Steriods-Network TV Coverage [Archive]

NYDCYankee

03-19-05, 02:21 AM

Ok here is Thursday's coverage:

ABC: MLB Steroids Hearing. ABC World News Tonight (3/17, lead story, 2:30, Jennings) reported, “We're going to begin with baseball and steroids. There's been quite a buildup to the hearings in the Congress today. Reluctant players subpoenaed. A defiant players union, for a while at least. Major League Baseball insisting every opportunity it was going to get tough on players who used. It is two weeks until opening day.” ABC (Douglass) added, “The baseball stars, used to being adored, came to face with hostile members of Congress, who suspect they got to the top by using steroids.” Rafael Palmeiro: “I have never used steroids, period.” Douglass: “Sammy Sosa's statement was read by his lawyer.” James Sharp, Sosa’s lawyer: “‘I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs.’” Douglass: “Sosa and Mark McGwire breathed new life into major league baseball in 1998. Today, McGwire refused to say anything about the past.” McGwire: “I have been advised that my testimony here could be used to harm friends and respected teammates.” Douglass: “Canseco, a pariah to his former teammates, stuck to his claim, that steroid use is widespread.” Rep. Henry Waxman: “Do you think there should be any doubt in anybody's mind, that steroids were being used by -- did you say a large number of players?” Jose Canseco: “There should be no doubt whatsoever.” Douglass: “An outspoken critic of steroids, Red Sox pitcher Kirt Shilling, says Canseco is exaggerating.” Shilling: “It's a problem, but the issue was grossly overstated by some people, including myself.” Douglass: “Members pressed McGwire whether he had used steroids.” Rep. Elijah Cummings: “Are you taking the fifth?” McGwire: “I’m not here to discuss the past. I'm here to be positive about this.” Douglass: “The players listened to the parents of young athletes who committed suicide after taking steroids. They said their kids were trying to be like their idols in the pros.” Unidentified parent: “Rob fiercely argued, ‘I don't do drugs. I'm a ballplayer. This is what ballplayers do.’” Unidentified parent: “Players guilty of taking steroids are not only cheaters. You are cowards.” Douglass: “McGwire fought back tears.” McGwire: “My heart goes out to every parent whose son or daughter were victims of steroid use.” Douglass: “Members were skeptical that baseball will clean up the sport voluntarily.” Unidentified congressman: “Can baseball heal itself? Or is it going to take an act of Congress?” Douglass: “Now, the members warned baseball officials they might come up with a law that would apply to all sports. Any player caught using steroids twice would be banned from the sport for life.”

ABC: MLB Hearing-Reaction. ABC World News Tonight (3/17, story 2, 2:00, Jennings) reported, “Whatever the Congress does, if it does anything, this is a huge distraction for baseball. The players and the owners thought they put the issue to rest, by agreeing on a new steroid testing policy. At spring training today, many players said they didn't have interest in talking about the hearings. But it wasn't hard to find a fan without an opinion.” ABC (Berman) added, “The fans came to watch baseball. But there was a dark cloud over spring training. Earl Brightup says steroids are tainting the game he has loved for 40 years.” Brightup: “It hurts. It just plain hurts. I'm grieved. I really am. Because I loved to watch Mark McGwire.” Berman: “Many say they are not satisfied with baseball's new policy on steroids.” Unidentified fan: “They're getting there. They're not there yet.” Berman: “Judah Taschinger is 11.” Taschinger: “Sometimes I get mad at the players who, I think, take steroids.” Berman: “He thinks baseball's punishments need to be even tougher.” Taschinger: “I think they should kick them out.” Berman: “But while the fans want baseball to do more about steroids, many say they do not think Congress should be involved.” Unidentified fan: “I think it is a waste of time really.” Berman: “As for the players and coaches, can I ask you about the hearings in Washington today? Those who would talk to us say they believe baseball's policy of random testing will work.” Mike Myers, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher: “I think with everything, you have to take baby steps. I think what we have in place now, it's a great step forward.” Tom Treblehorn, Baltimore Orioles third base coach: “I think it's important for the fans to know we're going everything we can to make it a game that's decided out there.” Berman: “It is not yet clear what Congress can or will do about baseball's steroid problem. What is clear is what fans can do: stay away.” Unidentified fan: “I have to tell my children who this all means because they have been asking a lot of questions about it.” Berman: Unless baseball comes up with some better answers, the fans and congress won't be satisfied.”

