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Tour Of Ireland

It's been 15 years since the last one but the Tour of Ireland is about to make a comeback - great to see road racing across the UK becoming arguably stronger than it has ever been.

Top 10 Drug Scandles

According to CBC here’s a list of 10 of the most influential – and bizarre – drug cases in the past few decades. It's a long, strange trip indeed, including:

1. E. German athletes & government sponsored cheating
2. 1983 Pan Am Games: Dawn of drug testing
3. The U.S. Track & Field coverups
4. Canada's shame: Ben Johnson
5. Last to first: Irish swimmer Michelle Smith
6. Fake dynasty: Chinese swim team
7. Tour de France: Whatever it takes
8. Baseball: Home runs in bulk
9. Cross country skiing and doping: a Nordic tradition
10. Nandrolone goes for the Grand Slam

1.E. German athletes & government sponsored cheating

How does a country of fewer than 17 million people double its Olympic output from 20 to 40 gold medals in just four years? Drugs, and plenty of 'em.

The East Germans became a sporting powerhouse in the 1970s and '80s, rivalling the much larger United States and Soviet Union. Thousands of East German athletes were given performance-enhancing steroids in an effort to prove East German superiority over the West. Many athletes thought they were simply taking vitamins.

The special pills worked. East Germans were a mighty force in amateur sport, particularly in the pool.

But with the medals and titles came the negative health side effects, such as liver cancer, organ damage, psychological defects, hormonal changes and infertility.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, many athletes came forward to tell how they were given frequent doses of pills and needles of unknown substances.

Kornelia Ender, Barbara Krause and Carola Nitschke were three of those swimmers exposed to the doping regime.

Ender, who won four gold and four silver medals at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, revealed she started receiving injections at the age of 13.

Krause, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and eight-time world record holder, was forced out of the 1976 Olympics because team doctors had miscalculated her dose of drugs and worried she might test positive at the Games.

Nitschke was also 13 when doctors started giving her the anabolic steroid Oral-Turinabol and injections of the male hormone testosterone. In 1998, she became the first doped athlete to return her medals and ask that her name be removed from the record books.

A German court later found the late ex-East German sports boss Manfred Ewald and his medical director, Manfred Hoeppner, culpable for what it called "systematic and overall doping in (East German) competitive sports" until the fall of the Berlin Wall.

They were given suspended jail sentences and handed minimal fines.

The German government set up a $2.18 million US fund for any doped athlete who wished to file a claim to get some of their medical bills paid for.

Just 197 athletes filed applications by the March 2003 deadline, far fewer than expected. Each athlete will get less than $10,000, small compensation for years of exposure to dangerous doses of drugs.

2.1983 Pan Am Games: Dawn of drug testing

The modern age of drug testing essentially started at the 1983 Pan Am Games in Caracas, Venezuela. A team of scientists, led by chemist and drug-testing chief Manfred Donike of Germany, developed a new method for steroid testing in anticipation of two large international sporting events that year, the Pan Games and world track and field championships.

What followed paved the way for drug testing for years to come.

Canadian weightlifter Guy Greavette was at the centre of what became the first international drug scandal in sports. Greavette, along with teammate Michel Viau, was stripped of his medals and handed a two-year suspension after testing positive for steroids.

The Pan Am drug testing caught a lot of athletes by surprise. After Greavette's positive test, a dozen American athletes in various events suddenly withdrew from the competition and returned to the U.S., and at least another dozen athletes from other countries also left without explanation.

Nineteen athletes in total failed drug tests at the 1983 Pan Ams.

Greavette's weightlifting career never recovered, though he is still involved in the sport as a volunteer coach and executive director of B.C. Weightlifting.

In 2001, Greavette told CBC's Sports Journal that he felt he and some other athletes were made examples of while many athletes from other countries got off without penalty.

3.The U.S. Track & Field coverups

It is perhaps the biggest doping cover-up in all of sports.

Dr. Wade Exum's report that 19 American medallists were allowed to compete at various Olympic Games from 1988 to 2000 despite having earlier failed drug tests shocked some people in the sporting community but was no surprise to others.

For years, insiders had speculated that U.S. athletes were not immune to delving into doping to get ahead of the competition.

But how could this be? American athletes often spoke publicly against illegal drug use in sport, cursing the sports regimes of East Germany and China for systemic doping practices.

"There is no commitment to stopping the drug problem," said track and field star Carl Lewis in 2000. "People know the sport is dirty, the sport is so driven by records."

