Q Did you understand the PGA Tour’s ruling?

The tour ought to apologize to Vijay for its miseducation. If Vijay should have checked with the tour about antler velvet, then he should have checked with them about the steak and milk that’s being served in the clubhouse at every tour event, too. I think in the end, Vijay will look like a hero because he did it the right way; he chose the right company. He didn’t seek out illegal synthetics.

Q How safe is this stuff?

It improves health, gets you off pain pills. Do you think Vijay would have spent nine grand on my protocol if I didn’t know what I was doing?

Q You believe you can help average golfers, not just elite athletes?

The weekend warrior is my best customer. The average protocol for a golfer to really improve his game and his body is $150 to $200 a month, $50 a week. What’s that to a golfer?

Q Has all this media coverage been good or bad for your business?

It’s not going to be bad. Deer-antler spray is on its way to being vindicated. It has been vindicated in golf. Next is the NFL and MLB. They have to answer. But it is what it is. People shun what they don’t understand.

Q Do you offer a moneyback guarantee?

I don’t give a money-back guarantee because I’ve never had anybody want their money back. But there’s a bunch of junky antler products out there. If you think a $30 bottle of antler spray is good, you’re nuts. Just like in golf, you get what you pay for.

Wednesday, Singh was forthcoming with a lawsuit over the doping allegations involving deer antler spray.

On the eve of The Players Championship, the showcase event for the Tour at TPC Sawgrass, Singh filed suit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, charging the Tour with violating its duty of care and good faith. According to the lawsuit, the Tour exposed Singh “to public humiliation and ridicule for months.”

CLEARED: Tour drops case against Singh

According to the lawsuit, the Tour “failed competently and responsibly to administer its own Anti-Doping Program. … As a direct and proximate result of the PGA TOUR’s actions, Singh has been humiliated, ashamed, ridiculed, scorned and emotionally distraught.”

The suit, which says Singh was going to be suspended for 90 days, seeks damages in an “amount to be determined at trial, punitive damages and attorney’s fee, and such other relief as the Court finds proper.”

Singh initially was sanctioned by the Tour after admitting to using the substance, then was cleared of wrongdoing last week. The suit was filed by Peter Ginsberg, who represented the NFL’s Jonathan Vilma in the New Orleans Saints bounty case.

“We just received the statement,” PGA Tour vice president Ty Votaw told USA TODAY Sports. “We will have no comment.”

The lawsuit says the Tour could have known by conducting some basic testing and research that the product Singh sprayed contained no active biological ingredient and could not possibly have provided any performance enhancement.

“The PGA Tour has now finally admitted that the use of deer antler spray is not prohibited,” the suit claims. “Rather than performing its duties to golfers first, and then determining whether there had been any violation of the Anti-Doping Program, the PGA Tour rushed to judgment and accused one of the world’s hardest working and most dedicated golfers of violating the rules of the game.”

Singh, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame who counts three major championships among his 34 Tour victories, admitted in January in an interview with Sports Illustrated to using deer-antler spray but was unaware that it could contain a banned performance-enhancer connected to human growth hormone called Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1).

But information supplied by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) during the Tour’s investigation says the use of deer antler spray is no longer prohibited because, though it does contain IGF-1, the amounts are too small to have an effect.

Based on that information the Tour received April 26, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem decided to drop the case April 30.

“I am proud of my achievements, my work ethic, and the way I live my life,” Singh said in a statement. “The PGA Tour not only treated me unfairly, but displayed a lack of professionalism that should concern every professional golfer and fan of the game.”

Singh is scheduled to tee off Thursday at 2 p.m. ET. During the investigation, Singh played in five tournaments. According to the lawsuit, Singh’s earnings — $99,980 — were held in escrow.

The lawsuit also says “Upon information and belief, the PGA Tour is aware of other golfers who have used the Spray but has not attempted to discipline those other golfers.”

That includes Mark Calcavecchia.

