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News  |  Magnolia Tribune  • 
June 10, 2008

Father’s little helper? Viagra may offer athetic edge

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8228928/Father's-little-helper?-Viagra-may-offer-athetic-edge You'll never look at the phrase "performance-enhancing drugs" in quite the same way again. The Daily News in New York reported Tuesday that Viagra has become a popular pick-me-up for athletes looking for an edge on the field and perhaps some frisky behavior off of it. Citing a source familiar with the New York Yankees clubhouse, the paper said Roger Clemens stashed the diamond-shaped pills in a vitamin bottle in his locker, perhaps keeping the drug undercover to avoid the inevitable wisecracks. But the veteran pitcher wasn't alone. He's among the numerous athletes who have turned Vitamin V and its over-the-counter substitutes into one of the hottest drugs in locker rooms. The drug is so widely used now that it has drawn the attention of anti-doping officials. "All my athletes took it," BALCO founder Victor Conte said of an over-the-counter supplement he claimed mimicked Viagra. "It's bigger than creatine. It's the biggest product in nutritional supplements." Among the off-label uses for Viagra, which first went on the market in 1998: Building endurance, especially for athletes who compete at high altitudes, by delivering oxygen, nutrients and performance-enhancing drugs to muscles more efficiently. Offsetting impotence, which can be a side-effect of testosterone injections. FoxSports.net 6/10/08