Little did Lewis know he would be named in Exum's report.

The five-time Olympic medallist was among the athletes named in more than 30,000 pages of documents released by former U.S. Olympic Committee anti-doping chief to Sports Illustrated and several newspapers in 2003. More than 100 athletes from several different sports tested positive for banned substances between 1988 and 2000 but were cleared by internal appeals processes.

According to Exum's evidence, Lewis was one of three eventual Olympic gold medallists who tested positive for banned stimulants in the months leading up to the 1988 Seoul Games.

Exum made the initial allegations about coverups in 2000, which led several sporting organizations – among them, the IOC, IAAF and the World Anti-Doping Agency – to pressure the USOC to re-examine how they conducted drug testing.

Soon, the USOC turned over drug testing responsibilities to the newly founded U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Don't worry, the USOC assured, this type of cover-up will never happen again.

So far, it hasn't. (Well, aside from track and field's Jerome Young being allowed to compete – and win a gold medal – at the 2000 Sydney Olympics despite testing positive for steroids in 1999.)

These coverups still beg the question: How could a country's own Olympic federation turn their backs on the oath of fair play and allow drug cheats to compete for a decade's worth of Olympic Games?

Ben Johnson would like to know.

Lewis was awarded the gold medal in the 100-metres after Johnson was disqualified for using steroids.

The Canadian sprinter told the Toronto Star that he felt somewhat vindicated by Exum's report.

"It was (for years) like I was the only cheat," he told the newspaper. "I knew time would take care of the truth."

4.Canada's shame: Ben Johnson

Hero to goat.

Johnson captured the imagination of Canadians on Sept. 27, 1988, when he won the 100-metre sprint title in a world-record time of 9.79 seconds at the Seoul Olympics. To make the victory even sweeter, Johnson captured the gold medal by handily defeating American rival Carl Lewis.

The euphoria of Johnson's win didn't last, however, when it was found the Canadian tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol.

Johnson's claim that the positive test stemmed from a spiked herbal drink the night before the race was unfounded (not that his positive test was any surprise, considering his inflated deltoid muscles and jaundiced eyes, but how many Canadians wanted to believe that?).

Johnson was subsequently stripped of his gold medal and world record and banned from competition for two years. The disgrace of the event was a black eye on Canadian amateur sport and pushed the drugs-in-sport issue to the forefront like never before.

Nearly 15 years later, it was discovered that several American track athletes tested positive for drugs before those same Seoul Games. Allegedly among them was Lewis, who was awarded the gold medal after Johnson's disqualification.

It appears that Johnson became the goat for all.

5.Last to first: Irish swimmer Michelle Smith

Irish eyes were smiling during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Michelle Smith was the pride of Ireland after winning three gold and one bronze medal in the pool.

No one else was smiling. Her rise to the top of the swimming world was extremely suspicious.

In two previous Olympic Games, Smith's best result was 17th in the 200-metre backstroke.

In 1993, she was ranked 90th in the world in the 400 individual medley, but after training with husband Erik de Bruin – a former Dutch discus thrower who was under a four-year suspension for failing a drug test – she vaulted into 17th in the world by the next year.

By Atlanta, the 26-year-old Smith had won several European titles and trimmed a whopping 17 seconds off two personal bests.

After her Olympic success, it was discovered that FINA, swimming's international federation, had repeatedly expressed concern that Smith was unavailable for out-of-competition drug tests from 1995 onward.

Finally, in 1998, two drug testers showed up at Smith and de Bruin's home.

Smith gave them a sample, but because she was wearing a bulky sweater, the tester couldn't see what she was doing. The sample was sealed and sent to a Barcelona lab for examination. The results were shocking. The sample contained a level of alcohol that would be fatal if consumed by a human.

FINA concluded that the sample had been manipulated, that whiskey had been added as a masking agent and they suspended Smith for four years.

Those athletes who finished behind Smith in 1996 – including Canadians Marianne Limpert (silver) and Joanne Malar (fourth) in the 200IM – can only wonder what might have been.

6.Chinese swim team

Dihydrotestosterone, anabolic steroids, erythropoietin and human growth hormones. All banned substances. All used by various members of the Chinese national swim team in the last 15 years.

China did not register among the world's swimming powers until the 1990s, and when they did, they did with a bang.

The country won four swimming gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and then took 12 of 16 women's titles at the 1994 world championships.

The team's sudden success fuelled suspicion of drug use, and by the next big competition, those hunches proved true.

