GQ Writer Seeks Help

Pharma / TRT
1

Gentlemen,
I’m a writer at GQ magazine. A source for a story I did on steroids in minor-league baseball alerted me to the existence of T-Nation; he told me he’d relied on your experience and expertise when he began his first cycle. He also asserted that this site was encyclopedic, and I can see he’s right.

I’ve written about steroids on a couple of other occasions, too–talked with Bill Romanowski earlier this year and, in early 2005, did the first one-on-one post-BALCO interview of Jason Giambi (you can find it here
http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_683

I’m sympathetic to the motives of athletes who juice. As the minor-league ballplayer I mentioned told me, a guy who loves and needs his sport will do anything he can to prolong his career in it.

I’m writing today to ask for your help. We’re putting together a story on steroids (and growth hormone) in pro and college football, and I’d be very interested in hearing from anyone who knows those worlds–for instance, as a player, coach, or trainer. I will guarantee your anonymity. The idea here to to open an honest dialogue on the scope of performance-enhancing-drug use in football. Sports generally are at a sort of breaking point with PEDs, I think, but rather than acknowledge this, most seem more concerned with minimizing the PR fallout.

I’ll be happy to tell you more about the piece if you’ll PM me. Hope to hear from you. Thanks.
Nate Penn
Staff Writer
GQ magazine

2

The last time I picked up a GQ, out of curiosity at work, I found that appearently the acronym had changed and appearantly the magazine is now title “Gay Quarterly”

The message in the content and ads was extremely metro to overtly homo sexual

Men were in poses that were obviously meant to imply that they were giving fellatio to each other and on and on. It was kind of disturbing to read.

3

Yea…I don’t think anyone should help you until you drag that goofy pussy magazine out of the gutter.

4

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Yea…I don’t think anyone should help you until you drag that goofy pussy magazine out of the gutter.[/quote]

lol right on dude, no sense in helping him out…I mean, it’s not like presenting a controversial (and, to us, rather important) topic in an unbiased, intelligent light will do either them or us any good.

Let’s just let the faggy metro 'zine steer the public even further away from steroids with the typical run-of-the-mill misinformation so common in the media these days.

5

[quote]npenn wrote:
… The idea here … open an honest dialogue …[/quote]

ask and ye shall receive!

this is fucking beautiful.

now i don’t know how gay your magazine is … i don’t recall ever picking it up … probably something to do with the gay cover pictures.

7

Jesus, guys, way to look like stereotypical asswipes. GQ may not be your favorite mag, but it’s a major publication with a broad readership. If I were in the appropriate sector I would do my best to help this guy.

Responsible, informed, intelligent gear use needs all the publicity it can get to fight the scare tactics and blatant misinformation mainstream media push on people.

Even if you hate GQ and don’t want to help this guy, keep your mouth shut and ignore the request.

8

i think gq is a great mag. ive subscribed since 1997. dont confuse the ads for the content

9

[quote]
lol right on dude, no sense in helping him out…I mean, it’s not like presenting a controversial (and, to us, rather important) topic in an unbiased, intelligent light will do either them or us any good.

Let’s just let the faggy metro 'zine steer the public even further away from steroids with the typical run-of-the-mill misinformation so common in the media these days.[/quote]

Is this a sarcastic post? if so it’s brilliant… there are so many posts on this site of similar tenor, where the author was dead serious, that my sarcasm meter has fried out.

Any opportunity that mainstream media has (no matter how “faggy”) to get it’s facts straight about gear is a positive event. whether or not the information is then distorted and misrepresented is almost irrelevant. At least the opportunity to get it right was there.

Anyone who thinks that someone in the vein of TC, Cy, or A.R. sitting down and giving a writer legit, unbiased, scientifically based information about gear is a bad thing is misinformed. Public opinion and therefor public policy will only change if people ( even “metro sexual” or “overtly homosexual” people ) have the chance to hear information contrary to the lies spread by the likes of Gary Wadler.

