Does Nadal Fake Injuries?

[jbill]

Lip service

One other thing I'd like to mention about the likely probability of tennis players doping for improved performance is the fact that the "authorities of the professional tours" really just pay lip service to any real attempt at catching anyone involved in doping activities. And the reason is obvious: MONEY. Can you imagine what would happen if any big star like Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, etc. were to be proven guilty of doping? I think it would turn the sport upside down. Disallusioned fans would stop turning the turnstiles, sponsors would be lost, etc. Basically there is too much money at stake for the businessmen who run the sport. Also, in the moral, ethical arena there would be a huge problem since these guys and gals are supposed to be supreme role models for young people. One last thing to ponder, if any really big star were to be found guilty, what would happen to their titles? Would they be stripped like they have been in the Olympics?

Jim Bill

[don_budge]

Does Nadal Fake Injuries or Don't take off those rose tinted glasses!

I have been reading the “Tennis Has a Steroid Problem” website for quite some time now which does not make me an expert on doping but I did raise the question late last year after Yannick Noah went public with his concerns about the sport of tennis...more specifically he brought some attention to the state of Spanish sports. You can look up Operaciòn Puerto if you are remotely interested in an investigation into the use of PED's in the sports world. I am not sure if Nadal's name was directly brought up in this investigation but surely the implication is there. Yannick's remarks quickly dissipated in the volumes and volumes of newspeak that passes for information these days. The story quickly found it’s way into the dust bin.

Nadal is sort of the poster boy for the “Tennis Has a Steroid Problem” website and you cannot argue with their choice on account of his muscular arms and physique which are rather extraordinary for a man who reputedly detests the gym. Earlier in the year there were articles that were cited in the web site that spoke of a story that Nadal had suffered a shoulder injury and there was a lot of speculation about his shoulder problem. The news of this new injury surfaced shortly after the Barclay’s tournament in London and the gist of it was that he was experiencing some discomfort of unknown origin in his shoulder but he was going to continue playing through the Australian Open then take some time off to resolve his problem. I have been around sports for a long time and rarely if ever have I heard something that sounded so fishy as this. All of a sudden there did not seem to any problem at all with the shoulder during the Australian and then there was the “new” injury that was surfacing in his knee. This guy has a history of this sort of thing. The web site has developed speculative scenarios that these injury timeouts from tournaments may be some ruse for “cycling of PED’s” in order for the med’s to do their best work.

If we were to break down the Aussie final, I wonder how much time was actually spent striking balls in rallies? Once you take away the 30 seconds between points, the sit down at changeovers, and all the other delay features in the match, the playing time will certainly be far shorter than 5 hours 53 minutes. I'm not saying it's isn't tiring playing a match like that...but you know what I'm driving at.

The Australian Open Final was on the surface something from another planet when pondered upon in the context of the sports universe. The fact that it was the longest final in the history’s tournament is certainly a note of great interest but the way that both player’s were “performing” in the final climactic moments and in fact, the entire fifth set is something that should raise a bit of a flag for even the neutral observer. The fact that this flag is not raised with some very knowledgable observers may be of cause for greater concern...unless one understands the influence of the mainstream media and information distribution in the modern day world. Can you say “brain washed”?

In the fifth set of this epic contest we witnessed some rather extraordinary performance from both participants. These two competitors were saving their best for the last. Even after they had been dueling over five hours in the Aussie heat they were playing the longest points of the match...at one point they eclipsed fifty shots between them on one solitary point. I don’t know about you but if I hit the ball fifty times against the wall I get tired...these guys played points like this and just picked themselves off the pavement after the point and did it time and time again. It only takes thirty seconds to recover from such effort...thus the naive comment. One might intelligently question if both of these guys were taking substances...it certainly would be within the realm of possibilities.

Stotty...I love that you brought Marlon Brando into the thread. I think it a bit ironic that his name was mentioned although your quote is certainly a beauty...”We all see life through different spectacles”. I am not sure if it was Simon and Garfunkel or Bob Dylan that wrote a line in a song...”We all see the same thing but from different points of view”, I get your drift. Funny thing about Brando...once arguably the most beautiful man on the planet, he allowed his physical condition to deteriorate until you could not distinguish him from any other fatso on the street. If I could only walk like Brando right into the sun...that guy was never guilty of wearing rose tinted glasses.

But your comment or question about Federer is an astute observation. What about “The Man”? There was an article that I came across in my research that was discussing the reactions of Robin Söderling and Roger Federer in a Stockholm paper or publication about whether or not samples collected for drug testing by the tennis authorities should be kept for up to eight years. Their two reactions were somewhat different and interesting to note. Söderling maintained that it was totally unnecessary to do so because as he more or less put it if it was discovered that someone was culpable after a certain amount of time the person would probably of ended his career therefore it was unnecessary to be digging up any dirt on a person not still actively playing. Federer on the other hand came out with the opinion that the samples should be kept because further developments in drug testing might detect substances that the current practices do not. The current popular paradigm in the sports universe is that the testers are lagging behind the users in the technology aspect.

