Giants lose to Mets

[KnightsRule]

Sf Giants who look like a bunch of scrubs lose to the lowly Mets 6-2 as Brett Tomko of the 6.5+ era finally gets his first win of the year.  Baroid takes game off with a sinus problem.  I hear they have steroid sprays for that type of problem but I dont think Barry would take a spray steroid in his nose as it may cause his giant head to explode like the hindenburg.

[KnightsRule]

Its like X-mas in May for Mets fans as they are the lucky team that gets to play the Giants.  Another game and another loss for the baroidless Giants.  Apparently bobds had a case of the sniffles before the game,  coke and roids possibly??

[___ Eats It]

Baroid has missed 3 straight games, I believe.

I guess he's home waiting for his next delivery of HGH, steroids, polar bear stem cells, and the size 32 1/2 hat to fit his bulbous, overinflated bobblehead.

[KnightsRule]

Bonds goes 0-3 as Mets beat the lowly giants for a third straight time. Times must be real bad when the mets sweep you.  Time for Baroid to retire 8)

[Velcro]

He is talking about retirement now... it can't come soon enough.  If his joints are hurting... he better not use pain killers... they don't mix with steroids well... just ask about 50 wrestlers that have died in the last 7 years in their 30's and 40's... including Ravishing Rick Rude, Curt Hennig.

I am not usually one to voice my opinion on a topic as big as this, but following the death of Jerry ‘The Wall’ Tuite I feel that it is my duty as a pro wrestling columnist to address this most pressing and distressing of issues. The autopsy results are not available at this time, so it is not confirmed that Tuite’s death is drug related. But it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if it was.

There is a drug problem in wrestling, no doubt. Brian Pillman, Rick Rude, Curt Hennig, Davey Boy Smith, Michael ‘Hawk’ Hegstrand, Crash Holly and countless more over the last six years. These are wrestlers who have suffered drug related deaths. Be ready for another painful six years at least: there are many more wrestlers who will die as a result of drugs. Call me morbid, but the trend is most certainly set to continue. Several of the grapplers mentioned died primarily from the steroids they took during the boom period of the late 80’s/early 90’s. And most of them took ‘roids while working for WWF.

Vince McMahon deserves a fair portion of the blame for the ever growing list of deceased grapplers. Vince more or less forced steroids on wrestlers: anyone who tells you otherwise is talking ****. At least 90% of wrestlers during that particular era were ‘roided’ to the max. But why would Vince force these potentially harmful substances upon his ‘superstars’? ‘Superstars’ is the key word, folks. Wrestling is a money business; always has been, always will be. Vince McMahon was out to make as much money as possible. And to do that, he needed to create characters that the fans would want to pay to see. And mere wrestlers couldn’t cut it. But ‘superstars’ could. The ‘superstars’ of that era were gargantuan individuals. You see, Vince has always thought that size sells (and back then he was right). And the bigger the wrestler, the more he felt he could sell them to the public as a ‘superstar’. So Vince’s top ‘superstars’, unless they already had a phenomenal physique through an extreme training regime, would have to take steroids. The big money to be made in the WWF at the time was available mainly to the top line performers. To increase your chances of becoming a top liner, steroid use was more or less essential. The bigger the body, the bigger the push; or most of the time at least. I remember watching old WWF PPV’s from the late 80’s and thinking to myself: ‘why is that wrestler in the big match? He sucks in the ring!’ I can look back at those videos now and see just why he was in the big match: because he was huge. The Warlord, The Barbarian, Hercules, The Ultimate Warrior, Zeus and many more only had the big spots because they got the most that they could out of their body; they were as freakishly big as they could possibly be. And yes, I included The Ultimate Warrior in that list. The guy’s wrestling was below average most of the time, his interviews were nonsensical, but boy was he an impressive physical specimen. With so many wrestlers vying for top spots and with top spots in such short supply, using steroids was a necessity. If Vince McMahon verbally told wrestlers to take steroids or not, I don’t know, but his actions at the time spoke as loud as his words. But in Vince’s defence, did he really know about the long term effects of steroid abuse? I’m no Doctor and I don’t know the facts regarding steroid abuse; but we see the evidence of long term steroid abuse today with the deaths of some of our favourite grapplers from yesteryear. Vince was the owner of a top sports company. Call it ‘sports entertainment’ but back in that era it was definitely a sports company. Heck, named ‘Titan Sports’, Vince’s company could certainly be deemed a sports one. But as the head of a sports company, Vince must have been aware of the effects of substance abuse. It was his duty, right? If he didn’t know the effects, then shame on him not taking the time to find out. Shame on him for forcing illegal substances upon his employees without bothering to find out whether or not they were harmful. And if he did know of the effects of substance abuse, then he is an evil monster for allowing so many of his employees to allow so much of the stuff to enter their bodies.

