I-Rod a Shell of His Former Self; Fills Catching Hole After Posada Injury

A day before the Major League Baseball trading deadline, the Bronx Bombers made a bold move, which shored up their catching situation following a season-ending injury to Jorge Posada. Middle reliever Kyle Farnsworth was sent to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for 14-time All Star Ivan Rodriguez, who has went from being the elite at his position to very average amidst numerous allegations of him using performance-enhancing drugs.

Rodriguez, 36, has been in the big leagues since the young age of 19 and is still looked at as one of the better defensive catchers around. The problem has been his hitting, which was a superstar-status .332 with 35 home runs and 113 RBI in 1999, when he won the American League MVP. His production has fallen off considerably since then, with his long ball totals being 27, 25, 19, 16, 19, 14, 13, and 11.

Although Rodriguez is batting .295 in 82 games, his power numbers being a dreadful 5 home runs and 32 RBI. He has also struck out 52 times with only 19 walks. A far cry from the height of his career, which just so happens to be when the suspicions of his steroid use began. Continue Reading »

Jets Should Forget About Green Bay QB

If your team had the opportunity to acquire a Super Bowl-winning quarterback who is also a nine-time Pro Bowler and sure first-ballot Hall of Famer, there wouldn’t be many scenarios where you would want to turn that offer down. Especially when heading into training camp, your quarterback situation is not settled, and the two battling it out for the job are not exactly headed to Canton unless they buy a ticket.

So what would make anyone say that Brett Favre to the Jets wouldn’t end in confetti being blown into the Tampa Bay night sky come February? Before we start booking the flight to Disneyland, it will make more sense once it is broken down. Continue Reading »

The First Three Mr. Olympia Contests Proved Weider’s Vision Correct

The world was a very different place in 1965. The Cold War was raging, Vietnam was beginning to brew and bodybuilding was in need of a ‘real’ title to crown its champion. Before then, Mr. America, Mr. World and Mr. Universe all reigned supreme next to one another. It was more confusing than finding the one unanimous overall king of college football every year.

Joe and Ben Weider changed all of that by sending out invitations and placing ads in their own magazine, “Muscle Builder,” which was the pre-cursor of “Muscle & Fitness.” With Mr. Universe being the highest-acknowledged contest at the time, all winners of that illustrious title were invited to take it up a notch. Take it up another level. Take it to the heights of Mr. Olympia. Continue Reading »

An Explanation on Steroid User Interview

We have received a number of emails since publishing ‘Deca Dick’ May or May Not Leave You Hanging a few days ago on MuscleSport Mag. First off, if anyone received the wrong message from it, we would like to apologize. With that said…wake up! The article was obviously written for education and information on a very hot topic, one that will not go away no matter how far some people stick their head in the sand. If anyone thinks that M.T., our interviewee, is unlike many of the people that work out next to us in the various gyms around the world, you are terribly mistaken.

Steroids are not only used by the bodybuilders on stage, the athletes on the field or the movie and rap celebrities on TMZ. No, the average guy or gal out there without much to gain besides what they see in the glass every morning are using performance-enhancing drugs, too.

We are not polarizing this or telling the readers that it is ‘the thing to do,’ but rather merely telling the truth. As we stated in our first article, Welcome to MuscleSport Mag, this is not the place to read about how great a supplement is if it sucks, or that anabolic steroids will kill you by reading the label. No, we’re not pussy-shipped like that. You will hear also not hear what you want to hear, unless that’s the truth. Continue Reading »

Olympic Swimmer’s Positive Test for Clen Jeopardizes Her Beijing Chances

Claiming her innocence while her lawyer states the positive test for Clenbuterol contained only “low amounts” of the drug, swimmer Jessica Hardy ’s dreams of winning Olympic gold in Beijing this summer are in doubt. After testing positive in both her “A” and “B” tests following meets during Olympic trials on July 4, the 21 year-old began spinning damage control.

For her to fail a ’sandwich’ unrinalysis after testing negative on July 1 and 6, Hardy is going to try to use them as leverage against the middle test. How far that will go remains to be seen, especially with the back-up ‘B’ test coming out the same. Her fate will be determined by proceedings that will begin in the near future. Continue Reading »

Bulgaria Withdraws Team from Olympics; Greece Down 11 Members for Positive Steroid Tests

Perhaps looking to limit bad press by initiating it, two countries have chosen to leave some of the obvious users at home before The Games begin. Bulgaria withdrew it’s entire weightlifting squad following 11 positive steroids tests from both the male and female teams, including 2007 world champion Ivan Stoitsov (left). Greece had the same amount of lifters kicked off the team, but will still send representatives to Beijing.