According to the lawsuit, the Tour “did not discipline Calcavecchia, but instead merely told Calcavecchia, an admitted habitual and intentional user of the Spray, to stop using the Spray. Moreover, the PGA Tour told Calcavecchia to stop using the Spray without doing any testing of the product to determine whether its use was prohibited under the Anti-Doping Program. If the PGA Tour had done responsible testing of the product in 2011, it would have known that its consumption was not prohibited and Singh would have been spared this injurious treatment.”

While most players declined comment, Geoff Ogilvy, while saying he didn’t know the specifics of the lawsuit, looked down the road at what it could possibly do to the Tour. He said he hopes any ramifications won’t damage the Tour’s Anti-Doping Program.

“After the drug program started in 2008, since then, all the questions have gone away and all the speculation about whether the golfers were on drugs. It’s been great. It’s not evasive, we all get tested five or six times a year, and it probably helps anybody who is even tempted to doing drugs from not doing them. It has achieved what it wanted to achieve,” said Ogilvy, who is a member of the player advisory council. “So I think anything that hurts the Tour’s Anti-Doping Program and affects how well it has worked will not be great.

” … Everyone should be on the same side here, shouldn’t they? The Tour is the players, technically. We’re all in it together, aren’t we? Hopefully this works out fine.”

Joe Ogilvie, a member of the player advisory council, tweeted that Singh was getting bad advice.

“I don’t think the lawsuit will hurt the Tour one way or another. I think it’s a frivolous lawsuit,” Ogilvie told USA TODAY Sports. “There is zero chance this will lead to less stringent drug testing. This lawsuit won’t lead to anything like that. Any drug testing in all sports will become more stringent. The tests will get better.

” … I think there would have been universal approval from all the players for Vijay if he had sued WADA. The PGA Tour isn’t in the business of testing what people put in their bodies. We rely on an outside association. That’s important to remember.”

John Daly, who has had many run-ins with the PGA Tour, went to Twitter in hopes of getting through to Singh: “VJ don’t do this horrible advice you got off take it from me not worth it #friendlyadvice,” Daly tweeted.

Read More-http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2013/05/08/vijay-singh-pga-tour-deer-antler-spray/2143849/

Finchem did not comment Wednesday. Tuesday, however, he spoke at a news conference and said he had not spoken to Singh since Singh was cleared by the Tour. Finchem said he had not heard of any negative reaction to Singh being cleared from the news media and the Tour players who knew the facts about the case.

“The fact is that WADA changed the ballgame,” Finchem said. The game is over, pure and simple. So the players understood that, end of story, really.”

Finchem did say the Tour will learn from the case.

“I think any doping case you learn something,” Finchem said. “There are several things here that we’re focused on, most of them procedurally. We like to think that we have done a very good job of bringing the players’ focus on the details. Any time you’re relying on communication, we know this just from dealing with constituencies and communication requirements, that you can’t ever do too much in that regard. To ever have a player say I didn’t know in this particular instance that I should have called you or checked your certification list or something like that raises a question in our mind as to whether we’re aggressive enough in that area. We are actively looking at some ways to intensify our efforts every year in that regard, especially with rookies.

” … The procedures that we use under our Anti-Doping Program, little things that have to do with what happens when charges are brought, appeals are made, we’re looking at some things in that area.

“So there are a number of things. They’re not huge things, but we learn as we go.”

Oh deer.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the forest, there’s breaking news in the deer antler spray saga that began more than two years ago and reached a fever pitch at this year’s Super Bowl.

This week, the World Anti-Doping Authority, which provides the list of banned substances that most sports leagues follow, announced that deer antler spray is not in violation of its rules. Deer antler spray, you may remember, was at the center of a media frenzy that engulfed Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis in the week leading up to Super Bowl XLVII. Sparked by a Sports Illustrated story published during Super Bowl Media Week, Lewis found himself at the center of a “controversy” for allegedly using a product that contained a banned growth hormone, IGF-1.

Mitch Ross speaks about The Ultimate Spray at Super Bowl XLVII. (Getty Images)But after determining that “The Ultimate Spray,” the deer-antler product Lewis allegedly took, contains only “small amounts” of IGF-1, WADA announced it is not considered prohibited.

