"But it was a process [getting the TUE] that nearly sent me over the edge."
Bob Harig talks to Shaun Micheel about his "TUE" saga with the tour in light of revelations about Doug Barron's positive test and civil suit.
The PGA Tour, other than to acknowledge that Barron requested the TUEs last year and was denied, had no comment.
Micheel has been taking prescribed testosterone for several years and said he went through months of anguish in order to get the exemption he felt necessary to remain healthy and continue his career.
"I was filled with all sorts of questions about what was going to happen to me if I'm not allowed to take this medication," Micheel said. "Will I just feel terrible every day? I was told for me to have a performance gain [by taking testosterone], I'd have to bathe in the stuff every day. I take it for therapeutic reasons -- a little bit I rub onto my shoulder every day.
"But it was a process [getting the TUE] that nearly sent me over the edge."
Friday, November 13, 2009 at 09:28 PM
Reader Comments (4)
Shaun micheel gets "sent over the edge" or whatever. come on. his agent did the paperwork. quit complaining and hit a prectice ball or two.
Easy now. Tell me where linking the story in the above post suddenly is change of tune? It's a good story, read it. I am in favor of drug testing and remain so. But obviously it's not perfect and stories like the one above by Harig illustrate this.
My biggest problem with the drug testing is that they just went with the same international drug list that the Olympics use instead of coming up with their own list. God forbid they put out that kind of effort.
This is golf - a clean sport - not the Olympics. The Olympics haven't been clean since the East Germans and Soviets started dressing those guys in women's swimwear.
The problem with these things, though, is that they are far more complicated than it seems at first glance. Have your blood drawn and run 50 chemistry assays on it, and chances are 1 will end up abnormal, simply due to variance in testing methodology and your own body chemistry...do the same 50 tests on another day and all may be normal, or something different will be slightly abnormal.
So when the stakes get high, such as suspending a man or woman from their job, you'd better be sure your tests are bullet proof. Not only must you know that the test methodology and reporting is sound, you have to be sure that what you are testing FOR is the correct thing. Sounds easy...."test for steroids." Well, all drugs, including PEDs, are modified by our liver into metabolites. Sometimes the metabolites are the same or similar to natural occuring substances in our bodies. Do you have a test for every metabolite? Can you be sure that the metabolite that was high wasn't due to a cross reaction with something natural and physiologic?
The reason for using Olympic lists, probably, is that these are heavily researched drugs, and there is a substantial body of evidence behind the testing. So when Bobby Joe Grooves sues the PGA Tour, Finchem's lawyers will have something to back them up.
It ain't easy. Common sense says that taking a little testosterone to restore low levels to normal is something trivial, from a performance standpoint, and is medically defensible. Applying that common sense notion in a way that is fair to all persons subject to testing is another matter.
Personally, if I were PGA Tour Czar, I wouldn't have a drug testing policy.