Eleven athletes tested positive for dihydrotestosterone at the 1994 Asian Games. The big bust decimated the swim squad for the 1996 Olympics (they won just one gold), but soon enough the Chinese were back on top again. Not for long, however.

Four positive tests before the 1998 world championships along with the vials of the human growth hormone found in breastroker Yuan Yuan's luggage before the worlds signalled that doping was still thriving in China's pools.

Though the country maintained there was no systemic doping on its swim teams, the statistics say otherwise.

Over 40 Chinese swimmers since 1990 have failed drug tests. That's triple the amount of any other swimming country during the same period of time.

After pressure from FINA, swimming's governing body, China's swim association promised stricter drug testing and higher penalties for cheats.

Just before the 2000 Sydney Olympics, China removed four swimmers from its team because of "suspicious" drug test results.

Chinese swimmers were rarely on the podium in major competitions until the 2003 world aquatic championships in Barcelona. There, the women's team collected seven swimming medals, including three gold.

Whether those swims were clean or not, China's young swimmers will have to compete under a cloud of suspicion for years to come due to the generation of cheaters before them.

7.Tour de France

Enthusiasts say the Tour de France is the biggest, hardest, most gruelling race there is, a prize so precious that cyclists will do anything to win. And they have.

In the past, riders have scattered broken glass and fans have tossed nails on the road to confound rivals. And that's just for starters.

In the 1960s, riders attempted to gain a competitive edge with amphetamines and alcohol. In doing so, Britain's Tim Simpson lost his life during the 1967 Tour.

Some say cycling faced a near death following the 1998 doping scandal in which French officials caught an employee of the Festina cycling team with a carload of performance-enhancing drugs, including erythropoietin (EPO) – a hormone that helps the blood carry more oxygen, letting you go faster and longer on your two wheels.

Following an arrest in the case, six of Festina's nine riders conceded they had used performance-enhancing drugs, including current Credit Agricole team leader Christophe Moreau. Later that year, he tested positive for anabolic steroids.

In early 2002, Italy's Stefano Garzelli, leader of the Vini Caldirola team, tested positive for traces of probenecid, a diuretic that can be used to mask other drugs. And Spanish cyclist Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano was banned from this past summer's Tour de France after a test during the 2002 event found excessive levels of an anti-asthma drug.

And most recently, in January 2004, French police seized male hormones, EPO, amphetamines and arrested two cyclists in the anti-doping investigation involving Cofidis, one of France's top teams and home to three world champions.

8.Baseball: andro, steroids and supplements

Between Mark McGwire's andro usage and Ken Caminiti's revelation in Sports Illustrated about steroids in baseball, the sport is having an image crisis.

McGwire went from the svelte American League rookie of the year in 1987 to the heavy-hitting home run king who broke Roger Maris' single-season home run record in 1998.

McGwire said the transformation in his size was the combination of hard work and an over-the-counter testosterone-producing pill called androstenedione, or andro.

Andro became controversial because it is banned by the IOC, NFL, NBA and NHL, but not by Major League Baseball.

In May of 2002, Jose Canseco announced his retirement from baseball, and as a parting shot (and perhaps a promo for his tell-all book) he said 85 per cent of all baseball players used steroids. Later, Canseco admitted to taking steroids himself.

Later that month, Sports Illustrated published an investigative report describing professional baseball as "a pharmacological trade show." In the article, former National League MVP Ken Caminiti told the magazine "at least half the guys are using steroids."

In November of 2003, MLB announced that between five to seven per cent of 1,438 anonymous tests on all players came back positive for steroids this year – the equivalent of nearly two full major league rosters. As part of the league's drug policy, the findings mean there will be random testing again next season, with players facing sanctions and possible public exposure.

The latest scar on the sport is the connection between San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds and the nutritional supplements company BALCO, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, which is reportedly the source of the designer steroid, THG.

Several major league players appeared before a federal grand jury investigating BALCO, including Bonds, who shattered the single-season home run record in 2001, and New York Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi. ^ Back to top

9.Cross-country skiing & doping: a Nordic tradition

Attention cross-country skiers: If you want to cheat, you may not want to leave that blood-transfusion equipment lying around your house.

That's what some members of the Austrian cross-country ski team did at the Salt Lake City Olympic Games. The IOC began an investigation after a cleaner found blood-transfusion materials in a residence used by the Austrians during the Games.

