I heard part of Jim Rome's interview with Ken Caminiti on the radio and all I can say is Caminiti should be the poster boy for anti-drug campaigns. ("This is your brain on drugs.") He was barely coherent. Made the kind of convoluted sense that only people who's brains are fried make. Rome was not coming down hard on him; to me, it seemed like Rome was embarrassed for Caminiti.

But then I read Rome's review on his website. Sounds more like he's trying to kiss Caminiti's butt. Is this how he gets guests to come on his show: because they know he'll prop them up?

From Jim Rome's website:

[quote] I know Ken a little bit. I know him as a guy who’s had some problems. And from that I know he’s fighting through this, and is being ripped apart for answering some questions truthfully. If a mistake was made or a wrong has occurred, it did in the commission of these acts previously, not the admission of them subsequently. It’s not a mistake to tell the truth. How can you slam a guy for being honest?

This is a man who is attempting to put his life back together. This is a man who admittedly has hurt a number of people close to him and is definitely not out to add to that list.

He didn’t sound good at all. He’s not in a good place. The interview, which according to Caminiti was done to help him recover and move forward, instead made things worse.

Ken Caminiti was obviously contrite, humbled and without a doubt struggling with this issue and many leading up to it.

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Obviously contrite? Yeah, the kind of contrition that comes when you're put in the hot seat.
He tarred 50% of the league by saying half the players are on steroids, then presents a rambling retraction ("maybe it was just one or two guys"). "How can you slam a guy for being honest," says Rome. But where's the honesty?

[quote] Is Ken Caminiti a hero? No. Are his actions admirable…I would say so. He’s standing alone right now and absorbing a great deal of heat, much of which may be unjustified. Yet since he is the only real name to attach to the steroid debate, he gets the undesired privilege of being the target of everyone’s darts.

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Rome asked him, You took steroids, but become the MVP, a household name, earned millions... if you could do it over, would you still have taken steroids. Cue the movie-of-the-week music, No, I wouldn't have, says Caminiti. Poor baby. He suffering now. Maybe he should give back the MVP award to the runner up. THAT would show some contrition.

So he's changed his stance, then? In the first interview he said he's made mistakes but taking steroids wasn't one of them. Now he says if he had the chance to do it all over again he wouldn't? Hmmmm.

[ May 31, 2002: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Sounds to me like Cammy is back on the pipe. I hope SI tape recorded the entire interview so this moron can be revealed as the backpedaling liar he is.

I read the Ken Caminiti article in Sports Illustrated as well. In the article he talks briefly of the negative physical impacts of using steriods - to me the worst part is the fact that it shrinks your testicles - I gotta tell you I would rather be a non-muscle bound wimp with normal nuts that a bulked up hero with balls that look like I hadn't hit puberty yet.

Freakin' idiot. As someone who went through a drug/alcohol recovery crisis 17 years ago--I just had my 17th sober Bday--I sympathize with how hard it is to put your life back together after crashing and burning due to substance abuse.

But I have ZERO sympathy for ass****s who pop off to the press and when they get called on their bullshit, try to blame it on a misquote or somesuch. If you can't deal with the fallout, don't make the statements in the first place. There's a reason so many athletes speak solely in cliches: it doesn't get you in hot water.

Freakin' idiot.

Bravo to you, Jim. And how does it feel to now have something in common with Diana Ross?

Rome asked Caminiti, So you say you wouldn't do steroids if you had the chance to do it all again--why?

Caminiti said, My body doesn't produced testosterone. My level is 100 and something and the normal level is 500. I have to take a c.c. every week. You know what I mean?

Rome didn't quite have a response to that.

Rome said steroids can work if administered by a doctor. Were you under a doctor's supervision?

Cami says, No, I did it all myself. Got my drugs in Tijuana.

I haven't heard the Rome-Caminiti or read the SI interviews. I've only read the many on-line articles and postings about the recent events.

Yet, I think I have a good sense of all the hoopla over Cammy's words. MLB has long history of avoiding issues that swirl off the diamond. The steriod debate has been around for sometime now.

I've always been a big supporter of Cammy ever since his Houston (1'st round) days. But, I sincerely feel that Cammy is in no condition to be giving interviews of any kind. Not yet. Cammy is a man that is in a fight against his durg, alcohol addictions. In addition, he now has to contend with the serious side-affects of taking steroids. He has a very long road ahead. If you think about it, the guy is lucky to be alive today. Can you imagine how messed up the guy was during the days when he had all three controling his mind and body. All the while, trying to produce at a professional level, maintain an image, keep his family together and act like everything was under control and ok. He was doomed from the start.

