Hey, Henry Waxman, what about 50 Cent?
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jan 16, 2008 
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It came out a few days ago that 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige and Timbaland may have taken performance-enhancing drugs.
Far more people listen to music than watch baseball. So obviously the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee needs to haul these entertainers in for a hearing and save the country. Frank Sinatra didn’t use HGH, why should 50 Cent get such an advantage?
I think we need to see self-righteous Christopher Shays grilling Timbaland. There is no commissioner of music, but Irv Gotti and Suge Knight can fill in.
Think of all the young rappers out there. I know I can never listen to Gatman and Robbin again without feeling cheated.
Brilliant.
The difference between sports stars and musicians is sports stars are affecting statistics. Musicians do it to look good. Who cares? Steroids and HGH don’t make them write better or sound better on record. For them the use is all about image. I honestly don’t see a problem with that. To me thats a choice.
“The difference between sports stars and musicians is sports stars are affecting statistics. Musicians do it to look good.”
It doesn’t change the fact that it was a photo-op and dog and pony show for congressman who most people don’t care about….
CSPAN is not enough for these do nothing hacks.
Actually, gianthinker…
You are very wrong. What sells these musicians is image. If you get a ripped 50 Cent or a hot MaryJ Bilge on a CD cover, that’s the image and that’s what people buy.
The music? Arguably, anybody could do it. Those who get the break to do it for a living are those with the proper image. Thus, steroids give them an advantage towards fame and fortune, just as with the ballplayers.
I realize you are joking, but if Congress is to believed that their main interest is protecting “the kids”, then superstar musicians should also be called in front of Congress. Even more than athletes, music stars are influential among today’s youth. It is very conceivable to imagine a young man taking steroids so he can look as rough and tough as Mr. $0.50.
OK I’m seeing this mistake made all over the place and it’s kind of annoying. The reason that baseball is subject to additional congressional scrutiny is that baseball has the only legal monopoly in the country as a result of its antitrust exemption.
Dan,
Why should steroids have an effect on their antitrust exemption?
How much fun would it be to watch Congress say or try to pronounce some of the rappers names.
Mr. Cents can you tell the panel….
My favorite was when Shays was asking about when Palmiero got his 300th hit…was it before or after his steroids test. So clueless.
Seeing Suge Knight hang Henry Waxman out of a window by his ankles would make for a quality TV during the writer’s strike.
Excellent point Pete. PEDs are suposed to be illegal for everyone – not just major league baseball players. And our government is supposed to represent all of the people.
Eric –
The antitrust exemption is why baseball (and no other league, and certainly not the music industry) comes under excessive scrutiny from Congress for its steroid use.
of course Congress is a great example to kids, if you want your kids to be corrupt, selfish (earmarks/porks), deceptive, & have cowardly consciences.
from a ‘lesser of 2 evils’ perspective, i’d much rather have my kid use Barry Bonds as a role model than Chris Shays or Harry Waxman.
Dan – I thought the NFL and a couple other leagues have anti-trust exemption?
The funny part is we all love something that’s supposedly un-American since they own the entire market.
Also if you want to make your own pay raises! Be like the American legislative branch.
Dan,
I understand why. But I’m saying that the two are mutually exclusive. Just because baseball is exempt doesn’t mean Congress needs to police it.
And yes, the NFL is exempt as well. Congress was saying they would take it away if they didn’t broadcast the Pats-Giants game.
“The difference between sports stars and musicians is sports stars are affecting statistics. Musicians do it to look good. Who cares?”
wait, i thought this whole thing was about setting the proper examples for our children?
now i’m confused.
Because the RCA doesn’t have an antitrust exemption.
It comes to mind whether George Mitchell forgot himself and addressed the Congressional hearings sporting his 2004 Boston ring. He has to wait until April to get his 2007 ring. Not that he’s biased or whatever resembles it.
oyf
yeah stats are great! some guy wrote how shilling is so good b/c of his 4. something k/bb ratio last season. but he was 9-8! my problem is that people get compared through a narrow look at one or two favorite stats.