The team's results were reassessed, and after a three-month investigation, two athletes (non-medallists) were disqualified and two team officials were banned from the next two Winter Olympics.

The Austrians claimed the equipment was used for ultraviolet radiation treatment of athletes' blood to treat and prevent colds and flu, not for performance-enhancing purposes.

Umm … sure.

Doping has been rampant in cross-country skiing for years. Use of EPO, or erythropoietin, is as common as ski wax, and blood doping has become an art.

Six Finnish skiers tested positive for HES – a banned plasma volume expander – at the 2001 world championships in Finland, one of the biggest doping scandals in the sport. It exposed some of Finland's top stars including Jari Isometsa, Mika Myllyla, Janne Immonen and Harri Kirvesniemi.

Also at the Salt Lake Games, three skiers certainly didn't help the tainted image of their sport by testing positive for the drug darbepoetin.

Darbepoetin boosts the production of red blood cells that help carry oxygen to muscles. The drug is used to treat severe anemia, which can be caused by chronic kidney illness or by chemotherapy treatment.

Hey, whatever helps you get ahead of the competition, right?

Two of those athletes caught – Russian medallists Olga Danilova and Larissa Lazutina (right) – didn't get far ahead for long.

Eighteen months after Salt Lake City, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Canadian Beckie Scott, who finished third in the five-kilometre pursuit, should be awarded the gold medal since Danilova and Lazutina were ineligible due to previous failed drug tests.

10.Nandrolone and nutritional supplements

Over the past decade, the sporting world has seen a rash of positive tests for the banned steroid nandrolone, giving it the unofficial title as the most common drug used – intentionally or inadvertently – by athletes today.

Nandrolone has been implicated in hundreds of recent doping cases involving athletes in just about every sport, especially track and field, cycling, soccer and tennis.

And almost immediately after these failed drug tests, the denials and excuses follow. The most common reason for a positive test? Contaminated nutritional supplements, vitamins and energy drinks.

Because of the unusual number of positive tests, scientists believe the steroid may be contained in improperly labelled nutritional supplements popular with high-performance athletes. However, the IOC and IAAF, track and field's governing body, stipulate that athletes are responsible for what they put in their bodies.

In January 2004, Canadian-born British tennis star Greg Rusedski joined a long list of athletes who have tested positive for nandrolone. He isn't the only tennis player, either. According to reports, 47 players on the pro tour have tested positive for the banned steroid.

The original article can be found here

Top Sports Watches

It's time to get serious and ditch that 90's calculator watch! No these watches can't turn over the TV channels for you either but they are designed for sports.... tough, accurate and above all look pretty slick.

1) Movado Sports Edition Men's Stainless Steel Watch Ultra-modern and urbane...men's Sport Edition watch from Movado. Updated contoured design in high performance stainless steel is sleek and sophisticated. Satiny brushed steel case is displayed on the dynamic brushed steel link bracelet. From $551.00

2) Seiko Alarm Chronograph Men's Titanium Sport Watch This fine Seiko Alarm Chronograph Mens watch features Quartz movement Titanium bracelet Black dial and is 200M Water Resistant. From $158.00

3) Tissot T-Sport Seastar 600/1000 Stainless Steel Blue T19148142 Tissot Diver Seastar Mens Watch T19.1.481.42Round gent watch with stainless steel case. Grey stainless steel bracelet. Blue dial. Arabic numerals. Sapphire glass. Quartz 3 hands with date functions. Screw-down crown. From $198.00.

4)Movado Sports Edition Men's Steel Chronograph Watch Keep up-to-the-second time in style with the Sport Edition men's chronograph watch from Movado. Crafted in ultra-sleek stainless steel, the watch features a satin-finished case on a brushed link bracelet. From $765.00

5) Casio Sea-Pathfinder Triple Sensor Sports Mens Watch SPF60-1AV Analog-Digital Altimeter; Barometer; Thermometer; Dive Memory; Rotating Bezel; 100M Water Resistant; Auto EL Backlight; Alarm; Countdown Timer; Stopwatch. From $93.00.

6) Timex Ironman Triathlon Sports Datat Link USB Watch A sports watch that thinks it's a PDA! Take your schedule, phone numbers and contacts with you wherever you go. Effortlessly customize your watch settings from your personal computer. From $51.97.

7)Seiko Kinetic Men's Titanium Sport Watch High tech lines matched to the latest technology; Men's Kinetic watch in durable titanium and gold plate; Kinetic quartz movement never needs batteries; Energy is stored for 7-14 days. From $342.70.

