The ACC nukes Australian sport

[Simmo79]

"Follow the money"

So going back a few steps. These Show Cause letters are apparently about TB4. Nothing on AOD which was the most controversial drug linked to Essendon. Partly contro because the Dons spent so much effort trying to be tricksy with the meaning of section 0. But contro partly because there may have been an unlicenced unsupervised, unlawful drug trial being run in the club on that very drug. A drug trial run by an employer using its (unwitting?) employees as the test subjects.

Reading between the lines, like we always do... I reckon the reason why ASADA is steering clear of AOD, even though the case against Essendon and its players is pretty sound, is because the Therapeutic Drugs Administration and the filth may be looking into Essendon's AOD scheme. It's not your average doping scandal that one.

Just a thought.

[yob]

^^

A theory along those lines appeared to be kept in hand by fairfax. Save for a few scant facts which on their own were not incriminating (the odd registration here, incorporation there, application up there), it was entirely circumstantial.

The ethics of such a scheme would obviously be questionable. What I think augers well for the players and staff involved is I don't think they're smart enough to be that stupid.

ASADA is focusing on TB4 simply because it's a clean punch. Its legal status isn't questionable. And they also have the aid of public statements like this: (keep in mind that the burden of proof for WADA is nothing like that of criminal proceedings)

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/t ... 2shhd.html

NM: Thymosin Beta 4 – why was that used in Essendon players given there is an opinion from a doctor or researcher and other scientists that its effects are uncertain? (note: The AFL believes it has a strong circumstantial case that TB-4 was used on players.)

SD: That's not totally true Nick because, with all due respect, right, there is good data – very good data – that supports Thymosin Beta 4 in the immune system.

NM: OK, why give it to all Essendon players if only some of them had colds and flu?

SD: Well, the point is that there is a degree of immunosuppression after a game or a hard training week, right. Often times the ability to back up next week is decreased by the hit on the immune system.

NM: Did you see any indications in Essendon players that it actually helped them?

SD: Well apart from the fact they won 11 out of their first 14, right, and we did regular bloods [blood tests] . . . at the end of the day I was very happy with the science, I was very happy after working a long time in football, right, that there are periods of malaise which are possibly related to sub-clinical flus and sub-clinical colds, right, which can affect performance. When we want to be honest, Nick, how much performance data is there out there on Actovegin [calf's blood extract)]

NM: There's a lot, isn't there?

SD: No there's not! So, you know, you've got to extrapolate from the science.

NM: How often were Essendon players taking Thymosin Beta 4?

SD: [Explains the dosage level but asks that this be not published].

NM: ASADA has just released on its website that Thymosin Beta 4 is prohibited in all routes and out of competition.

SD: Well, that must have just only come in this year and I will get someone to speak to ASADA about that. That's just mind-blowing.

Mind blowing indeed.

BTW worth mentioning at the depths of a cold Canberra Winter. France must be superb right now.

[Simmo79]

I still reckon the Dons players should be up on aggravated doping charges not just the basic charges. They should be looking at 4 year suspensions, not just the 2.

[yob]

On that we're skirting the issue of whether whether the substances were adequately identified, and if there was a deception.

On face value though, I mean... f**k me...

https://checksubstances.asada.gov.au/

That took 3 seconds, 2 of those seconds because my internet is sh*t, and one of the steps involved google's "i'm feeling lucky."

Where's my 400k and free legals?

The players are maintaining the real bogan comradery that envelopes the sport. But this simply has to fail. Some implicated players are no longer at the club, some are no longer professional athletes. They have f***ing families and children. And one man has enriched himself and scored a 12 month Euro junket.

[Simmo79]

Not sure what to make of Essendon's move to go straight to FC action even though their players haven't yet received charges. Firstly, it's the players who are up, not the club, so the club might not have standing to bring this action in the first instance. Even if the club can get the Court interested, and even if they had a winning case, so what? What remedies are they going to get that will help? The best case scenario is having the whole investigation set aside...so ASADA will just start over again. f**k load of good that will do the club, the players, the fans having to go through the last 16months all over again.

[yob]

Legal shitfests are like punctuation to Paul Little. They're trying to nip the whole process in the bud on a technicality about disclosure/privacy.

Is Essendon's collective ego big enough to drag the whole sport through the shitter and have another ASADA investigation?

On form, yep. Twice on Sunday.

[yob]

Come with me as we step in to my time machine.

Kyle Reimers' assertions in a media interview re: the "supplements programme."

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-02-05/i ... ge-riemers

Reimers, who was delisted last year by Essendon, told Channel Nine the step of signing waivers felt unusual.

"Speaking to blokes from other clubs, I don’t think anyone's ever thought about signing it or doing the stuff we were doing," Reimers said.