The athlete immediately impacted by the determination is golfer Vijay Singh, who had been sanctioned by the PGA Tour after he admitted using the spray in the same Sports Illustrated story. Upon WADA’s determination, the PGA retracted its punishment of Singh.

“We’re talking about a determination that was made by scientists at WADA that relate to the consumption through deer antler spray of a technically violative substance, IGF -1,” PGA commissioner Tim Finchem explained this week. “But in looking at it, the scientists concluded it resulted in infinitesimal amounts actually being taken into the recipient’s body.”

The bigger question in the wake of WADA’s decision is what this means for athletes and use of the spray going forward.

Yes, they can use it in the sense that WADA no longer prohibits it, and those athletes who feel it helps them can proceed. (An unnamed pro golfer told Jason Sobel of The Golf Channel, “I’m going on it as soon as I get home.”)

But there remains a risk in that WADA still has IGF-1 on its banned list.

An email to WADA was not immediately returned, however Gary Wadler, former chair of the committee that determines WADA’s banned list, told Yahoo! Sports, “Growth factors are a very significant issue in performance enhancement.”

So it’s sprayer beware. Use of “The Ultimate Spray,” a product sold by a former bodybuilder named Mitch Ross, will likely not trigger a positive test, though use of IGF-1 is still not permissible. Much like speeding on the highway, IGF-1 is not permitted … but you can probably get away with it to a point.

“We ban and test for substances, not products,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in an email to Yahoo! Sports. “IGF-1 is on our banned substance list; same as it is on WADAs.”

Confusing? Definitely.

The bottom line, though, is that more athletes will likely take their chances with the spray, even though it’s still not clear how well it works, or even if it works at all. Athletes are always looking for an edge of any sort, and here’s one WADA has cleared. The hard truth is that even if the spray was loaded with IGF-1, there’s no widely accepted urine test for it anyway.

“There is only a blood test for IGF-1″ Aiello said, “and the [player's] union has refused for two years to begin testing for growth hormone as it agreed to do in the new CBA.”

And here’s the major problem with both IGF-1 and HGH: We still don’t know who’s using because we still don’t have blood testing in pro leagues like the NFL. On Tuesday, Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quoted an anonymous NFL player who said HGH use in the NFL is “like clockwork.”

“Not tested and it’s easy to get,” the player said. “Nowadays, dude? In 2013? (Expletive] yeah. I’m just being real.”

Ross has always dreamed of finding an alternative to steroids (hence the name of his company: Sports With Alternatives To Steroids, a.k.a. SWATS). When his spray became the focal point of a controversy leading up to Super Bowl XLVII, Ross flew to New Orleans to hold an impromptu press conference to “clear the air.” Now he feels the WADA decision has lifted a cloud that’s enshrouded him since the Sports Illustrated story came out and Lewis distanced himself from SWATS in the days thereafter.

On Wednesday, Ross said he felt “vindicated.” He also said he’s working with two new clients: Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson. His website has videos of both boxing legends talking about the benefits of SWATS products, including the deer antler spray.

“If it didn’t work,” Ross said of his spray, “wouldn’t it just go away?”

The fear since Day 1 of anti-doping with the PGA, was that players would find the methods of testing  confusing and Tuesday’s news that Vijay Singh would not be sanctioned for his use of the SWATS deer-antler spray prompted a collective question mark from the rank and file.

“Well, it sounds like I can use deer-antler spray,” one Tour type joked. “The thing is anybody could be taking HGH. A blood test is the only way to test for HGH.”

Even during Tuesday’s 20-minute Q&A with commissioner Tim Finchem there were far too few answers none which in fact were directed to SWATS and/or Mitch Ross.
When asked about the possibility that the Tour would begin blood testing, which Greg Norman called for earlier this week, the commish could offer only, “the science isn’t right yet.”

