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Alex Rodriguez, MLB, and NSAC drug testing policies
By Zach Arnold | February 7, 2009
On January 31st, Ivan Trembow reported that the Nevada State Athletic Commission had recently stopped doing out-of-competition drug testing for MMA fighters. Mr. Trembow’s report built upon news from Ring Magazine that the NSAC gives competitors two-days notice before the fighter is required to show up to an accredited drug-testing lab and get tested.
On Saturday, news broke in Sports Illustrated that Yankees SS Alex Rodriguez allegedly tested positive for anabolic steroids during ‘confidential sampling’ testing that was taken to establish whether or not a permanent, random drug-testing policy was needed for baseball. (The margin need for positive drug tests in order to establish a permanent policy was 5% of all tests producing positive results.) A developing side-story in regards to the reportedly Rodriguez drug test is that the baseball player was allegedly tipped off before the drug test occurred.
The most disturbing aspect of the SI.com report was not the revelation that A-Rod now belongs with Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire on the Mount Rushmore of juicers.
No, the most disturbing allegation is that Rodriguez was tipped off in September 2004 that he would be tested later that month, tipped off by none other than Gene Orza, the union’s chief operating officer.
Orza was accused of much the same thing in the Mitchell Report, which said he violated the union’s agreement with MLB by informing a player about an upcoming drug test. The player was not identified in the report.
As any expert will tell you, drug-testing programs are inherently flawed, often amounting to little more than public relations as the cheaters find new ways to stay ahead of the testers.
But the allegations of tipping — denied by the union — create an even bigger problem for MLB, casting doubt on the credibility of its program.
Given that the state athletic commissions have gotten some heat for methods used in their drug testing policy of MMA fighters, do the new reports surfacing on drug tests and drug testing procedures from other sports provide any sort of perspective that we should be considering in regards to the way business is being done now?
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