The 24-year-old said the club made it known to players the program was on the borderline.

"They gave a brief outline but never really went into too much detail about it," Reimers said.

"They admitted to us it was right on the edge of the levels you could be taking.

"After a couple of months away from it (the club), it does seem very odd the type of stuff we were taking."

This sounds all together reasonable. His message is soft, he implicates nobody. And frankly he has the right to question what he was being asked to squirt in his body.

He then gets his reputation smashed in the media by Mark McVeigh.

http://www.news.com.au/national/former- ... 6572094386

"Kyle Reimers has come out and said some things that are untrue,'' McVeigh told SEN radio.

"He's a disgruntled player who was delisted from the football club, who very rarely turned up to pre-season training in any sort of form that resembled a professional footballer.

"Every player knew what we were taking ... if you didn't know, you must have been asleep in the meeting, which Kyle probably was.

"Everything that I took, and I can only speak on my behalf obviously, I knew 100 per cent that it was within the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) and AFL doping regulations.''

McVeigh retired from the AFL last year and Reimers was delisted from Essendon at the end of the season.

That's what happens when you stand up against Essendon. And Essendon tries to control the narrative and claim they're being bullied.

And my my, are there some inconsistencies between Mark McVeigh and the Essendon FC board and current players.

Perhaps the 34 players in question should claim they were sleeping?

[Rob]

An Essendon supporter rang up ABC radio this morning and was asked what he actually thinks of his club. He replied that he thinks Essendon should be commended for coming forward, and that a lot of other clubs are doing exactly the same thing but because they didn't come forward ASADA aren't investigating them.

Commended. He thinks they should get a commendation. You can't make this sh*t up.

[RobertHeatleyStand]

Come with me as we step in to my time machine.

Kyle Reimers' assertions in a media interview re: the "supplements programme."

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-02-05/i ... ge-riemers

Reimers, who was delisted last year by Essendon, told Channel Nine the step of signing waivers felt unusual.

"Speaking to blokes from other clubs, I don’t think anyone's ever thought about signing it or doing the stuff we were doing," Reimers said.

The 24-year-old said the club made it known to players the program was on the borderline.

"They gave a brief outline but never really went into too much detail about it," Reimers said.

"They admitted to us it was right on the edge of the levels you could be taking.

"After a couple of months away from it (the club), it does seem very odd the type of stuff we were taking."

This sounds all together reasonable. His message is soft, he implicates nobody. And frankly he has the right to question what he was being asked to squirt in his body.

He then gets his reputation smashed in the media by Mark McVeigh.

http://www.news.com.au/national/former- ... 6572094386

"Kyle Reimers has come out and said some things that are untrue,'' McVeigh told SEN radio.

"He's a disgruntled player who was delisted from the football club, who very rarely turned up to pre-season training in any sort of form that resembled a professional footballer.

"Every player knew what we were taking ... if you didn't know, you must have been asleep in the meeting, which Kyle probably was.

"Everything that I took, and I can only speak on my behalf obviously, I knew 100 per cent that it was within the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) and AFL doping regulations.''

McVeigh retired from the AFL last year and Reimers was delisted from Essendon at the end of the season.

That's what happens when you stand up against Essendon. And Essendon tries to control the narrative and claim they're being bullied.

And my my, are there some inconsistencies between Mark McVeigh and the Essendon FC board and current players.

Perhaps the 34 players in question should claim they were sleeping?

McVitamins on sen yesterday

[yob]

Hard to pick a winner when the jockey jumps from horse to horse

Also, we're seeing club and players come out and register their disgust with having been offered the equivalent of a plea deal. 6 months - you'd be back after a month of the 2015 season. And Mark McVeigh takes offense to that?

Plea deals are what keeps our criminal justice system functioning. Do these guys honestly think we hold a jury trial over everything?

[yob]

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/m ... zs8nf.html

Another voice added to the chorus. Worth monitoring because the cracks around Essendon are starting to deepen. The question is what side the players will fall on - and for how long.

[yob]

SD in more sh*t:

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/v ... 3a8nk.html

And the cracks around Essendon widening:

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/r ... zs9z2.html

Geelong boss Colin Carter said: “When Paul Little says he has the support of the AFL community, he shouldn’t assume he’s talking about us.

[dibo]

ouch. that smarts.

[RobertHeatleyStand]

The non inclusion of AOD in the show cause notices tells me asada f***ed up and can't prosecute for it's use, despite Jobe Watson publicly admitting taking them. Explains the smugness that these pricks have shown until now.

Asada need to clarify this...

[yob]

I'm amazed that Essendon thinks its legal strategy is going to somehow make average Joe forget they saw a narcissistic piece of dog sh*t.