A month ago five Mexican players were sent home before the start of Gold Cup for testing positive for trace levels of clenbuterol, a prohibited anabolic substance.

Friday, four more players tested positive for the same substance. Health officials insisted Mexican beef doesn’t contain clenbuterol and that the incidence of contaminated beef is one in a million. They are either lying, or the Mexican soccer team is the unluckiest group of people ever. Once again, we’ll have to wait for the official investigation to be over.

Reminds me of a CSNY song.
 

While watching Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings lose to the Green Bay Packers last night (for about 5 minutes), and while wondering if Brett was a naughty boy with those text messages (for about 12 seconds), the Sunday Night Football broadcast crew paid homage to fall in Wisconsin with apple cider.

A series of vignettes showed a dude with a small apple press, lovingly grinding up the apples and them pressing the pulp into cider. Yummy. But I prefer mine mulled, pasteurized or fermented.
 

Clearview High School in Ohio sounds like the ideal setting for a Proactiv commercial. Katy Perry or Avril Lavigne (right, pretty much as shown) could shoot their next acne removal spot at the high school while disinterested teens go about their business – or barf in the background like 100 students from the school did a couple of weeks ago.

In one of the slowest investigations of a possible foodborne illness outbreak,
The Morning Journal reports Lorain County Health Department officials have confirmed eight cases of Salmonella B at Acne-High, believed to be connected with a dinner served to the football team two weeks ago.

Health Commissioner Ken Pearce said,

“Our focus is on that little football dinner. But it’s not confirmed that that’s what caused it.”



Last week, health investigators interviewed Clearview students to find any commonalities in sickness and collected voluntary stool samples. Pearce said not all the illnesses were related to diarrhea and norovirus has been discounted.
 

With record snowfall in Washington, D.C. why not walk 8 blocks to take in the Washington Capitals-Atlanta Thrashers hockey game Friday night?

With the Caps in first place, the mood was festive on the streets outside the Verizon Center as Amy, Sorenne, 17-year-old daughter Braunwynn -- down from Canada for a visit – and I slogged through the slush to the game. Our hair was so wet by the time we arrived that Braunwynn shaped Sorenne’s hair into a fauxhawk that lasted the entire game. There were many comments. Caps won 5-2 to extend their league-leading 13-game winning streak. Braunwynn has retained her hockey knowledge. That Ovechkin kid has prospects. Now if we can only get tickets for Sunday afternoon’s sold-out game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

That slush is now 20 inches of snow outside our hotel. We’re going to be stuck in D.C. for a few extra days. I’m hoping our hotel has better food safety standards than the headquarters hotel for National Football League employees in Fort Lauderdale for tomorrow’s Super Bowl XLIV.

The Sun Sentinel reports that 25 of those NFL employees got sick from some sort of stomach bug, and that earlier this week, inspectors found a dozen critical food-safety violations in the hotel’s restaurant.

The oceanfront Westin Beach Resort also had failed a restaurant inspection in September, and let its license expire in December by not paying a $457 renewal fee, state officials said Friday.

Health officials were quick to say they did not yet know what caused the outbreak, how the guests got it or whether the hotel bore any blame. Samples were still being tested.

Hotel general manager Amaury Piedra said the hotel was cooperating with the investigation. He does not believe the hotel's food was the cause of the illnesses, saying the symptoms match a virus.

Like maybe norovirus, which could be transmitted from a sick employee, especially one serving food?

An inspection on Wednesday found violations such as open food stored in unclean places, employees handling food with bare hands, lack of handwashing and dirty conditions.