| As Super Bowl approaches, experts say NFL needs to tackle HGH issue
Athletes in Super Bowls have abused HGH for years without prudence, as they have throughout the National Football League and much of NCAA football: The Carolina Panthers just happened to be hapless enough to be the only ones to get caught, exposed in the Dr. James Shortt scandal involving illicitly prescribed HGH, steroids and associate chemicals. Growth hormone builds power, size and speed, especially in synergy with low-dose testosterone, and, despite much misinformation afloat, synthetic HGH cannot be reliably detected in a blood or urine PED screen. "Because it is so difficult to test for, it seems to be the product du jour for increasing performance," says Paul Doering, a University of Florida pharmacy professor and anti-doping official. "It's a drug manufactured to be exactly like what's in the body." In other words, the smoking gun for detection of systemic muscle doping in American football - growth hormone, anabolic steroids, insulin, GHB and more - comes before us routinely, on fields of cartoonish physiques and performances, parameters ever increasing.
Cultural recap
Generally speaking, the young talent on display was encouraging, reflecting a vibrant and thriving scene in what is supposed to be a dying art form. Unfortunately, the production that probably left the strongest impression was the Silesian Theatre Opava’s version of Švanda dudák, Jaromír Weinberger’s 1927 gem. It was recast as a Nazi drama, and after the stunned silence during the opening minutes, you could feel the embarrassment and outrage ripple through the audience as storm troopers usurped what should be a lovely folk tale. .
June 2007
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