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You somehow missed the entire point I was trying to make.
1) a 4 k/bb ratio is ONE stat. When evaluating a pitcher, I imagine that a smart human being would look at at least 5 different stats, and hopefully many more.
If Schrill had 100 Ks and 25 BBs, the STAT says his K/BB ratio is 4. Do you disagree with that? Do you agree that 100/25=4? If the math is correct, the stat is PERFECT.
Howover, a human evaluator who states that Schrill is a GREAT pitcher solely because his K/BB=4 is a moron.
And are YOU really trying to make any kind of evaluation of Schrill based on the one Stat: 9 Ws/8 Ls? (God, I hope not)
my problem is that people get compared through a narrow look at one or two favorite stats.
———————————————————-
Thats not a problem with Stats, that’s a problem with people. Not for the first time, your passion is misdirected.
Johnny Carson once asked George Carlin a very serious question. He said ‘Honestly George, what do you think of the dope problem?’. And in a serious tone, George answered: ‘You’re right. I definitely think there are too many dopes’.
my point is that somebody can spend all day analyzing rickey’s stats but nobody should need any stats to know a hall of famer. he changed the game at the plate especially on the bases. stats are great, take em or leave em, ill choose to leave em.
———————————————————
And what if a group of 10 people, none of whom saw Rickey plan want to make an analysis? How would you recommend doing this.
DUDE! You are evaluating Rickey based on STATS in you head. You saw him hit(BA), walk(BB), stole a ton of bases(SB) and scored a ton of runs(RS). If YOU are not saying his is a HOFer on his stats, what then? His looks? His diction?
STATS ARE SIMPLY A RECORD OF EVENTS THAT HAVE HAPPENED.
STATS ARE SIMPLY DATA THAT REPRESENT NUMERICAL HISTORY.
STATS ARE NOT GOOD. STATS ARE NOT BAD. STATS ARE INFORMATION.
Now maybe you just don’t like information. That somehow would not surprise me.
But, what about the Children???
Pete is right. This whole thing is a joke. In fact, its embarrassing that the Congress of the United States is wasting their time on this issue.
Its not about records, the antitrust exemption or the “children”. Its about egomanical politicians looking to take a “moral” stand in an election year.
That’s all it is.
SJ: You know, for (not entirely) your reason alone, I’d love to see a third party dark horse candidate take the election…
That Canseco is everywhere. He’s going to out Madonna too?
Off topic.
I was listening to the radio and they were talking about PET PIEVES. I thought i would give one of my many in this slow offseason.
I hate it when im in a movie theatre and people clap after the movies over like the actors can here them or something.
I just look at it and ask do they do that at home while watching it on dvd?
I hate it when im waiting to get in an elevator.Already pressed the button and its lit up. But someone thinks by pressing it 10x after will somehow make the elevator arive quicker.
Lets here some of your PET PIEVES.
I found a pic of Fitty (don’t call me Curtis) Cent before he was on roids and posted it next a current pic. It was as telling at comparing then and now pics of Barry Bonds…
http://uberuser.seraphim7.com/.....-rage.html
oyf
now who’s on the soapbox?
and what about that ‘other ny team’ you pay no attention to? too busy looking up someone’s dml3j ratio to be interested in an entire league?
or is there no ‘information’ available for that league?
wait, i know mitchell is on the board of directors, but he gets a ring? really?
Listening to Rep. Shays try and talk to the likes of 50 and Mary J. would be hilarious. The dude couldn’t even pronounce Palmiero (Palmieree, anyone?) or demonstrate a fundamental understanding of the game yesterday. Watching him deal with folks from the entertainment industry would be high comedy.
But we all know that the ‘hearings’ were only good for grandstanding and backslapping Mitchell, so this will never happen.
Rebecca,
We’ve had third party guys before; George Wallace, John Anderson, Ross Perot, and Ralph Nader.
