I had no opinion about the truth of reports that Peyton Manning took human growth hormone supplements until I read this:
Manning retains Ari Fleischer amid HGH allegations
Peyton Manning has enlisted the services of former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer amid allegations that the Denver Broncos quarterback was sent human growth hormone (HGH) while recovering from a neck injury in 2011.
The accusation stems from an investigation into the sports doping industry by Al Jazeera.
That settles it; he’s guilty.
Open thread!
Hal
Based just on his massively annoying Nationwide and Papa John’s commercials I say he is guilty.
Felonius Monk
Whadja expect from a guy who’s buddies with Papa John?
David Koch
“The quarterback doth protest too much, methinks”
Cacti
I like Wonkette’s take on it:
“Peyton Manning Hires Ari Fleischer to Ensure No One Believes a Word He Says.”
Paul in KY
He does have a massive ‘fivehead’.
Corner Stone
I still have a moment of disconnect every time I see “Al Jazeera” associated with this story. When I first saw a headline blurb about “Al Jazeera Doping Scandal” for some reason I thought it was about terrorist groups drugging new recruits into their association.
Mathguy
I am a huge cycling fan, and have watched so many of these guys deny such allegations out the yazoo it’s sickening. Given that pro football has a not-very-openly-acknowledged doping problem at least as great as cycling, I get very cynical listening to such denials. Bringing Ari on board? Yeah, he did it.
dmsilev
What, Baghdad Bob wasn’t available?
Corner Stone
Don’t worry, guys. Ari’s got this handled. He plans to hold a presser, tell everyone that Peyton is not guilty and warn Americans to “watch what they say, watch what they do.”
Botsplainer
My kids still haven’t left, and Macy’s is still relentlessly silent on fucking over my kid on a gift that she bought for him on Black Friday.
Corner Stone
Democracy Now from 2003.
Zinsky
I wouldn’t believe Ari Fleischer if he claimed to be a carbon-based life form. Guilty!!
David Koch
Ryan Braun was caught using PEDs and successfully overturned the test results by smearing the lowly urine collector as anti-Semitic Cubs fan
Mathguy
@Paul in KY: Someone needs to do a before and after comparison of his head size ala Barry Bonds.
dedc79
I will admit that my intro to Big Star was the Cheap Trick cover they used on That 70’s Show, but wow what a great band.
Gindy51
@Corner Stone: You mean this? http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/heres-how-isis-uses-amphetamines-to-create-brainwashed-psychotic-killing-machines/
Big Ol Hound
Except that the accuser has already fessed up to lying and records show he did not work for the clinic until 2013, two years after his claims. I’m not a Manning fan but this whole thing seems really trumped up.
Cacti
He’s not named in any report that I know of, but the guy who I’m most suspicious of this season is Carson Palmer.
Bounces back from the second devastating knee injury of his career and puts up career numbers across the board at age 36.
Yeah, not buying it.
dedc79
@David Koch: No, he got off (that time) because they screwed up the chain of custody. He was later suspended anyway.
sukabi
@Mathguy: well if Ari doesn’t work, he can fall back on brain damage caused by repeated concussive injury.
raven
News flash, white pro qb’s are wingnuts. Shock.
Gimlet
And for additional open thread shocking news:
Americans named President Barack Obama as their most admired man in the world in 2015, with Donald Trump earning the same share of admiration as Pope Francis, according to the results of the latest Gallup survey released Monday.
Ruckus
@Big Ol Hound:
this whole thing seems really trumped up.
I see what you did there.
raven
@dedc79: I don’t get it. Mike Mills and and bunch of all-stars did a show here and people we all agog
Big Star Tribute in Athens to Include Mike Mills and Others
Far as I ever know Chilton fronted a bubble gum band.
Linnaeus
I watched the Al Jazeera report and I think the connection it made to Manning was probably the weakest part of the program. All they have is this guy’s word as opposed to, say, having Taylor Teagarden admitting on (hidden) camera that he takes PEDs.
I do have to wonder, though, why Manning would go to an anti-aging clinic to treat a neck injury.
jurassicpork
Not that I expect anyone to give a fuck but this is why I just deleted my blog & resurrected another because of my stalker.
gene108
Any ageless wonder that I see, playing sports, part of me assumes they might be doping and so I am not surprised to see guys getting caught.
