Matt Pair and Jeff Vreeland were free to play against Pelham that upcoming Friday (Oct. 30), despite their use of a performance-enhancing supplement -- Androstenedione -- that the National Federation of State High Schools has spoken out against.

"The Alabama High School Athletic Association has taken no position in banning any kind of food supplements or drugs or anything," said Dan Washburn, executive director.

TOUGH DECISION
942k AVI QuickTime Dan Washburn, head of the Alabama high school federation, wonders if Andro should be banned.

No position, and almost no knowledge.

"I'm not acquainted enough with Andro to know whether or not it should be banned. Maybe it should be," he said. "I think it behooves us to study and keep abreast of these things."

Major League Baseball can relate. Like the Alabama high school federation, the Andro debate snuck up on baseball in the manner of a vapor -- suddenly, discreetly, totally and without offering any easy way to make it disappear. Baseball is now studying the issue to determine if the testosterone-boosting substance should be banned, a particularly dicey question because any prohibition could taint the celebrated home run record set last season by Andro user Mark McGwire.

The questions that baseball and the Alabama high school federation are going to have to work through over the coming months are the same that any sports organization faces: Is it a dietary supplement, as U.S. law classifies it, or a drug, as Canadian law and many doctors say? Does it give a chemical advantage to players who use it? Can it endanger the health of players? And, can we enforce any proposed ban on it?

OUTSIDE THE LINES SERIES

As an online companion to the "Outside the Lines" television show that aired on Nov. 10, ESPN.com explored the controversy over Androstenedione, the muscle-building pills Mark McGwire popularized while setting the home run record. To find out about the use of the substance by ordinary athletes, ESPN.com Senior Writer Tom Farrey went to Alabaster, Ala., where Andro has replaced creatine as the favored supplement and a high school grapples with how to deal with the dilemmas these pills present. His online report ran Nov. 9-13.

The NFL was the first sports organization to consider the issue. The only major professional league among the big four -- the NBA, NHL and baseball are the others -- that has an agreement with its players association to randomly drug-test its athletes, the NFL learned of Andro in 1996 through a positive drug test. It soon added Andro to its list of banned substances, which includes anabolic steroids and other tissue-building products.

NFL Players Association official Doug Allen explains the players' thinking behind such a ban: "They wanted to make sure they didn't have to compete on the field based on chemical advantages, because if somebody else had (performance-enhancers) they basically were forced to use them -- or they weren't able to hold on to their job."

The same principle caused the NCAA and International Olympic Committee to follow suit. This year, while McGwire was pursuing Roger Maris' record, two Georgia Tech football players were suspended for using Andro, as was world-class shot-putter Randy Barnes. The NFL also levied a four-game suspension on offensive tackle Paul Wiggins, then of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The other leagues have been slower to react, for reasons ranging from collective bargaining to apathy.

At the beginning of this season, the NHL told team trainers not to advise players to take it. But that message has gone unheeded by some. "A number of teammates have actually asked me about it, and asked other people and asked their doctor, and they're partaking in it and feel good about it," says Tony Twist of the St. Louis Blues.

The NBA, which is more concerned about the use of recreational drugs than performance-enhancing drugs, has asked in the current labor negotiations that marijuana be added to the banned list -- but has made no mention of Andro.

CONFLICTING POLICIES
How each group treats Andro:
	Ban steroids	Ban Andro	Advise against Andro
NFL	Yes	Yes	Yes
MLB	Yes	No	No
NBA	Yes	No	No
NHL	No	No	Yes
NCAA	Yes	Yes	Yes
IOC	Yes	Yes	Yes
NFHS*	No	No	Yes
*The National Federation of State High School Associations can only advise state federations and local school boards.

Major League Baseball and its players' union, which bans anabolic steroids, is expected to issue its ruling on Andro sometime in the next three months after receiving a report from doctors and other experts on the topic. McGwire, who has refused to take questions about Andro since the end of the season, said previously he would stop using the substance if baseball bans it.

"Competitive integrity is an issue that we look at with regard to equipment, with regard to nutritional supplements, with regard to playing rules," says Bob Dupuy, baseball's executive vice president and chief legal officer.

However, skeptics wonder how effective a ban on Andro would be without random drug testing to catch users.

Then again, there's a price that comes with the truth -- or as close to the truth as an occasional state-of-the-art test can deliver. "There is no question that if you have a drug-testing policy in place, you may snag a couple of your superstars or your more dominant players," said Dr. Gary Wadler, one of the nation's leading experts in the area of athletes and drugs.

IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and other Olympics officials have criticized the U.S. professional leagues in recent months for their indifference to performance-enhancing drugs, accusing them of favoring entertainment over ethics. More attention will be focused on the topic in January, when Samaranch will convene an international summit in Switzerland on ergogenic aids.

Back in Montgomery, Washburn is less concerned with competitive advantages than protecting teenagers from potential health problems.

BASEBALL VS. NFL
1000k AVI QuickTime NFL steroids adviser John Lombardo says the Andro issue snuck up on baseball.

As he thumbs a bottle of Androstenedione for the first time, mispronouncing its nickname as "andros," he concedes that his group needs to play catch-up on the issue. About half the state high school federations around the country have either taken stances against the use of Andro or passed on the position statement of the national federation to their member schools. But not Alabama, so ignorance and confusion reigns.

Vreeland and Pair say they'd stop taking Andro if their coach banned it. But the coach doesn't know anything about it, and thinks it's mostly up to the parents, who in turn look for guidance to the Alabama high school federation, whose executive director suggests that his group "put our trust and faith in agencies like the Food and Drug Administration" that would "test any supplement." Washburn is unaware that the FDA does not test Andro products because it is not classified as a drug, at least under the law.

OUTSIDE THE LINES POLL

Even the Thompson High School trainer does not believe he's capable of advising players. "The only thing that I know about Andro is the fact that Mark McGwire took it and he had a great season," says Bill Bullock, a certified athletic trainer.

So where does the responsibility lie in educating athletes about Andro and regulating its use? It's a work in progress in Alabama, as it is elsewhere.

"I think it's all our responsibilities," Washburn says. "When we deal with high school athletes, we're dealing with minors. I think if we put a program out there that (says Andro is a) dangerous supplement that enhances their performance, that the schools will put that in their policy and this will be banned.

"I think this will happen."

Postscript: With Vreeland and Pair among their ranks and a sold-out crowd of about 8,000 looking on, the Thompson Warriors took a 21-13 over Pelham into the fourth quarter. Pair had several pancake blocks on his defender and Vreeland -- playing on special teams -- drew notice for flattening an opponent on one kickoff.

However, Pelham, with its large offensive line and more than 100 players in uniform -- three times as many as Thompson -- wore down the Warriors in the final quarter and roared back to win 35-21.

Since then, because of the concerns that were raised, Vreeland and Pair have also stopped taking Andro. Stan Pair, Matt's father, says his doubts about the supplement grew after talking with an NCAA official who recommended that the boys stay off Andro, even though their use of it won't disqualify them from a college scholarship. "We love our kids," he said. "We don't want to see Matt develop kidney problems or not be able to have kids himself."

Within a week after quitting Andro, Pair set a new personal bench max at 235 pounds.

Part I: Andro meets Alabaster
Part II: Calling East Germany
Part III: A modest proposal
Reader reaction: To series, show, Andro issue.