Knowledge is power folks…

Maybe you guys all like getting your packages seized by customs or buying fake gear from border farmacias, abscesses from impure ingredients from U.L’s and Vet Labs. Not to mention the chilly specter of jail time hanging over your heads. I’ve never done gear myself but see it as a foregone conclusion that eventually I will. If I can do that by going to my G.P. and getting a script legally without jumping through bureaucratic hoops all the better.

I don’t give a shit if the impetus for change came from an article in a mag with a readership demographic consisting of guys with waxed eyebrows popped collars, hilights in their hair and Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses. Neither should you

far worse a scenario is that that same writer, while in the midst of an earnest attempt to cover steroids honestly encounters a barrage of homophobic rhetoric which further cements the image of the meathead, gym rat, fuckhole

10

A few weeks ago it was a writer wanting T-Nationers to help with a “Cops on Roids” article…She too promised to be unbiased: She lied!. Her “article” was a man-hating, cop bashing, hyperbolic steaming load of horse dung! She basically strong armed T-Nationers with the implied threat “If you don’t help, I’ll write what I want anyway” scam to justify her unforgiveable actions (The Backstabbing, lying Beeyotch!..[MSN articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid =100111139]…Look up the original thread, it’s still posted)…

Now here we go again, another writer turns up claiming to be “unbiased” wanting “help” (What? help the DEA screw users, like the HBO special, however well intentioned, did?,re:the Mexican raids)…Fool me once…Caveat Emptor, Bro’s…

11

Well, I’ve got some yardwork and a take -home final that I’d like someone to do, so please reply to this thread if you’d like to do either one for me.

12

[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
ckg21 wrote:
FightinIrish26 wrote:
Yea…I don’t think anyone should help you until you drag that goofy pussy magazine out of the gutter.

lol right on dude, no sense in helping him out…I mean, it’s not like presenting a controversial (and, to us, rather important) topic in an unbiased, intelligent light will do either them or us any good.

Let’s just let the faggy metro 'zine steer the public even further away from steroids with the typical run-of-the-mill misinformation so common in the media these days.

Yeah, thats true, only IF, the article is written in an unbiased way, and there are NO guarantees on that score, especially since GQ is a profit-making company, and articles that state: “So, using steroids appears to be relatively safe with little or no long-term damage, if done correctly”, aren’t exactly gripping. Who wants to read that, LOL?

Actually, If I had any relevant info (ie football related) to give this writer, I would, and just hope that it didn’t get twisted. I consider it my ‘duty’ to try and counter steroid-ignorance amongst the general public if I can, (without looking too much like a crusading dick)…[/quote]

I generally agree though I find the hostility given rather understandable considering the history of journalists visiting this site. Over the years plenty have come through promising even handed treatment of the subject yet all so far as I can remember have been “Fair and Balanced ™” if you catch my drift.

I don’t think anyone expects a love-in response but something that didn’t resemble a modern day Refer Madness would be a good start.

13

In my original post, I attached a link to a sympathetic steroids story I wrote to demonstrate that I’m not about bashing guys who use gear. What I’m interested in doing is exploring the minds of the guys who juice–understanding the pressures that compel them to make this decision. In football, which has no guaranteed contracts, these pressures are probably greater than in any other major sport.

In the September 2005 GQ, I did a piece called “Why I Juiced”. It was the first (and still only) full-scale interview with a minor-league baseball player who’s tested positive under MLB’s new drug protocol. Below please find an excerpt from that piece featuring two guys you may be familiar with, if you’ve ever seen the “HBO RealSports” piece on long-term steroids users: Gary Wadler, M.D., of the World Anti-Doping Agency, and Norman Fost, M.D., of the University of Wisconsin:

WADLER: Steroids can cause heart attacks. Arteriosclerosis. Arrhythmias. There are case reports of people dying in their twenties for which there was no other explanation.
FOST: He keeps claiming that there are deaths associated with steroids. There’s really not much support for those claims.
WADLER: There’s also psychiatric effects, from wild mood swings all the way to extreme aggressiveness.
FOST: There are a few case reports of individuals who committed violent acts while on steroids. There are of course thousands of reports of athletes who commit violent acts who aren’t on steroids. You can’t just make up conclusions, which is what Wadler does. It’s possible that there are long-term risks, but the correct thing to say is we don’t have any evidence.
WADLER: He thinks this is all scare tactics. Let me assure you, it’s not.
FOST: It’s like the Saddam-is-responsible-for-9/11 hysteria. Somebody says it, and the press keeps repeating it. It’s not surprising that an overwhelming majority of the public believes these things.

