Marlon Byrd Has Questionable Judgment

Two pieces of surprising news. One, Victor Conte's not in jail! Two, there's still an athlete dumb enough to turn to him for supplements.

Innocent until proven guilty and all that, but when you're the common thread between Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Bill Romanowski, et al., anyone who works in a profession that has a drug policy might do well to stay far, far away.

BALCO is no more, but Conte now runs Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning. Rangers outfielder Marlon Byrd wanted what SNAC has to offer, so he gave Conte a call.

I'd been doing the GNC-can search, putting this product with that, seeking and searching," Byrd said. "I tried everything over the counter. I needed an expert."

Soon tubs of "Proglycosyn: The Ultimate Post-Workout Recovery Formula," tubes of "Physiobalm: Muscle and Joint Rejuvenator," and bottles of "Aerobitine: The Ultimate Anti-Fatigue/Fat Loss Formula," "Vitalyze: The Mental and Physical Performance Enhancer" and "ZMA: Rapid Anabolic Sleep Enhancer" began arriving at Byrd's New Jersey home. Later he had the products sent to the Rangers' spring training site in Surprise, Ariz., and to the Rangers' clubhouse in Arlington, Texas.

All these products are MLB-tested and approved, so there's nothing techincally wrong with this arrangement. But not everyone is happy.

Two years ago, the Rangers instructed pitcher Scott Feldman to dispose of Proglycosyn he'd obtained from SNAC after a reporter saw it in his locker. "Our doctors say there may not be anything wrong with [Conte's products], but there's no sense having yourself associated with the name at this point," general manager Jon Daniels said at the time.

So, Marlon Byrd, what the heck are you thinking? There are thousands of other supplement providers out there, most of which have never been associated with irrevocably damaging America's pastime. Take a look at SNAC's gallery of athletes. You're now on a page with roided bodybuilding freaks, confirmed Olympic cheaters, and oddly enough, Michael Chang.