“Bigger, Stronger, Faster,” which will inevitably be described as reminiscent of Michael Moore because the director, Chris Bell, has a strong and humorous voice and he’s out to explore nothing less than the American dream, through the lens of the bodybuilding craze that made he and his brothers take steroids like they were candy. Since we were full up at the inn already, we squeezed it in to the Forrest at 5pm on Friday, right up against the March into March.
The current cast of the American Gladiators television show agreed to be tested for anabolic steroids at any time by the shows producers at NBC. According to the Broadcast & Cable website, they were required to sign a statement that they did not use steroids as part of their employment contract. The anti-steroid clause was included in contracts for all 12 new American Gladiators: Justice (Jesse Smith), Mayhem (William Romeo), Militia (Alex Castro), Titan (Mike O’Hearn), Wolf (Don Yates), Toa (Tanoai Reed), Crush (Gina Carano), Fury (Jaime Kovac), Hellga (Robin Coleman), Siren (Valerie Waugaman), Stealth (Tanji Johnson), and Venom (Beth Horn).
Details of the steroid-testing program have not been revealed. Will results be publicly reported? Will American Gladiators who fail the steroid test be kicked off the show?
The original cast of American Gladiators was also tested for steroids. According to Dan ‘Nitro’ Clark:
They tested us for steroids one year, I think just to say that they’d done it. But nobody ever told us what those results were.
According to Raye Hollitt aka Zap, the steroid testing did nothing to prevent widespread drug use among cast members (particularly painkillers):
There was a lot of drugs. It was a free-for-all: Vicodin, Percocet. Half the Gladiators were on something for pain. You had to perform, especially on tour. And then you end up sleeping around. I had to go to rehab to get off the Vicodin.
Most likely the intent of the steroid-testing clause included in the contracts of the current cast members is public relations purposes. NBC is desperately in need of a huge hit in face of the loss of Sunday Night Football and the Writer’s Guild of America strike. And in spite of harshly negative reviews from insiders, American Gladiators had huge debut exceeding all internal projections for audience viewership and has already been renewed for a second season!
According to Flexonline.com, IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman married 33-year old Rouaida Christine Achkar in late December 2007. The newlywed couples plans to have the wedding celebration in the bride’s home country of Lebanon on July 26, 2008. Ronnie Coleman is an eight-time Mr. Olympia bodybuilding champion who recently retired from competitive bodybuilding although he has not ruled out competing again. His bride is a personal trainer and a student at the University of Texas at Arlington majoring in sports medicine. Photos of the newlyweds Ronnie Coleman and Rouaida Christine Achkar can be seen on Flexonline.com
Muscletime reports that Bodybuilding.com was acquired by Liberty Media Corporation. The purchase price for a controlling stake in the company is reportedly 100 million dollars:
We do not know how the acquisition by Liberty Media will affect the sport of professional bodybuilding. Bodybuilding.com has been a major sponsor of bodybuilding contest nationwide and instrumental to the popularity of the sport especially in recent years with the free webcasts of major IFBB Pro bodybuilding competitions. We nor do we know at this point if Liberty Media will retain the same executive team that has been responsibly for Bodybuilding.com’s meteoric rise! The DeLuca Family has successfully built this business as one of the fast growing companies in the United States. Ryan DeLuca has been the chief executive officer (CEO) since the beginning and family patriarch Russ DeLuca has been the treasurer (and regularly attending and participating in most IFBB Pro events).
Byron Parker, owner of ResearchLabSupply.com, entered a plea agreement in U.S. District Court in Providence, Rhode Island on December 27, 2007. He has agreed to plea guilty to distribution of drug paraphernalia “which were primarily designed and intended to be used in the converting, preparing, injecting, and ingesting of anabolic steroids, Schedule III controlled substances” at his arraignment on January 10, 2008.
ResearchLabSupply.com was a very popular “conversion kit” provider discussed on many bodybuilding forums. The last day of operation for the website was on August 21, 2007 after which customers were notified of the store closure. The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations charges only involved the sale of “drug paraphernalia” identified as kits used to convert anabolic steroid powders into injectable liquids (e.g. benzyl alcohol, cottonseed oil, sesame seed oil, syringe filters, syringes, sterile empty glass vials, etc.). Byron Parker was operating under the business name of Classical Insights, LLC dba Research Services, LLC of West Palm Beach, Florida. A review of the plea agreement reveals that Mr. Parker was NOT charged with distribution of any type of anabolic steroids and/or other bodybuilding drug - only paraphernalia.
In exchange for Mr. Parker’s guilty plea, the federal government “will recommend that the Court impose the lowest term of imprisonment for the offense level determined by the court under the United States Sentencing Guidelines…”
However, the penalties for distribution of drug paraphernalia are felonies and could involve prison time even under the plea agreement.
The agreement calls for forfeiting the $250,000 in proceeds and identifies $219,067 seized by federal agents from accounts that Parker held. In the plea agreement, Parker concedes the forfeiture. The maximum penalty for selling drug paraphernalia is three years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