If I understand things correctly, Cammy really abused the usage of steriods to the point that his body doesn't produce testosterone. It almost sounds like the guy chemically castrated himself.
Definetly, the shut down of Cammy's body ability to produce the needed testosterone affects more than the physical. Testosterone and the levels of the hormone inside our male bodies has a signifficant role in making us guys.....guys. While one can say, much of our being is learned, true...but it's the testosterone inside us that takes what is learned, and coats it so that thee resulting expression of the learned information is expressed in a mascuilne manner and characteristics.

I would submit that if Cammy's testosterone levels are so low and he is now having to take weekly injections to maintain his normal level, then Cammy's ability to maintain a strong stance on any issue is serverly compromise. I guess what I am saying is that, the low level of the hormone allows anything and/or anyone to easily dominate, influnce, or manipulate the guy, even in a situation such as an interview. Especially, in an interview where you have an agressive jounalist seeking a story and the interviewee who no longer has that male asscertativeness to stand his ground. I am not saying that the interviewers purposely took Cammy for a ride, no.....what I am saying is that Cammy probably cannot conduct himself in an interview like you or me. What's normal for us is no longer normal for Cammy. The low levels of testsoterone allows Cammy to go along with just about anything without much resistance or opposing tought.

Even before Cammy got into trouble, he was alwaysbeen known a good nature guy. His heart was always as big as his muscles, if not bigger and he always wore it on his sleeve. I don't think Cammy ever wanted to or intended to hurt anyone, ever. All he ever wanted to do was be the best, achieve, to do as well as he could. But, I feel his personality type lended himself to make very serious bad decisions in regards to himself.

In the end, I wish the media will look at Cammy for the condition and situation he is in. Jim Rome hit on it a good bit by saying he knew Cammy a bit and knows that he's a broken man trying to rebulild a shatter life. I just hope Cammy has someone strong and caring to help him. I hate what he did to his body, his life but I still support him. I pray that he gets better and can be happy again... GO Cammy.... You can do it...

Just read about a quarter of the SI article pedaling at the gym. My gut reaction: gutsick.

The more I read the more depressing the whole issue of drugs in sports made me. How has baseball allowed this to get to this point, alone among major sports: human guinea pigs, self-medicating, oblivious to any pharmaceutical knowledge.

When I got to the part about how it is going to affect young kids coming up now playing the game and idolizing these guys I stopped reading and just perused the rest, and went on to the next article.

This whole issue reminds me of the sports commentator who doesn't want 'homosexuality in sports' discussed in a sports forum because he doesn't know how to explain what 'gay' is to his 5 year old. So I wonder whether he takes the same head-in-the-sand position on drugs.

I just hope Caminiti gets back on track. While he was in Atlanta, he did interviews in which he talked about finally being clean and sober, etc. Then, a few months later, we read of him being high in a hotel room in Houston. Those photos of him in the back of a police car were horrible. He looked like a homeless guy.

He needs someone who cares about him to really kick him in the butt and make him have some discipline.

[quote]Bravo to you, Jim. And how does it feel to now have something in common with Diana Ross?

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Buwahahaha! Stay strong, Miss Ross! It's tough but it's worth it! HAHAHA! Thanks for the giggle Joe In Philly/Baltimore/where-the-hell-ever......

Satxbuddy1, lemme ask you for some clarification on something; you're saying that, due to his reduced testosterone levels Cammy is incapable of making a strong stand about anything???? And due to his lack of stud juice he is excused from any sort of culpability for sounding and/or acting like a moron?

I'm paraphrasing here, so if I've taken you outta context I apologize, but that's the gist of your opinion as I interpreted it.

The man is an addict, he has a problem. The problem is he was weak and impressionable and manipulated in the first place (and that was before he was so abominably lacking in testosterone). He should own up to the facts. Everyone knows smoking is bad for you, people do it anyway. It's a personal choice. We have all heard and read the dangers of steroid use. Again, personal choice. The same can be said of any type of drug.

I give the guy credit for trying to straighten his life out...and I also give him credit for holding himself up as an example to say look what steroids will do to you in the long run. But it is a far stretch for me to agree with you in thinking that he is Mr. No Backbone because of steroid damage.

I guess it seems weird to me, women don't have as much testosterone as men, yet most have no problem taking a stand or not being manipulated.. Maybe women who are abused, weak, etc, simply need a bit o' stud juice every week to help them deal with themselves?

[quote]Originally posted by protistdog:
....
I'm paraphrasing here, so if I've taken you outta context I apologize, but that's the gist of your opinion as I interpreted it.

