NPC USA Women's Bodybuilding 2017,and the case of the freak implants.

Yvette Bova

I happened to be follow a link from Muscle Insider to their contest photo coverage of  the NPC USA bodybuilding contest.I looked up the Women's Bodybuilding division..I was looking at the field of competitors,and found this picture.I can honestly say I have no idea why this women was in a bodybuilding contest.
This isn't what a bodybuilder looks like by any definition I knew of.
I got nuthin'
There were only five women in the whole bodybuilding division.Four in the heavy weight.One in the light heavy.She was the light heavy.So she won the division.Sigh.
I looked her up.She's a USAF veteran.Well,I thank her for her service.
She's also a porn actress.How unsurprising.
These implants are so utterly ( or should I say udderly ) grotesque as to defy belief.
Of course I've seen similar cartoon balloons on strippers.That's exactly the problem.This woman doesn't look like an athlete.She looks like a sex worker.
I have to wonder why they even allow these buffoonery boobs to be produced as medical devices?
I would think that implanted medical devices have to be approved by the FDA.
Yep.I looked it up.So at what point do they say enough?
Something short of the Hindenburg?
Breast reconstruction with implants after mastectomy?
Replacing a lost body part with a prothesis is common practice.
Abnormal formation of the breasts leading to plastic surgery?
Understandable.
But this? This isn't really an issue of augmentation as such.It's a radical form of sexual fetishization surgery. Have we gone beyond personal liberty into self harm here?
Women with abnormally large natural breasts will sometimes have them reduced due to severe back pain.And if these massive implants were damaged,or ruptured,it could cause a severe problem.
I don't like the idea of protecting people from themselves in general.There are considerations of informed consent,and harm reduction that reduce bad consequences.
But I wouldn't have any part in approving this by a medical board,hospital,doctors,insurance companies...or the FDA.
Common sense got up and rolled off.

I could put up other pictures of her.But what's the point.
She has trained with weights.But the entire front of her body is dominated by these basketballs straining under her skin.
I could say she has a short torso,bad abs,and she's at the age she should be in the master's division.But it's all beside the point.
I don't intend this as a mere attack on one individual either.The problem is general.She just got caught up in this mentality.But that's a bigger issue.
( the woman who won had implants,tattoos on her breasts,heavy make-up,and BBQ tan )

I've tried to find the NPC ( National Physique Committe) and IFBB ( International Federation of Bodybuilders ) rules online.
The NPC has many different divisions,and a plethora of rules.
Here are the NPC Bodybuilding Rules.
I can't find anything about implants,and site injections.

Here's the IFBB rule on implants,and site injections for Men's Bodybuilding for 2017.The Women's Bodybuilding division was discontinued a few years ago

IFBB rule on implants,and extras.

 This should be the standard for ALL Physique,and Bodybuilding.
 They should ban ALL implants.

They won't.
And because they won't the competitors will keep getting implants.About an estimated 80% of the women in all divisions.Ponder that one for a moment.Organizations claiming to be representing physique,and fitness effectively demand that women mutilate their breasts.

At the least they could impose some sane limits on size.
But at this point I don't think they care much about the Women's Bodybuilding division.It's hanging on by a thread.Why even have standards?
They act like they're giving the hens some chicken feed before consigning them to the fryer.A small courtesy.
The NPC,and IFBB ( which are not genuinely separate organizations ) are run strictly as businesses.
The more mainstream 'fitness' has become,the more money they make.And it's concentrated in a few companies,and individuals.Bikini girls pay entrance fees.They're anxious for approval,and success.Mainstream mutts want to see bikini girls.So ka-ching.
Good bye actual Bodybuilding.

Yes I know it's not much of an actual sport to begin with.It's a kind of beauty pageant for people who torture themselves with weights.But it used to be fun to watch.
Now it's too often dull,cringey,and sad.

Rich Piana dead at 46.

