The issue is not about the specific guys who are doing it, its about the ones who feel 'forced' to do it just to compete. I mean honestly if you were thinking about being a track and field short distance sprinter & didnt want to do any PEDs you might as well give up right now, you're never going to win.

[leafs_rock_go_mccabe]

I'm guessing it's moreso grinders who are barely clinging onto a job and need all the help they can get (also these guys tend to depend on size a little more since they usually need to play physical to keep their spot).

But it wouldn't shock me if star players were involved either.

Maybe that's why Georges Laraque's body is starting to fall apart? Years of substance abuse have destroyed his body!

[SteenIsThaFuture]

I'm guessing it's moreso grinders who are barely clinging onto a job and need all the help they can get (also these guys tend to depend on size a little more since they usually need to play physical to keep their spot).

But it wouldn't shock me if star players were involved either.

Well I would imagine PED's could improve shots as well, so for all we know Ovechkin and Green could be juiced.

[leafs_rock_go_mccabe]

So THAT's why Ovechkin is running around and slamming himself into the boards all the time!

[Manatee-X]

"Yawn" so what? Hockey players are on drugs, like baseball players, like basketball players, like football players, like freaking golf players (and for some unknown reason.... NASCAR drivers).

Its no big deal, people have to stop crying over PED's. Theres nothing wrong with them, the athlete has a choice, take 5 years off their lives and become stronger/bigger or don't.

Before anyone brings up records, no record is sacred in sports.... NONE! The length of schedules, change of rules, alteration of competetion level and other factors that influence the game from the past make so many records worthless.

Its their choice let them do it, wouldn't be surprised if over 20% of NHL players are juiced and that being generous.

My main arguement would be that some players using means that others are almost forced to do the same in order to keep up, but that point's been made by a few people already so I'll offer the following up instead.

Don't you find that this whole drug thing just takes some of the 'magic' out of sport? I know that it's fun to cheer for your favourite team, but in a broader sense people watch athletes because they are able to do what almost nobody else in the world can do. Whether it's the stamina of a marathon runner, the strength of a weight lifter or mastering the unique combination of skills required to play hockey, fans are genuinely impressed by the results these people can milk from their bodies compared to what you or I could do. The hard work and raw ability required to become the absolute BEST at something is a real achievement, and for me what makes something like the Olympics or the playoffs so fun to watch.

PEDs illegitimize the whole process, in my opinion. When it's no longer only about how hard someone works or how good they are but instead about who decided to take a risk in getting an artificial boost, it cheapens the work and talent of those players who didn't choose to get juiced. It's just not as impressive to know that someone needed artificial help to perform what seemed such an impossible feat for a normal person.

Plus, where does it end? Say in the future a player implants a chip in his brain, releasing adrenaline on command whenever he needs that extra bit of speed, is that still alright? What if he cuts off his legs, replaces them with 'robo-legs' and can skate twice as fast as anyone else? What if the NHL just forgot about actual human players and just started using hockey super-robots? (Does anyone remember that rediculously lame mini-series on the CBC about this a few years back? Yeeeeeeeesh.... ) Anyway, these are all stupid examples. My point is, though, is that once a player's not getting to where he is based solely on his own merits it's just not that impressive (and thus not as fun to watch).

[ruuvimeisseli]

Give koivu some of those.

[Guest]

Maybe the guy was selling Theo some hair growing steroids.

[fourtrax]

I don't care about the magic of the sport. I care about ex-players dying in their '50s like pro wrestlers because of steroid use. That is not something kids should be encouraged to do.

[zenderjetta]

How big of an issue will it be if it comes to light that star players have taken steroids? Who knows. In baseball it's an incredibly big issue because of the way the stats/records are cherished (IMO), people don't have that much of an issue when an NFL player tests positive.

