Comments on: Cushing tested positive for same substance as Manny Ramirez

By: manofaiki

manofaiki — Tue, 11 May 2010 20:57:02 +0000

There is no possible legitimate reason Brian Cushing needs to be taking hCG if he’s clean.
None whatsoever.
It’s part of the ‘hiding the steriod cycle you were just on’ method of getting your testosterone levels down fast so you can show a normal level when you are tested.
After the test, you just stop taking the hCG and you will keep most of the muscle mass you built up on your last steroid cycle.
If the NFL has developed a test that is targeting the drug guys are using to get back to ‘normal’ after a big steroid cycle, Cushing could be just one of the first getting caught.
__________________

By: manofaiki

manofaiki — Tue, 11 May 2010 20:51:49 +0000

A guy who cheated should keep his DROY award?
No freaking way. Strip him and make an example out of him.

By: Colts18

Colts18 — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:14:18 +0000

When I tested for the Marine Corps, they are specific to tell you not to crank one out before the test. I highly doubt that this orginization who has so much invested in Cushing, would not tell him that. So that is no excuse. I still think Cushing should win ROTY tho.

By: granadafan

granadafan — Tue, 11 May 2010 16:48:54 +0000

The U$C fans on the ESPN and Scout board are in full spin mode. None are very bright, nor have the researched much on the subject and why males don’t normally take HGC.
NFLfollower: Great information from you. I’m glad there’s at least one level headed and informed person out there.

By: manofaiki

manofaiki — Tue, 11 May 2010 16:46:38 +0000

When MMA fighter Sean Sherk got suspended from the UFC following a positive test, he tried to claim his extremely hard training regimen ‘naturally’ elevated his Nandrolone levels.
The investigators had a hard time buying this explanation.
Because the LEVEL of Nandrolone in Sherk’s system was 12.0 nanograms per liter of urine. The normal amount occurring in humans is around 0.1 ng per liter of urine.
So…Sherk went in there in front of the medical commission and LIED HIS ASS OFF trying to claim he got to 12 ng ‘naturally’.
They didn’t believe him and they sanctioned him.
Whatever level Cushing’s test was at, ‘slightly elevated’ cannot be what the testers found. It would have to be at a level where there’s no QUESTION in their minds this can’t be explained away except by deliberate cheating.

By: shaggytoodle

shaggytoodle — Tue, 11 May 2010 16:26:18 +0000

I am just curious to find out how long some of those things stay in your system. I know NCAA and NFL have to VERY different drug testing policies. I am just curious if he was using stuff legal in college and maybe helped him in the bowl game at the end of the season. Would it still be around when hes tested at the combine? I understand that colleges don’t get the money that NFL teams use which allow them to do all sorts of testing on supplements and compounds, but possibly the NFL could give the list of acceptable supplements to universities. For those people who choose to pursue thier dreams the right way and won’t have to worry about the the different policies triggering a positve test.

By: therealtruth

therealtruth — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:48:09 +0000

just as a follow-up, “slightly elevated levels” won’t get you suspended. For example, when testing for testosterone, they perform a test that determines the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone. The allowable level is about twice that which a normal male would have in his system.

By: Maddog

Maddog — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:33:58 +0000

realitypolice says:
May 11, 2010 12:00 PM
Maddog says:
He doesn’t want to understand. He wants an excuse for Cushing. Look at the f’ing guy.
==================
I couldn’t give a s*** about Brian Cushing. I couldn’t pick Brian Cushing out of a lineup. I was simply pointing out that it was possible he hadn’t taken anything. After reading other posts, I now believe it is not and have retracted the other posts.
Stop commenting on what people you know nothing about want or don’t want. It makes you look ignorant.
—————————————-
for someone who doesn’t give a “s***” you sure have put a lot of posts out there on this subject.

By: CleanSlaton

CleanSlaton — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:03:17 +0000

You should probably take some HCG, Florio.
Maybe it would help you grow some balls. If not, take the Lance Armstrong route and get 2 prosthetics.

By: FAS

FAS — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:02:53 +0000

Wow…same suspension for evidence of PED cover as a serial rapist.
Great league.

By: theXfactor21

theXfactor21 — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:39:45 +0000

@realitypolice
I tend to agree with your overall stance on drug testing. Interesting comparison between the NFL and regular jobs drug testing.
If I were the players that would be a huge point of contention before signing a new CBA. There need to be clearly defined lists of what’s acceptable and what is not and there also needs to be a detailed process for adding new banned agents to the policy after it’s been passed.
This revision should be a HUGE point with the players–especially w/ the recent StarCaps case in MN and the possibility of the CBA not being applied equally in all jurisdictions.
Random drug tests in most walks of life are unconstitutional invasion of privacy and are an incredible waste of money. Normally, if you can’t tell I’m using drugs, I’m performing my job well enough to not be bothered.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:16:01 +0000

@ everthing NFLFollower just posted: Excellent information and I thank you.
@ Ethan Robert: Your posts are hilarious.
This is why I read PFT; to get entertained and informed by fellow NFL fans. One cannot depend on the actual authors of this site to do either.