I consider this to be a fair and balanced, albeit brief, discussion of the health considerations that may be associated with steroid use. (Actually, it may be slightly biased in favor of Fost, who’s calmer and more collected than Wadler.) This is the best I can do in terms of proving that I’m not just another media sensationalist.

14

HOw long until you have to put out an article?

I’m not promising anything but if you spend some time here, and put in some work ie. jump in a post here and there. Use the search engine and read articles by Cy Wilson, Brian Bachelor, Nelson Montana, Anthony Roberts and some of the other guru’s. You’re really no different then most newbie’s who come here.

So you’ll basically get the same answer, plus alot of “go eat a dick” since the magazine writers who have come before you where less then honest. Plus GQ is about one step before Good Housekeeping on the complete fucking opposite end of the spectrum from Testosterone Magazine;-)

So, if you invest some time (work) on it and show a real interest. Come up with legitimate questions to show us you’re thinking ect. Then I know “I” would be way more willing to help you.

On the other hand, if that sounds like to much of your time then “I” and I’m sure all of “us” can undoubtedly tell you to piss off. In the meantime, I hope you take the first choice, get to know some of us here, learn alot, and write one of the best articles on AAS and ergogenic aids ever published in a place the general public will see. Welcome :slight_smile:

15

I subscribed to GQ for the last year to get some better fashion sense going and look at the hot babes. 0 for 2 there. Many more faggy ads than pics of hot women and the fashion is for guys who can afford $250 shirts.

However… I did find a wealth of extremely well written, informative and quite entertaining articles hidden within all the flashy clutter. Including (if I remember correctly) a very biased article about three doctors who were undergoing steroid and growth hormone therapy. Biased in a VERY positive light that left the reader thinking that any middle aged man concerned with his health and physical performance would be a fool NOT to consider these treatments.

Now, I don’t have any idea why picturing a fully clothed man staring intently at the naked crotch of another dude would augment the sales of polo shirts but I’m not in advertising. Nor do I appreciate being inundated with the constant olfactory attacks of their cologne ads. But I will freely admit that I was impressed with the writing staff on many levels. I tend to trust npenn’s motives. Just my humble opinion.

16

[quote]WideGuy wrote:
HOw long until you have to put out an article?

I’m not promising anything but if you spend some time here, and put in some work ie. jump in a post here and there. Use the search engine and read articles by Cy Wilson, Brian Bachelor, Nelson Montana, Anthony Roberts and some of the other guru’s. You’re really no different then most newbie’s who come here.

So you’ll basically get the same answer, plus alot of “go eat a dick” since the magazine writers who have come before you where less then honest. Plus GQ is about one step before Good Housekeeping on the complete fucking opposite end of the spectrum from Testosterone Magazine;-)

So, if you invest some time (work) on it and show a real interest. Come up with legitimate questions to show us you’re thinking ect. Then I know “I” would be way more willing to help you.

On the other hand, if that sounds like to much of your time then “I” and I’m sure all of “us” can undoubtedly tell you to piss off. In the meantime, I hope you take the first choice, get to know some of us here, learn alot, and write one of the best articles on AAS and ergogenic aids ever published in a place the general public will see. Welcome :slight_smile: [/quote]

I second Wideguy’s entire post. I would be willing to help out provided you put in the effort and didn’t just ask for information. The best thing you or any newbie can do here is read some stuff that’s already been posted and apply some thinking skills to ask educated questions. Since you might not be familiar with what this means I will provide an example:

Bad: What steroids should I take to get hyooge?

Good: I’ve done some research and think these are the best steroid choices to achieve my goals. Here is my planned cycle. Any advice would be great.

