November 2005

Welcome to November 2005. Let me start by talking about the Mr. Olympia expo in Las Vegas last month. Andrew and I went to Vegas to promote "Say No To Steroids" and we got a great response from people all over the world. What's weird, is that we even had steroid users come up to us and ask how much our merchandise was because they wanted to buy some t-shirts. But anyway, our company did very well. Especially since we didn't even have a booth. Now on to this month's news about steroids.

Let's start with Bill Romanowski, former linebacker for the Denver Broncos. Bill has admitted to using steroids, and has decided to try and make some money just like Jose Canseco did, by telling about his use of steroids in his new book for sale called: Romo, My Life On The Edge.

The latest news in the sport of cycling comes to us from San Remo, Italy. Three cyclists received six month suspended sentences Monday for doping during the 2001 Giro d'Italia. Each rider: Dario Frigo, Alberto Elli and Giuseppe Di Grande were fined more than $14,000 by the judge. Also convicted was physical therapist Primo Pregnolato, who drew an eight-month sentence and a fine of more than $7,000, said defense lawyer Federico Cecconi.

The sentences from the infamous Balco scandal have now been reported: BALCO founder Victor Conte was sentenced to eight months Tuesday as part of a plea deal for his role as mastermind behind a scheme to provide professional athletes with undetectable performance-enhancing drugs.

BALCO vice president James Valente was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to reduced charges of steroid distribution. Greg Anderson (the infamous trainer of Barry Bonds) was sentenced to three months behind bars and three months in home confinement after pleading guilty to money laundering and a steroid distribution charge.

A suburban school district in Phoenix, Arizona will begin random drug testing for students in extracurricular activities at three high schools starting January 3, 2006. A three year grant for more than $700,000 was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to fund the program. All students involved in extracurricular activities governed by the Arizona Interscholastic Association can be tested. That includes nonathletic activities such as music, drama, speech and debate, and cheerleading. A student's first positive test will result in an eight-week loss of eligibility, increasing to the remainder of the school year for a second positive, and to a permanent ban for a third positive.

Aden Durde, a practice squad player with the Carolina Panthers has left the team after the NFL said he tested positive for steroids. He tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid called nandrolone. He has apologized and says he bought a supplement in England that he did not realize contained the drug. He says he intends to return to England.

New York Mets reliever Felix Heredia was suspended for the first 10 days of the 2006 season for violating baseball's steroids policy. Heredia became the 11th major league player suspended for steroids.

That's all the news here for the month of November. If you ever have any news to share that you feel should be up here, please email us at: info@saynotosteroids.com. Until then, check back next month for more "News".

October 2005

We are now into our 3rd month at saynotosteroids.com, and there is no slowing down of talk about steroids in the media. We have athletes in several sports being banned/suspended for the use of steroids, which always makes me smile/laugh. They are as follows:

Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman John Welbourn was suspended by the NFL for the season’s first four games for violation of the league’s steroid policy. He won’t be eligible to practice during the suspension, and can’t play until the October 16th game against Washington at Arrowhead Stadium. Tampa Bay rookie fullback Rick Razzano was also suspended four games by the NFL for violating the league's policy on anabolic steroids.

At 29 years old, world-class professional surfer, Percy "Neco" Padaratz Jr. became the first athlete in the history of the sport to test positive for steroids. He has been stripped of his 2005 points and banned from competition for the rest of the year after testing positive for three different steroids: methyltestosterone, mestanolone and oxymetholone.

Do I need to even mention baseball? A few different athletes got busted for juice this month. The biggest named ballplayer being Rafael Palmeiro. He swears under oath that he's never taken steroids, and then sure enough, he's stupid enough to get caught. Then on another note, not that he got caught, but Barry Bonds sure is hitting amazingly lately. Being out for 99% of the season with an injury, and then he hits 4 homers in the last week. One being the longest hit homerun of the year. I guess when you're chasing history, they'll do anything to keep you from being tested.

Nathaniel J. Ashby, a 24 year old Portland student studying for an associate's degree in criminal justice pleaded guilty in federal court to importing anabolic steroids from Thailand. He admitted to conspiring to import the drugs, a crime that carries as many as five years in prison. In what authorities described as an "extensive drug distribution" operation, Ashby is accused of illegally importing between 250,000 and 500,000 tablets of Methandrostenolone.

The 2nd annual Taylor Hooton golf tournament is being held in Plano, Texas in October. The Taylor Hooton Foundation (www.taylorhooton.org) was created in memory of Taylor Hooton: a young man who committed suicide whie using steroids. Taylor was only 17 years old. This foundation was formed by Taylor's father Don with the goal of educating the world about the dangers of steroids. You can read/learn more about the Taylor Hooton Foundation by visiting their website.