8) Tag Heuer 2000 Classic Men Steel & Gold Plated Sport Watch Forceful measures...TAG Heuer 2000 Series men's watch in stainless steel and gold plate. Bold modern lines are ultra-sleek and highly durable. Dynamic brushed steel case is presented on the triple link bracelet in brushed steel and polished. From $795.00.

9) Seiko Coutura Men's Stainless Steel Sport Watch Always right on time... Seiko men's alarm chronograph is rugged and masculine in high performance steel. Contoured brushed steel case is presented on the attractive link bracelet in brushed and polished steel. From $168.00.

10) Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Men's Steel Sport Watch Definitive style and performance for today's man from Omega... Seamaster Aqua Terra men's watch is sporty and rugged in premium grade steel. Modern contemporary lines capture the dynamic characteristics of classic Seamaster and Speedmaster. From $944.00

Top 10 Sports Quotes

“Float like a butter fly, sting like a bee” great quote but too obvious. Here’s a list of some great alternate sporting quotes that should get you pumped up, motivated and energized - ready to watch a full 90 minutes of football!

Favorite Sports Quote #1 Doctors and scientists said that breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead. Roger Bannister (After becoming the first person to break the four-minute mile, 1952)

Favorite Sports Quote #2 Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision. Muhammad Ali

Favorite Sports Quote #3 When I step onto the court, I don't have to think about anything. If I have a problem off the court, I find that after I play, my mind is clearer and I can come up with a better solution. It's like therapy. It relaxes me and allows me to solve problems. Michael Jordan

Favorite Sports Quote #4 My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you'll win... channel your energy. Focus. Carl Lewis

Favorite Sports Quote #5 My dad has always taught me these words: care and share. That's why we put on clinics. The only thing I can do is try to give back. If it works, it works. Tiger Woods

Favorite Sports Quote #6 I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok. Shaquille O'Neal

Favorite Sports Quote #7 Whoever said, 'It's not whether you win or lose that counts,' probably lost. Martina Navratilova

Favorite Sports Quote #8 Champions keep playing until they get it right. Billie Jean King

Favorite Sports Quote #9 I'll let the racket do the talking. John McEnroe

Favorite Sports Quote #10 When I go out on the ice, I just think about my skating. I forget it is a competition. Katarina Witt

Top 10 Most popular sports books

You might think that Amazonslist of most popular books might include the likes of David Beckham, Michael Jordan or an all time great like Wayne Gretzky or Mohammed Ali but no. Take a peek....

1. The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding : The Bible of Bodybuilding, Fully Updated and Revised by Arnold Schwarzenegger

2. Strength Training Anatomy by Frederic Delavier

3. American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China by Matthew Polly

4. SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea by John Lofty Wiseman

5. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis

6. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis

7. Baseball America 2007 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) by The Editors of Baseball America

8. Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster 2007 by Ron Shandler

9. Baseball Prospectus 2007: The Essential Guide to the 2007 Baseball Season (Baseball Prospectus) by Christina Kahrl

10. Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich by Mark Kriegel

If your bore though try reading Muscle: A Writer's Trip Through a Sport with No Boundaries by Jon Hotten its a really good read.

Top 10 Dirty Sports Names

What were the parents thinking? My friends Grandads name is a prime example of this explicit naming of your offspring. An uncommon surname + a shortened forname + a high position in the army = Major Dick Burns, how could you possibly take orders from a guy with a name like that? Unfortunatley the Major didnt participate in any sport so he can't be included in our list.

Take a look at the names below and write in if you think you know someone with a more explicit name.

10.Gregor Fucka - Italian basketball player

9.B.J. Johnson - standout wide receiver for the Texas Longhorns from 2000 to 2003

8.Pete LaCock - played 9 seasons with the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals from 1972 to 1980

7.Danny Shittu - plays for Watford F.C. in the English Premier League

6.Harry Colon - played 6 NFL seasons from 1991-97 with the Patriots, Lions and Jaguars

5.Lucious Pusey - linebacker for the Division I-AA Eastern Illiois Panthers

4.Dick Pole - pitcher with the Red Sox and Mariners in the 70s

3.Dean Windass - Striker for Bradford City

2.Misty Hyman - She won a gold medal in the 200m butterfly at Sydney Olympics.

1.Rusty Kuntz - Played outfield for the White Sox, Twins and Tigers from 1979 to 1985

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