While I am relatively new to steroid use myself I have been around those who have used steroids and I have read T-Nation for quite some time. Specifically related to your interest I have worked with college football teams as an assistant in the strength and conditioning department. I have gotten to know players personally and still help train and consult with some college players. Put in some work and I’ll help you out.

Some constructive criticism: you use way too many commas in your writing. Most of your commas are unnecessary and make your writing too choppy and hard to follow.

JC

17

[quote]HoratioSandoval wrote:
Well, I’ve got some yardwork and a take -home final that I’d like someone to do, so please reply to this thread if you’d like to do either one for me.[/quote]

What topic is the take-home? haha

18

WideGuy hit it on the head bro. You want people here to help you? We will tell you what we tell every other newby that comes here:

Use the tools here to learn how to help yourself.

do your homework…don’t expect some expert/guru/vet to do it for you. Learn about juice from the newby thread (types, effects, methods). Check out posts from athletes from the search function.

If you do this you will be half way to understanding. You yourself will most likely be pondering a cycle. You will also know what the hell you are talking about when asking these guys questions and writing the article so you will know why athletes are taking different gear for different goals.

ask intelligent questions for intelligent answers…everyone here will spend the time to help you if you put in the time to help yourself.

FG

19

[quote]Blacksnake wrote:
A few weeks ago it was a writer wanting T-Nationers to help with a “Cops on Roids” article…She too promised to be unbiased: She lied!. Her “article” was a man-hating, cop bashing, hyperbolic steaming load of horse dung! She basically strong armed T-Nationers with the implied threat “If you don’t help, I’ll write what I want anyway” scam to justify her unforgiveable actions (The Backstabbing, lying Beeyotch!..[MSN articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid =100111139]…Look up the original thread, it’s still posted)…

Now here we go again, another writer turns up claiming to be “unbiased” wanting “help” (What? help the DEA screw users, like the HBO special, however well intentioned, did?,re:the Mexican raids)…Fool me once…Caveat Emptor, Bro’s…[/quote]

I like to call myself a writer, and we all know what sells.

Fair and balanced stories about steroids and their safe uses don’t sell magazines.

What title works best?

“Steroids- Are they really that evil?”

or

“Come see the dark, dangerous world of a steroid abuser- first hand”

No one is interested in “fair and balanced”, especially not some guy from GQ.

As a journalist, taking shit out of context and then sensationalizing it is your job. I can’t see why anyone thinks this will be different.

20

At the suggestion of a member who PMed me some thoughtful comments, I’m posting a portion of my reply to him. I hope this will better explain tne nature of the story I’m working on:

I guess what I’m trying (and maybe failing) to show you guys is that I have in fact put in my time. This is why I’ve been citing and/or linking the relevant work I’ve done for my magazine. In the course of writing various PED-related pieces for GQ, I’ve spent literally hundreds of hours on the phone with athletes, exercise physiologists, endocrinologists, epidemiologists, sociologists, and chemists. I think I have a well-above-average grasp of the workings of steroids and growth hormone (and to a lesser degree, IGF).

I should emphasize, though, that this story isn’t primarily concerned with the vagaries of stacking, cycling, etc. In other words, it’s not about the science of performance enhancement. It’s about the circumstances–emotional and psychological–that lead players to decide to use gear.

What I’m interested in are the stories of guys who have used or do use, and the people who’ve supported them. In football, PEDs offer athletes a host of benefits, from the augmentation of strength and speed to the enhancement of rehab and recovery. You know all this better than I do, so I’m not going to go on, except to say that this article is centrally concerned with the mentality of the world-class athlete–in particular, the way in which his competitiveness can override all other considerations.

I think there’s a great deal of hypocrisy in the way politicians have responded to PEDs in sports–as if the political world isn’t one in which people seize every available advantage. This is what people do to succeed when there’s a lot at stake, and athletes are no different. The use of PEDS simply extends their instinctive desire to excel. In fact, you almost have to wonder about the motivations of an athlete who DOESN’T use gear.

Anyway, that’s where this story is coming from. You sound like you could be incredibly helpful, and I’d be very grateful for any assistance you’re open to providing.

Thanks again for your comments.