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Yes, you misinterpreted what I meant to say.

....
...  But it is a far stretch for me to agree with you in thinking that he is Mr. No Backbone because of steroid damage.  [/quote]

I didn't say it was steriod damage that caused Cammy to be Mr. No Backbone. What I did say or at least tried to say is that the low level of testosterone affects the way a guy is a guy. Couple that with a guy who already is weak and you have a guy who probably can't answer a question without being lead, or manipulated or simply does not have that masculine assertiveness to stand his ground.


....
I guess it seems weird to me, women don't have as much testosterone as men, yet most have no problem taking a stand or not being manipulated.. Maybe women who are abused, weak, etc, simply need a bit o' stud juice every week to help them deal with themselves? [/quote]


Comparing men in Cammy's situation to women is unfair and wrong to do so. Such situations have nothing to do with women. While the low levels of testosterone does in fact invert the male into a quasi-feminine state, you can hardly call him a woman. What you have is these situations is a male body not functioning as it should and we all can see the results. Women's body produce the correct amount of testosterone for them to function. According to Cammy himself, his body does no longer does, least not now.

If you remember, I did state that Cammy made some very bad decisions to arrive at this point. I also think a person's gentics, mental psyche, character, strength of moral fiber, learned knowledge all come together to make us the person we are. People who drown in alcohol and drug addictions somehow are not strong enough to fight them off and once hooked, can't fight their way out of it.

So, yes, I do not agree with alot of the bashing of Cammy as Mr. No Backbone as you say. Walk a mile in the man's shoe before you pass judgement on the man.

Like I said, I hate the decisions Cammy made, I hate what he did what he did to his body, I hate that he was not strong enough to say no to the drugs. But here he is... It does no good or help Cammy in anyway bashing him. He may be a big muscle guy (wheater he actually is anymore, I do not know),but on he inside, he still just a guy, a guy with a big problem. He needs support, understanding, discipline, the will to get better. I pray that he does.

First of all I'm not bashing Caminiti. Secondly, the final comment of my previous post was in no way comparing Cammy's present situation with women. It is simply a poor attempt at black humor spurred by my opinion. I understand that you were putting forth the line of reasoning behind your belief that the man shouldn't be giving interviews; however, he has. Again, personal choice. I doubt anyone forced him to talk about his addiction and steroid problems.

That's the whole point, in my opinion, it was another bad decision on his part, at least at this time. But I also believe, at this time, Cammy isn't 100%, so I read/hear his interviews considering the condition and situation the man is living.

I'm sorry. this topic has been amusing. But I have to interject.

where in the world are you getting the medical info that says Caminiti and others in his condition are "reverting back to a quasi-feminine state"?? Because that is not accepted medical knowledge.

assuming Caminiti is not taking anything else that would cause hormonal reactions physiologically, there would be no reversion per-se. Androgens work to develop the male physiology during the embryological stage. (initially there is no distinction physiologically between a male and female embryo except for the chromosomal/genetic makeup.) throughout the growing phases(adolescence etc) androgens continue the differentiation. But once developed, they do not "revert to a feminine state" in the absence of supplemental dosage. They just stay as they are. meaning...... he is not all of a sudden going to become a hermaphrodite or have his penis turn into a clitoris.

and you did state that you "would submit" that because his testerone levels were so low... that his resulting injections of sterone would have severely compromised his ability to take a strong stance on anything. Perhaps that's not what you meant exactly. But that is what you wrote.


would submit that if Cammy's testosterone levels are so low and he is now having to take weekly injections to maintain his normal level, then Cammy's ability to maintain a strong stance on any issue is serverly compromise. I guess what I am saying is that, the low level of the hormone allows anything and/or anyone to easily dominate, influnce, or manipulate the guy

lastly (I promise ) how is the ability to take a stand or have convictions the sole domain and solely the result of "male assertiveness"?
so women...... they can't have convictions and strong beliefs? because they lack "male assertiveness, they are always wishy-washy"?

dude! That would not be held up by the American Psychiatric Association.

[QUOTE] [in an interview where you have an agressive jounalist seeking a story and the interviewee who no longer has that male asscertativeness to stand his ground......The low levels of testsoterone allows Cammy to go along with just about anything without much resistance or opposing tought.
/QUOTE]

I never said it was medical information.

Thanks for the information UNG...Never the less, the men I've seen in this situation are just as I discribed. Your post Ung seems to take care of the medical information. However, it does not address the affects of steroids on a man, especially one who abuses it like Cammy.

But, what I don't understand Ung is why do you compare a guy in such a situation to a woman. I don't agree with that assessment.