As for WADA’s (World Anti-Doping Agency) ruling, Finchem seemed even less certain how players and officials would respond. “A positive reading means that you’re surpassing a certain level. There hasn’t been any level ever set …,” he said. “Just know that we’re not liable here if for some reason or another you managed to trigger a positive test even though there is no test out there. It is kind of silly, but it is what it is.”

The fact that the collective “might” of anti-doping was reduced to a sporting cliché is disturbing enough, but that no one with any authority could say with any amount of certainty that IGF-1 is clean as the driven snow is borderline criminal.

If players flock to the S.W.A.T.S. (Sports with Alternatives to Steroids) website today and began buying the deer-antler spray in cases, it seems like the ultimate Pandora’s Box would be opened.

For Mitch Ross, the owner of S.W.A.T.S. who found himself in the middle of a media maelstrom when the Sports Illustrated article implicated Singh and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, Tuesday’s news was the only logical outcome and a measure of vindication.

“What they wanted to do is hang Ray and make me look like an idiot, but the tables have turned,” Ross said. “(IGF-1) is undetectable. What happened is, with Ray Lewis and Vijay, WADA(World Anti-Doping Agency) has realized they can’t test for it.”

Mitch Ross holding up the Sports Illustrated Article that started a worldwind of controversy. Read the Article here

Tueday, April 30th, 2013 WADA(World Anti-Doping Agency) released this statement, “In relation to your pending IGF-1 matter, it is the position of WADA, in applying the Prohibited List, that the use of “deer antler spray” (which is known to contain small amounts of IGF-I) is not considered prohibited.
On the other hand it should be known that deer-antler spray contains small amounts of IGF-1 that may affect anti-doping tests. Players should be warned that in the case of a positive test for IGF-1 or HGH, it would be considered an Adverse Analytical Finding.”

Said Finchem: “Given WADA’s(World Anti-Doping Agency) lead role in interpreting the Prohibited List, the Tour deemed it only fair to no longer treat Mr. Singh’s use of deer-antler spray as a violation of the Tour’s anti-doping program.”

Singh has been allowed to continue playing as the Tour investigated his case, and he is in the field this week at the Wells Fargo Championship. His best finish in eight starts was a tie for 20th at the Sony Open.

Where once there was black and white, gray now resides. In place of analytical fact, we now have ambiguity. With one curious ruling it seems as if science has been Shanghaied by subjective art.

We have studied the PGA Tour’s anti-doping manual and not once in its 38 pages did we find the phrase, “unless a sanction just doesn’t feel right” or “until science catches up with the sampling.”  There is no Rule 33-7, the addendum that kept Tiger Woods from being disqualified following a rules snafu at last month’s Masters, in the doping manual. At least there wasn’t until Tuesday.

Since 2008, when the Tour lurched into the anti-doping era, IGF-1 has been listed as a prohibited substance. That was until last Tuesday when the World Anti-Doping Agency waffled and deemed the growth factor, which is like human growth hormone, clean. Well, sort of.

What WADA said in correspondence with the Tour is that IGF-1, which Vijay Singh admitted to using in a January Sports Illustrated article, is “not considered prohibited.”
The WADA response continued with a crystal clear, “On the other hand it should be known deer-antler spray contains small amounts of IGF-1 that may affect anti-doping tests.
“Players should be warned that in the case of a positive test for IGF-1(which is found in the SWATS Ultimate Spray and the SWATS Jacked Spray), or HGH, it would be considered an adverse analytical finding.”
Got that?
IGF-1, which is found in the SWATS Ultimate Spray and the Jacked Spray,  is not prohibited, but if you test positive for it, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. may come calling. But then there are no tests for IGF-1, or HGH, on the Tour or any way to quantify what an elevated level of IGF-1 would be for, say, a 6-foot-2, 208-pound surly Fijian.

My name is Dwight Decker; I work in the United States Navy in the Naval Security Forces. Since 2007, I have been stationed in Charleston, SC where I have been performing security at the Navy Nuclear Power Training school. I have a Master’s degree in Forensic Psychology from one of the best private Universities in the country, Tiffin University, located in Tiffin, Ohio.

