How Do You Solve a Problem Like This, Maria?

[YankeeFan]

I'm telling you, racists would be acting very racist if the details were different!

 

[Ace]

To be honest, I wouldn't much care of a black, transgender Tim Tebow dating a Kardashian took a banned substance he had been taking for 10 years a month after it was banned.

If that's truly the case here.

 

[YankeeFan]

To be honest, I wouldn't much care of a black, transgender Tim Tebow dating a Kardashian took a banned substance he had been taking for 10 years a month after it was banned.

If that's truly the case here.

Bull****. You'd be scratching your head and armpit, and making monkey noises, right now, if this had come out about Serena.

 

[Ace]

Bull****. You'd be scratching your head and armpit, and making monkey noises, right now, if this had come out about Serena.

Nah. I think Serena's hot.

Maybe Venus.

 

[YankeeFan]

Nah. I think Serena's hot.

Maybe Venus.

Racist!

Not surprising, coming from a Southerner like yourself.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

So, this is a big deal? or not?
I didn't think so.
She was taking a supplement for a decade that was approved until it was banned at the start of this year and she got "caught" taking it. It was legal until it wasn't. ... I kind of buy her "I didn't look at the list" excuse. And honestly, the fact she tested for the stuff in January after it was brand new to the list didn't give me much pause.
Then I read today Nike canceled her $70 million deal and Jennifer Capriati is whining about Sharapova.
Am I missing something?




And, oh yeah, it's only tennis.

 

[The Big Ragu]

So, this is a big deal? or not?
I didn't think so.
She was taking a supplement for a decade that was approved until it was banned at the start of this year and she got "caught" taking it. It was legal until it wasn't. ... I kind of buy her "I didn't look at the list" excuse. And honestly, the fact she tested for the stuff in January after it was brand new to the list didn't give me much pause.
Then I read today Nike canceled her $70 million deal and Jennifer Capriati is whining about Sharapova.
Am I missing something?




And, oh yeah, it's only tennis.

However you feel about her taking a "supplement" for a decade. ... for me, the telling thing was her bull**** yesterday.

She got credit for holding a press conference and facing questions, as if that is the mark of her honesty. But what she had to say was absolute bull****. She played it off like it was something a doctor prescribed for a medical problem -- not something she was taking as a performance enhancer.

A number of athletes have gotten flagged for using that drug since the Jan 1 ban went into effect. According to the Latvian company that manufactures it (it is not FDA approved, so isn't prescribed in the U.S), the normal course of treatment is 4 to 6 weeks. It is indicated for heart failure or unwanted heart overload. If she was on it for 10 years continually, she wasn't healthy enough to have been playing tennis for the past 10 years.

If she was really honest, she would admit that she was talking it because it aids oxygen uptake and endurance -- the reason they banned it. I don't expect to her to do that, because she is wrangling over how long her suspension is going to be, and it will be shorter if they determine it was an "honest" mistake. But then, let's admit that the line of bull**** she laid out there yesterday was bull****.

 

[SpeedTchr]

Absolute, total. comprehensive Russian horse**** is what she was peddling. It's not a supplement. It's a drug. And it's not a drug for athletes, since very few, if any, have heart failure. Well, maybe fat relief pitchers and pro bowlers.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

But it was legal for the 10 years she was taking it, prior to Jan. 1, 2016?

"A number of athletes have gotten flagged for using that drug since the Jan 1 ban went into effect."

She's the only one under scrutiny?

 

[LongTimeListener]

How long does it live in the system? She could have taken it while it was still legal and tested positive when it wasn't. So that would be a lot of gray area.

Her explanation is bull****, of course, but that doesn't matter if it was allowed until Dec. 31, 2015.

 

[The Big Ragu]

But it was legal for the 10 years she was taking it, prior to Jan. 1, 2016?

And banned after Jan. 1, 2016. So she got nabbed using something that is banned by her sport. I guess she can now serve her suspension, lose all the endorsements she has been losing, etc.

My point didn't have anything to do with any of that. I was saying that the crap she said during the press conference was pure bull****.

The "doctor gave it to me for a medical condition" thing was nonsense. And it bugged me, because she bull****ted under the guise of facing the music. If she was actually being truthful, she would have said something akin to "I have used it for years, because it gives athletes like me a real edge when it comes to endurance. I screwed up when they added it to the banned list this year, and I didn't stop taking it."

Instead, she went with a bull**** half truth (at best). Again, I get it. She wants to keep the suspension to a minimum so she has to be careful about what she admits to. But from a PR standpoint, then, don't come out and do a self-serving press conference in which you outright lie to the public (to try to make yourself more sympathetic) about why you were taking it and for what reason.

 

[Ace]

And banned after Jan. 1, 2016. So she got nabbed using something that is banned by her sport. I guess she can now serve her suspension, lose all the endorsements she has been losing, etc.

My point didn't have anything to do with any of that. I was saying that the crap she said during the press conference was pure bull****.

The "doctor gave it to me for a medical condition" thing was nonsense. And it bugged me, because she bull****ted under the guise of facing the music. If she was actually being truthful, she would have said something akin to "I have used it for years, because it gives athletes like me a real edge when it comes to endurance. I screwed up when they added it to the banned list this year, and I didn't stop taking it."

Instead, she went with a bull**** half truth (at best). Again, I get it. She wants to keep the suspension to a minimum so she has to be careful about what she admits to. But from a PR standpoint, then, don't come out and do a self-serving press conference in which you outright lie to the public (to try to make yourself more sympathetic) about why you were taking it and for what reason.

I feel kind of sorry for her because the supplement she was taking apparently ages you.

She looks 48.

 

[TyWebb]

6

 

[CD Boogie]

Can whatever ban she gets include a provision that she can't return to the game unless she drops the on-court moaning routine? As for Serena, has Sharapova ever threatened to shove a ball down a linesman's throat? Or done a crip walk? Or dominated a sport whose fans are about 99 percent white? No, Maria has done none of those things.

 

[The Big Ragu]

She certainly has been a dominant player. She has an amazing career won-loss record and dozens of career titles, including singles titles in each of the grand slams. She may not be Serena dominant, but if that is the line for dominance, there have been less than a handful of dominant women players in history.

 

[CD Boogie]

OK, that's fair, she has dominated just about everyone else -- except Serena. She's got an element of the great white hope, which has definitely contributed to her popularity and marketability.

 

[Lugnuts]

If you watch the presser...

Something about the way she said it was prescribed in part, due to a family history of diabetes...

"...a family history of diabetes."

It's like she was attempting to deliver a line in a Broadway performance.

Plus I'm not seeing anything about this drug preventing diabetes in healthy adults who may or may not be genetically predisposed.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Diabetes can lead to heart disease.

Of course, this isn't really a preventative medicine of any sort. It's a drug that would increases blood flow throughout the body, and in places where it is approved, it is indicated for people who have angina or heart failure.

What it does would be of pretty good benefit to an athlete, because the increased blood flow should improve exercise capacity.

 

[amraeder]

So Lugs got me curious. In addition to being used to treat heart issues, it's also a carnitine synthesis inhibitor. My very Googling skills and total lack of drug knowledge seems to indicate that there's suggestions but no proof that carnitine can be used to help with diabetic neuropathy. However it seems like if that were true you'd want to promote carnitine synthesis not inhibit it...but again, not an MD or really understand this stuff...

 

[HanSenSE]

Here I was about to ask if some sort of ex-post-facto defense could emerge, but it appears she needed the medication as much as Manny Ramirez needed female hormones. Can't really blame the Ruskies' sports machine either since she's never more a product of IMG's sports machine.