All they suceeded in doing was help elect Nixon, Clinton, and, some say, G.W.Bush in 2000.
So be careful what you wish for.
Now we have the answer to who ratted out the musicions.
The hearing yesterday made me sick. It was a lovefest which failed to seriously challenge anything Mitchell did. Before getting evidence from McNamee and Clemens, how about getting all of Mitchell’s source materials so they can objectively review what was said? Mitchell says he won’t show it to anyone. Why not? Something to hide? Maybe some holes in the stories? Maybe some evidence about Red Sox players? Open up your files Mitchell. What are you hiding?
The hearing did provide the opportunity for some House members to stand up and grandstand and/or prove themselves seriously ignorant about baseball (while professing to be fans). It really makes you wonder how much they get wrong on far more important topics that we may not understand as well.
saucy
1/2 of new englad got rings from the sox in 2004.
sj,
I wish congress would $hit or get off the pot. Either say to all professional sports that from now on we will have the same rules and testing as the olympics. Plus have mandatory blood samples for future HGH testing or stop calling them in front of congress just to get air time.
I have a 9 year old that plays football and i hope that by the time hes in high school. This crap has been fixed.
My biggest peeve is when people spell peeve with an “ie”.
Maybe the underdog wouldn’t be on top if the underdog hadn’t used PED’s. Sad.
speed of lightnig, roar of thunger, fighting all who rob and plunder……UNDERDOG!
you’re not suggesting that humble, loveable shoeshine boy is on PED’s are you?
musicians on drugs? The hell you say!
no one cares if the geoff blum’s of baseball take steroids. the “artists” you mentioned are the geoff blum’s of the music industry.
Yanks Rule: It’s why I said I want a third party candidate to TAKE the election.
Not run in it, but win it.
I PLEED DA FIF
I just wanted to point out that someone made a comment above that said “If you get a ripped 50 Cent or a hot MaryJ Bilge on a CD cover, that’s the image and that’s what people buy.”
Has anybody else ever heard of steroids making people more attractive or has anybody really ever thought Mary J. is that hott? Just thought that was funny. Other than that steroids may help some musicans get on magazine covers, but not make better music. If someone isn’t talented they won’t be around for very long regardless.
As I posted earlier on a forum on ESPN, I really don’t care who puts what into their bodies, as long as they’re not hurting anyone else in the process.
I like my actresses and singers prettier and curvier and I like watching athletes that are bigger/faster/stronger. Who cares how they got that way?
That’s not true, Dave. There are plenty of non-talented “musicians” that stick around. It’s 80/20 in favor of marketing and image, especially in urban music.
Dave, that’s just not true. Barry Bonds has the singing voice of an angel, and I bet steroids had something to do with it.
rebecca
couldnt agree more about 3rd party. but so many people vote for who they think is going to win, instead of who they think would make the best president, that i dont think a 3d party candidate has a real chance. the system is rigged against them. the republicrats control the debates and the ballots. Networks cover elections as if they were horseraces, except they dont care who the ‘show’ horse is.
To change the steroid subject for a sec, the Tigers sure aren’t afraid to spend money anymore! They project to have the 3rd highest payroll in ’08 and just signed Nate Robertson ( 9 – 13 4.76 ERA) to a 3 year $21.25mil contract. He’ll make $4mil in ’08 but $10mil in ’10. Makes me wish I were 30 years younger! lol.
Actually, I wish the Yanks would tie up youngsters like Cano and Wang to long term deals rather than 1 year arbitration settlements.