CBS:

CBS: MLB Steroids Hearing. CBS Evening News (3/17, lead story, 3:10, Schieffer) reported, “It was quite a sight, some of baseball's biggest stars, not in their uniforms but in business suits, trying to explain why baseball took so long to crack down on steroids. Congress listened, but was not amused.” CBS (Axelrod) added, “When the Baltimore Orioles played the St. Louis Cardinals in a spring training game today, the Orioles were missing a couple of stars.” Rafael Palmeiro: “My name is Rafael Palmiero, and I'm a professional baseball player.” Axelrod: “Rafael Palmiero and Sammy Sosa were in Washington, not Florida, among six current and former Major Leaguers testifying about steroids.” Palmiero: “Let me start by telling you this, I have never used steroids. Period.” Axelrod: “Jose Canseco was there.” Canseco: “The national pastime is juiced.” Axelrod: “He's the retired slugger who moved steroids center stage on ‘60 Minutes,’ with his book naming names of purported steroid users. This made for an awkward witness table, since some of those names, like former home-run king Mark McGwire, shared space with him.” Mark McGwuire: “Nor do I intend to dignify Mr. Canseco's book, it should be enough that you consider the source of the statements in the book.” Axelrod: “The ball players were the big draw, but the reminder of why steroid abuse merited a Capitol Hill hearing came from the father of Taylor Hooten, a high school player who killed himself, depressed from steroid-withdrawal.” Hooten: “Players that are guilty of taking steroids, are not only cheaters, you are cowards.” McGwuire: “My heart goes out to every parent whose son or daughter were victims of steroid use.” Axelrod: “To a man, the big leaguers expressed sympathy, but besides Conseco no one admitted steroid use.” McGwuire: “Asking me or any other player to answer any questions about who took steroids in front of television cameras will not solve the problem.” Axelrod: “However, with Canseco's book adding to what fans own eyes have been telling them for years: Look at accused steroid user Jason Giambi when he first broke in, and a few years later, it's no longer a question of if it's happening. For many people, it's just what to do about it.” Hooten: “Let me implore you to take steps to clean up this mess. Please help us to see that our children's lives were not lost in vain.” Axelrod: “Next to coming out in favor of motherhood and apple pie, Congress could hardly have picked a less controversial topic for a hearing. Fair enough. But there is something just to shining the bright light. John McCain held similar hearings last year, causing baseball to toughen its steroid policy.” Schieffer: “I thought one of the strangest things was when Canseco, who wrote this book, admitted he had used steroids and named names of others in the book, but then today asked Congress to grant him immunity so he could never be indicted. That does take some nerve. Congress did refuse him. But where does this go now? Is baseball going to have to crack down even more?” Axelrod: “It's bigger than Congress, the President is getting asked about steroids at news conferences, the Justice Department has an investigation into a steroid ring. We just showed you that the dead children, baseball's got a major problem with steroid use, even if Jose Canseco is the only one admitting using them.”

CBS: MLB Hearing-Reaction. CBS Evening News (3/17, story 2, 1:30, Schieffer) reported, “Dr. Gary Wadler, one of the leading experts on drugs in sports, and one of the founders of the World Doping Committee which polices drugs at the Olympics, also appeared before the committee today, and said baseball is still not doing enough. I talked to him just a while ago. Dr. Wadler, our Jim Axelrod summed up his report on this, saying baseball's got itself a real problem. But I think it's become a problem for all of us, because of the tremendous impact that all this has already had across the country. Especially on young people.” Dr. Wadler: “It's had an impact on professional sports for sure, baseball specifically, but I think underappreciated and clarify today how pervasive it is among our high school students. The estimates are between 500,000 and 1 million youngsters are using these substances.” Schieffer: “And this stuff is really bad for kids, isn't it? There's no overestimating that?” Dr. Wadler: “This is bad in many, many ways. Some of the effects are permanent, some are reversible, some are predictable, some are unpredictable. For youngsters, they may wind up permanently keeping themselves shorter than they otherwise would have been.” Schieffer: “What do you think baseball needs to do? Have they got to get even tougher than the new reforms that they've put into place?” Dr. Wadler: “Well I think baseball needs to get out of the drug business. We have an international agency, and a national agency. Both the World Anti-Doping Agency and the United States Anti-Doping Agency, who have really spent the last six years developing the gold standard. And they're the ones who should be doing it. And I think baseball ought to be controlling the game of baseball.”

NBC:

NBC: MLB Steroids Hearing. NBC Nightly News (3/17, lead story, 2:55, B. Williams) reported, “In the old baseball poem, there was no joy in Mudville on the day mighty Casey struck out. In real life, there was no joy in Washington today when the once-mighty Mark McGwire took the Fifth. In one way, it was like a lot of other congressional hearings. There was a whistle-blower, there were personal attacks, some were sanctimonious, others just refused to answer questions on the advice of their lawyer. But today's hearing was about steroids, and today's witnesses were all-star baseball players. And when the one-time single-season home run leader was asked if he had chemical help, he refused to answer. In a moment, the scourge of steroids among younger athletes. But we begin our coverage with the pros. From Capitol Hill tonight, here's NBC's Chip Reid.” NBC (Reid) added, “They are modern day baseball superstars ordered to testify before Congress in baseball's growing steroid scandal. Front and center, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, who in 1998 captivated the nation as they obliterated the single-season home run record. The question now, were those bulging muscles and powerful drives the result of steroids? Today McGwire refused to answer.” McGwire: “If a player answers no, he will not be believed. If he answers yes, he risks public scorn and endless government investigations.” Reid: “Sosa, speaking through his attorney, denied he has ever used steroids and suggests that baseball take a more aggressive approach.” Sosa: “I think we can do more tests.” Reid: “Slugger Rafael Palmeiro responded angrily to charges he used steroids. The charges were made in a recent book by form former friend Jose Canseco -- who sat a few feet away.” Pamiero: “I have never used steroids, period. The reference to me in Mr. Canseco's book is absolutely false.” Reid: “Canseco confirmed he used steroids and repeated what he said in the book, that steroid use is rampant. Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, a baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, pined for the old days.” Sen. Bunning: “What's happening in baseball now is not natural, and it isn't right.” Reid: “Baseball's new get-tough policy is not tough at all, he said, noting that the penalty for a first steroid offense is only a ten game suspension, or a $10,000 fine. Bunning said it is time to crack down in a big way.” Sen. Bunning: “By making the penalty such that if you are caught, you are ought of the game.” Reid: “Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig is testifying at this moment before the committee, and he is defending that policy that he says is get tough. Some members say that it is not tough at all. And the chairman of the committee said this is just the beginning of this investigation. He said, we're in the first inning of what could turn out to be an extra-inning game.”

NBC: Students-Steroid Abuse. NBC Nightly News (3/17, story 2, 2:30, B. Williams) reported, “Today's hearing was about big-time, big-money athletes, but some of the testimony and some members of Congress pointed out the problem may be at a whole different level, high school kids, and younger, thinking chemicals will make them better. That angle of the story tonight from NBC's Kevin Corke.” NBC (Corke) added, “These are pictures of pain. The kind of pain only parents like Don and Gwen Hooton can comprehend. Their son, Taylor, used anabolic steroids, feeling pressure to be a better baseball player. When Taylor quit using the drug, his father says the 17-year-old slipped into a deep depression and took his own life.” Don Hooten: “It still hurts. The only way I know to deal with it is to ring the warning bell in the hopes that no other family has to go through what we've been through.” Corke: “And while its use among professional athletes is generating headlines, it's a growing problem among the nation's youth. The National Institute on Drugs Abuse reports that more than half a million 8th and 10th graders are now using steroids. The CDC reports admitted steroid abuse among high school students is up 67% since 1991. And there are evening younger students involved with reported use among seventh, sixth, and fifth graders. What worries researchers most is that kids don't recognize the danger. The National Institute on Drugs Abuse reports 45% of high school seniors just don't see steroids as a great risk. Physical risks, like severe heart and liver damage, but experts say that teens think they're invincible.” Barbara Schneider, University of Chicago: “There's this aspect of growing up when you are this particular age you really have a sense of bravado about, this isn't going to affect my life, and I can get over this.” Corke: “At Denver's Montbello High School, Don Gatewood wins. A hall of fame coach with seven state titels to his credit, his is a no tolerance, no excuses steroid policy.” Gatewood: “They don't realize you don't have to have the quick fixes. The best fix is a little slower right out here with hard work.” Corke: “Hard work that could do a lot more than just win championships, it could save lives.”

NBC: Steroids Hearing. NBC Nightly News (3/17, story 6, 2:20, B. Williams) reported, “Today’s hearings have had even more dramatic moments. We thought we'd watch and listen to more of how it unfolded – the players, the parents, including the dad who we just saw who lost his own son, in their own words.” Don Hooten: “Players that are guilty of taking steroids are not only cheaters, you are cowards. You're afraid to step on the field to compete for your positions without the aid of substances that are a felony to possess without a legitimate prescription. Show our kids you are man enough to face authority, tell the truth, and face the consequences. Instead, you hide behind the skirts of your union and with the help of management and your lawyers, you've made every effort to resist facing the public today.” Jose Canseco: “I made a mistake, using steroids. I don't want any youngsters using steroids, these children that took their lives, it's not worth it. And I'm going to say this again. If Congress does nothing about this, Major League Baseball will not regulate themselves.” Sammy Sosa: “The quick way we can solve this problem which is bad for kids, I'm willing to work with you guys and do the best I can to help you.” Mark McGwire: “My lawyers have advised me that I cannot answer these questions without jeopardizing my friends, my family, and myself. I intend to follow their advice.” Rafael Palmeiro: “We are role models and we do have a lot of power. If we do send the right message, we can help tremendously.” Mark McGwire: “My message is that steroids is bad. Don't do them.” Rep. Patrick McHenry: “How do you know they're bad?” Mark McGwire: “I've accepted, by my attorney's advice, not to comment.” Curt Schilling: “To the youth of America, we've made it clear that steroids is cheating, and winning without honor is not winning.” Rep. Jose Serrano: “I hope when you leave here today and think about it tomorrow, you don't think of us as another legislative committee, you think of us as no different than the people you see in the stand. We're baseball fans who love this game, and we're terrified of what could happen to it.”