Currently Robin has been on a six or seventh month hiatus from tennis due to “mononucleosis” and this amount of time is coincidently the amount of time for some of the drug infraction penalties. I am not saying this in an accusatory way but if one is to take everything into account then no stone should be left unturned. Federer on the other hand may not be totally innocent himself and if one is to be fair in the discernment of the total picture everyone is a suspect at this point. I am almost willing to give “The Man” a pass on this question due to the fact that he plays with a racquet that is at least ten percent smaller that those of his rivals but that wouldn’t be in the best interests of being objective. But to me this note about his racquet is indicative that he may not be a cheater at heart, plus his comments regarding the question of retaining samples seem to be further evidence that he is not a cheating personality. Whereas the others indulge in obvious gamemanship tactics. I have often wondered how can the same usual suspects always seem to arrive in the semifinals of every single Grand Slam event.

Serena is quite unusual.

The women in general appear to be more and more masculine...and if I were a little less discerning I might give it up to “evolution”. Somebody in this forum early last year made a comment that the players of today were bigger, faster and stronger...implying that the human form had somehow evolved into some higher form in a short period of time. I am not so sure that this is physically possible.

From the works of René Descartes...”I doubt it”.

[stotty]

Nadal, Fed...and Superman

This is a great thread from, bman. Like most threads it's weaved around and developed a life of it's own. I'm glad Djokovic has found his way into the thread because, for me, he is the player most likely to find himself standing in the dock with some explaining to do. He has more PED traits that raise suspicion than Nadal. He's the one that spent three years in the shadow of Rafa and Roger. He is the one that came out of nowhere and suddenly overtook them both. He's the one that showed superhuman qualities in the Aussie Open. His physical feats are far more questionable than those of any other player.

And it's interesting how Federer always escapes any PED accusations despite having had a few super human moments himself. His effortless movement, balance, and grace seem to grant him exclusion in our minds from any wrong doing. We subconsciously let him off the hook because he's a "floater" and not "pumper" like Nadal. But even though Federer doesn't have the in-your-face physicality of Nadal or Djokovic, he is, nonetheless, moving just as much, working just as hard, and never, ever looks fatigued or out of breath.

Federer would have been wise to agree that doping samples should be kept for eight years. It would be the intelligent thing to say if he were an undercover cheat. Not agreeing would've looked suspicious…like it did with Soderling. And as ultimately he has no influence over such a decision, he may as well say things that will raise the least suspicion…to count him out of people's equation…to come across as squeaky clean.

Before being caught, many offenders from athletics continuously preached their disdain of PEDs in their sport...to divert attention...to give people the impression they were squeaky clean athletes….but only to be later uncovered to be the biggest cheats of the lot…Marion Jones springs to mind.

I would be devastated if Federer or Nadal war found to be using PEDs. And I honestly don't think Nadal is. His immediate family are directly involved in his development…surely uncle Toni wouldn't risk shortening the life of his own nephew. But with Djokovic I am willing to concede there just might... just might... be an issue.

People should note "Tennis Has a Steroids Problem" is a controversial blog. It has no concrete evidence to support any of its claims...it's a blog that enjoys creating controversy. It's easy to get carried away reading it and to get sucked into believing it. It's a bit like the Oscar Borras and the Nadal's situation. Because of the way the video was presented by Christophe over at tennisoxygen, people just automatically clamber on board, thinking from the outset that it must be true. And I have no doubt that Christophe thoroughly believe's it to be true also...from his heart. But think about it, can Oscar really make all that change in a one hour coaching session...during which most of the time he was dealing with reluctance? And if you watch the clip over at Tennisoxygen with the commentary turned off and focus on Nadal's body language, you'll notice Oscar never really gains Nadal's full attention...to me Nadal is reluctant and disinterested throughout.

"If you are unsure of a man, stop listening to his words, look at his actions instead, then stay with and trust in the facts you see before you", this is a quote by my father who died of cancer in 2006.

There is a similar Japanese saying: "If you are unsure of a man, then look to his friends".

[bman]

Actually, Fed always seems to lose steam at the end of 5 setters. AO 2005, 2009. Us Open 2009, 2010, 2011. Wimbledon 2008, 2011. Masters series 2005. I can't think of many big 5 set victories. Wimbledon 2007 comes to mind, and that's it.

[GeoffWilliams]

nadal pic

A dead ringer for McEnroe!