It has not been a good week in the world of bodybuilding.It's been pretty brutal actually.
The fact that Rich Piana succumbed to the head injury he suffered a few weeks ago isn't really a shock.If you hear someone has been placed in a medically induced coma,it's often unrecoverable.
It's brain damage,or death.
I'm not going to pretend I was a fan of the man.I had watched a few of his videos.But he wasn't my cup of tea.I'm not into the hardcore biker/rock star/tat freak look.
But I believe that he loved the weightlifting life.He really wanted to be a bodybuilder.
When he didn't become a champion,he just decided to do it his way.
That did involve the heavy use of drugs.Unfortunately he had dependency issues with a number of substances.That would be the diplomatic way to put it.
He was a grown man.He owned his own life.He made his choices.
If what some neuroscientists say about the human brain is true,we will tend to follow our deepest course.In effect we posses less real free will than we like to believe.I admit I don't like to believe we don't make real choices.
I'll try to see people as what they work to be.At least try to give them credit for the will they activate in their lives.Piana poured himself into getting huge,and pumped up,and popular.He had a big personality,and attitude,and a temper.
He excited a lot of people.If that got some young people excited about bodybuilding,then good.
I hope they find the reward in it.
Piana was an extremist.He used too much,pushed too hard,lived bigger than life.There will be people who burn bright,and too short.They do find what they love,and they do let it kill them.
So I hope the guy enjoyed his wild ride.

I'll leave with an old poem by a lady who may have understood the feeling.

                                       "My candle burns at both ends
                                         It will not last the night;
                                         But ah,my foes,and oh,my friends -
                                         It gives a lovely light.

                               
                                                                           Edna St.Vincent Millay

Dallas McCarver dead at 26.

The news has been reported today that Dallas McCarver has died at the age of 26.

The report is that he probably choked on food,and collapsed while alone.By the time someone found him it was too late.
I'm not any kind of insider news source.I'm just a bodybuilding fan.So this is just my reaction.
It's so shocking,and sad to see a young incredibly strong person die like this.Young athletes seem so full of life,and power.Particularly bodybuilders.It's a cold slap of tragedy when something like this happens.We all know of the cases of bodybuilders in their 40's-60's dying of organ,mainly heart,failure.But that is usually attributed to many years of multi drug abuse,and  congenital predispositions.At this time this sounds like a catastrophic accident.
Unfortunately I know many ignorant people will try to blame the victim in this case.
The general populace has been thoroughly indoctrinated by the irresponsible elements in the media to believe that Anabolic Steroids can,and do, cause sudden death.No knowledgeable medical source proclaims that.The health damage from Anabolic Steroids is cumulative over years of abuse.It unquestionably causes stress to internal organs,But it doesn't just make a user drop dead suddenly.
( of course this man was using multiple drugs so it would be difficult to determine which single drug would be responsible in this fatality )

I think the problem with the media's demonizing of steroids is causing a great deal of ignorance,and hostility toward users.Bodybuilders are being treated with actual hatred by some people.I have no idea why these people want to follow anything to do with bodybuilding.
This appears to be a type of young male who is fascinated,and repulsed by 'enhanced' bodybuilders.
In other words weird bodybuilding trolls who lick up information about bodybuilders,and are intrigued by steroids.They also love to compulsively shit all over them.What they think they are accomplishing by this is beyond me.They seem jealous.But they keep trying to project a position of knowing concern."Dude! He's using gear.That can't be good for you.It must be the cause!".
A kind of concern troll I guess.
It's not concern.It's glee.
They're smacking their lips in satisfaction every time a bodybuilder dies,a or suffers a serious health problem.
It's despicable.

Whatever this young man's cause of death,it's still a tragedy.He was 26.He was living the life he wanted.This was his ambition,and dream.
He was a genuine contender for the highest championships in bodybuilding.This is a terrible loss for the sport.

The most important thing is,he was a young person with a family,and friends who loved him.
Let us all spare a moment to think of the grief of his family.
Sincere condolences on the loss of your beloved son.

Tommy Chaiken;The Nightmare of Steroids in Sports Illustrated.

This was the most sensationalistic steroid story SI ever published up to that time.A harrowing first person account of a college football named Tommy Chaiken.It's essentially a horror story of a man driven mad by demon steroids.
Sadly the young man did take a truck load of drugs,and make himself very sick in the process.
This story was written in the aftermath of the Ben Johnson Olympic steroid scandal.The press was hot on the trail for stories of steroid abuse.SI found a big one in the University of South Carolina Gamecocks Football team.

The Nightmare of Steroids.

The Nightmare of Steroids in SI

                  
This is the original magazine layout from the SI Archives.I can't find the story on the site as a plain transcripted article.I don't know why? It seems as though I can find full table of contents,and articles for most issues I've looked at.This article isn't listed in this issue's table of contents,or transcribed.
If you want to read it you will have to go to the site,and read it in the original.
The story was written by Rick Telander,who had a football focus.The article was illustrated with excellent water color paintings by Jeffrey Smith.
It's told in the first person by Tommy Chaiken a young man who played for the Gamecocks college football team from 1984-1987.