I have been involved in the field of Criminal Justice since 1997. I have done every kind of police work from undercover narcotics to SWAT. I live my life at a high speed pace. I have never been addicted to any substance or alcohol; in fact I am one of the few people in this world who has never even smoked marijuana.

After Sept. 11, 2001 I felt compelled to serve my country, I went back to school and finished up my degrees and I got hired on to the Tiffin Police Department where I worked as a police officer while I was trying to obtain my masters degree. In the mean time I went through the Miami-Dade SWAT School and I felt this was my calling.

I went to every recruiter trying to find a niche I could be the most effective on a team (Special Forces) after a Army recruiter forged some papers and shot my dream at every becoming a Army Ranger, I thought all hope of going into the service was lost.

Finally after a few years I received a phone call from a old junior high buddy of mine Chief Mark Bloomfield asking me if I was still interested at joining the military. After hearing every broken promise from a recruiter I told him that if he could get me in I would sign the paper work that day! 2 hours went by he called me back and said you leave for MEPS next Wednesday! I was thrilled, everything I ever wanted to do was serve my country like the rest of my family.

Times have changed and priorities have shifted, but I knew the Navy would get me out of the hole I was in and change my life for the better. I went to MEPS, and I passed everything with flying colors. I went on to boot camp in Chicago, IL and graduated as Honor Graduate in my class, then I went on to “A” school down in Lackland, TX where I graduated as the class leader. I finally found my calling!

I received my orders to Charleston, SC where I would be part of an elite group of MA’s protecting the Nuclear Power Training School. I served here for over 3 years before I started to notice my body starting to hurt. I’m not talking about muscle hurt; I’m talking about bone hurt the kind of pain that just doesn’t go away no matter how much you take care of your self. Every Navy doctor I talked to told me it was just my years of power lifting and martial arts taking its toll on me. I went with that for awhile but then one day I had enough. I requested my shoulder be X-rayed, found out I had a torn rotator cuff, and my collar bone had started to cut into my tricep and bicep. I went in for a successful surgery, and soon was back to lifting weight (lightly). After months of rehab I went in for my final check up with my surgeon and he stated he did not like the way my collar bone had come undone. So he asked to take some X-rays of my other major joints, hips, knees, and ankles. Come to find out I was missing half the head of my right femur; I had no socket in my right side of my pelvis area. My left hip has a shallow socket, my knees are bone on bone, and I have arthritis through out my entire spine which is causing me to have to have my L-3-S-1 removed soon.

I have had my right hip replaced, needing my left one soon. I have also had over 25 shots in my spine to try and control the damage being done. Now I am seeing a neurologist for my back surgery coming up to get things to the point where I can at least live a somewhat healthy life. I mean I am only 33 years old! This stuff does not happen to people my age with out some sort of trauma or accident.

One night I could not sleep due to the amount of pain I was in, and of course I did not want to wake up my wonderful wife and our baby so I stated to surf the web just trying to find some sort of answer or miracle drug to help my situation, I did not care where I had to go to find this drug, but I wanted something!

I came across www.swatsteam.com, I checked out their site, read about their products & I told myself hey what do I have to lose. So, I sent a letter to Mitch Ross and I titled it “33 year old SOUP SANDWHICH” PLEASE HELP!! Well God does answer prayers because in a matter of hours I had a response saying to give him a call in the morning. I did just that!!

I spoke to Mitch and told him my story that I live my life high speed- low drag, and I am not looking for something that I am just going to end up regretting even spending my time or money on. Mitch told me he would take care of me, and I was in shock at just what his team did for me!

Mitch sent me some of every product they carry and even called me to make sure I knew exactly how to use it. They sent me the L.E.A.P., Performance Chips, The Ultimate Spray, and the Pain Management Chips, and even the Performance Bands.

