Let's Not and Say We Did
by Quisp on Apr 20, 2010 8:20 PM PDT
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Okay, so, the story so far: Guy is busted for dealing steroids. He says he dealt to Washington Capitals players. A client of the dealer (also busted for dealing) is a chiropractor who treats some of the Caps. The team and the NHL issue statements that they have each concluded thorough investigations and found nothing. End of story.
Oh, except this from Sports Illustrated, in the April 26 issue:
However, according to an April 7 e-mail from Ian Floyd of the Polk County Sheriff's Tactical Drug Unit to Judd (his boss), there are serious questions about the investigations conducted by the NHL and the Capitals. "I called and spoke with [NHL executive vice president of security] Dennis Cunningham today in reference to the official statements made by the Washington Capitals and NHL regarding the 'thorough investigation,'" reads the e-mail, which Judd allowed SI to review. "Mr. Cunningham admitted that, contrary to the below-issued statements, no investigation was ever conducted into Dr. Nagel and his ties to steroids and Capitals players by anyone with the NHL."
That doesn't worry me. Obviously the NHL didn't do it because the Caps did and they left no stone unturned.
According to Floyd's e-mail, when he asked the Capitals about their investigation, a team official also told him that none had been undertaken.
Never mind.
"During a conversation I had with [Capitals assistant general manager and director of legal affairs] Don Fishman," the e-mail reads, "he advised that no investigation had been conducted by the Capitals into Dr. Nagel's potential involvement with steroids and Capitals players. Mr. Fishman advised that any investigation would have been conducted by Dennis Cunningham from the NHL's security office."
Would have been. But. Wasn't.
Capitals spokesman Kurt Kehl wrote in an e-mail to SI that the team conducted a "brief investigation, but the more extensive investigation was led by the NHL and Dennis Cunningham." The league would not make Cunningham available for comment. [...] "We have nothing to hide here," [Capitals player Shaone] Morrisonn told reporters on March 24. "We're all tested throughout the year. The NHL has a testing policy, and it's not an issue with this team."
That's true! The NHL does have frequent testing! So, what was I worried about? Whew!
But unlike MLB or the NFL, the NHL does not test during the off-season, nor once the playoffs have started.
Crap.
[...] Polk County officials noticed that of the 10 FedEx and U.S. Postal Service labels for packages mailed in 2008 and '09 between Thomas and Nagel that law enforcement officials obtained in their investigation, eight are dated during the period when the Capitals were either in the playoffs or out of season, and one was dated the day before the end of the 2007-08 season.
Double-crap.
After the arrest of Nagel, says Judd, "the NHL head of security was more concerned about how we got jurisdiction to arrest him [in Virginia]." "I don't know whether the NHL has a steroid issue or not," Judd says, "but they certainly are very uncomfortable with us asking questions about it."
I commented on this earlier (How I Know the Kings aren't on Steroids), when the Nagel "investigation" that didn't take place was concluded by the NHL and the Caps. I just re-read that post and my thoughts really haven't changed. I am still imagining the nightmarish perfect storm of steroids and head-shots merging into a catastrophic uber-scandal. But I tell myself that's just kooky.
There's only reason I can think of for the NHL not to conduct an investigation but lie and say they did. And that's they don't want to look because if they don't look they won't know.
At the very least, the whole playoffs/off-season loop-hole needs to be closed. Yeah, we'll get right on that.
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Back when the initial arrest story first broke…and a short time after…I wondered (and continue to wonder) why the media never ran with the story and why there was never an explanation by the team and/or the NHL offices regarding the investigations. I still don’t believe anything serious will come of it, but by not letting the world know the door is wide open for haters and conspiracy theorists.
Yeah, I don't know about haters and conspiracy theorists in this case
so far the narrative is something like this:
1) there are steroids in the world.
2) athletes take them so they can play better.
3) it’s illegal.
4) a couple of steroid dealers were arrested.
5) they say they dealt to NHL players.
6) the NHL says they investigated.
7) the police say they didn’t.
