Manny Ramirez Suspended For 50 Games! Should We Be Surprised?

<strong>Wow, it was a surprise to me, as this is the first i've heard of it, was no mention of it in today's local L.A. newspaper sports page..........<br><br>The big baseball news today was the Dodgers setting a new record for consecutive home game wins at 13............</strong><br><br><a target="_blank" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=txdodgersramirezdrugs&amp;prov=st&amp;type=lgns">http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=txdodgersramirezdrugs&amp;prov=st&amp;type=lgns</a><br><br><strong>Are you surprised?</strong>

Sad? Yes. Surprised? Unfortunately, no... <img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/frown.gif" alt="image"><br><br>Dunno... these guys are bred to win, at all costs, and we are willing to pay them millions and put them in the spotlight to do so; then, in the face of theextreme difficulty of competing at these levels, we also expect them to behave like choirboys... I am in no way saying drug use is acceptable, but it is onlyto be expected, I'm afraid...

Just Manny being Manny

I agree with Greg!!! <img src="http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif"> Not surprised one bit, it was only a matter of time before he got busted....oh well, it's just the Dodgers <img src="http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif">

<p><font color="#333366">Hmmm, does ownership get to keep the 7+ million dollars or does the league get it? Hmm.... Now what medication does a doctorperscibe for a "personal" problem and that medication is a banned substance in baseball? Hmmm.. I wonder what the personal problem was? (sexuallytransmitted disease? can't perform in the bed? allergies? acne? not making enough money? Hmm.. Inquiring minds want to know! <br><br><br>Maribell</font></p>

I'm a bit surprised. I'm dissapointed at the lame excuse.

No surprise.<br><br>"I didn't know!"<img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/laugh.gif" alt="image"><br>

A lot of baseball players suffer from depression... and a lot of antidepressives contain amphetamines...

<p>Thing is, how many others on other teams are guilty but not caught? I look at it this way, we are not being told exactly which substance was caught in hissystem. He did "man" up and accept a responsibility. The thing is with Manny and the Dodgers, it is not how well Manny plays, but what he brings outin the young players on the team.<br><br>As a HUGE Dodger fan, I am more PO'd at this than anything, and I do look at it as a bit of a witch-hunt in baseball with all he big names.<br><br>VIVA LOS DO'YERS!!!!</p>

<p>We are hoping in St.Louis,the best player in baseball is clean.<br><img src="http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b158/jimzreds/albertp003.jpg" alt="image"><br></p>

<img height="15" src="http://redlinesonlinemessageboard.yuku.com/domain/bypass/images/pacman.gif" width="15" alt="image">Getting paid $150,000 to stand aroundand scratch and/or adjust your neuticals for 2 1/2 hours makes me puke. What a waste of money! Those people make me sick!<br><p>Andy<img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/mad.gif" alt="image"><br></p>

Cancel the suspension &amp; make him cut his hair that'll do it!

50 games.....yeah, don't pay him a cent, cut his silly dreads, take away his boner pills and make him shovel trash after the games....nah, he mightcry....roids make you emotional. MLB has all these STUPID rules, they can barely keep a lid on....it would be an entertaining season if they busted everyone.

I think the only person that I would be truly suprised about and disappointed in would be if Griffey Jr's name came out. From all accounts, he may havebeen the only true clean superstar player of the steroid era. He has been injuried, he has gotten bigger over the years (and its not muscle)....all the thingsthat happen in a normal clean career. He has never been linked to anything that I know of. If he has been clean and as great as he has been....think how hewould compare to the other guys IF he had taken anything.<br><br>What gets me....if I made 20million+/year to play a GAME...I would ask the league to clear a tylenol before taking it. Sometimes you can't fix stupid<br><br>Suprised in Manny...no Disappointed....yes but I'm a dodger fan

50 games is way too harsh for boner pills? It's just because he is a Dodger and because they were 13-0 at home that they bring this crap out now. Politicskilling the games is the new fangled thing to do.<br><br>Alex Rodriguez admittedly took steroids and what penalty has he paid? NADA-ZILCH-ZERO...I call BS.<br><br>Am I wrong?<br><br>What say you?<br>

<blockquote> <div> Cancel the suspension &amp; make him cut his hair that'll do it! </div> <br></blockquote> <br><br> I second that, never do like watching baseball or football and seeing them guys with the long hair. Cancel the suspension &amp; make him cut his hair that'll do it!