But Vince isn’t the only man to blame. The wrestlers must take a share of the blame as well. They can’t all blame McMahon, because they had as much responsibility as Vince. I said that ignorant to the effects of substance abuse or not, Vince was at fault for allowing his employees to use them to such an unbelievable degree. The wrestlers share that same responsibility, too. If they knew of the long term effects of steroids, yet still pumped the stuff into their bodies on a regular basis and died as a result, then they quite frankly deserved their respective fates. Callous as it sounds, I feel that any abuser of harmful substances deserves to suffer the consequences. If you smoke too much, you can’t blame the manufacturers of the cigarettes when you develop lung cancer. If you are an alcoholic and you find you need a liver transplant, you can’t blame your local brewery. All pro wrestlers are ultimately responsible for what enters their body. Especially when what enters into their body is illegal. Vince did put all of his wrestlers in a tough spot, no doubt. If wrestlers agreed to take steroids and knew that their ultimate fate would not be pretty and have not blamed Vince, then that’s perfectly fine. But the ones who blame Vince for their current plight need to take a long look in the mirror. Sure, the big money was in the WWF and you had to steroids in order to get it. But most wrestlers could have still made a half decent living and supported their families by working for small time outfits and not taking steroids. That comment is made out of sheer ignorance, though. Smaller wrestling companies may have also pushed their wrestlers to take steroids. If that was the case, then why bother being a pro wrestler at all? There must have been so many different jobs around at the time that you could do didn’t require you to take steroids. If the wrestlers didn’t have an education to fall back on then that’s their fault. One positive thing about wrestling training today is that more or less all reputable wrestling schools strongly advise you to get an education. But surely, even back then, aspiring wrestlers must have known deep down that their chances of making it were slim. Or that eventually their bodies wouldn’t be able to cope with wrestling. Dynamite Kid is a perfect example of someone who is now a physical wreck through wrestling. He took as many drugs as anyone else in the industry on order to try and get ahead and to keep on doing the job that he loved (I’ll get onto the whole ‘love of wrestling’ issue later). Tom ‘Dynamite Kid’ Billington didn’t have an education to fall back on. But it ultimately didn’t matter. The years of drug abuse and a smash mouth wrestling style took their toll: Tom Billington is now confined to a wheelchair. I have read Dynamite’s autobiography and he claims to not regret a moment of his career. He blames himself for the position he is in now and that’s refreshing to hear. But then you look at guys like ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham. He suffered severe health problems through his past steroid abuse. He has blamed Vince McMahon and the WWF for his plight. But look in the mirror, Billy. Despite the pressure that Vince may have put on you, it was your decision to take steroids. We are all ultimately responsible for our actions and you therefore are responsible for the health trouble you have experienced in later life.

But physique-enhancement steroids are not the only cause of death. Recreational drugs play their part. As do other pills that get you to sleep, keep you awake, etc. Again, I’m not a Doctor and my knowledge of drugs is limited. But it’s all down to taking responsibility for your actions. Wrestlers take recreational drugs for various reasons. Some take them because they are simply addicted to them. Some take them to bond with fellow wrestlers. Some take them to simply relieve some stress. Sleeping pills and the like are generally taken due to the extremely tough schedule of pro wrestlers. While WWE have gone to great lengths to make things easier for their wrestlers lately, most forms of entertainment are the same. Top quality entertainment makes money and often the entertainers are treated like circus animals. Also, you sometimes have to suffer for your art.

As far as recreational drugs go, it’s a personal decision as to whether or not you take them and you take them at your peril. Sleeping pills, speed, etc: if you can’t hack the schedule of being a pro wrestler, then find another job. It may sound harsh, but it’s true. Medical science has come so far that a pro wrestler should know the short and long term effects of every pill that enters their body. And if you feel that the only way to get through the day is to take a pill that you know is harmful, then you should find another job that is not a life threatening one. Wrestlers may have families to support, but if you kill yourself through an overdose then your family will really be in the violation!

