The Climax (link roundup)

Poster for The Climax, one of several amusing ads recently posted by Mitch O'Connell.

And a few more links:

1. The 62-person University of Waterloo Warriors football team will miss the entire 2010-2011 season after nine members tested positive for steroids. Via.

2. Back in 2003, China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei, returned to Earth after orbiting the Earth in a Chinese capsule. But a flaw in the capsule exposed Liwei to excessive G-force pressure, splitting his lip and drenching his face in blood. When he landed, workers opened his capsule, cleaned him off, closed the door, and then reopened it for the news cameras.

3. Reservoir Troopers action figures.

*Previously: Climax High Point.

*Buy Chinese propaganda at eBay.

Pharaoh Vader t-shirt (link roundup)

Today's Tee Fury t-shirt is Pharaoh Vader by Jimiyo.

And a few more links:

1. Allegation that Liberty Media, who owns the Atlanta Braves, also owns a company that sells steroids. Via.

2. Photos from the Portland Cake Wrecks book signing. The cupcakes (at the bottom) are incredible.

3. Chad Johnson/Ochocinco was able to make a Lambeau leap earlier this season because he bought tickets for fans to sit in the stadium and catch him.

*Previously: Chinese Vader's lightsaber makes people's clothing disappear.

*Buy wind-up mummys at eBay.

The God of Rock is furrier than I had expected (link roundup)

One-eyed furry rock god submitted at Threadless by Vintz. Vote by clicking on the widget if you'd like the chance to buy it.



And a few more links:

1. So Manny Ramirez was using steroids. Big surprise. But what is interesting is that journalists have known for months that this scandal would break and have kept it quiet.

2. Using the Konami code at ESPN's site used to activate unicorns and rainbows?! Here's a list of websites that are impacted by the Konami code. Via.

3. Forget Jon Voight's machinations. Here's how the NOC list really gets in the open. An agent puts an unencrypted memory stick in her purse and then forgets the purse on public transit. The mistake (and hopefully it was a mistake) forced MI6 to abandon a major drug operation. Via these sites.

4. Did you know Hugh Jackman used to be so skinny he was called "chicken legs"? His trainer showed him how to bulk up. His trainer also boasts that Baz Luhrman complained during the filming of Australia that Jackman was getting too big. You can read about his fitness program at Men's Fitness.

*Previously: Leonard Nimoy was in Mission: Impossible.

*Buy plush yetis at eBay.

Restaurant staff wears t-shirts featuring bad reviews (link roundup)

The staff at Pizzeria Delfina in San Francisco wears t-shirts featuring negative reviews posted at Yelp. Via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. The claim that chess moves are subject to copyright.

2. Supposedly, the Arizona Cardinals have refused to pay the Super Bowl bonus to employees who left the team after the game.

3. Some suggestions on how to evaluate your website's value.

4. Oh yeah, we'll miss the old newspaper companies. Former New York Times Reporter reminisces about all the times he wanted to write about the indications that Mike Piazza was using steroids, but was prevented from doing so by his editor.

*Previously: Copyright prevented Peter Pan from being the Adversary in Fables.

*Learn how to make money online with these books at Amazon.

Video of A-Rod denying using steroids on 60 Minutes (link roundup)

Video of Alex Rodriguez, circa 2007, telling 60 Minutes he never used steroids and never considered using steroids. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Being pretty, famous, rich, and popular isn't all it's cracked up to be. Rihanna missed the Grammys because her boyfriend (allegedly) beat her up. In public.

2. In other Rihanna news, she and Michael Jackson are being sued for copyright infringement. Which is frankly ridiculous. "Ma Ma Se, Ma Ma Sa, Ma Ma Coo Sa" is totally different from "Mama-ko, mama-sa, ma-ka-ma-ko-ssa."

3. New artifact by Alex CF. This time it's a Vampyr Research Reliquary.

4. Surly baby river otters.

*Previously: Vampire trophy head.

*Buy vampire toys at eBay.

Doping at the Paralympics and other news of the day

1. Ahmet Coskun, a German wheelchair basketball player, tested positive for a banned substance. He's the second athlete to test positive in the Paralympics this month. Coskun says he was just using the product to grow hair. Link. (Steroids do cause hair to grow...on your back, face and arms.) Via these sites.


2. Cattle and deer have a tendency to graze in a north-south direction that aligns with magnetic north. No guesses as to why in this article. Via.


3. Meet the Candiru, aka "toothpick fish." It's a tiny little thing native to the Amazon and hunts in a stunningly horrifying way. Seriously, you probably don't want to read this. Via. You can order a Candiru t-shirt here.

4. Here's footage of John McCain soon after his release from Vietnam. Age has not been kind to him:



Via.

*See previous news here.

*Buy Dark Banquet: Blood and the Curious Lives of Blood-Feeding Creatures at Amazon.

Some Olympic athletes are tested to make sure of their gender

Tests aren't done on every athlete, just the ones (usually women) whose gender is "in doubt" (think East German weightlifter). Tests in the past have involved physical inspections, but are now genetic tests.

Yes, some athletes have failed the test and been stripped of medals, as described here.

While I'm talking Olympics, here's video of Vince Carter jumping right over Frederic Weiss's head and dunking:



*Buy Olympic posters at eBay.

Former Steeler Terry Bradshaw admits to using steroids

Details here. Via.

I actually assume the vast majority of players use steroids - - otherwise it just doesn't make sense that more players aren't begging for the most thorough testing around. If you were making less money because some guy was cheating, would you tolerate it? I also think athletes should be permitted to use whatever steroids they want to use. But what disgusts me is reading news articles credibly reporting that some 22-year-old (or older) put on 25 pounds of muscle and got faster in just a few months of exercise.

Handy before and after photos of McGwire, Bonds, and Clemens

Link.

Baseball players received little to no positive effect from using banned substances

From the NY Times:

FOR those of us who love baseball, this has been a hard time. The Mitchell report named many players past and present it said used steroids and human growth hormone, and the news media had a field day focusing on the lying, the cheating and the betrayal of the game and its fans. Yet no one has asked a fundamental question: Do performance-enhancing drugs improve performance in professional baseball?

These drugs can cause physiological changes and lasting health problems, and they may have pronounced effects in individual sports like cycling, swimming, skiing and track, where the difference between a gold medalist and an also-ran is sometimes measured in hundredths or thousandths of a second.

But in a complex team sport like baseball, do the drugs make a difference sufficient to be detected in the players’ performance records? An examination of the data on the players featured in the Mitchell report suggests that in most cases the drugs had either little or a negative effect.

Read on. Via.

CNN edits WWE wrestler's answer to falsely make it seem that he admitted to using steroids

Link. Via.

Tom Wilson Sells Foam Finger Asterisks That Say "Steroids"

Read more here and here.