I think it will be a very big issue here in Canada. I say will because I think it is only a matter of time before a star hockey player is linked to performance enhancing drugs - it has happened in too many other sports, all of which also denied there was an issue. I think it will be a huge issue mostly because in this country ANYTHING to do with hockey becomes a big deal. In the US its anyone's guess. Remember the hurricane that exploded around Richard Pound's estimate that a quarter (I think that was the number) of players were on steroids. Had he been in the country I'm sure he would have been tarred and feathered. Half of the arguments I heard against his accusation was essentially: 1) steroids don't make hockey players any better because ... (ridiculous); 2) NHL or Olympic testing is good enough to catch cheaters (questionable); 3) our players are just good old Canadian boys who wouldn't do that (very questionable). The problem is just like baseball's home-run chases, people are doing everything they can to avoid talking about this issue and believe the players really are clean. Even if you don't personally believe in the magic of sport a huge number of sport fans do seem to, and I think (like in baseball) there will be a big backlash when their heroes are knocked off pedestals.

[SteenIsThaFuture]

I don't care about the magic of the sport. I care about ex-players dying in their '50s like pro wrestlers because of steroid use. That is not something kids should be encouraged to do.

I could agree with that. I may have come off wrong before. I'm not okay with people endangering their lives, I'm just mad that people villanize the users and say they're doing something so wrong and immoral.

[js2]

I could agree with that. I may have come off wrong before. I'm not okay with people endangering their lives, I'm just mad that people villanize the users and say they're doing something so wrong and immoral.

I always thought steroids are wrong and immoral.

[SteenIsThaFuture]

I always thought steroids are wrong and immoral.

They weren't wrong until they made them illegal, which was very recently. And its not immoral, its just stupid in terms of physical harm.

[Manatee-X]

They weren't wrong until they made them illegal, which was very recently. And its not immoral, its just stupid in terms of physical harm.

Morality is always subjective. I consider it immoral, as it gives them what I consider to be an unfair advantage over players who don't choose to take steroids.

I'd also think that a lot of people agree that they are immoral, hence a ) the backlash we see in baseball's court of public opinion and b ) the fact that they were (recently) made illegal in the first place

[SteenIsThaFuture]

Morality is always subjective. I consider it immoral, as it gives them what I consider to be an unfair advantage over players who don't choose to take steroids.

Why is it any more of an advantage than those who can take protein drinks or use high-tech exercise equipment? Its an asset, use it, but at your own risk.

I'd also think that a lot of people agree that they are immoral, hence a ) the backlash we see in baseball's court of public opinion and b ) the fact that they were (recently) made illegal in the first place

The backlash is there, but it doesn't make it stupid. For all we know, Mays, Aaron, Cobb etc. were all juiced. Heck Hank Aaron was on amphetamines. People really need to stop crying about it. All players did was buy a drug that up until a few years ago, was perfectly legal and available to use by anyone.

I agree that it should try to be removed from pro sports, so I agree for banning it for the health reasons, but there is nothing immoral with it. The ridiculous public outcry is what created this image of immorality.

[js2]

Why is it any more of an advantage than those who can take protein drinks or use high-tech exercise equipment? Its an asset, use it, but at your own risk.

The backlash is there, but it doesn't make it stupid. For all we know, Mays, Aaron, Cobb etc. were all juiced. Heck Hank Aaron was on amphetamines. People really need to stop crying about it. All players did was buy a drug that up until a few years ago, was perfectly legal and available to use by anyone.

I agree that it should try to be removed from pro sports, so I agree for banning it for the health reasons, but there is nothing immoral with it. The ridiculous public outcry is what created this image of immorality.

There's a difference between protein shakes/exercise equipment and steroids.

[mtl1010]

There's a difference between protein shakes/exercise equipment and steroids.

is there really?

[SteenIsThaFuture]

There's a difference between protein shakes/exercise equipment and steroids.

Uh huh. Its not like steroidas are these magical drugs that after taken your biceps just erupt. You still have to workout proprly, monitor your body and make sure you are maintaining a proper, healthy lifestyle.

In fact steroids, analbolic one for the matter, simply increase protein synthesis within the human body, so whil obviously not the exact same, how is it way different from a protein drink.

Also how is it different than any other medication/drug. Steroids and especially HGH can help you heal from injuries, so how is that any different than a drug that heals you in another way, like any sort of medicine.

They are an competetive edge, a result of modern days pro sports and the race to be better than the next guy with all the money that is involved in the games.

We may as well just ban every drug that makes people feel better, any mechanism that improves workouts, any needle or treatment that heals people faster, because thats not "natural" its cheating.