Even though the post was done in fun and taking into consideration that I am in the minority here-I believe that baseball has done a very poor job at recognizing and dealing with this problem (PED). As for who is the most to blame for the proliferation of this “problem†is subject to a lot of debate. Baseball should not be exempt from the rest of the world. I understand that it is both easy and tempting to poke fun at politics and politicians. If everyone were outraged by their behavior (Congress) regarding these hearings, constituents would contact them in great numbers (which will not happen) with their objections. I do agree with most everyone that the Mitchell Report was a very flawed document that left much to be desired. It is amazing that a partisan/participant and Red Sox “associate†George Mitchell was selected to do this report. Unfortunately this is path chosen by MLB and Commissioner Selig. As a result of PED use, it has now become much harder to compare numbers over time and from era to era (of course, not one of life’s bigger problems). Even though Barry Bonds is not the only person who potentially has used PED’s, this last year’s chase to Hank Aaron’s record was not truly celebrated, as it should have been given all of the suspicions. In addition, it was not much fun watching Mark McGuire destroy most people’s positive impression of him (built up over many years) in less than an hour. However, that was not the fault of Congress if McGuire had nothing to hide.
Okay I’m not sure if the person was joking or not. But was Mitchell really wearing his 2004 WS ring.
“no one cares if the geoff blum’s of baseball take steroids. the “artists†you mentioned are the geoff blum’s of the music industry.”
I wouldn’t exactly call them the Geoff Blum’s of the industry. They are two of the most well known entertainers in the industry. Nobody except for baseball fans knows who Geoff Blum is.
jennifer,
are you saying Mitchell wore his WS ring to the hearings yesterday?
“the “artists†you mentioned are the geoff blum’s of the music industry.”
he’s not my particular cup of tea, but i am pretty sure that 50 Cent is like the Barry Bonds of the music industry.
rgk
you better put on your flak jacket! being against ped use in baseball is blasphemy on this blog!
Drive 4-5
Look up towards the begining of this entry, someone said he was. I’d assume they were joking, but I’m not sure.
EricVA
January 16th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
And yes, the NFL is exempt as well. Congress was saying they would take it away if they didn’t broadcast the Pats-Giants game.
____________________________________________________
Baseball is the only sport that has an antitrust exemption.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/s/2001/1205/1290707.html
I’ve always assumed that we kinda stopped caring/avoid being hypocritical in our responses to performance enhancements since players have being trying to cheat/gain an advantage forever.
Basically, any company/corporation thast does business accross state lines falls under the anti-trust laws, except baseball.
Has anyone seen Carrot Top lately? Dude is huge now.
I’m kind of angry that there isn’t more steroid regulation in the music industry. 50 was pushing mixtapes on the streets for years, and then suddenly he’s selling millions. That sort of jump in production can only be attributed to steroid and PED abuse. 50 claims the substance he took was vitamin water, but I’m not buying it.
“If someone isn’t talented they won’t be around for very long regardless.”
can someone please explain kid rock to me then?
Mel,
I plead guilty to ignorance. Who is Carrot Top?
George Mitchell is a minority owner of the Boston Red Sox, which is why he sits on the board.
Click on THIS LINK RIGHT HERE for the 2001 New York Times story naming Mitchell as a minority owner.
When you own part of a team, you get a ring.
Funny, I just read a post about this on Cracked: http://www.cracked.com/article.....roids.html
Good stuff!
And I agree, all this grandstanding is a joke. Either the DEA should be investigating this, or not. Congress has no role to play here.
HGH 50 cents….doesn’t rhyme as good as HGH Pettitte.Remember Stallion took HGH too.
Hello! Helloooo!
is this thing on?
Selling cds is about selling image. And the music is more about the production than the performance. In this environment a very mediocre singer can be mega-successful, and believe me it has nothing to do with their singing talent. It’s also about marketing.
Madonna is a marginally talented singer who can dance, but what really sells Madonna (or sold) is her ability to market herself and her ability to take advantage of MTV.
Which is one reason I crack up when the teeny-pop-tart du jour gets so upset when they are accused of lip-synching. Of course they are – they can’t reproduce the sounds of the production studio in a live performance. They should just admit it. The tweenage girls would still buy the cds and go to the concerts, believe me.
So I take it you guys have all seen the new Southwest Airlines commercials?
