Joe Carbone has been around baseball for 30 years.
The Ohio baseball coach recalls a time when players didn't look for ways to get an edge over an opponent or even a teammate.
But as he moved from being a player to a coach, he noticed that performance-enhancing drugs had become a more prominent part of the game as players tried to make rosters.
You find out you can do this to get a little stronger
Carbone said. There's not much of a difference between the guy that makes a big league roster and goes to Triple A.
The talk about steroids and performance enhancing drugs has become as much a part of Major League Baseball as the crack of a wooden bat.
Fans once looked at their favorite players like rock stars. Now they can only shrug their shoulders as some of the game's best players have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
Steroids will forever be associated with professional baseball. But has this had an impact on collegiate baseball?
Regulating the drugs
Carbone said he has had drafted players tell him that they run into minor league players who used performance-enhancing drugs as early as college.
You hear whispers about hearing guys having great years and coming out of nowhere Carbone said. Guys were juiced.
To prevent this type of use in college, the NCAA implemented a drug-testing program. The NCAA comes to every college campus at least once a year to randomly test student athletes for drugs.
The NCAA tests for street drugs as well as performance-enhancing drugs, said John Bowman, Ohio's assistant athletic director for sports medicine.
The NCAA also tests at championship events, such as the NCAA Tournament and college bowl games, Bowman said.
Ohio University has a separate drug-testing program for its student athletes. In its program, a random pool of athletes is tested each quarter. The number is based on squad size. For example, the football team would have more athletes tested than the swimming team, Bowman said.
This drug program, however, does not test for anabolic steroids; instead, it focuses on street drugs. But if student athletes are suspected of taking steroids, Bowman said the athletic department has the capability to test for them.
It's three times more expensive Bowman said.
At a small or mid-size college like Ohio, money limits the comprehensiveness of the drug-testing program. But Athletic Director Jim Schaus said Ohio's drug-testing policy is effective as a means of preventing the use of drugs.
Drug testing is not meant to be punitive
Schaus said. It's more focused on how we can help (student athletes) get out of it.
Any student athlete at Ohio who tests positive for street drugs has to go through the Brief Alcohol and other Drugs Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) program. Bowman said he would notify the athlete's coach and Schaus about the positive test.
Schaus and the student athlete then decide if any punitive action will be taken.
To avoid failing drug tests, Schaus said he encourages athletes to receive clearance from trainers on all types of supplements and pills.
We have a process that first of all looks to get them training and help and education
Schaus said. In some cases
they may be taking what they thought was a sleeping pill. It may not be a street drug.
The players' perspectives
The Athletic Department and the NCAA have both tested Ohio outfielder Hayden Johnston for drugs. Johnston said random drug tests are part of being an athlete.
We knew coming in that we would get drug tested
he said. If you're doing that stuff you're not going to want to play baseball.
Obviously, the number of Major League stars who have tested positive for using performance-enhancing drugs is discouraging.
Yet Johnston said that he doesn't believe performance-enhancing drugs have assimilated into the culture of collegiate baseball.
I think, for the most part, a lot of guys are clean, Johnston said. I don't think it's as common as people say it is.
Teammate Marc Krauss will take his next step toward joining the ranks of the MLB this weekend when he likely will be one of the early-round picks in the 2009 Amateur Draft.
Like Johnston
Krauss found the recent positive tests of star players like Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez discouraging.
We all try to model ourselves after them, Krauss said. It's disheartening to know it's not all talent like we thought it was.
Carbone said he brings nutritionists and other speakers in to talk his players about the dangers of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs.
But they can only do so much.
Our guys know they shouldn't do it, Carbone said. Whether they choose to do it or not is up to them.
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28680,2009-06-04 02:26:00,Track: Young Bobcats excel under Calkins' lead,While wins and losses are the bottom line
progress is just as important.
The track and field team has progressed
especially this season. Its fifth-place finish in the Mid-American Conference Championships was the best in coach Clay Calkins' tenure and the team's best performance since 1998.,While wins and losses are the bottom line
progress is just as important.
The track and field team has progressed