It opens with Chaiken sitting on his bed with a gun under his chin.He had degenerated so far into a state of severe anxiety that he was at the breaking point.Panicking,incapable of functioning.His father talked to him from the other side of the door,and calmed him down.That's a very dramatic way to start a story.
How did he get there? It took awhile.About three years of savage tackles,drugs,and wild behavior.
He was a successful high school football player who came to a big division one college team.He was put through the smashing machine of football training to toughen the players up for a much higher level of play.
They were pushed hard to show they were willing to fight.
"If you showed a violent nature,regardless of your athletic ability,it definitely swayed the coaches opinions in your favor."
Chaiken felt the pressure to measure up.He wanted to be lean,and fast.Instead he just got pushed around.

Tackled during practice

The players were practicing in the heat.Drills,and more drills.Trying to find any shade.Sometimes dropping from exhaustion.Chaiken passed out in a huddle once.
The head coach,Joe Morrison,Standing on the sidelines dressed in black.Smoking.
"I think his smoking was kind of a poor example for us,as far as drugs are concerned."
( Now I do have to chuckle at that.Kid,that was not the impetus for you to use steroids! ) 

The subject of steroids came up early.Joking references.A knowing mention from an older player.But Chaiken didn't really know anything about it,or want to,at first.
But the message got through.The defensive line coach Jim Washburn said "Do what you have to do,take what you have to take."
After Chaiken started using Washbun noticed his 25 pound weight gain " You look great!".
Chaiken responded "Yeah,I've begun the chemical warfare."
 "People who say steroids don't work don't know what they're talking about.You've got to experience   it to know what I mean.Your muscles swell;they retain water and they just grow.You can work out much harder than before,and your muscles don't get as sore.You're more motivated in the weight room and you've got more energy because of the psychological effects of the drug."
Chaiken goes into the predictable story of drugs,cycles,injections,pills,and his increasing strength,and weight gain.He becomes one of the Big guys.He starts selling to others.He's drinking,trying cocaine,and LSD.He played a game with a xylocaine injection in his injured toe.Numbed during the game,in agony after.Players were becoming bloated,and having cramps trying to run.Keith Kephart,the strength coach,asked who was using Anadrol? Players raised their hands .He warned them about it.Said they could come to him for counseling.But he didn't stop them.
They were needle happy boys having pinning parties in their dorm rooms.You do me,I'll do you.
(sounds like the plot of a video 'pin party boys' )
By the spring of '84 Chaiken was being called Quasibloato.Benching almost 500lbs.Squatting more than 600lbs.The weightlifting meet for the team was called the 'Iron Cocks'.
The two themes for the rest of the story are violence,and illness.
The violence stories.He's edgy,and hyper aggressive.
He beats up a marine in a bar.
Players are getting drunk,and headbutting car windows.
He gets into a fight in an alley,and the man pulls a knife on him.Cuts him.
He and his buddies go out in the countryside to shoot signs,mailboxes,a cow.
Fights cops in Fort Lauderdale.Loses.Ends up in court.They let 'the fighting gamecock' go.
He bashes up his room with a baseball bat.
Pulls a gun on a random pizza boy.
Here is the classic steroid psycho.But I'm smelling a whiff  of something.He just pulls a shotgun on a pizza boy without any further consequences?
I know there were,and are,some wild goings on with college football teams.But it's still a little hard to believe there isn't some exaggeration in this litany of mayhem.I don't know how well they were capable of fact checking his stories.
The illness,and injuries were profound too.
He gradually collapsed into a heap of malfunctioning rubble.
His blood pressure was high.A common problem with AAS.Worse the doctor was hearing a heart murmur.
He developed colitis,and was bleeding rectally.
Often was sick with pneumonia,bronchitis,and exhaustion.
He left a game once with chest pain,and cold sweats.
At the end of that season he had to have knee surgery.
In his third varsity season when he came back he started using again,and it went from bad to horrible.
His blood pressure shot up,and he was having hot flashes.
Then he had a small tumor removed from his hand.The doctor said it was caused by steroids.( !? )
The college wouldn't pay for it because it wasn't football related.He got angry,and quit the team.
For awhile.Then he apologized to coach Morrison and came back.His sense of self worth was still tied up with playing.
His anxiety problem kept getting more intense.He was becoming crippled by panic attacks.
 "I can't really describe an attack,except to say it's like your mind is a car engine stuck in                     neutral,with the gas pedal to the floor,just screaming.There is terror mixed in,and  you think that you're going to explode.The anxiety attacks were the worst mental pain I'd ever experienced."
He said at this point he had only recently had one shot of Parabolin in the last five months.
But he was having repeated episodes of anxiety attacks,and hiding in his room just trying to get through them.Numb,paranoid,ears whooshing,seeing a gray colorless world.He was contemplating suicide.
He forced himself through a few games,and then quit in the third quarter of a game against Virginia.His mind was a muddle.
He was sent home to see a psychiatrist.He was put on stelazine  ( an antipsychotic )by one doctor,and an added antidepressant by another.He didn't feel better.He collapsed one day at college,and lost control of his bladder,and bowels.
He was finished.His father came,and brought him home at this time.