“I wouldn’t exactly call them the Geoff Blum’s of the industry. They are two of the most well known entertainers in the industry. Nobody except for baseball fans knows who Geoff Blum is.”
“he’s not my particular cup of tea, but i am pretty sure that 50 Cent is like the Barry Bonds of the music industry.”
i was referring to TALENT, not popularity. 50 cent and whoever else is mentioned in the post have a combined talent equivalent to a geoff blum does in baseball.
ray,
He’s a comedian with a big orange mop who uses props in his routine. I recall him as tall and lanky. According to S.o.S. he was ripped, but to me he looks thick now.
this is why the internet is great. i have no idea what half of my favorite artists look like until i go see them live.
and there’s some pics of carrot top in stanzy’s link above…
Some Roger Clemens and ESPN humor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related
i guess this can be said about a lot of advertising, but what exactly do those commercials have to do with Southwest Airlines? i must be missing something.
So what is everyone’s favorite music?
Live is my favorite band, but I also like Goo Goo Dolls, Coldplay, Nightwish and a bunch of medieval/renaissance music artists that most of you probably won’t know
Saucy: the ones with productivity enhancers?
Some ESPN Bloopers. Charley Steiner is great
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFAO7nJn2nU
What a paradox. Pop culture figures are arguably more influential than sports stars, but you won’t see kids rushing out to get HGH because the stars use it.
Which goes back to what I said the other day. It’s the responsiblity of the kids themselves, coaches, and parents’ to monitor the kids. If kids use, it’s because it’s readilty available to them. Isn’t a kid more likely to get their PEDs from a local guy than from the internet? How would they know how to use them? Aren’t they more likely to use because someone they trust said, “This really works, why don’t you try it.” rather than “Steroids helps Barry Bonds, maybe I should give it a try”.
Attack the distribution system if you want to stem the tide at the amateur level. I’d also venture to say that many high school players are multi-sport athletes and get their drugs from the football side.
Why any athlete would want to be publicly ridiculed is beyond me. Threat of exposure will probably help at the pro level more than drug testing or anything else.
Whoa – point taken, although with the state of the music industry on a whole it’s arguable that Mary Blige and Fitty represent the best talent wise also, as sad as that may be.
yeah
that’s “pop stars” and please ignore all the typos.
Steroids schmeroids. It was common in baseball, and every other sport, and we all knew it.
Finally the attempt will be made to clean it up and if Clemens has to be sacrificed (guilty or not) so be it.
If you want deep, verging on evil, crookery, look at the travesty of the sub prime loans, now that is worthy of congressional investigation and criminal prosecution.
Just to let everyone know Phil Hughes has his own blog now, he’ll be taking down his website.
http://philhughes.wordpress.com/
jennifer,
Thanks. Hopefully he’ll only have good news to share.
I hope he keeps up with it, also I noticed that comments require him to approve them
It stinks that you can’t trust people not to act childish.
Totally agree Pete. It’s absolutely ridiculous. In all honesty, music is one of those factors that truly influence a person’s socialization (completely), especially kids. Then you look at someone like 50 Cent who uses his physical image as an important tie-in with his aggressive lyrics.
What’s more damaging to children then that (and I love rap music)? Why not go after someone like this instead of Miguel Tejada or even Barry Bonds. Or, at least treat everyone equally and attack the dealers, not the users.
I actually wrote about this a couple of days ago if anyone is interested.
http://thebronxzoo.wordpress.c.....-standard/
phil’s link section rules, lohud yankees and lrg.
mel,
I agree with monitoring your kids. I just dont think it will always work. EXAMPLE.If steroids and HGH is still flowing in a few years. Lets say my kid played pop warner with some kids and now they are in high school. The same kids he dominated growing up are now stronger faster and just plain better than him. He knows that they are taking something because they do tell each other to take some. No matter how much you raise your kid to be a certain way. His competetiveness might lurk out. Now what do you do and do you blame the kid or his surroundings?
Carrot top had about 15 inch guns when i say him. He had a muscle shirt on. I do remember when he was just skinny though.
