Comcast Presents: Has A Failed Substance Test Transformed Brian Cushing Into A Victim?
by Tim on May 11, 2010 6:00 AM CDT
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Since word broke a few days ago that Brian Cushing was suspended four (4) games due to testing for an unknown (non-steroidal, according to Cushing) banned substance back in September 2009, you've been swamped with coverage and opinions that have been all over the map. Cushing's a cheater. Cushing's human. Cushing's just an athlete trying to succeed at the highest level. Cushing's everything that's wrong with professional sports. And so on. I mean, everything we've posted on the front page of BRB since Friday evening has been related to Brian Cushing, and the comments have been far from uniform. I, like you, am suffering from a severe case of Cushlash.
What's the cure for Cushlash, you ask? Why, another Brian Cushing-centric post, of course! At this rate, I will forget the names of all other Houston Texans by the end of the week.
As you probably gathered when you read the title of this post, however, this entry is a bit different. And you people thought I hated Brian Cushing. Little did you know I am now incapable of writing about anything else. Kill me now, please. Or click on the jump...
As more details filter out, I'm noticing that there's a significant portion of the fan base that seems more intent on defending/backing Brian Cushing than expressing disappointment over the failed test. Are those people simply contrarians? Or has the deafening drugs-are-against-the-rules-and-those-that-break-the-rules-are-unethical-cheaters mantra, for all its simplicity, managed to somehow paint Brian Cushing as a victim?
You hear all the time that we live in a world of gray, not black and white; has that mentality made Cushing more sympathetic in our eyes? Especially when information like Cushing purportedly passing a lie detector test gets out, even though polygraph results are generally not admissible in a court of law? Or is it simply a case of Texans fans backing one of our own, knowing full well we'd feel differently about Cushing if he wasn't a Texan?
Is it possible that people are bigger fans of Brian Cushing now than they were before he was suspended? Let us know your thoughts, first in the Poll below and then in the Comments.
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first.
on a 6.am post sigh..
at least i know my vote matters. im 100% of it.
personally the standard athletes are rated on is their performance on the field.
I am extreamly disappointed that hes brought negative attention on an organization that stays away from all that kind of stuff but somehow now its happened often enough that im more waiting to see how he responds to it.
since everyone want to my about my feelings....
I am disappointed, see it all as a dramatic distraction from success and as an excuse for getting off to a crappy start of the season (again) …Who knows though, a little adversity (other than in the W-L collumns) could help our team build a litle more character and cohesivness…if we’re lucky it COULD provide an opportuinty for bubble players to step up their game (like when Andre went down for the season)…I really just hope he discontinued anything that could be interpreted as PED’s at the begining of last September so we had the real Cushing last Dec. If the Cushing we had at the End of last year was the real deal…then we will be just fine.
Sounds like Cushing and the Texans are getting the shaft.
Its was reported on Espn this morning that he tested positive for slightly high levels of hcg. According to them that can be caused by using non steroid drugs or it can be produced naturally by the body. He was tested numerous times after that throughout the season and never had a problem. It seems to me, if the league is going to punish someone for drugs, they need to make sure it wasn’t created naturally. As far as stripping him of his roy award, it makes no difference. We all know he was the best out there last year.
Yea
To me it’s ridiculous to suspend a guy for having slightly elevated levels of a chemical or hormone produced naturally by the body… It would be like someone getting a headcold and taking advil and cold medicine for it and testing positive for slightly elevated levels of THC and getting suspended for 4 games…
I get that the NFL wants to be hard on PEDs and all, but simply having slightly raised lvls of a chemical your body already produces isn’t hard proof of any kind of “cheating” nor would it give Cushing any real advantage over anyone else. That’s probably why Cushing was so sure he’d win the appeal, the league is just determined to take a hardline stance on any drug it has on the banned list, which is why a handfull of people were suspended last year for taking an over the counter diet pill…
Instead of Cushing being under scrutiny, the league should. They should take a good long look at their banned substance list, because suspending people for 1/4 of a season for taking the wrong vitamin is ridiculous.
by Bryan72076 on May 11, 2010 10:28 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
I feel he is currently a victim
For all of the benefits that today’s information based society brings, the Brian Cushing incident also represents one of the biggest downfalls. I, for one, would like to hear the whole story (including why he was so sure he would win the appeal) before condemning the guy. The AP’s decision to revote before hearing the entire story seems irresponsible and epitomizes why the media has writers such as pancakes making a living.