By appearing to come clean up front, these two nations - who have probably looked the other way at the obvious for decades - now look like the ultimate good guys. By avoiding a possible scandal in this steroid conscious world, both the Greek and Bulgarian teams may not win any hardware in China, but - in the eyes of some - will be more honorable because of that.

Photo credit: Bulgaria Blog

Bill Phillips’ Publication was a Good Read, Still Missed

When it first burst onto the bodybuilding scene, Muscle Media 2000 looked and read different from the other publications sitting on the newsstand. Bill Phillips was the right type of voice for the gym set and didn’t pull any punches, coming straight out and admitting his own steroid use. Where as the others tried to sugar coat the use of performance-enhancing drugs in bodybuilding, MM2K seemed to embrace it. They claimed to be a trend-setter by not being held hostage to advertising, a welcome break from the norm.

While all of this seemed to be a great variation, Phillips ultimately used the magazine as a platform to promote the supplements he was behind. Met-Rx and EAS were promoted liberally throughout the slick.

According to www.getbig.com, MM2K “took on hard subjects such as the ever-controversial issue of steroids in bodybuilding, and dealt with them in an informative manner.” One article of substance to prove that was when members of the staff took a trip down to Mexico and purchased anabolic steroids openly in ‘pharmacias.’ Continue Reading »

Interview with Steroid User Gives Info from the Horse’s Mouth

This is Part One in a series of Q & A interviews by the staff of MuscleSport Mag with an anonymous anabolic steroid user. M.T., a 37 year-old male, recently completed a 12-week cycle of Deca-Durabolin (Nandrolone Decanoate), and decided to sit down with us and share his results. This is by no means a recommendation to use performance-enhancing drugs, merely for informational purposes.

MSM: When did you begin your Deca cycle?

MT: I started in January and finished up in April. One cc a week from a 300 mg bottle.

MSM: What type of gains did you experience?

MT: About 10 pounds. As far as size goes, I didn’t do measurements before hand. I know…how could I forget that? Things happen. Judging by looking, there was a difference, but without ‘before and after’ numbers, I won’t know exactly.

MSM: How about strength gains in the gym?

MT: This is where I know that the stuff had an effect on me. I was able to put up weight that I haven’t been able to handle in a long, long time. Bench went up approximately 60 pounds, squats nearly doubled. All the other exercises went up, too. Continue Reading »

What it Means and Why Uniqueness is a Quality Trait

By Matthew Sgro

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag entitled, “This is Your Magazine,” where we profile the every-day athlete. If you would like to see yourself profiled here, please send us your story and photo to superbas@optonline.net.

The new buzz word and fitness trend is functional training. But what exactly is this? It can be different things to different people. What is the function you want to perform? If you’re a basketball player and want to jump higher, that’s the function you’re training for. Jump squats and other forms of explosive exercises are what would help you. If you’re an 85 year-old woman with a hip replacement, the function you want is to walk without pain and correct your imbalances, which would of course call for something different than jump squats.

Everyone is looking for something different in their functional training. This is why my philosophy on training someone is that everyone is different and everyone requires a different fitness program to get where they want to be. Continue Reading »

Final Training Camp on Long Island Before Facility Moves to New Jersey

At least for one more summer, the Jets will appear to be a New York – and more specifically – a Long Island team. Although they moved out of Shea Stadium for the swamp lands of New Jersey nearly a quarter of a century ago, holding training camp and the organization’s home office on the campus of Hofstra University made things seem almost normal.

Once this training camp concludes, Gang Green will pack up on September 1 and move to their brand new facility in Florham Park, New Jersey, cementing their roots in the Garden State. Come 2010, both they and the Giants will open their new stadium adjacent to the existing Meadowlands.

On Thursday, head coach Eric Mangini and the rest of the staff stepped on the field for the first day of training camp, and anticipated another ‘nose to the grindstone’ month of two-a-days, sweltering temperatures and job battles. Continue Reading »