With Tom Billington, I mentioned his love for wrestling. Yes, some guys do love wrestling. I can relate to these guys somewhat. I do amateur dramatics as a hobby and I love getting up on stage. The buzz I feel from performing in front of four hundred people is overwhelming. When you perform in front of twenty thousand people on a weekly basis it must be incredible. Whereas some wrestlers take the drugs to keep going to make money, some others do it to keep on doing the job that they love. Dynamite Kid lived life in the fast lane because he loved it. He feels that for all those years travelling the world, meeting loads of different people and performing in packed houses night after night, he feels that being in the position he’s in now was worth it. And that’s fine. I’m not saying that taking drugs is wrong. If you take them knowing and accepting the consequences then its fine. But if you take them and then suffer health issues later on in life, then you must blame yourself. The long term effects of drug abuse are prevalent now since many the wrestlers we watched growing up are dying. It is alarming, but if the wrestlers themselves ultimately knew that this would happen, then quite frankly it’s not that much of a problem. If wrestler upon wrestler is dying a death that they accepted would happen, it’s sad but acceptable. If some of these deaths are through sheer ignorance, then the wrestlers must share blame because you must know what you’re putting into your body if you are an athlete. We can’t stop this chain of deaths, because it’s mostly down to steroid abuse in the past and, in many cases, strain that is being put on the bodies of wrestlers years after their prime ..

Wrestlers need to know when to stop. Many wrestlers wrestle way beyond their peak years due to their love for the biz and/or the need for money. Michael ‘Hawk’ Hegstrand is a perfect example. We have seen firsthand over the years how both his body and his in ring skills were diminishing. But we also saw how phenomenally popular the Road Warriors were. Did Hawk really need the money or did he just love the huge pop from the crowd? All I do know is that he was putting a lot of pressure and strain on his body; a body that had suffered enough already through steroid abuse. Larry ‘Moondog Spot’ Booker is a similar example. I don’t know whether or not he took steroids in the past, but it doesn’t matter either way. At his age he shouldn’t have been in the ring putting his body through the rigor of wrestling.

There seem to be three types of pro wrestling related deaths these days: natural causes (Stu Hart), steroid abuse (British Bulldog, Hawk, etc) and modern day (recreational, sleeping pills, speed, etc) drug abuse (Crash Holly). One death type is unavoidable. The other two, when they are ‘unintentional’ (by that I mean when someone doesn’t want to die, as opposed to guys who live life in the fast lane who know and accept the consequences) are both avoidable. The main answer to the drugs question is a simple one: don’t take drugs. Just don’t take drugs. If you don’t do drugs then you won’t suffer a drug related death. If you can’t cope with the wrestling schedule or succeed in wrestling without taking drugs, then get another job. And lastly, take recreational drugs at your peril. It’s really that simple.

This article was not meant to be a truly in-depth look into the drug problem in pro wrestling: just at the overwhelming number of deaths in wrestling today. To delve deep into the topic would take a lot of factual information that I do not have at hand. This was simply my take on the death toll.

If you would like to contact me regarding any issues raised, drop a line to fourcornersfeedback@hotmail.com

[___ Eats It]

Hey, let's not forget that Baroid walked twice yesterday while watching his team get swept while he sat at home with his sinus infection/hangnail/menstrual cramps/whatever it was.

Way to nut up, Baroid.  A true sign of the greatest player of all time.   :

[Velcro]

how did he walk twice if he was at home?  

[___ Eats It]

He missed three straight games, then decided to be a man and, sinus infection be damned, play against the Mets.

With his enlarged melon, a sinus infection must be like having the Rio Grande of snot in your sinus cavities...

[smazza]

uei/mikeB- bonds is recognized as the one of the greaTEST HITTERS of all time  by people in the know

make fun of him all you want but boston would trade any player for him today

and boston fans including you would love to have him

and as far as giants/bosox issue.don't waste your time.

The giants are a storied franchise with some of the games greatest players while boston is the joke of baseball

[Velcro]

swap around the "o" and the "e", make that "the giants are a steroid franchise", and Boston is the one with a history of winning, great players etc.  Baseball fans probably can't even name a handful of giants players from all time, yet can probably name dozens of red sox players of all time, even without winning the series since '18.