The fact that Cushing continued improving his game after the original incident in September and continued getting better and better throughout the year leads me to assume that whatever the PED was, it did not have a large affect on his game. We did not see a sudden drop even in the slightest of his performance. I fully support Cushing as a person and a Houston Texan until I hear the full story that the AP refuses to wait to hear.
Hey but pancakes
is actually a good guy on this topic of the revote!!!
"Your mother is a hamster and your father smells of elderberries! Now Go away or I shall taunt you a second time!"
Go Texans!
Get it over with!
Anybody who’s ever lifted weights, or been a work out warrior, knows that an increase in muscle mass and a decrease in body fat ratio, naturally increases your testosterone level.
Furthermore, studies have shown that a healthy life involves sex as a regular activity, which helps people feel younger and look younger later into life, which also probably helps maintain testosterone levels in men.
WHY DON’T THEY JUST GET IT OVER WITH AND MAKE IT AGAINST THE LAW TO BE A MAN!
Ok, obviously, I still have some issues to resolve, but I’m keeping my testicles.
He went into the forest to concentrate on the sound of one hand slapping. Red cheeked he returned to his teacher claiming he failed to reach nirvana. His teacher explained he should concentrate on the sound of one hand clapping. –anonymous aggie Buddhist.
by Tomriffic on May 11, 2010 9:54 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
And besides,
I’ve grown attached to them.
He went into the forest to concentrate on the sound of one hand slapping. Red cheeked he returned to his teacher claiming he failed to reach nirvana. His teacher explained he should concentrate on the sound of one hand clapping. –anonymous aggie Buddhist.
You 3 guys...
…need to get your story straight….they said it is they who are attached to you. Don’t make us hold an AP vote on who we believe!
I don't hate Brian Cushing
I also won’t jump to conclusions about how long or how much he has been using steroids. He got caught. Is there still a very small chance he wasn’t actually on roids? Sure, but I’ve never bought the bs excuses I hear every time someone tests positive for this stuff before, and I don’t plan on starting now just to be a homer.
I think he did them, he got caught, and has put his team in a bad position. It lowers my opinion of him a bit. Hopefully he can come back and continue to play at a high level.
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
I am willing to believe Cush...
I think any publicist in his right mind would let cushing go out and deny deny deny, when many of the athletes who have gotten caught and confess fans are like “well at least he fessed up.”
"Your mother is a hamster and your father smells of elderberries! Now Go away or I shall taunt you a second time!"
Go Texans!
I am less of a fan now, but that's more due to the games he will be missing.
I’m still a fan and will somewhat defend him though because he is a Texan.
Same.
However, I’ll be even more of a fan when he comes back and posts 130+ tackles, 5+ INTs, and 5+ sacks in just twelve games next season.
I’ll be interested to see what sort of reception he gets when he returns though. Is week five a home game?
by Nashmeister on May 11, 2010 12:43 PM CDT up reply actions
B-Crush
i think he will still break a 100 tackles. that being said, i think with all the talk before he got drafted about him juicing. the NFL decided to make him the poster boy for steroids this year. the NFL knows and we know that shit load of players used PED’s, they pick a few players a year that come up dirty and pretend they are keeping control of the use of ped’s. that’s to stay away from the mlb troubles. B-Crushin’ took test throughout the 2009 season and was clean and played at pro-bowl levels; i don’t see him taking a dip.
by Andre4000 on May 11, 2010 3:17 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
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