The sad thing is, if Ryan Howard was doping because after blowing out his Achilles and other injuries he still stinks.
dedc79
@raven:Chilton was 90% of the talent in that band, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t judge them from any recent incarnation.
raven
@dedc79: Yea, I guess people liked it. Rick Derringer played some ass kicking guitar with Johnny Winter after being with the McCoys.
JPL
@Linnaeus: I didn’t watch it, but Mannings comment about his wife’s privacy seemed odd to me. Why would she go there? He also admitted to going after five but not going after hours. After five is after hours.
Turgidson
We’ll know for sure Manning is guilty and headed for a fall when Bloody Bill WRONG Kristol declares his innocence and that the scandal is behind him.
raven
@dedc79: See, that’s what I like abut these conversations. I never knew Derringer played slide on Show Biz Kids!
Amir Khalid
@Gimlet:
I’m shocked that as many Americans admire The Donald as admire the Pope.
raven
@Linnaeus: Maybe it’s a Chinese Nookie Factory! I van to be Jung again!
catclub
Lance Armstrong vociferously denied it for about 10 years, right? The NFL drug testing regime is not considered state of the art. (kind of on purpose?)
Who knows. But the smart money is betting…
Linnaeus
@JPL:
Yeah, that non-denial denial raises more questions than it answers. Manning’s stature is such that all he has to do is maintain doubt if he did in fact do what Al Jazeera claims he did.
RaflW
Ari Fleischer, the remarkable speaking carbuncle on the ass of the Dubya admin. Nothing says you are a right wing moron quite like retaining him for disaster recovery comms.
David Koch
@raven: most probably are, because they’re at the head of an authoritative culture. Also they make the most money, making them more sensitive to taxes and they were cuddled in college, not forced to think and to discover for themselves (Brady’s degree is “General Studies” – 26,000 students at Michigan and only 176 picked a “General Studies” degree).
But there are some interesting exceptions. Joe Namath was a Democrat and made it to Nixon’s Enemies List. And Aaron Rodgers is so thoughtful (gays, mooslims, flying spaghetti monster), the former Berkeley player has to be progressive.
dr. bloor
Fleischer is pretty wired into the NFL corporate behemoth. I suspect his hiring is at least partly driven by his ability to play nice with the tinpot dictators in the league office on Park Ave. It’s unlikely Manning much cares what Joe Sixpack thinks.
raven
@David Koch: I knew someone would know, thanks!
Mike J
@dedc79:
The guys from the Posies are very talented, but Big Star Mk II was still just the Alex Chilton backing band.
Chris Bell’s solo album is very good too. I am the Cosmos is a great song.
JPL
Has Roger called for an independent investigation yet? Most players have bulked up so quickly that you have to wonder why. If Peyton took HGH which was not banned in 2011, to aid in healing in surgery, I’d give him a pass.
@Big Ol Hound: He could have had access to records. Peyton could have said his wife was not receiving deliveries from the clinic.
JPL
If Peyton sues, then I’ll assume that’s he is innocent until proven guilty. Threatening to sue, means nothing.
Paul in KY
@Mathguy: Good idea! Maybe a photo from 10 or so years ago.
Paul in KY
@Cacti: I thought he was washed up when Bengals traded him.
Paul in KY
@raven: Big Star was his 2nd band, after Boxtops.
Joel
Speaking of tangled webs, my comments keep getting eaten.
Temporarily Max McGee (Soon Enough to Be Andy K Again)
@JPL:
There’s that and the fact that the source for the story has recanted, and has pointed out that he didn’t begin his internship at the clinic in question until 2013.
bystander
@Amir Khalid:
I bet the Venn diagram of that looks like a schematic for Gina Lollabrigida’s brassiere. Two big circles about three inches apart.
Paul in KY
@jurassicpork: Jeezus, what a drag. What a POS too! Hope you get to him in meatspace sometime.
