No Matter How You Slice It, It’s Still Ratting

By Billy Mimnaugh

For www.EliteFTS.com

In the recent issue of the most popular powerlifting magazine on the market, one of the featured writers, who I will refer to as Mr. X, wrote an article decrying the “no snitching mentality” that is sweeping the country. Mr. X believes this philosophy is destructive and immoral and that honesty and forthrightness should be the norm. Well, as is ALWAYS the case, Mr. X, once again, misses the point and has no understanding of the audience he’s reaching.

Mr. X, in trying to make his point, used the recent Andy Pettitte fiasco to show that “ratting” should not be looked upon as cowardly but instead should be seen as courageous, heroic, just, and moral. He points out that Pettitte, when called to testify before congressional investigators, told the truth about what he knew regarding his best friend, Roger Clemens. Pettitte told investigators that Clemens had confided to him that Clemens had used human growth hormone (HGH). Pettitte admitted that he had used it as well. Mr. X, of course, celebrates such “honesty” and sees nothing immoral or corrupt in giving up a pal. The facts, however, tell a very different story.

First of all, Pettitte could have easily refused to tell investigators anything about Clemens. Congress would have threatened him with jail time, as was the case with Barry Bonds’ trainer, Greg Anderson, but everyone knew that if they tried to punish Pettitte, the outcry across the country would have been deafening. Pettitte didn’t even have to lie. He could have just said, “I’m not going to talk about Roger.” Pettitte decided not to take the route of silence. Instead, he decided to throw his friend “under the bus.” In fact, he also threw his own dad under the bus as well by telling investigators that the HGH was his fathers. Mr. X somehow thinks that this is an example of courage.

What Mr. X neglected to explain was Andy’s own “admission” of HGH. Pettitte said he did two cycles of HGH .During one cycle, he used the drug for four days and the other cycle was a one day, one shot cycle. Now, amazingly, Mr. X is a man who once published a book examining drug usage in athletics. He has propped himself up as a semi-expert on the subject, writing about it almost monthly for years. How in the world does Mr. X accept Andy’s explanation of his drug usage?

HGH is a drug that needs to be injected daily for months at a time to have ANY effect on the body. It doesn’t work in days or weeks but months. Pettitte, incredibly, claims a one-day cycle (an obvious fabrication), but Mr. X believes him. In fact, Mr. X calls him courageous for his “honest” testimony. I’m not quite sure how throwing a pal under the bus and then lying
about your own sins qualifies one as courageous, but apparently in Mr. X’s twisted mind it is.

What also came out in Pettitte’s testimony was the fact that he used to tell his wife about other players’ indiscretions on the road. If Andy saw a fellow player going out with a woman, he would run back home and spill it to his wife. Can you imagine that? A rat bastard spying on you and sending it in while you’re out having a good time. Who cares if his wife shot her mouth off and the other players’ marriages fell apart? Nope, it was Andy’s duty to tell because he is a “religious” man. What a pal. What a friend. What a guy. Mr. X, incredibly, sees this “man” as a hero. It speaks volumes about the soul and nature of Mr. X.

 

Mr. X then goes into his usual diatribe about cheating and drug use. He claims that Clemens is a liar and a cheater. Cheating is defined as breaking the rules to get a competitive advantage over an opponent. When Clemens was supposed to have used HGH there was no collectively bargained rule against the use of it in baseball. If there is no rule against something, how is doing it cheating? Mr. X never bothers to explain this. Of course, he doesn’t have to. You see, Mr. X fancies himself as the moral authority of powerlifting. He writes columns trying to advise us on how to live our lives. He never needs to defend his positions because he can’t. They are indefensible. So he pontificates with never a shred of proof to back up his points.

Roger Clemens, even if he used HGH, did not cheat. It would only be cheating if a policy was in place banning the use of HGH. Mr. X, of course, disagrees. He sees ANY use of performance enhancing drugs as cheating, even if the governing body has no rules against it. Apparently, God told him it’s cheating and Mr. X is just relaying the message that the Lord gave to him and him alone.

That’s typical of Mr. X, a man who once proclaimed that what the Marion Jones case taught us was that Jones was a cheater and a liar and that cheaters never win. I would argue that the Jones case taught us that drug testing is an absolute sham because Jones passed a staggering 163 drug tests during her career, many while she was admittedly juicing. Mr. X seems to ignore the obvious and point out the meaningless. Major league baseball was awash in drug use and has been for years, from “greenies” in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s to cocaine in the 1980s to steroids in the 1990s and 2000s. Mr. X doesn’t seem bothered by those other drugs, just steroids and HGH. Odd.

Mr. X goes on in the article to basically call for more snitching and ratting, somehow believing that it’s the right thing to do to clean up our society. Incredibly, from the time a child is old enough to speak, we teach them not to be tattle tales. Prisoners doing time for rape, murder, and mayhem know not to rat on another inmate. The mafia makes those who snitch “sleep with the fishes.” If the scum of the earth understands that there is no honor in snitching, why can’t Mr. X. The reason is Mr. X thinks of himself as the most honorable type of person. He is a moral elitist who believes it’s his duty to police others’ behavior. So he can justify telling on a friend because he believes it’s for the greater good. Loyalty, friendship, and honor take a backseat to the moral policing that guys like Mr. X feel it’s their duty to perform. I’m glad I’m not one of his friends.

As usual, Mr. X has proven that he has no understanding of what being a man is all about. He could never understand standing up for a pal. He has no loyalty to friends and couldn’t care less if his ratting destroys a friend’s life. I will end with this...

When my son was in elementary school, a friend of his, who was African American, broke a window in the school. The administration knew that my son knew who did it and called him in to the office. My son refused to tell. The administration called us in and said he would be suspended if he didn’t tell. He refused. He got a one-day suspension. To this day, I’ve never been prouder. After that, my son was seen as a hero and got to sit at the black kids’ table at lunch (a big deal where we live because not many whites are accepted). He had more friends than he knew what to do with. The other kids loved him and would stand up for him in fights or anytime he had trouble. People love a stand up guy and hate a rat. If a little boy understands that, why can’t Mr. X.

Billy Mimnaugh has been lifting for 25 years and competing for 20 years. He has won state and regional titles in both bodybuilding and powerlifting including the AAU Maine State Bodybuilding Championships, NPC New England Bodybuilding Masters Championship, APF Maine State, USPF Connecticut State, and the WNPF Region 1. He is a three time runner up in the APF Senior Nationals in the 308 lbs class and a two time runner up in the IPA Nationals. He also placed third in the IPA Seniors and won two APF junior nationals titles. He has been in 50 bodybuilding and powerlifting events and has never placed out of the top three in any event (except for three bomb outs). His best total is 2303 lbs at super, 2232 lbs at 308 lbs, and 2120 lbs at 275 lbs.

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