Rangers' outfielder Marlon Byrd is either really brave, really stupid, really trusting or some combination of the three: Marlon Byrd wouldn’t be pulling down $3 million as a Major League baseball player without getting a second chance from an obscure community college after he nearly had a leg amputated more than a decade ago. So shrugging off Victor Conte’s reputation as a notorious steroid pusher, he says, isn’t difficult for him. Conte has provided the Texas Rangers center fielder with a variety of pills and powders for 18 months. Not once has Byrd asked Conte whether any of it could trigger a positive drug test. “I didn’t need to,” Byrd said. “From our conversations, there was no need to ask." I can't imagine that Victor Conte is so stupid that he would go back to peddling designer steroids to high-profile athletes after doing federal time for that very thing. But still, if you're Marlon Byrd, is teaming up with Conte the smartest thing you've ever done? Byrd's drug tests are probably the highlight of the year back at MLB central. The Feds probably own five houses near Conte's just so they can be more comfortable during surveillance. All of that said, the article contains all kinds of details about Byrd's relationship with Conte and the stuff he's taking, so it's interesting reading. My only other shallow observation: I don't understand the world of supplements at all, but upon reading this I can't help but wonder how much of that business is about selling confidence and the placebo effect as opposed to these outrageously complicated-sounding compounds actually making a ton of difference from a physiological perspective.Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.