<font color="#000033">When Alex Rodriguez took them , there was no penalty. There has been a penalty for the last 2-3 years. This bonehead clearly knew it. What's funny is that he held out so long inorder to get that big fat contract from the Dodgers and now he loses nearly 8 million dollars. Anyway, ifhe took this HGC, there was a reason and that was that he took steroids sometime during the off-season. SO that would explain why he needed some"help." No one is going to take HGC because they can't get it up.<br><br>Now , I truly want to see the names of the other players. Let me state also that in the Dominican republic , steroids are readily available without aprescription. The island is dirt poor and in that culture, it's not a bad thing. The bottom line is that the players just want to have an advantageinorder to earn $$$ for their dirt poor families. Alex and Manny were both born in the USA but they are of Dominican descent. It isn't consideredcheating over there. Keep in mind , that just about every kid over there plays baseball and there is alot of competition. Steroids would give you anadvantage. I am not condoning it. I just wanted to point out the cultural differences over there.<br><br>maribell<br><br><br></font>

<blockquote> <font color="#000033">Alex and Manny were both born in the USA but they are of Dominican descent.</font></blockquote><font color="#000033"><br><br>Wrong...Manny was born in the Dominican<br><br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.allsports.com/players/manny-ramirez/">http://www.allsports.com/players/manny-ramirez/</a><br></font>

<blockquote> <font color="#000033">It isn't considered cheating over there.</font></blockquote><font color="#000033">and it shouldn't be considered cheating here either.<br>Everyone does it so why not make it legal to have a certain level in your system? It would mean more homeruns, 100+ mph pitchers every game, 8-10 stolen basesevery game would make the "nay-sayers" happy because the game wouldn't be so boring to them.<br><br>Sounds good huh?<br></font>

<font color="#6600CC">Ok, my mistake. I do know that he lived in the Bronx , NY when he was quite young. <br><br>You can't make it legal in baseball. It isn't legal in the other sports either. What does it teach your child? If people want an advantage insports, they need to eat right, excercise, practice, practice and practice. No short cuts. <br><br>Baseball can be boring. You need to something else while watching baseball. Read the newspaper , clean, work on a jigsaw puzzle. Personally, I do ebay orI read this board or I fold laundry while I watch a baseball game. I just can't sit there and do nothing.<br><br><br>maribell</font>

There is a house with some San Diego Chargers across the street.....talk about short cuts.....that ex Charger was killed down the street last year. Alwaysparties, cars all over the place.....basically a flop house.....there are kids in the neighborhood.....gets wild sometimes.....

<blockquote> <font color="#6600CC"><font color="#6600CC">You can't make it legal in baseball. It isn't legal in the other sports either. What does it teach your child?</font></font></blockquote><font color="#6600CC"><br><br>I know and every child gets a trophy whether or not they played well or won the most games...BS!<br>Our nation is pussifying our children more and more everyday! Whatever happened to "play to win"...and "there has to be a winner and aloser?"<br><br>Steroids are legal to a certain extent already! They were developed to aid in the healing of muscles. I say "let them do what they want" and if theyend up like Mark McGwire then so be it. To many frickin rules is allowing the politics override the games. <br><br><br>By the way...Manny did not have steroids in his system...he had boner medicine...again the political jargon wins again!</font>

Baseball is so boring...I find the steroid debate much more exciting than the game itself...yaawwwwwwwwwwwnn...<br>

I wanna hear more about the boner meds...<img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/tongue.gif" alt="image"><br>

<blockquote> <font color="#6600CC">By the way...Manny did not have steroids in his system...he had boner medicine...again the political jargon wins again!</font></blockquote><font color="#6600CC"><font size="4"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana;">I think we're getting sidetracked with the factthat it was a female fertility drug (commonly associated with being used to ease the transition of cycling down off steroid use) and not actual steroid use. The bottom line is the league has banned the use of the drug, he broke the rules and was caught, so he was punished.<br><br>And you folks that feel that steroid use should not be banned, try and ask</span></font></font> <font style="font-family: Verdana;" size="4" face="Arial">LyleAlzado if that's a good idea?<br><br>~Joe<br></font>

