Agendas in Football's Cyberspace

Profootballtalk.com glazes over what might be the biggest story of the NFL this year

Mike Florio, the self-described "Grand Poobah" of profootballtalk.com, spent about 20 words on what could be a pretty interesting story in the near future. Apparently, a doctor affiliated with Florio's dear Pittsburgh Steelers (and don't let him fool you, folks... he's about as objective as an advertisement for Verizon Wireless) is being investigated for his involvement in an Internet steroids ring.

From the Albany-Times Union: Last month, a New York investigator who has been tracking suspicious purchases from Signature Pharmacy flew to Pittsburgh to interview a top physician for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers about why he allegedly used a personal credit card to purchase roughly $150,000 in testosterone and human growth hormone in 2006.

There are no allegations Rydze violated any laws. Many doctors are allowed under Pennsylvania rules to order and dispense prescription drugs. But investigators in New York said his orders of testosterone piqued their interest because of the large volume, his position with an NFL team and because he allegedly used a personal credit card.

But Catizone, who has served as an expert witness for the DEA and other law enforcement agencies in criminal trials, said the credit card purchases raised questions.

"I've never seen a doctor pull out his or her own credit card ... it just doesn't make sense," Catizone said. "Unless you are trying to build frequent-flier miles on a credit card, I'm not sure why they'd be using a personal credit card."

Rydze and two spokesmen for the Steelers organization declined repeated requests for comment over the past two weeks. Pennsylvania state medical board officials also declined to comment. NFL officials were taken by surprise as news of the case swept through the sports world on the Internet.

"We just became aware of this, and we will look into it," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.

Wow. $150,000 of steroids on his own credit card? I wonder if that was all for himself?

Anyway, the informative, yet blatantly hypocritical Mike Florio spent much less effort on reporting this rather important bit of information than he did reporting, saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, his latest display of man-love for former ESPN anal-yst and Hall of Fame WR Michael Irvin.

Look, the rumor-mongering is something that we can all rejoice in, but when the guy postulates that he has no agenda, then basically turns a blind eye to an issue this huge, we call shenanigans. The guy just brutalizes ESPN.com NFL scribe Len Pasquerelli for the blatant conflict of interest he shows in his fluff pieces on certain NFL players... certain NFL players who happen to be represented by agents who provide Lenny P. most of his scoops. This is obviously pretty despicable (don't get us started on DisneySPN), but it's the exact same thing Florio does.

Florio gets most of his scoops from NFL insiders, too, and it doesn't take Woodward and Bernstein to see that Florio spends plenty of time scratching backs. Methinks one of his informants works with his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, because the guy has spent more time writing witty quips about the Browns' struggles with staph infections than he has about what could be the first troubling winds of the NFL's struggles with the steroid issue that has been plaguing Major League Baseball.

And for that, Mike Florio, you're an asshole.

In other news, according to Wikipedia, Florio "sports a toupee and has a penchant for backless sandals and Michael Jackson". Sounds like Joey Porter's homophobia may have been sparked by one of his biggest admirers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profootballtalk.com

Full disclosure: We have an agenda, too. We think Mike Florio is a complete dick.