Gates Suspended 4 games for PEDs

[Mister Hoarse]

Saint QSmokey will be cannonised at halftime during a game he is not actually watching.
His dogs will hear the sound while he is out walking them and will wait for him to pick up their stools before continuing home.
All is well in suburbia.

[blueman]

Shit. He'll be missed.

[Millionaire Wussy]

I'll never miss shit.

[TTK]

I wish I could even care about this...

[floydefisher]

I'm still waiting for the first athlete who gets caught to say something like this: "You know what, I needed to recover from injury or get the jump on someone I was competing with, and I took this banned substance to do just that. I thought I could beat the tests and get away with it, but alas that was not to be. I'm a cheater, I got caught, and I beg your forgiveness."

Instead we get...."I should have known what I put in my body; I take full responsibility for not doing that" (In other words declaring himself an absolute dumbshit).

I mean come on, am I supposed to believe that anybody who gets caught was just stupidly making a mistake of not checking with the NFL first? Come on, they are cheating and getting caught. For crissakes, just come clean! The truth will set you free. And I don't care if it's speed or roids, if it's on the banned list, it's on the BANNED list!

Do you realize how the 'supplement' game is played?

The companies manufacture their products in two formulas. One for the US which is 'clean', and another formula they sell down in TJ, which has god knows what in it.

Do you realize how easy it is for cross contamination to happen in such scenarios, especially if the supplement is made in China?

More than likely, our friend Mr Gates thought 'holistic' and 'gluten free' meant they didn't play the supplement game...hence he messed up big time.

And not he's gotta pay the piper for not doing his homework.

After his 4 game suspension, I guarantee he's going to run all his supplements down to the NFL lab before he ingests them.

[Faded blues]

I dunno know. I'm torn on this one. Dude is trying to stay relevant and make money. Hard to fault him.

Otoh, I have to explain to my 12 year old that he needs to be careful about what he puts into his body. He says do I know? Nope, ask uncle Peter.

[QSmokey]

Saint QSmokey will be cannonised at halftime during a game he is not actually watching.
His dogs will hear the sound while he is out walking them and will wait for him to pick up their stools before continuing home.
All is well in suburbia.

Professor Mr Hoarse doesn't even know how to spell the word "canonized". Too lazy to look it up.

[richpjr]

Do you realize how the 'supplement' game is played?

The companies manufacture their products in two formulas. One for the US which is 'clean', and another formula they sell down in TJ, which has god knows what in it.

Do you realize how easy it is for cross contamination to happen in such scenarios, especially if the supplement is made in China?

More than likely, our friend Mr Gates thought 'holistic' and 'gluten free' meant they didn't play the supplement game...hence he messed up big time.

And not he's gotta pay the piper for not doing his homework.

After his 4 game suspension, I guarantee he's going to run all his supplements down to the NFL lab before he ingests them.

It COULD be that he took something that he didn't realize had a banned substance in it. But short of him telling us what it was and in what package, he sounds like every other person caught cheating with his denial.

[Formula 21]

Or he could have just taken a PED.

[6025]

Or he could have just taken a PED.

Occam's Razor

[Marshall/Boogie]

He could have knowingly. Or he could of been just too lazy in this instance in doing due diligence in what he puts in his body.

Some instances are more difficult than others to remain non-judgmental. I try to be, especially when I don't know all the facts. However, the court of public opinion can and has swayed me in the past on a person or issue. I'm far from perfect - and that includes remaining impartial or unbiased. I like to think of myself as a critical thinker, and so I think I am fair in my opinions on issues, people etc. However, the reality is I'm no better than most people - especially when I judge from a distance.

99% of the time, I feel the life and lifestyle these guys lead as pro athletes is worth whatever you get in media or court of public opinion, whether the "judgment" is right or wrong. Then there's that 1% of the time I think I'd be frickin furious at some fans or writers if I was in their shoes.

I have no idea if he knowingly took anything in this off season that is banned. I do know that if was a pro athlete, for my own good I would read the fan forums as little as possible. I know myself enough to know that if I read something that was so totally off base about me personally, it would be very difficult not to engage (even though all the advice from management and agent would say never do it, there is nothing to be gained ever).

Just trying to reserve judgment, be fair and have a positive attitude as with most things in my life, which includes being a fan of this team (until/if they move).

Anyway, I'm sure I'll be wrong in being a positive thinker when it comes out that one of my favorite (and formerly squeaky clean) Bolts has been a juicer for 10 years and his masking agent just happened to not work this time. Won't that be fun for a lot of us. Yay team.

[6025]

I try not to be judgmental, but being a realist I have to say it's understandable if Gates (or anyone) takes banned supplements to get an edge. I'm not talking about guys like Caminiti or Merriman, who I classify as abusers, but guys that need to heal quicker to regain their competitive edge in the NFL. Every play is like being in a car accident. It's tough to keep a prolonged career. I can see why they turn to stuff like this.