Steroids? Surely You Jest

Via Steroid Nation comes this morning's New York Times report on Angel Heredia, a federal witness in a sprawling investigation of track coach Trevor Graham. Mr. Heredia has divulged the names of a dozen world class athletes, including Maurice Greene. Greene's inclusion on the list comes as a disappointing surprise, since he has never before failed a drug test or been implicated in a doping scandal. Well, so much for that.

Mr. Heredia told prosecutors in December 2006 and The Times recently that Mr. Greene had paid him a total of about $40,000, including the $10,000 wire transfer, for advice and steroid creams, EPO, insulin and stimulants in 2003 and 2004. Mr. Greene had already won two Olympic gold medals when Mr. Heredia said Mr. Greene first contacted him after the 2002 track season. By then, Mr. Greene had lost the title "world's fastest man" to Tim Montgomery and was also losing races to Dwain Chambers; court records later showed that those sprinters were being helped by taking Balco drugs.

Wake up Kansas, science has overtaken your God.

Hey folks, only four more months until the Olympics... catch the fever!