By: NFLFollower

NFLFollower — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:03:12 +0000

Athletes are not taking HCG to “mask” anything on a test. They know that HCG is tested for and banned. You don’t mask one banned agent with another. They are taking it immediately after finishing a cycle of an anabolic steroid. They do this b/c it is necessary to restart their natural testosterone production, which has been suppressed by exogenous anabolics. Plain and simple. See my earlier post. What the HCG proves is that he had just finished taking an anabolic that was either very rapidly cleared from the body or one that was still in his body, but not picked up by the test. It does prove the use of an anabolic. NO other reason for HCG in male urine.

By: realitypolice

realitypolice — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:00:37 +0000

Maddog says:
He doesn’t want to understand. He wants an excuse for Cushing. Look at the f’ing guy.
==================
I couldn’t give a s*** about Brian Cushing. I couldn’t pick Brian Cushing out of a lineup. I was simply pointing out that it was possible he hadn’t taken anything. After reading other posts, I now believe it is not and have retracted the other posts.
Stop commenting on what people you know nothing about want or don’t want. It makes you look ignorant.

By: realitypolice

realitypolice — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:55:51 +0000

@simple_simon1:
See my reply to NFLFollower. Thank you for the information.

By: realitypolice

realitypolice — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:54:24 +0000

@NFLFollower:
Thanks for the valuable information. Unlike most posters here, I admit when I am wrong. Assuming you’re right and Dr. Schefter is wrong, I retract my posts about this test possibly coming from recent ejac…(I just can’t bring myself to type it again).
As for the rest of my post about drug testing and PED use by athletes in general, I stand by it.
Random drug testing is unconstitutional. I realize that does not make it illegal for a private entity to insitute it, but it does make it un-american.
People can point to the CBA all they want, but the fact is the NFL was not going to sign a CBA without random testing, which to someone of my beliefs, makes calling it a “collective bargaining agreement” a joke. Drug testing was not “collectively bargained” it was foisted upon the union as take-it-or-leave-it deal breaker. As a monopoly, the NFL gets away with this. Doesn’t make it right.
I have walked away from lucrative job opportunities due a demand for random drug testing, even though I don’t do drugs. I was able to do that because there were other companies I could work for that didn’t demand it. NFL players don’t have that option.

By: simple_simon1

simple_simon1 — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:45:25 +0000

realitpolice….. I did have one explaining why the “explanation” of ejaculation is impossible. There is absolutely no way to have a false positive, aside from testicular cancer. In a male, aside from using it dishonestly, levels are very normal. In order for a positive, which means much higher levels than can normally be present due to any biological circumstance, one has to be taking it synthetically. We understand both the pathways and the amounts that are in the system.
In other words, a person could not claim to have levels to the amount that would be necessary for a positive result, which is 100′s of times higher than normal conditions in the body, due to ejaculation. The doctors and testing is way too sensitive for this to be screwed up.
Also, the fact that he already said he took something yet deemed that he thought it wasn’t a problem says specifically that he actually did take something. So, even if levels were low, in his stupidity he blew it for himself by speaking that he actually did take something. So if he’s too stupid to realize that a female hormone used to mask steroid use isn’t legal, then he is the new dumbest player in the NFL.

By: WhoDatNation504

WhoDatNation504 — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:44:47 +0000

B4 da reports I agreed dis guy should b the D-Rookie of the year but now dat I c he clearly is a “Cheater”im str8 Jairius Byrd da young phenom frm Buffalo should hands down win this award.

By: Revis jets

Revis jets — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:37:14 +0000

It’s obvious that schefter is working with cushing’s camp here . Yesterday, schefter tweeted that Cushing passed a lie detecter without providing any details.
This morning schefter took it to a new level. When he reported this morning about the substance he was busted for, he only reported that is was a natural substance and it can be raised slightly also in a natural level and he didn’t even bother explaining why it’s banned and that it masks steroid use. Only a while later he re-tweeted from mort that it also masks steroids and he tweets that that’s the ‘flip side’. Hello! That’s the flip side?!?! That’s the reason he was suspended! The flip side is that ‘maybe’ it was natural!
I wonder if they share agents or something like it

By: FreeAgentPro

FreeAgentPro — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:35:27 +0000

Florio ran this story so that ‘fertility drugs’ gets a google hit and attracts more female readers. Too bad they didn’t include the term ‘ moobs’ which also gets a lotta Google hits…lol

By: Maddog

Maddog — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:32:50 +0000

simple_simon1 says:
May 11, 2010 11:12 AM
realitypolice: “So the test doesn’t technically prove anything other than that Cushing either jerked off or got laid in the hours before the testing, which is completely random and could have occurred first thing in the morning, shortly after one of those two things had happened.”
Please read my earlier post. You don’t understand how this works.-
———————————————
He doesn’t want to understand. He wants an excuse for Cushing. Look at the f’ing guy.