8) the police say the NHL people are acting strange and evasive.
an example of a conspiracy theory would be, “oh the wife of the police captain grew up in Montreal…” the simplest explanation is usually the right one, however.
Wait till this year.
by Quisp on Apr 21, 2010 10:09 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Nothing about this surprises me
Roids in the NHL? Of course.
Bettman denying it and trying to sweep it under the rug? Of course.
I agree completely with closing that testing loophole. But the rub with anything involving drug tests and suspensions for failed tests is that you have to get the NHLPA to do along with it. Ugh. I like the idea of a player’s union, but when it comes to PED’s they end up on the wrong side of the argument more often than not.
Bettman's Nightmare: We See a Good Bettman/Fans Metaphor When We See One, and Frankly, Lane Smith Was Too Hard on Emilio Estevez When He Was A Kid.
http://bettmansnightmare.blogspot.com/
by Bettman's Nightmare on Apr 21, 2010 10:46 AM PDT reply actions
The NHL and the Capitals may have not investigated the steroid accusation, but the police did.
What type of investigation is the NHL supposed to do? Interview players? That’s good, but the police already did that. And they aren’t police, so they can’t march into Doctors offices, flash their NHL credentials and start asking questions. The police can, and have.
Proud member of the Popsicle Division of the Cupcake Conference.
…they can’t march into Doctors offices, flash their NHL credentials and start asking questions.
It would be funny, though.
The West Coast is the Best Coast.
"I’m Detective Shuchuk, this is my partner Detective Grimson"
Ah, the ol’ “Grossly disfigured cop, bad cop” routine.
The West Coast is the Best Coast.
Anyway, they all have to answer to Lt. Buskas
who in turn reports to the utterly corrupt Commissioner Bettman, wait that’s true…
(I was going to say Commissioner McNall, but then I remembered…)
Wait till this year.
yes, but the point of the article is that the police say the league and the team are
1) not cooperating
2) not telling the truth.
I’m not saying the caps or the league should have done its own investigation. (I do think that, but that’s not the point here.) I’m saying, why lie about it?
An example of an investigation might be, for example, doing a league-wide test right now. Change of policy. That’s the point, right? To keep ’roids out? What possible objection could there be?
It’s like the burglar who gets busted because the people who just left for the evening came back unexpectedly. “You said you were going out!”
Wait till this year.
yes, but the point of the article is that the police say the league and the team are
1) not cooperating
2) not telling the truth
I don’t read that at all. Not telling the truth….maybe, but even that’s a stretch…and where do you read that the NHL and/or the Caps didn’t cooperate?
When Major League Baseball (having learned the hard way what can happen when it ignores steroid allegations) learned of Thomas’s claims, its security officials immediately called law enforcement authorities in Florida to offer cooperation, and also launched an internal investigation. MLB — which Judd praised for its cooperation — would not comment on its investigation. The NFL was in contact too, though Thomas had not mentioned any football teams or players. Neither the Capitals nor the NHL called, but they publicly promised internal investigations.
[…]
“After the arrest of Nagel, says Judd, “the NHL head of security was more concerned about how we got jurisdiction to arrest him [in Virginia].”
“I don’t know whether the NHL has a steroid issue or not,” Judd says, “but they certainly are very uncomfortable with us asking questions about it.” The lesson of baseball’s steroid era is a simple one: transparency — not obfuscation or passivity — is always the better course.
Wait till this year.
as far as the lying goes
that’s what the article was about. it’s not a stretch. they said they conducted a thorough investigation. The police thought that was weird. When pressed the NHL had to admit they made that up. There was no investigation.
Wait till this year.
Nice Post
Strange thing is, there isn’t a lot of advantage to an NHLer taking steroids: coming back from injury would be about it. There are a number of players who bulk up past their ideal size and end up losing speed and agility.
I guess if someone wanted to gain muscle mass quickly, but after that it’s definitely a point of diminishing… ah… returns… where the physical cost outweighs the benefits.
Still, wouldn’t mind the league getting off its collective ass and conducting an actual investigation. They could even go the baseball route and give the league months of warning before actually conducting any testing of players – anyone stupid enough to get caught after that deserves it.
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