Andrew and I are very close to leaving for Vegas for this year's Mr. Olympia expo. There will be many lost souls there who use steroids. It is our mission to go to places like this where steroid users exist, and walk around and promote the "Say No To Steroids" message. We will have t-shirts, tank-tops, beanies and do-rags for sale while we're there. If you ever have any news to share that you feel should be up here, please email us at: info@saynotosteroids.com. Until then, check back next month for more "News".

September 2005

What a month August was. We launched saynotosteroids.com and the first month far exceeded what we ever could have imagined. We had over 200,000 hits on our website from people all over the globe. The countries who we had the most hits from were: America, Australia, and then Canada to round out the top three. Out of all of the emails that we had to stay up very late for to answer, I would say only 5-10 of them were from pissed off steroid users. That's not bad at all. Everyone else gave us nothing but amazing, positive feedback about the site. For September, we would like to continue to sell shirts and other merchandise to help get the message out there, as well as have even more people submit themselves for "Athlete of the month", and we would like more people to join the message board so others can learn about you. August was a great month, and we sincerely thank every single one of you!

Andrew and I are starting to get excited about Vegas! It's still about a month and a half away, but we're getting prepared to go to Las Vegas for the annual Mr. Olympia Expo. Don't worry, we definitely will not be going to the actual Mr. Olympia competition (we would never pay our hard earned money to support steroid users,) but we will be going to the expo to promote our campaign "Say No To Steroids" to the rest of the world. This year's expo is being held at The Las Vegas Convention Center on October 14th and 15th. The address is: 3150 Paradise Rd. Las Vegas, NV 89109. We'll have t-shirts, tank tops, do-rags, and beanies for sale at discounted prices. We hope to see you there.

More sad news in the bodybuilding world, another bodybuilder dies. This time a woman. Fannie Barrios was at the NPC Southern States bodybuilding competition in Ft. Lauderdale on August 7th watching her husband Alex compete. The next day she died. She was a steroid user, and she was only 41 years old. I know, I know, all of you steroid users out there are going to say damn you Chris for writing such garbage. Steroids had nothing to do with her death. Yeah, I know, steroids are NEVER the cause of a steroid user dying. At least that's what you steroid users say. All I know is this, a drug free athlete never died of using steroids. And, I have never heard of a drug free athlete, who lived a healthy lifestyle, just end up dying at the drop of a dime. These steroid users are dying all the time it seems like. I'm just gonna stay drug-free. God bless her loved ones.

Bodybuilder Valerio Moscariello (32 years old,) was arrested for mailing large packages of steroids and Human Growth Hormone around the USA. Maybe he'll learn his lesson while serving time in prison.

Former bodybuilder Juan Batista (28 years old,) just pleaded guilty to hanging his own 2 year old son with an extension cord. Batista blamed the act on steroids, saying they made him crazy. Prosecutors said he committed the violent act in a jealous rage after he saw the boy's mother (his ex-girlfriend,) with her new boyfriend. Another bad steroid story. When in the hell is the world gonna wake up and start "Saying No To Steroids"?

If you ever have any news to share that you feel should be up here, please email us at: info@saynotosteroids.com. Until then, check back next month for more "News".

August 2005

It is now August and we have just launched this new website. My business partner Andrew and I have put in a lot of time, effort and money to bring you www.saynotosteroids.com. The purpose of creating this website is to educate the world about the dangers of anabolic steroids. The "News Page" of the site will be updated every month with the top news around the world about everything related to health and fitness. So let's get started with the latest "News".

I (Chris Mitchell) just got back from my latest bodybuilding competition in Sacramento, California. I drove up there from L.A. with three of my clients. We got a couple of hotel rooms and we had a great time over the weekend. I ended up getting 3rd place in the middleweight class. I wasn't happy with my placing, but it's over now and I'm training hard again and looking forward to putting on some new muscle.

I do want to say a HUGE thank you to all of the following people for all of their wonderful love and support while I was dieting: Roger, Sandy, Mark, Rick, Julie, and everyone at Team Beverly International. Also, Andrew Francis, Rachel Francis, Tony O' Dell, and all of my friends and family in Ohio.

Other "News" is the deaths of some big names in the world of bodybuilding/powerlifting. Bodybuilders Charles Durr, Don Youngblood, Paul Demayo, and world record holding powerlifter Anthony Clark have all now passed away. I didn't know these men a whole lot, but after meeting three of them in person, I can tell you that they were much bigger than a human being should be.

They all had at least one thing in common: they were all either current or past steroid users. I would first like to say: God bless their loved ones who have to continue living without them. Secondly, I would like to say to anyone who is considering using steroids, or who is already using steroids, please think about your health, your life, and your loved ones, and stop being so selfish and thinking only about making your damn muscles bigger. There are more important things in life than making your arms 21 inches. If you continue to use steroids, you too could end up dying way too early. Check back next month for more "News."