Teva's lucrative hGH medication Tev-Tropin has been available since 2005

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&source=hp&q=tev-tropin+for+sale&pbx=1&oq=Tev-Tropin+&aq=1&aqi=g3g-s1&aql=1&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=1324l1324l0l4090l1l1l0l0l0l0l92l92l1l1l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=782384432d316272&biw=1280&bih=892

He was on the list of the ped soccer/football doctor as one of the clients. Is that proof? I don't know, but it says something. He also uses the pro biker gel stuff, and some of their techniques as well. I would not be surprised he is taking advice from the pro biker set on stamina/peds. Anyone ever see him suck down the gel? It's made by a UK company, and is filled with caffeine, carbos, sugar, etc. Made for the tour de france types. Also, one of the side effects of peds are immune system diseases like: Srojens disease. It's a fact of life for pro athletes to seek any edge, whether that edge is legal or not, fair or not, safe or not, and lots of them are dying young as payment due.

Even if the samples are kept for 8 yrs., and the threat of all records, tournys won be removed from the records if deceit found, it would not deter nor derail the cheaters from: gaining an edge. Some of this stuff gives you an 8% speed advantage, and 10% stamina edge: human growth hormone by the israelis or the real thing, which comes from cadavers pituitary glands. (Odesnik had the http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Ne...9#.TzACp3qOeYw stuff, as did Stallone, and both got caught in air ports.) Side effects are ugly and long term. So if Nadal is guilty, we will be reading about his untimely death at about the age of 54-57, the time at which their limph nodes shut down, and cancer takes hold to the death.

Nadal pulled out of some tournys, some said, due to his uncertainty of passing the drug tests, but they also have methods of masking: injecting clean urine into the bladder ie, or using other's urine stashed, or masking agents provided by the docs, common to weight lifters, boxers, bike racers, etc. If you make your living as a pro athlete, the temptation is huge to take the short cut. What would you do? You can be faster, stronger, lighter, tougher, if you take a little injection and rub some cream on your testicles. Ask Barry Bonds, whose own father died at 57 yr. old, due to his drug ped use. Look at all the football players, such as Payton, Alzado, etc., who have paid the ultimate price for that little edge. I wonder if they would have taken the drugs, if they could have forseen the miserable cancerous hospital confinement? Didn't stop Bonds. Won't stop anyone dedicated to the edge. Too many ways to cheat around the tests. It's the road runner against the coyote out there, and the road runner is always ahead of him.

[bman]

that's an amazing pic, but I'm guessing it was from awhile ago. He got noticeably smaller after he pulled out of Wimbledon in 09. (Hmmm....)

[jbill]

No cheating for Fed

That's a great pic of Nadal, Geoff. Hard to imagine how his natural genes could produce such profuse and abundant muscles, no?

And as I mentioned before I think the testing the tennis authorities do is a joke. As Geoff has reported there are too many ways to get around it or through it without being caught.

The question of whether Federer would do it or not is interesting. I think I would cut him some slack due to his character. He isn't a cheater. He resists the use of gamenship in order to win. His attitude doesn't seem to be one of winning at all costs. In fact, I think he has demonstrated any number of times that he is going to win his way or no way at all; he insists on winning with his particular style of play. In fact, it seems he can get quite stubborn with regard to insisting on his particular style of play. Remember sometime back when he didn't want to use the drop shot cause he thought that shot was silly? He didn't want to win that way. He resisted incorporating the drop shot for a long tiime just because he didn't think it fit his character and style of play. So I dare say I believe Fed has played clean; it's not in his character to do otherwise.

[GeoffWilliams]

Good point, but the temptation is just so large, I don't know if I could resist it myself.

[jbill]

Money and doping

One more comment: I think it's very understandable that many of us don't want to believe that some of the top tennis stars may have resorted to using PEDs. When you think about them doping it's kind of disallusioning. It takes something away from them, their victories and the sport in general.

But the fact is that doping has been going on in all the major sports and some not so major for quite some tiime.

Just a little speculation: I believe in a period of two or three years from now the truth will come out. Someone will get caught or most likely an ATP pro of some stature will be bought off and will reveal that one or more of his fellow pro players has been doping.

It's kind of sad to me that professional sports have come to this, but I guess that's the consequence of so much money being involved with sports careers. I kind of long for the old days when professional athletes didn't make so much money and they expressed a lot more loyalty to their respective teams in baseball, football and basketball. It's obviously just not the same nowdays because of all the money.

Jim Bill

[stotty]

There is a lot of presumption going on here. Nadal has never been found guilty...probably never will be because there is nothing going on.

Most tennis players are from affluent backgrounds and have had the benefit of a decent education. It's suicide to take PEDs...it curtails life...cuts your time on earth in half. Don't you think Nadal and Toni might at least see that

[GeoffWilliams]

It's like people believing Lance aRmstrong did not dope. Many of his former team mates disagree and say he did, yet many still hold on to their own beliefs he did not. We are not the ones who ask them to dope, their competition are the ones who demand it. When you are 22 yrs. old, who cares about 57 yrs. old? They have no idea of the pain and suffering coming down the road full speed ahead. Bonds saw his own father die that death, and did it stop him from doing the same thing? Nope. He will suffer the same fate, as will many of the current pros of many other sports. Part of the cost of admission.