Gotta tell you fellas... anytime any player gets tested, its a crapshoot what the results are going to be. There is no doubt that every NFL player, MLB player, or professional athlete these days are taking some form of PED's. Are they all taking steroids? No. But PERFROMING ENHANCING DRUGS are not limited to steroids. Amphetamines were used on a daily basis by professional athletes to 'get them up' before games. It was basically red bull for athletes, and it was only until 2006 that the NFL said, oh wait.... this is also enhancing the performance of our players.
Cortisone is a legal steroid used all the time. let that sink in, steroids are a drug that 'illegally enhance the performance of the players', but this one is legal. Toradol is another drug thats a hot topic now. There are hundreds of "supplements" these guys are taking, and they are all PERFORMING ENHANCING DRUGS.
As far as the testing goes. I worked for a sports agency this summer and we had a player who tested positive for amphetamines. Just a little background on the process.
Tester shows up at team facility, ballpark, or house unannounced before a game.
Takes and A and a B sample from a player, or players.
Goes home and either immediately overnight FedEx's the samples out to the lab or stores them properly overnight and does it first thing the next morning.
The lab runs the urine through a computer analyzer which "red flags" any possible irregularities.
The lab analysts then go in and manually check each red flag to confirm whether or not there is indeed a banned substance in the sample.
I know the MLB uses the same drug testing agency as the Olympics and I was shocked at the process.
We received a short one page letter signed by Bud Selig essentially saying "Dear X, you tested positive for amphetamines. suspended 50 games. suspended x more games if you test positive again. Sincerely, Bud Selig"
To make a long story short. Our player swore on his life he was clean. The Agency who runs the tests has a policy where for 200 dollars you can retest using the B sample. It was our understanding that it was a complete waste of time. They advised most players that their testing is 100 percent accurate and had never had a test refuted. We figured the only way we were going to reverse it was to find a handling of the sample loophole like Braun did. But we paid the 200 dollars to get the sample tested anyway. Lo and behold, we get a phone call from the MLB Commissioner's office telling us that we had made history. For the first time ever, the B sample came back negative and our player's name and career were cleared.
This experience has left a very long standing doubt in my mind about 1. the process and 2. how many players have either slipped through the cracks or were innocent but just didnt pay to have their sample retested.
Bottom line, I wouldn't be shocked either way if Jared came back clean or dirty... I don't trust the system, and frankly, I don't trust the players.
Heres the ESPN link to our story from this summer, slightly summarized.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8...milwaukee-brewers-minor-leaguer-erick-almonte