Joel
@Big Ol Hound: Charlie Sly isn’t an accuser, he’s a perpetrator. Furthermore, Al-Jazeera claims to have employment records putting him at the Guyer Institute in 2011. Lastly, Manning is kind of a peripheral player in this case. I’d be interested to see what, if anything, happens to former Purdue players Dustin Keller and Mike Neal.
The Golux
@dedc79:
I like Big Star’s songs, but the production is quite unlovely. It’s a little better on the later stuff, but not as good as, say, Little Feat.
marduk
@Big Ol Hound:
I wouldn’t hang your hat on Sly’s attmept to save his ass after the fact unless you believe there’s a legitimate reason Manning’s wife is getting HGH treatments from a sports drug clinic mailed to their house.
gbear
@dedc79: I got turned on to Big Star when they were still around due to some reviews and columns written in an equipment geek magazine called Stereo Review that my grandma signed me up for when I was in high school. Their first two records were hard to find but eventually turned up in some used bins ( I still have the original vinyl). They were a great alternative to the hard rock stuff that I was listening to back then. They certainly weren’t of their time when they were around.
dedc79
@The Golux: I think you’re right regarding the production – particularly on the first album. Not an easy thing to describe, but to my ears there’s not a lot of depth to the recording. It has a kind of flat sound. Not in the “out of tune sense.” More like the individual instruments don’t stand out at all.
Lamh36
Breaking: Grand jury declines to indict Cleveland police in killing of #TamirRice
JPL
@Lamh36: That sucks! Now over reactionary police men will be back on the streets, killing those, they are suppose to protect.
Gravenstone
Or a Republican. Which is guilt of another sort.
OzarkHillbilly
@Lamh36: I am shocked, shocked I tell you.
Mike J
@gbear: I started listening to Big Star after they had already broken up. When I was in high school I hung out at the Antenna Club in Memphis. Alex was playing with Panther Burns, but it wasn’t his band, more just hanging out and playing guitar for his friends. After that, he went back to playing solo shows. The era right before Feudalist Tarts is when I really started paying attention. After that I saw him play dozens of times, solo or with Big Star.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: Somehow or other I foresee a different result of black people being denied justice time and again no matter how egregiously wrong the actions of certain members of law enforcement.
Germy
I’ve seen TV infomercials for HGH, apparently targeted to women (the lady doc from the TV show “The Doctors” endorses it in the commercials)… typical infomercial: “Do you know that your body starts losing, etc., after the age of forty?”
Sounds like a risky thing to take, but apparently it is unregulated?
Geoduck
While Ari is well known to political junkies, I have to assume that most people don’t know him from Adam. So in strict PR terms it’s not like hiring him is automatically horrible. Morally is quite a different story.
MomSense
@Lamh36
No justice.
OzarkHillbilly
I smell a lawsuit coming: Texas Christian claims she diverted tornado to another neighborhood: ‘God had given us authority over the winds’
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: Yup. Crawford who was talking on a phone, while holding a pellet gun while shopping at Walmart, proves your theory.
Most exceptional nation evah
lamh36
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: We shall reap what we sow.
OzarkHillbilly
@lamh36: Adulting while black. That’s a new one.
lamh36
Carolus
What’s troubling about the Al Jazeera report is it links Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Howard–both MLB players who have faced repeated long stints on the IR–to a rather obscure clinic in Indiana.
It’s also unclear what Manning’s wife would need HGH for-unless she’s a body builder or suffering from some sort of wasting disease.
Also, Ari Fleischer. Seems to me if you’re innocent in this matter, you turn it over to the team of high-priced lawyers Manning has.
rikyrah
In an OPEN CARRY STATE,
a child was EXECUTED in less than 2 seconds.
The pivotal question for me, since the beginning of this travesty is:
HOW, did this obviously unqualified man, get a position on the Cleveland Police Department? For me, it was the key to why they have been so odious with this case. Blaming a CHILD for being MURDERED in less than 2 seconds. Nobody wanted to answer this obvious question, so they have been peddling hard at the coverup on this case, because the answer to that question would mean the loss of numerous jobs.
Hal
@lamh36:
I forgot that legal loophole where deadly force is justified on the basis of how old someone looks. But I’m not surprised by any of this.