This story had a hell of an impact at the time.It changed many of the lives of those involved.Most people didn't have any idea how anabolic steroids could affect a user.It was a shocking revelation to the average sports fan.I certainly was shocked by it.
It's possible that there are elements of exaggeration in the story.But Chaiken's drug usage looks like it damn near killed him.
I would want to bring up a few points.
He was stacking multiple Anabolic Androgenic Steroids.The usual list of popular drugs at the time.Also taking large dosages.
He was drinking alcohol.
He may have had preexisting undiagnosed  psychiatric conditions.
The psychiatric drugs he started taking may ( probably did ) affect him.
He was playing football.We now know that many,if not most,football players are at risk for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.He reported feelings of dizziness,and headaches.He may had a concussion.It's possible that was a factor in his illness.
We'll never know the full details on his health.But he did live,and returned to health eventually.

The immediate impact of the story was an investigation,and Indictment of several coaches,and Chaiken's drug dealer.From the New York Times.

Indicted were the defensive line coach, James W. Washburn, 39 years old; the tight end coach, Thomas Kurucz, 42; the defensive coordinator, Thomas E. Gadd, 42, and Keith Kephart, 44, the strength and conditioning coach.

A fifth person indicted was John Landon Carter, of Bethesda, Md., who was charged with dispensing anabolic steriods to four former Gamecock players: Tommy Chaikin, David Poinsett, Heyward Myers and George Hyder.

From the Los Angeles Times.

"Today's indictments highlight the growing problem of the illegal use of anabolic steroids and the abuse of them by college athletes," U.S. Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh said in a prepared statement."

 Here's the sentencing from the NYT

COLUMBIA, S.C., Aug. 10— Three former South Carolina assistant football coaches were sentenced today for their convictions stemming from the use and distribution of steroids within the athletic department. Their sentences ranged from three months to six months in a halfway house.

United States District Judge G. Ross Anderson also sentenced John L. Carter of Bethesda, Md., who was convicted of similar charges, to three months at a community security facility.

Among the coaches, Tom Kurucz received the harshest sentence: six months in a halfway house and three years' probation. Jim Washburn and Keith Kephart were sentenced to three months in a halfway house and given three-year probationary terms.

Kephart, 44, was South Carolina's strength coach from 1982 to 1988, and Washburn, 39, was a Gamecock assistant from 1982 to 1988. Kurucz, 42, was at South Carolina from 1982 to 1986.

The grand jury investigation of steroid use in the school's athletic department was prompted by disclosures by Tommy Chaikin, a former Gamecock football player, in an article in Sports Illustrated last fall.

Head Coach Joe Morrison died of a heart attack shortly after the story came out.This is the story on the anniversary of his death including the original local paper story.
He had claimed not to have knowledge of the drug usage of the players.
His former assistant coaches talked about his legacy.They basically said he let the players get away with bad behavior as long as they could show up to play.An unfortunate,but not uncommon attitude among college football coaches.

Jim Washburn went on to coach in the NFL for many years.He was with the Tennessee Titans,the Philadelphia Eagles,and the Detroit Lions.
He got fired from the Eagles for not getting along with the other coaches ( I guess it doesn't it doesn't go over well to call a guy Juanita )See story on the NFL site.
See this story from NBC Sports.
He kept working as a coach at a very high level.But clearly he didn't make a good impression on everyone.He was given a second chance others weren't.

Keith Kephart said he knew about the steroid use in this Chicago Tribune article.
He never worked in coaching again,and moved back to South Carolina to be a personal trainer.
See this Jayhawk Slant story.
He had been the president of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.NSCA
He went from a liked,and successful college strength coach to a personal trainer with a record because of this.

