I don't know if you all regularly visit CRZ's site, but check it out today (23 March 2002). A guy named Outsider (I think) wrote a great article about TE2, specifically about the use of "sports enhancement medication" - specifically ephedra- and the way the user was not only booted off the show, but two things were not mentioned:
1)The name of the drug he used.
2)The fact that the drug's main ingredient was ephedra, which is one of the main ingredients of Stacker 2.
Instead of spinning this incident into a positive anti drug/sports enhancement message, they put a Kennedy assasination-style cover-up into effect, booted the user to the curb and showed a Stacker 2 commercial right after it (well, they did in MY neck of the woods anyway). To quote Richard Pryor, "Ain't that a (Big Daddy)BITCH!"
Hey, I know they dig the roids and metabolic boosters in WWF land as much as any NFL franchise team, but SHIT! At least TRY to fool the people into thinking you don't support it. As it was, the show came off as saying the guy got booted for getting caught and potentially embarassing the company, as opposed to getting booted for being a dumbass who took the wrong dosage and risked his life. (It's true, take some Stacker 2 less than 4 hours before a workout and you're risking a heart attack.)
So, what do you think? Should they have gone with the anti-drug message and piss off the Stacker 2 company (but retain some semblance of honor), or take the path they chose and look like standard corporate wastes of skin?
There are no facts-only observational postulates in an endlessly regenerative hodgepodge of predictions. Consensus reality requires a fixed frame of reference. In a multilevel, infinite universe, there can be no fixity; thus, no absolute consensus reality. In a relativistic universe, it appears impossible to test the reliability of any expert by requiring him to agree with another expert. Both can be correct, each in his own inertial system.
Bah, stupid kid does stupid thing gets booted off stupid show. WWF needs their financial support more than they need to make insincere anti-drug platitudes.
The real crime was that the drug use was NEVER cited as the reason the guy was cut!
Instead, Al Snow told the guy that he "wasn't progressing as fast as we hoped." Which was total bull, because UP TO THAT POINT, this one guy (his name was Aaron) was taking all the bumps perfectly.
As fake as all reality shows are, to duck something so obvious by pretending it doesn't exist/didn't happen is just so weak.
I think they could have made the statement without alienating Stacker 2 if they pointed out that what Aaron did was abuse the drug rather than use it for it's intended purpose.
Ephedrin is a stimulant present in diuretics, a weight loss drug that doesn't actually burn fat but rather reduces water weight (i.e. it makes you pee a lot), and in many allergy/cold remedies (any over the counter drug ending in 'fed' has ephedrin or pseudoephedrin in it). On the show, Aaron admitted to not eating breakfast, then taking a diuretic. He obviously didn't have a weight problem, and there was no mention that he was suffering from a cold or allergies at the time. So the only reason he had to take the drug was because it's a stimulant.
If they made a point to point out that what Aaron did was abuse a drug as opposed to use it as it was intended, then I don't think they would have to worry about losing a sponsor.
At the convenience store near my apartment, there was this drunk that would buy Listerine and NyQuil as a cheap alternative to booze. He eventually ended up crashing through the storefront window. I don't think you can hold Vick's responsible for that guy's stupidity. Just like Stacker 2 shouldn't have to worry about Aaron getting booted off TE2 for his.
"Hahaha.. Yeah, trust the fuckhead." Spider Jerusalem
Ephedrine is also present in all kinds of asthma medication.
Maybe the point is that this drug that speeds up your heart is present in all these different kinds of over-the-counter products, and if a kid doesn't know what he's doing there could be some serious consequences.
In the late-80s, early-90s, as the Feds and various State governments clamped down on importation of the ingredients a mafr. needs to make true methamphetemine, drug manufacturers began basing crank/ice/whatever it's called in your neck of the woods (frequently, 'crack,' though that's completely incorrect) on ephedrine, precisely because it is and was so widely available in so many forms.
If anyone thinks a test was developed for it to catch sports, performance-enhancement (cheating) before it was developed to detect recreational/illegal use/connections, I have a bunch of low-lying coastal real estate we should talk about.
For this and many other reasons, I've found the whole 'got caught with asthma medication still in my system' set of controversies/happenings sort of... odd... off center, if you will, whether on TE2 or at the Olympics. It's all about the War on (Some) Drugs, people.
Wow, just wow. I really don't know what to say about this. the product is dropping seriously bad. I am shocked by the rating, i mean i know football officially started and all, but i didn't think raw would lose so much.