Because rappers don’t have an anti-trust exemption. Duh.
“he’ll be taking down his website.”
Anyone know why?
Guys i dont know if you can compare 50 cent to Geoff Blum. I think that in his case he would still be selling as many records. Its all about his lyrics. He is known like M & M to be one of the best in that. M & M doesnt look like hes lifted anything. He still is one of the highest in sales. I do agree though that some people like Spears, would not have made it without her physic.
Let’s also not forget that HGH is often touted as an anti-aging thing outside of sports. It’s totally unsurprising to me that entertainers may have purchased it without a prescription as a part of some high-priced, quasi-legal rejuvenation regimen.
Is it safe to say that other professional sports notables will soon be called upon to testify in Congressional hearings for PED issues in their sport particularly if they have a Washington connection sitting on a board of a team’s ownership group ? Will it be restricted to baseball only ?
Kelli, i think only baseball, unfortunately…
Here’s an article on the new WADA president and how he criticizes baseball’s actions against PEDs. i pretty much agree with the guy.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....steroids_1
Just for the sake of raising hell on the blog, I’ll go off the deep end and say why not just legalize HGH and ‘roids (or at least do so with a prescription) because that’ll level the playing filed and we won’t have to listen to Bill Clinton – type denials from athletes or whoever takes the stuff. I’m tired of hearing about it all. At least Clinton was entertaining in his own way whether he was inhaling or in the sack.
Either legalize that stuff or outlaw stuff like Gatorade. It’s also a man-made athletic performance enhancer, and all the sugar in it will harm your teeth if you drink enough.
Further, tobacco’s been legal for how long? And how harmful is it compared to the performance enhancing stuff in question? And for all the exposure of its dangers and the lawsuits and all the taxes & laws applied to it, why is it still legal in any context? And how easy is it for a kid to get? And how many of their idols or idiot friends have been considered cool while they either smoked a certain brand or chawed, spittled & drooled a wad of choon terbacky?
So what’s with buggering’ 50-Cent about being ‘enhanced’ when it’d be perfectly fine if a pack of smokes was part of his image?
OK let’s talk some more about ‘performance enhancements’ … what does TV commercial start Smiling Bob’s wife think about his use of performance enhancing drugs????
There is a story at SI.COM on a dad that gave his 13 year old son steroids to compete at in line skating. Good read. Yet another reason to put an end to this in the professional level.
Oh yea, this one: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....ather0121/
Good read
Ranting Guy: Well, big tobacky does equal big money… xP
(so…why do we elect our congressmen if they’re so bribable anyway?)
Smoking isn’t baned because the states get to much TAX $$$$ from it. $$$$ talks.
So, I’m slow. So, what else is new.
A quote from the father that injected his son.
That says it all. Its about making millions no matter what the consiquences are.
Good article.
It’s always about money, money in the form of actual cash or college scholarships.
Yo whoa,
Pick your own user name.
A little late on the answer but I’m not sure why. The person who helped Phil start it said that will go unmentioned for now.
Maybe the Yankees didn’t want it up? That is only a guess.
Pocketgeek, your blog entry for the 50c “before and after” was pretty funny…
raymagnetic – you just gotta look harder. mainstream pop music has usually always sucked. this will most likely never change.
“Guys i dont know if you can compare 50 cent to Geoff Blum. I think that in his case he would still be selling as many records. Its all about his lyrics. He is known like M & M to be one of the best in that. M & M doesnt look like hes lifted anything. He still is one of the highest in sales. I do agree though that some people like Spears, would not have made it without her physic.”
hahahahaha…50 cent and eminem are all about lyrics?!?! wow. they are 2 of the worst lyricists out there. listen to some real hip hop if you’re into lyrics. there’s so much in new york it’s ridiculous.
whoa,
Stop being a jerk an find your own user name.
whoa jr, i had this name before you. long time ago. i noticed you started using it too, but didn’t make a big deal about it.