Keith G
@Lamh36: In a better world, there would have been a criminal indictment, but a civil law suit is no small thing and it may be better at uncovering institutional rot.
goblue72
@Lamh36: No justice. No peace.
A Ghost To Most
@Mike J:
So were you at the Antenna Club in 1991 when G.G. Allin performed, per “The Night G.G. Allin Came To Town”?
gbear
@Mike J: I kind of quit following Chilton after the ‘Like Flies on Sherbert’ lp. That album was really difficult to love. I got to see him once in Minneapolis. His pick-up band included a drummer I knew who was playing in a speed-metal band and I can’t remember who the bassist was. He was mostly winging it on stage, obviously wanting to put his past behind him. I spent the show wishing I was up there drumming his Big Star hits, so I was obviously part of the problem Chilton was having with his audience. It must have been a bear trying to live down his own legacy.
OzarkHillbilly
@Keith G: Have civil lawsuits stopped any of this? Forgive my cynicism, but this was a child and they’ll just bury his memory under a pile of money too.
lamh36
@Keith G:
OzarkHillbilly
@lamh36: This is too depressing. I’m going to back to book 3 of Game of Thrones.
Keith G
@OzarkHillbilly:
Maybe so, but at this juncture the best of a bunch of bad realities would be to keep digging for more information.
In the grand jury process, the cops had things their way. In a civil deposition, the family’s lawyers get a chance to go to work.
Villago Delenda Est
I’m with Betty. Hiring vile shitstain Ari Fleischer means you’re a vile shitstain, too.
Villago Delenda Est
@rikyrah: Exqueeze me, but if you’re blah, even if you’re in an open carry state, you’re obviously dangerous and need to be gunned down without warning.
Keith G
@lamh36: On course the shit head is poisoning the well.
He might be of the opinion that the family has a good civil case, so he is firing a warning shot.
Big deal.
kimp
But he agrees a shipment was sent to his wife at their shared address?
The Golux
@dedc79: I’d call it harsh; generally too much high end.
dedc79
One take on the Manning story:
FlipYrWhig
@raven: Hey, children by the millions sing for Alex Chilton.
raven
@Paul in KY: I rest my case. The BoxTops was bubble gum if ever there was. . .
eta Apparently they were Uber Bubblegum
“The one thing that lifts the Box Tops out of the pack of bubblegum groups that flooded AM radio in the mid- to late ’60s was the blue-eyed Memphis soul voice of the then-teenaged Alex Chilton, and coupled with Dan Penn’s deep South production, the group managed two memorable singles, 1967’s “The Letter” and 1968’s “Cry Like a Baby,” along with a couple of decent near-misses, “Neon Rainbow” and “Choo Choo Train.””
Paul in KY
@lamh36: That is the lamest ‘blame the victim’ that I’ve ever read. Fuckin cops & DAs…
dedc79
@FlipYrWhig: Yeah, I was actually going to post that my favorite Alex Chilton song is a song that’s about him, not by him.
Paul in KY
@raven: Agree. Thought at time I wrote that that you’d only ever heard of The Boxtops.
The Letter is a great song, though.
raven
@Paul in KY: One of them Vietnam songs if I remember.
Davebo
♫ HGH You Taste So Good ♫
raven
@The Golux: I see the bright lights of Memphis. . .
Keith G
@Villago Delenda Est:
Never been a fan of that type of reasoning.
If you really need a lawyer to do something big and important, you go to the law firm you feel is best able to get to the desired outcome (and that is affordable).
If Manning has a few synapses left, I bet ideology or the ability to repeatedly lie while smiling were not at the top of his legal firm checklist – but still possibly in the top 5.
Poopyman
And in other news from our awesome legal system:
Powers That Be cramming as much shit into the dead week between holidays, I tells ya.
max
@dmsilev: What, Baghdad Bob wasn’t available?
WIN
max
[‘This is his way of announcing retirement, isn’t it?’]
Gravenstone
@Davebo: /golf clap
Well played, sir.
Bill
@JPL: Roger Clemens sued his accuser. All a lawsuit proves is an ability to pay for a lawyer.
lamh36
Ridnik Chrome
@lamh36: That is appalling. So Cleveland police apparently can do no wrong.
