SI Article on Quack RF Products and Deer Antler Sprays Includes Golf, Vijay Singh

A great Sports Illustrated article in this week's issue - posted online here - looks at a company that lures pro athletes into using quack products such as radio-frequency blocking hologram stickers (which don't actually work) and deer antler sprays (which don't actually work and may contained banned substances). The article's focus is mainly on football, but it includes a couple mentions of golf. I'll just pass along these teasers and urge you go read the article:

The chips and spray also had recently begun to spread through golf after a friend with whom Ross sold Christmas trees introduced him to a PGA caddie. In short order, Ross says, the caddie "was passing me around the golf world like a prostitute." As soon as the Vobora verdict landed, though, the NFL, the PGA and MLB sent notice to athletes that the S.W.A.T.S. deer-antler spray -- which had been advertised as containing the banned IGF-1, an ingredient common to all brands of deer antler spray -- had been implicated in a positive drug test.

... (Vijay Singh, however, remains a vocal supporter. In November, Singh paid Ross $9,000 for the spray, chips, beam ray and powder additive -- making him one of the few athletes who is compensating S.W.A.T.S. He says he uses the spray banned by the PGA "every couple of hours . . . every day," sleeps with the beam ray on and has put chips on his ankles, waist and shoulders. "I'm looking forward to some change in my body," Singh says. "It's really hard to feel the difference if you're only doing it for a couple of months.")

Be interesting to hear the PGA Tour's reaction to this. But don't expect golf's publication of record, Golf Digest, to take too much of an interest, given that they are in business with one of the most prominent purveyors of such flim-flam.

If you've read Golf Spelled Backwards before, you probably aren't surprised by anything in that SI report. Not even the stuff about golf. See our earlier posts:

• 'Magic bracelets' are back in business, with Stacy Lewis' help
• Is there doping in golf? Of course there is!

Update: Kudos to Golf.com for quickly picking up on the SI piece. Golf.com adds these details:

Vijay Singh has been named as one of several athletes to use a banned substance from a two-man company called S.W.A.T.S. -- Sports with Alternatives to Steroids, according to an article from this week's Sports Illustrated. ...

The deer antler spray contains IGF-1, which SI describes as a "natural, anabolic hormone that stimulates muscle growth."

It is also a banned substance by all major pro sports leagues. ...

Players were warned about the deer antler spray back in 2011 after Mark Calcavecchia was told by the PGA Tour to stop endorsing S.W.A.T.S.'s "Ultimate Spray." Ken Green also endorsed the product.

Popular posts from this blog

Lexi Thompson Bikini Pics

Image
(Note: new pics added to the bottom.) One of the fringe benefits of the LPGA Tour playing a tournament in the Bahamas is that some of the golfers snap selfies in bikinis and share them on social media. Like Lexi Thompson. Below are three bikini photos that Lexi took while she was in the islands for the 2014 Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic. Lexi posted them on her Instagram (@Lexi) page: The golfer posing with Lexi in the middle pic is LPGA rookie Jaye Marie Green. 6-21-14 : Here's a newer one: 9-16-14 : Here's a screenshot of Lexi's photo shoot for Golf Punk magazine : 10-31-14 : Lexi at the beach: Follow GSB on Twitter | Like GSB on Facebook 2-3-15 : Lexi in the Bahamas: 3-18-15: 10-26-15: Lexi wrote about this pic, "Been working hard on my fitness and nutrition for the last 3-4 years...but now I gotta make some time to even out these tan lines." 1-28-16: 4-9-16: 8-9-16: 12-28-16: 4-13-17: 12-19-17:
Read more

Urban Legend: Mrs. Palmer on 'The Tonight Show'

Is an urban legend about golf actually a suburban legend? There's a story that's told about Arnold Palmer's wife appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson . This would be Winnie Palmer, and the time was the late '60s. According to this legend, the following snippet was part of the conversation between Winnie and Johnny: Johnny: Do you do anything for Arnold before a tournament as a sort of good-luck charm or superstition? Mrs. Palmer: I kiss his balls. Johnny: Well ... I bet that makes his putter flutter. I've heard many people tell this story. Even had one friend who insisted that he watched it in real time. But there are a couple problems with the story. First, why would Carson have Arnold Palmer's wife on the show? Winnie Palmer was not herself famous. Second, nobody who knew Winnie can imagine her going on a talk show, nor - especially - coming anywhere near such a double-entendre. And, sure enough, a check of the Johnny Carson archives
Read more

The Amy Mickelson-Michael Jordan Rumor

The Amy Mickelson-Michael Jordan affair rumor. You've heard it, right? It got started back in 2010, around the time Phil Mickelson was winning The Masters. To this day, type "Amy Mickelson" into the Google search field and Google will try to autocomplete your query to "Amy Mickelson Michael Jordan" or "Amy Mickelson Michael Jordan rumor" or "Amy Mickelson Michael Jordan affair." Amy is Phil's wife, of course. Michael Jordan is a good friend of Phil's main rival, Tiger Woods. I understand Mr. Jordan also played basketball, but can't really speak to that. I focus entirely on golf, you see. With a side business in unfounded, crazy rumors. Put the Amy Mickelson-Michael Jordan affair rumor in the "you've got to be kidding" file. There's not a hint of a scintella of evidence - evidence! what a concept! - of any Amy Mickelson-Michael Jordan affair. There's barely any evidence of an Amy Mickelson-Phil Mickels
Read more