The "Juice" is loose...
Posted Mar 26, 2005, 10:38 AM ET

It has been quite a week in the world of steroids and sports. The Congressional hearings involving Major League Baseball was only a drop in the bucket. If you thought Mark McGwire was weak in his testimony, wait 'til you get a load of this week's fodder.

First, Barry Bonds decides to take his ball and go home. Before leaving the San Francisco Giants training camp to rehab his knee...Bonds rips the media for "bringing him down".

Come on, Barry, the media had nothing to do with your "mistress". Remember, you cheated on your wife...not the media.

Then Barry blamed the media for haunting him and his family over the steroid issue. To my knowledge, the media wasn't subpoenaed to testify to a Grand Jury about acquiring and applying steroids. Barry, the media had nothing to do with the "clear" or the "creme", either.

Barry needs to take some responsibility, and quit blaming everyone for his problems.

Ironically, on my March 17th radio show, I mentioned that Bonds should take 4-6 weeks off, come back and demand that the media record and account his latest testing for steroids. It will prove once and for all that he is "clean" and his system shows no signs of steroids, and Barry can proclaim his innocence once and for all.

Brilliant.

Also this week, New Orleans coach Jim Haslett told the LA Times that he took steroids for "about six weeks in his nine-year football career". The coach said that steroid use was rampant when he was playing.

Haslett concluded that at that time "about half of the players in the NFL were using them".

Some folks have jumped all over Haslett for his statements. But why? The guy is giving you firsthand information about the problem of steroids in the NFL...and that was 25 years ago. What makes you think the NFL has cleaned up its act?

The players in the NFL are bigger, stronger and faster than ever before. If you think there isn't a percentage of guys that are bending the NFL rules, then you are naïve. Personally, I think that is a given; the bigger question is whether the NFL is turning the other way when it comes to detecting the steroid use, or is the system in place obsolete in keeping up with the times?

There is even a story brewing in the Carolinas that could implicate the Carolina Panthers. A Columbia, SC doctor is being investigated by the DEA, and supposedly there are 9 names of former and current Carolina Panther players that have received prescription pills.

The investigation has caught the eye of CBS' "60 Minutes", and there is a story being produced that will air in the next few weeks.

Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson came out from his Ivory Tower to comment that the story was not directly involving his team or players. He told the Charlotte Observer that he and the team plan to work with the authorities and the NFL on the matter.

The very next day, in another well investigated piece by the Charlotte Observer, a pharmacist commented that three Carolina Panthers would show up to acquire their prescription pills. And it should be noted that they weren't traveling to the local Eckerd's or CVS to pick up the goods. The establishment was located in the backwoods of South Carolina outside of Columbia.

This is a story that won't go away. In fact, it looks like it is picking up momentum.

As I mentioned on "PrimeTime with the Packman"...anytime Mike Wallace from 60 Minutes knocks on your door and says he has a few questions...that's not a good thing.