Wednesday, June 17, 2009
SAMMY SOSA DRUG TEST COMES OUT POSITIVE!!
Shock value of Sammy Sosa's positive drug test was minimal Tuesday because it's not the first time he's used drugs to enhance his game performance.
In reference to his 2003 drug use exposure, General manager of the San Diego Padres, Radny Smith, at the time, said: "We all know there's steroid use, and it's definitely become more prevalent. The ballplayers all know the dangers of it. We preach it every year. But because there's so much money to be made these days, guys are willing to pay the price now and will pay the piper later. …No one has any hard-core proof, but there's a lot of guys you suspect."
Sosa, who has been under suspicion for a span of time that it was almost taken for lightly that he used performance-enhancing drugs, which was confirmed Tuesday by The New York Times' report that he failed an anonymous 2003 drug test.
For so long the league has opposed random drug tests claiming it was a violation of individual right, even to those who wanted testing.
I'd love to see testing myself," White Sox first baseman Frank Thomas said at the time. "If it can be done in every other sport, why not ours? At least it would get rid of the suspicions. 'I went in to see my doctor this winter, and he even asked me, 'Hey, are you on steroids? It's a question people are going to ask, especially the big power hitters, unless something is done about it."
"It's not like it's a shocker," says Brian McRae, Sosa's former teammate with the Chicago Cubs. "I think with the top 10 guys you most suspected, he was one of the top three or four on everybody's list.
"It's not like you were thinking, "Nah, he never did anything.' The guys that were around him, and saw him every day, you suspected something. He just didn't look right."
"Are you shocked? That's all I can say, are you shocked? I became his friend. I have nothing bad to say about him, but there are so many guys in that same situation, so are we shocked? I was shocked [Sosa] came out last week and said what he said [about being innocent] and I think that fueled the fire," Frank Thomas told Chicago Tribune on the Wrigley Field.
White Sox outfielder Scott Podsednik says why should anyone be surprised these days when a player of the steroid era is linked to drug use?
"I'm really surprised by how people are so shocked when some other one's name pops up," Podsednik told reporters. "It's not surprising. It's not that shocking. It is what it is. That was part of those times."
GINUWINE SPEAKS ON WANTING TO KILL HIMSELF
"I really didn’t want to be here anymore." - Ginuwine
Ginuwine's interview with ESSENCE magazine is posted below:
ESSENCE.COM: Welcome back, G! Your new album, “A Man’s Thoughts,” is a 14-track labor of love. Was it difficult getting back in the swing of things after being away so long?
GINUWINE: (Laughs.) Well, I wrote 45 songs in all. I believe you can listen to my album from beginning to end. Of course, some might love certain songs better than others, but overall I’m proud of it. Plus, I have everyone from Timbaland to Missy to Bun B and Brandy on it.
ESSENCE.COM: Your album is typically you with an all-star lineup, but folks are accusing you of swagger-jacking Justin Timberlake because of the Timbaland-produced anthem “Get Involved.” How do you feel about that?
GINUWINE: (Laughs.) Are you serious? If that’s copying Justin Timberlake I want to know whether people say the same thing about him when he hooked up to work with Tim, whom I’ve worked with for years? People are real funny.
ESSENCE.COM: On a more serious note, you lost both your parents in 1999 and 2000. How have you been coping?
GINUWINE: After my father shot himself to death and my mother died from cancer less than a year later, I really didn’t want to be here anymore, I didn’t want to live and tried to commit suicide more than once. There was no one around that I really loved at the time, so I turned to the drinking and drugs like weed and ecstasy. I was done mentally and emotionally to the point that I had to go see a psychiatrist, but that didn’t do any good because I wasn’t interested. In fact, the two times I visited him I was high. I was depressed and felt like I had nobody to talk to that could relate to me.
ESSENCE.COM: Wow. What was the turning point for you?
GINUWINE: I had one friend who intervened and begged me to get help. Even though I didn’t continue with my therapy, I went to church and received counseling from my pastor and got straight spiritually. I was able to turn away from all those things that were destroying me and finally think clearly. I had to ask myself whether or not I wanted to go out like my dad and have my kids hurt the way I was hurting. I’ve been clean for about seven years. Now, I keep all that stuff away from me, especially when I’m on the road.
ESSENCE.COM: Despite your adversity you’ve remained positive and are working with the mentally disabled.
GINUWINE: My wife and I own mentally disabled homes in Kansas City where the mentally disabled board through a program called SPRUCE (Special People Requiring Unique Care Equally). Many people don’t realize that once they turn18 they are often thrown out the house and are homeless. At the home, they are able to learn the basic fundamentals of life, like finding a job, how to take care of themselves, clean their rooms, and other things. My heart always likes to give, and if I’m going to help somebody it might as well be someone who can’t help themselves.
FABOLOUS AND THE DREAM ON THE COVER OF XXL
Fabolous and The-Dream will be featured on the new cover of XXL magazine Hip-Hop Soul Cover issue.
According to XXL, Def Jam stars Fabolous and The-Dream have joined forces for the new issue of XXL for The Hip-Hop Soul Issue.
The August edition of the number one music magazine will focus on the connection between hip-hop and R&B. In addition to interviews with Loso and Dream (with a guest appearence from his boo, Christian Milian), the issue will also include an essay on the history of hip-hop soul, the making of some of hip-hop soul’s smash hits, including the biggest of all time, Method Man and Mary J. Blige’s “I’ll Be There for You/You’re All I Need to Get By.”
There’s also a package featuring the Top 10 Hip-Hop Soul singers, songwriters and producers to look out for in 2010, an in-depth profile on Black Thought and much more.
The August issue of XXL hits stands on July 7.
NEW MUSIC: CURTAINS FEAT. TYRESE- TOMORROW
MY BOY KENNETH @FEWARECHOSEN (TWITTER LINGO LOL GO AND FOLLOW HIM) TWEETED ME WITH THIS NEW VIDEO HE DIRECTED NOW LEMME TELL YOU THIS BEAT IS DOPE AS HEAVEN! I HEARD IT AND REPLAYED IT 3 TIMES INA ROW.. TYRESE ON THE HOOK AND IT IS SO AMAZING! I LOVE IT!! WHAT THIS GUY CURTAINS IS SPITTIN IS REAL WORD UP! CHECK IT OUT BELOW
Monday, June 15, 2009
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