By: NFLFollower

NFLFollower — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:32:15 +0000

HCG is produced by blastotrophs in a very young fertilized embryo, it preserves the mother’s corpus luteum, which in turn continues producing progesterone, preserving the endometrium and preserving the pregnancy. Hence it’s use in fertility clinics.
Now for it’s use in athletes:
HCG is similar enough in structure to GnRH (Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone) that it will act @ the same receptor in the pituitary and will stimulate LH and FSH (just as GnRH normally does). LH and FSH (LH in particular) in turn stimulate the male testes to produce testosterone. HCG is ONLY taken for a very short period of time after an anabolic cycle which has suppressed normal testosterone production, to restimulate the testes. Basically to get them producing testosterone again. It is in the simplest terms possible, a “jump start”. Taken chronically, as some are suggesting, it would have the OPPOSITE effect as the GnRH receptors in the pituitary downregulate due to overstimulation and produce LESS LH and FSH, and hence LESS test. So we have established HCG is ONLY taken after an anabolic cycle to restore endogenous test production. It’s a “jump start”. There is NO other reason for a male to take it. Period.
Also, the idea that recent ejaculation would produce large enough quantities of HCG in the urine to trigger a positive test is ridiculous and completely false. Don’t believe it b/c somebody puts it out there. That is completely untrue, please be discerning, don’t believe it b/c somebody tweeted it. Anybody in the field of endocrinoloy has to be crapping their pants they are laughing so hard at that claim. As I am.
So basically Cushing was taking an anabolic that the current tests don’t pick up. Cue the shock and awe…..sarcasm.

By: FreeAgentPro

FreeAgentPro — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:28:17 +0000

Does the NFL suspend if they find a prescription for testosterone , HGH, hCG, or other banned substance? Apparently MLB suspends based upon a written prescription, and not testing positive. That’s harsh.

By: realitypolice

realitypolice — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:24:04 +0000

simple_simon1 says:
May 11, 2010 11:12 AM
realitypolice:
Please read my earlier post. You don’t understand how this works.
==================
This is the only post up under your moniker, so I don’t know what you are referring to.
It’s possible I don’t fully understand how this works, I am basing my comments on the information available here, which is probably a mistake.
Nothing you can say will change my opinion of drug testing in general or the NFL’s substance abuse policy in particular, so if that is your aim, don’t waste your breath.

By: simple_simon1

simple_simon1 — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:12:21 +0000

realitypolice: “So the test doesn’t technically prove anything other than that Cushing either jerked off or got laid in the hours before the testing, which is completely random and could have occurred first thing in the morning, shortly after one of those two things had happened.”
Please read my earlier post. You don’t understand how this works.

By: NFLFollower

NFLFollower — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:03:05 +0000

To complete what I was saying, there are apparently anabolics out there that are not being picked up by the current tests. I hope nobody is shocked by this. And as an endnote, the amount of HCG in ejaculate is so very minimal, there is NO chance it would trigger a positive urine test. I promise you, that is a ridiculous claim, whoever put that out is considering the public ignorant and unwilling to obtain the facts.

By: ethan robert

ethan robert — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:00:05 +0000

Jay Glazer admitted using HGH to stimulate his growth as an undersized teenager.
“But not after highschool”, Glazer averred. “Besides, they didn’t know a lot about it back then, and the doctor only injected it into my head”.

By: jj jones

jj jones — Tue, 11 May 2010 10:57:52 +0000

“Cincyboy says:
May 11, 2010 10:46 AM
So when does Rapistberger test positive…? Plenty of ejaculate in his system.”
Actually, it’s in some skank.

By: PackAttackBackMan

PackAttackBackMan — Tue, 11 May 2010 10:54:55 +0000

I miss LT, Ben, and Favre stories.
At least then we get hooker, rape and bed wetting news…..
Roids are a boring subject, the fact is: Most of these athletes are on something nowadays. I wish i had time to cite a source, but it is close to 80%…..
Anywayyyy, speaking of roids, what do baseball and football have in common? Neither sport gets interesting until Sept….

By: Whodey08

Whodey08 — Tue, 11 May 2010 10:49:42 +0000

So I’m guessing after his “happy ending” he got some sad news @ his test