Former Vike implicated in steroids probe, CBS claims

The Strib reports that Redwood-neck and former Viking Todd Steussie is among the NFL players named in a 60 Minutes Wednesday report about steroids in the NFL that will air tonight. Steussie and others allegedly obtained prescriptions for steroids from a Dr. James Shortt two weeks before the Carolina Panthers' 2004 Super Bowl appearance.

Here, via the Pi-Press, is the Charlotte Observer's far more detailed story on the report.

We meant "really interesting guy": baseball's sports medicine expert pulls a Fowler

From the NYT, this report that Dr. Elliot J. Pellman, who testified before Congress on behalf of baseball's steroid-testing policy, doctored his resume.

Vikes sale: exhaustive Fowler coverage, but paper ignores the Big Red Rat factor

Since Reggie Fowler's bid to purchase the Vikings was accepted by Red McCombs in February, two things have been striking about the Star Tribune's coverage: how rigorously it has pursued and reported the details of Fowler's offer and his background (story links here)--and how silent it's been concerning McCombs's possible stake in accepting an offer that may not pass muster with the NFL in the end. (At issue: the size of Fowler's personal fortune, and his business relationship with a man convicted in a college basketball point-shaving case.)

More: what about that $20 million down payment? 

And, like fantasy football, it's big business. This year's best fantasy baseball subscription sites include Baseball Prospectus (premium membership $40), Rotoworld (basic $15), and Stats Inc. (Stats Fantasy Advantage, $20).

And Prozac and Viagra and Red Bull...

What exactly did Congress's recent baseball and steroids hearings (I wrote about them here) accomplish, besides wrecking Mark McGwire's chances at the Hall of Fame? All the hoohah about fairness and the American way (loose correlation, that) and the scourge of performance enhancers was--well, it was the sideshow it was intended to be.

Meanwhile, two slightly more expansive considerations of the ineradicable role of "performance enhancers" in modern life: from The Economist and The American Enterprise.

Red, Reggie, and the Strib

Vikes sale: exhaustive Fowler coverage, but paper ignores the Big Red Rat factor

Since Reggie Fowler's bid to purchase the Vikings was accepted by Red McCombs in February, two things have been striking about the paper's coverage: how rigorously it has pursued and reported the details of Fowler's offer and his background (story links here)--and how silent it's been concerning McCombs's possible stake in accepting an offer that may not pass muster with the NFL in the end. (At issue: the size of his personal fortune, and his business relationship with a man convicted in a college basketball point-shaving case.) 

Fans are left to assume that Fowler's offer must be legitimate and sound, since McCombs surely did some due diligence of his own before accepting it. And no doubt he did. But McCombs may have been considering other things. As far as I've noticed, the Strib has never taken up the matter of Fowler's $20 million down payment and its status in the event the league turns Fowler down. Is it Red's to keep, as down payments usually are? We assume so, but when CP contacted Fowler's press rep, she declined to comment, and we never heard back from league officials to whom we posed the question.

Finally, a last detail of Fowler's finances that the Strib has yet to explore: Though the paper reported that the deal hinges partly on Fowler's sale of his share of a flight simulator company, SATCO, some experts think Fowler may be kiting the hell out of SATCO's value on paper. The story is told nicely at Mr. Cheer or Die's Viking Underground (scroll down to second item).      

A selective links bibliography, most recent stories first. (The Strib news pieces on Fowler's resume fibs are no longer in the paper's public archive.)

Vikings sale still has no timetable (3/24)

NFL waits to act on Fowler deal (3/21)

Divorce records don't disclose Fowler's worth (3/16)

Fowler's bid for Vikings moves slowly toward approval (3/11)

Fowler bid discussed, but action not taken (3/10)

My resume? You can't handle the truth (2/17)