My daily life was about to change! I stopped feeling sorry for myself, and I actually started to get my “Mojo” back. I would wake up every morning and drink the L.E.A.P. and put on the pain management patches (3 on my back & 1 on my right hip, the one I had replaced over a year ago). With in 20 minutes after doing this I felt like a new person! I am not one for “magic serums, and patches” by any means, and to be honest I had a feeling of “here we go again.” But I am telling you, as I sit here today, this stuff works wonders! I felt like I could do anything I use to before I got this diagnosis about my rare disorder, which is osteoarthritis advanced with degenerating bones and about 4 other million dollar words to describe in short that I am messed up… Anyways, this was just the first day! So I went about my day doing things just waiting for the pain to come back with a vengeance, but it never did! So the second day I upped my water intake to 1 gallon of filtered water, and repeated all the steps other again. The next day and the next I did the same routine, feeling better each and every day I followed this program. Every day I would call Mitch and just say thank you, because I don’t know what I would be doing with out these patches and other supplements in my life. Mitch’s reply simply was, you remember what I told you on the phone the first time we talked,” and I replied “I sure do!” he was right! God is very good! And Prayers do get answered!

I told Mitch that I want to be a walking talking billboard for his company and I want to tell everyone I can about these chips. They are truly amazing! It’s like your taking 10-15yrs off your body simply by following the instructions with every supplement you take, or every patch you put on. My last conversation with Mitch I told him that I just left the gym and I did something I have not done in over a year, he asked, “what’s that?” I told him I hit focus mitts for the first time in over a year with our boxing coach and I felt great doing it!

GOD IS GREAT and prayers do get answered! I go through life trying to help everyone I can, because I never know when I might need the help someday, well today is that day for me, and Mitch and his SWATS TEAM really stepped up to the plate on this for me, and now I want to do the same for them!

I use to tell people all the time that I live my life by one saying, and that is; “If I can not stand up and defend those around me who can not stand up and defend themselves then what good am I.” Well now that is the second saying because the first is God does answer prayers! And he is real!

Pease go to www.swatsteam.com and check out the site and their products, I am a living testimony to these great products and the people who sell them.

Sincerely,

MA3 Decker, Dwight
United States Navy
“SEMPER FORITS”

Commonly known as “The Godfather of Freestyle Motocross”, Metzger was one of the first riders to begin doing basic tricks such as heel clickers and can cans. His acrobatic accomplishments include being the first person to complete back-to-back-flips (two flips on two consecutive jumps) at the X-Games. As a result of his popularity, he also appeared in Freekstyle, a 2002 motocross racing video game for the PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo Gamecube, and his image is on the cover of the game’s box. He invented the heel clicker.

Metzger has appeared numerous times on the Discovery Channel’s extreme sportshow Stunt Junkies. In the last episode he appeared in, he was seriously injured; while attempting to execute a jump with a back-flip between two barges, he overshot the landing ramp and suffered a compression fracture of the L4 vertebra in his lower back.
He also invented the “McMetz”, a trick in which the rider puts both feet over the handlebars in midair, then sweeps them backward towards his arms, takes his hands off the bars to allow the legs by, then remounts the bike after floating detached from it for a split second.

Runs Personal Record in the 40 at NFL Combine Using APCs at 4.36 sec.

I started using the S.W.A.T.S APCs in the 2007 Nebraska game. The first thing I noticed was the energy that I had. I started to see that on the third and fourth down I was running faster than I normally would run because I wasn’t as fatigued in that series. In the third and fourth quarter I was just as energized and as fast as the first play of the game. I then wore them every game thereafter including the Cotton Bowl, where we destroyed the razorbacks. Then at the 2007 Combine, me and XXXXXXXXXXXX met Mitch Ross in the restaurant of the hotel the athletes stayed at to talk about the success that we had using his technology. He then gave me enough APC chips to use at the Combine, and I used them in my 40-yard dash and ran a personal record of 4.36 seconds. I then wore them again on my pro day at the University of Missouri where I vertical jumped 40 inches. I was drafted by the KC Chiefs and I will be chippin’ every game. I support what the S.W.A.T.S Program stands for and I definitely recommend and endorse the S.W.A.T.S Athletic Performance Chip (APC).

Will Franklin – WR

Lorenzo Williams –
DT