Tom Kurucz ;I didn't find any record of a return to coaching.

Tom Gadd ; had coached before at the University of Utah.He said they had a made players,and their parents sign a consent form for the use of steroids.This seemed to come out during his trail in South Carolina.See LA Times story.
Another AP story  on Gadd,and Washburn stated they were helping the players get the steroids.
Here's a a story where Gadd defends himself and says he tried to get them to stop using.
Gadd went on to coach back at Utah,and other colleges.He was then hired as head coach at Bucknell University.He had a long successful career there.He died at the age of 56 in 2003 of a brain tumor.
See this story on his death.
It's good to see he took the opportunity to redeem himself.

On the consent form?
Amazing.I've never heard of there being any consent forms/legal waivers being used in college football for steroid usage.This was in the early 80's before there was extensive knowledge about steroids.Imagine getting American parents to sign something like that now.I wonder if anyone will be made to sign a waiver for CTE in football?

Chaiken did mention his friend George Hyder several times in the story.He,and George were lifting buddies,and usually up to the same shenanigans.( and by shenanigans I mean drug use,vandalism,and cow shooting )
Hyder,and the other players weren't prosecuted.
I tired to find out what happened to Hyder.I think I've found him.
He served in the Military.Then became a personal trainer,and Yoga instructor.
Here is a dedication in a friends book on yoga.
He died  at the age of 37 in 2001.See obituary.The birth year would be consistent with the time he would have been in college.
What I learned from George Hyder a remembrance from his friends in yoga would confirm his having been the George Hyder who played for the Gamecocks.

Tommy Chaiken

Now what became of Tommy Chaiken.
I think it's revealing to look at this excellent article by journalist Sally Jenkins.
This is from March 1989. A South Carolina Scandal.
He's down 50lbs and working as a landscaper back in his home state of Maryland.
He received plenty of blow back from the story besides the legal ramifications including hate mail,and threats.South Carolina Athletic Director King Dixon  said he "defamed" the school.
Dixon;

"That article was like a 2,000-pound bomb going off," Dixon said. "It was devastating to South Carolina. It's tainted us, it's had a tremendous adverse effect as far as what other people think of us. We're still trying to assess the damage. We've had intense negative publicity. There's been a full-fledged investigation of allegations that are still unfounded. And we've gotten a clean bill of health."

It really rocked the Gamecocks,and all of college football.

Jenkins brings up an important point in revealing the fact that Chaiken was paid for the story.
4,500 for the original SI story.
And..

"Sports Illustrated paid his legal fees, which Managing Editor Mark Mulvoy said were about $20,000. Anders said the magazine could be accused of a conflict of interest in advising Chaikin legally, but Mulvoy said the player was informed of all the dangers in publishing his story, including criminal charges."

Chaiken also admitted he had been hoping for a book deal.( which he never got )
He said he told the truth besides a few figures he may have mistaken.He also admitted he regretted naming friends,and making them feel like he was pointing fingers.But he maintained his intent was to expose the drug problem.Not personal gain.
Chaiken;

"I think I helped more people than I hurt," he said. "When you expose something like that, certain people are going to be uprooted."

 Jim Washburn said in the team's defense;

"We had a bunch of great kids, I thought. No different from the average college kids."

I found this update from 2005 by Pete Iocobelli of Associated Press.
2005 story on Tommy Chaiken.
 He's in good health,and married with kids.
And there's still resentment toward him.
Todd Ellis the team quarterback said;

"No question there was betrayal, hurt and surprise,” said Ellis, an attorney. “If he had problems, he should’ve come to the team and talked instead of bringing in third parties. I’m not sure what the gain was for Tommy Chaikin. ... Nobody understood.”

 Ellis made a good point about the consciousness of steroids then,and later.

Ellis said, ... public’s knowledge about steroids wasn’t close to what’s out there now. “It’s like the difference between a smoker in the 1960s and the knowledge there is now,”

This article was one small reason the knowledge changed.
It was shocking,and pulled back the cover on a world of drug pumped crazy college boys.
I do think it's a story told in a tone of sensationalism.Wild,and harshly dramatic.
That doesn't mean it's not largely accurate to what happened.Football hammers people.
I do feel sorry for the poor guy.He blew his life up.He's lucky he landed on his feet.


(Dec,17) I want to note that someone commented the shooting of the cow was accidental.