Lyle Alzado is one...and maybe, just maybe there were other factors helping his body rot away.<br><br>Out of the thousands and thousands of athletes that have used or are using 'roids, you name 1 example...not a real good example because he also admittedthat he used cocaine, alcohol and many other drugs during his lifetime &amp; while he was playing.<br><br>Lyle is 1 example...name 10 more?

<font color="#CC3300">Well, an article that I read is that the implication is that he took something in the off-season. A side effect of the steroid isshrinking testicles and low sperm count.. So this banned drug would increase his testesterone level . Anyway, this drug is a banned drug. He shouldn'thave taken it.<br><br><br>If the other sports don't allow steroids, then baseball can't have it. And it's nice for little leaguers to each get a trophy. My boys wereawful players in little league. That trophy certainly made them smile when they got it. One kid had a team that lost every single game.<br><br>Also , it would not be fair to all of the past great players who played cleaned. I know that Barry Bonds didn't always use steroids but is it fair toclaim he the all time home run king? I don't think so.<br><br><br>maribell</font>

<blockquote> <strong class="quote-title">MINGOTOY wrote:</strong> <hr><font color="#CC3300">Well, an article that I read is that the implication is that he took something in the off-season. A side effect of the steroid is shrinking testicles and low sperm count.. So this banned drug would increase his testesterone level . Anyway, this drug is a banned drug. He shouldn't have taken it. <br><br><br> If the other sports don't allow steroids, then baseball can't have it. And it's nice for little leaguers to each get a trophy. My boys were awful players in little league. That trophy certainly made them smile when they got it. One kid had a team that lost every single game. <br><br> Also , it would not be fair to all of the past great players who played cleaned. I know that Barry Bonds didn't always use steroids but is it fair to claim he the all time home run king? I don't think so. <br><br><br> maribell</font></blockquote><br><br>Sperm count........... Gotta tell ya a story sometime Maribell........ :)

<blockquote> Sperm count........... Gotta tell ya a story sometime Maribell........ :)</blockquote><br><br>Someone shoot me...Dave, you just made me laugh out loud!!! <img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/roll.gif" alt="image"><br>

<blockquote> <strong class="quote-title">toysalot wrote:</strong> <hr> Lyle Alzado is one...and maybe, just maybe there were other factors helping his body rot away. <br><br> Out of the thousands and thousands of athletes that have used or are using 'roids, you name 1 example...not a real good example because he also admitted that he used cocaine, alcohol and many other drugs during his lifetime &amp; while he was playing. <br><br> Lyle is 1 example...name 10 more?</blockquote><br> How about Jose Canseco - steroids cause him to go brain dead! Bacause pro sports are so hush hush - we don't find out<br> unless a drug test is failed. How about all the WWF wresters with problems due to roids, Chris Benoit for example, kills his<br> wife and kid in a roid rage and then himself. I believe Mr.Perfect died of complications too! Dave can you verify that?<br>

The answer to the problem of drugs in sports is that there is no good answer... Athletes will always do whatever they can to gain an advantage, including usingperformance enhancing drugs, if that's what it takes. And as soon as the regulators figure out a test to detect a particular drug, the sports physiologistswill figure out a way to mask it, or find a new drug for which the regulators will have to figure out a new test, and on and on, ad infinitum.<br><br>Professional sports aren't a healthy thing for the human body. Look at all the former boxers with brain damage; former pro football players who can barelywalk at age 50. If we really cared, the regulations would be a lot stiffer than they are. But we're willing to turn a blind eye in the name of beingcompetitive, and in providing entertainment.<br><br>So I think for any of us to be judgemental about the drug use is hypocritical at best.

<blockquote> How about Jose Canseco</blockquote><br><br>He looks like he was being very truthful from the start!!! He said he was gonna turn the baseball world upside down...and he has!<br><br>Coincidence?<br>