LITTLE HUFF OVER A PUFF

Some Players And Fans Yawn At Moss' Admissions

There is no disputing the ganja-guilt of Raiders receiver Randy Moss, even
if this week's media circus surrounding his admission of marijuana use is
far from ganja-gate.

Once in a blue moon, the truth comes out from behind the cloak of political
correctness. So there was Moss admitting to HBO's Bryant Gumbel he smokes
pot "every blue moon," in an interview revealed by the network Thursday
that will be aired Tuesday.

Sell It Yourself But the puff of smoke that emerged from Moss' mouth wasn't
met by fumings of indignation in the days afterward, as athletes and fans
contacted by The Bee generally were disinterested in the matter. As
marijuana maintains its large lead as America's most widely used illegal
drug, Moss' mess was met mostly with apathy. For right or wrong, many
people said, news of a sports star smoking weed hardly caught their attention.

"Personally, I don't care what they do," 49ers linebacker Jamie Winborn
said of athletes who smoke marijuana. "I'm concerned only with steroids,
guys taking steroids. All that other stuff, I could care less about that
because that's not going to help you play.

"If you want to send a big fat sack over to the other team before the game,
please do it. ... My thing is, as long as a person handles their business
on the football field, I don't really care what they do off it."

Moss is different only because he was candid rather than caught, as usually
happens when athletes are discovered in the drug ring. Still, he is only
part of the masses who share the habit, while the national debate on
legalized marijuana continues and the drug's medicinal benefits are explored.

According to a 2003 government report, 14.6 million Americans had tried pot
in the last month before the study, while more than 95 million had tried it
at least once.

Sacramento athletes have had their own brushes with marijuana, including
former Kings Chris Webber and Jason Williams, who attended Dupont High
School in Belle, W. Va., with Moss. Grant High graduate and Minnesota
Vikings running back Onterrio Smith became infamous in April, when an
anti-drug testing device dubbed "the Whizzinator" was found in his bag at
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and he later was suspended by
the NFL for a season.

Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams entered this region on his own
joint-filled journey in 2004, joining a holistic healing school in Grass
Valley after failing multiple drug tests and temporarily retiring. Yet the
prevalence of pot among sports stars, it seems, has people such as Kyle
Pullian paying no mind.

"There are so many people in the U.S. that smoke, that just because you're
in an industry that doesn't allow it doesn't mean you should change your
lifestyle because of it," Pullian, a 26-year-old Sacramento native, said in
Old Sacramento on Friday. "What you do on your off-day has nothing to do
with your business."

On his off-day, Ted Muhlhauser shopped nearby while wearing an A's hat,
also voicing no concern over Moss' affairs.

"I'm more worried about having a (United Nations) ambassador who lied to
Congress than I am about having a football player who smoked a little
dope," said Muhlhauser, 36, who works at the Capitol and supports medicinal
marijuana. "I think there are far more important things to be concerned
about. ... We need people like Randy Moss to come out and be open."

While no professional league is impervious to marijuana use, the NBA's
reefer reputation is among the worst. In 2001, Toronto forward Charles
Oakley told the New York Post that as much as 60 percent of the league's
players smoke marijuana and that, "You've got guys out there playing high
every night."

In 1997, a New York Times survey claimed 70 percent of the players were
marijuana users. The Rocky Mountain News in Denver conducted an informal
survey of 59 players in February, in which they were asked to estimate the
percentage of players who smoked marijuana. The average answer was 30 percent.

When former King Harold Pressley played in Sacramento from 1986 to 1990, he
said he knew of just one teammate who used habitually. And while Pressley
didn't judge his colleagues then, and won't judge current players, he
wishes athletes such as Moss would have a greater respect for the power of
their own words.

Moss is undeniably popular, perhaps more so than any other football player.
NFL business ventures spokesman Dan Masonson told The Bee in June that
Moss' jersey has been the NFL's best seller on nflshop.com since the
league's fiscal year began April 1. His production has matched his persona,
as Moss - who was traded to the Raiders from Minnesota on March 2 - tallied
90 career scoring receptions to trail only Jerry Rice and his 93 touchdowns
received in the NFL annals for most over a player's first seven seasons.
Moss' star power, Pressley said, should be taken more seriously.

"If you're smoking (marijuana), you're not taking care of yourself, and
you're not giving your full performance," said Pressley, whose program
dubbed "Treat 'Em like a King" provides a group home for at-risk kids. "It
really goes against what we're trying to teach kids. So many high school
kids, junior high kids started jumping into steroids because they knew all
these pros were on it, and marijuana is no different.

"If these kids hear he can perform at the level he is with marijuana, then
they say, 'Hey I can do it, too.' "

O'Brian Moore, a senior basketball player from Valley High School, knows
better than to follow Moss blindly.

"(Moss) shouldn't use drugs, because that's the rule," said Moore, donning
a jersey of Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony, whose charges of marijuana
possession last year were dropped in November. "(Moss) keeps doing drugs,
and keeps getting in trouble, so he should get punished for it. He should
care, because people will think that all he does is do drugs and play
football. That's his image."

An image that might not be any more tainted than it was before.

"I don't see it affecting performance, no more than drinking and staying
out late does," said Ronald Curry, a Raiders receiver in his fourth year.
"It affects people in different ways. So, to each his own."

HOW MARIJUANA AFFECTS ATHLETES According to Dr. Gary Wadler, a New York
University School of Medicine associate professor and author of the book,
"Drugs and the Athlete," here are some of the adverse effects of marijuana
on athletic performance:

* Impairs skills requiring eye-hand coordination and a fast reaction time.

* Reduces motor coordination, tracking ability and perceptual accuracy.

* Impairs concentration, and time appears to move more slowly. Skill
impairment may last up to 24 to 36 hours after usage.

* Reduces maximal exercise capacity resulting in increased fatiguability.

* Marijuana has no performance-enhancing potential.