Adam L Silverman
@Geoduck: do you think we all look alike or something?
lamh36
So we not call a child’s friend “associate”…ok…and “like a robber”…really…fuckin’ really
Elie
@Keith G:
I agree with you… though a criminal indictment would have been best, a well run civil suit can hopefully get some of this out…
It is just so sickening….
lamh36
Shorter Cuyahonga County..blah, blah, blah MLK said…blah blah blah..
MomSense
@lamh36:
They are trying to turn him into a “thug” to justify his murder. This is some of the nastiest, most despicable character assassination I’ve ever seen.
trollhattan
@Paul in KY:
Yup. Couple years back we were discussing Big Star and I mentioned owning the Radio City LP with the Eggleston cover, only to discover a commenter is Eggleston’s nephew. Yet another crazy BJ convergence.
Heliopause
@Keith G:
Might be worth pointing out that Obama’s first big hire after being elected was Rahm Emmanuel.
trollhattan
@Poopyman:
Fvck me. Always figured Blankenship had enough juice to stay out of prison. Am waiting for some judge to order the families to apologize for saying unkind things about him.
lamh36
White Woman Points BB Gun at Cops, Shouts ‘Shoot Me,’ Is Fine
lamh36
Shorter Gov Kasich…”hey, I know ya’ll mad, but expressions of anger are reserved for football/hockey or others white sports fans”
Villago Delenda Est
@Keith G: Fleischer is a PR guru, not an attorney. This is pure ass covering on Manning’s part.
trollhattan
@OzarkHillbilly:
Heh. Fundies do have a way with wind, so who am I to judge her claim?
The Gray Adder
@David Koch: They call it “general studies” because the NCAA would find it unseemly that they would give somebody a BA in football.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@lamh36:
QFT. He’s an asshole; I don’t care if he did help get Medicaid expansion done in OH. He’s as bad as any of them, now whitesplaining how to be cool with yet another police murder of a child in your group. Which group just happens to have some distinguishing features, like a specific hair texture and a darkness of skin that shouts “DANGEROUS” so long as they breathe.
Fuck Kasich. I wish I had stayed in the boat at the twitter stream. His “defenders” there are worse. Perhaps the Texas wind talker can send them to Russia or someplace else (unpleasant) where everybody’s really pale.
Keith G
@Villago Delenda Est: Yeah, my bad.I thought Ari ran a crises management shop, messaging and legal, but I had him mixed with someone else. I see that he has been in sports PR.
redshirt
I know it’s really “about the children”, but I don’t care if Manning does HGH or any athlete. These are our gladiators – they need to be in the ring.
different-church-lady
@JPL:
Why bother? The only result would be Brady getting suspended for another 4 games.
different-church-lady
Even as a Patriots fan, I am skeptical of this story. I enjoyed seeing Peyton being beaten by my team, but outside of that I have no desire to see him torn down, not to tarnish his considerable legacy as the second greatest quarterback of the Brady-Manning era.
JimV
It seems ridiculous to me to talk about this when the original source has retracted his off-the-record statement. The logic seems to be, well other sports celebrities who have denied using PEDs have lied about it, so that is evidence that PM is probably guilty – in other words, classic it-does-not-follow illogic. A lot of guilty people deny their guilt, but so would every innocent person. Until and unless there is hard evidence, I’m going to presume he’s innocent. (I’m sure he would do the same for me.)
Also, I don’t care if he did use HGH. He was out of football for a year. HGH is legally prescribed by doctors for improved healing of serious injuries. He was trying to regenerate nerves so he could use his right arm. I’d do anything that anyone told me might help in that situation. All the analysts I heard at ESPN said he never did regain his pre-injury arm strength or tight spiral.
P.S. LeBron James also uses hyperbaric-chamber treatments, which is what PM got at the lab in question. Anti-aging treatments are healing treatments. Don’t take my word for it, Google it – but preferably do so before you throw out accusations based on ignorance. Or not, if that’s just how you roll.
marduk
@JimV:
The original source was secretly filmed admitting to federal crimes. Of course he’s going to claim it was all a bunch of lies.