From CNN.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Too much testosterone can kill brain cells, researchers say, in a finding that may help explain why steroid abuse can cause behavior changes such as aggressiveness and suicidal tendencies.

Tests on brain cells in lab dishes showed that while a little of the male hormone is good, too much of it causes cells to self-destruct in a process similar to that seen in brain illnesses such as Alzheimer’s.

“Too little testosterone is bad, too much is bad but the right amount is perfect,” said Barbara Ehrlich of Yale University in Connecticut, who led the study.

Testosterone is key to the development, differentiation and growth of cells and is produced by both men and women, although men produce about 20 times more of the hormone.

It can also be abused, and recent scandals have involved athletes who use the hormone, or steroids that turn into testosterone in the body, for an unfair advantage.

“Other people have shown that high levels of steroid can cause behavioral changes,” Ehrlich said in a telephone interview.

“We can show that when you have high levels of steroids, you have high testosterone and that can destroy the nerve cells. We know that when you lose brain cells you lose function.”

Ehrlich’s team tried the same thing with the “female” hormone estrogen, just to be fair.

“We were surprised, but it actually looks like estrogen is neuroprotective. If anything, there is less cell death in the presence of estrogen,” she said.

Writing in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Ehrlich and colleagues said their findings meant people should think twice about supplementing with testosterone, even if it does build muscle mass and aid recovery after exercise.

“These effects of testosterone on neurons will have long-term effects on brain function,” they wrote.

“Next time a muscle-bound guy in a sports car cuts you off on the highway, don’t get mad — just take a deep breath and realize that it might not be his fault,” Ehrlich said in a statement.

The cells die via a process called apoptosis, also known as cell suicide or programmed cell death.

“Apoptosis is an important thing for the brain — the brain needs to weed out some of the cells. But when it happens too frequently, you lose too many cells and causes problems.”

A similar process is seen in Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia in the United States, affecting an estimated 4.5 million Americans, and Huntington’s disease, another fatal brain illness.

“Our results suggest that the responses to elevated testosterone can be compared with these pathophysiological conditions,” the researchers wrote.

Being a “NorCal” native myself, this rivalry is as natural to me as cats and dogs, but it seems to be a one sided rivalry in that only folks from NorCal care (or are even aware of this rivalry).

My LEAST favorite sports teams all hail from Southern California (Dodgers, Lakers, Kings, etc…)  I’ve heard one sportwriter state that is a continuation of the rivalry that began in New York between the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, but honestly, I’m unsure if ANYONE is really aware of that anymore.

Any team or individual that is introduced as being from Los Angeles will automatically be boo’d in NorCal.  At any function.  Guarenteed.  Genuine, bile inducing hatred too.  “Beat LA” is a pretty much the most popular chant up here, followed by “Fuck LA”, which I swear I’ve witnessed Nuns yell.

If you meet someone from California and you’re unsure of where they are from listen for them to drop a “Hella” in conversation.  “Hella” is pretty much exclusively a NorCal phrase.

How does this relate to MMA?  I should point out the largest MMA ever held was in San Jose, at 18,265 in attendence, while much higher profile UFC events held in Southern California frequently fail to draw the numbers equivalent cards would in Las Vegas.  And although there are number of sports draws in Los Angeles, it is very curious that the second largest metropolitan area in the United States has failed to hold a NFL franchise.

Rumor has it that UFC 63 is not close to being sold out right now, this show would sell out most any other arena in the country I reckon.  While a lot of things are being considered or discussed, the cultural problem of promoting in SoCal has not been brought up yet.

I get letters.

What is B.J’s real first name? B.J. told me B.J. stood for Benjamin.  But it
says on your site and on _www.Wikipedia.org_ (http://www.Wikipedia.org)  that
his name is Jay  Dee. I thought his brother is named Jay Dee? So what is his
first  name Benjamin or Jay Dee?

The B stands for Baby, as in Baby Jay.

BJ’s father, and the three oldest brothers are all actually named (birth certificate and driver license) are all named Jay Dee.  But to keep it less confusing they’re all nicknamed differently”  Jay Dee, J.D. and BJ.

You should see them at airport security when they travel together….

I once asked them why, and they said in case one of them dies, the name will carry on.  Hawaiian logic, go figure.

I don’t know why I feel compelled to tell this story right now, but I do, and it’s my blog, so there. If this turns into a long post or a short one, I don’t know 100% where I’m going with this right now.

It may not surprise you to learn that growing up I was a rather frail kid; I attribute this to genetics, and upbringing that emphasized pursuits of the mind and book smarts over physical activities and sports, and a rather severe childhood illness. It may surprise some to find out I was quite sensitive as a kid; top of my class and wore thick glasses and the combination of factors made me an easy target for bullying. Several years of attempting to reason, plead with or befriend my tormentors proved to no avail my parents finally decided to enroll me in a martial arts class for self defense. When you’re a youngster martial arts means karate chops, board breaking and possibly applying the death touch on bullies, however my mother thought that traditional karate would be too violent and enrolled me in a judo class at the local boys club instead.

Oh the irony. It was completely lost on me at the time, as I wanted to be like Bruce Lee, not someone who wore pajamas.

The condensed version here is that I actually took to judo fairly well, learned the moves well and actually won a few local tournaments. I didn’t really enjoy judo however, practices were early Saturday morning (during cartoon time no less) and the coach, Mr. Johnson, was fairly strict. So after about a year and half to two years, when my parents weren’t forcing me to go anymore, I simply dropped out.

To this day this remains one of my great regrets in life.

The first bully who tried to pick on me after I started to get more comfortable with judo got tossed directly on his head. The second bully got thrown down a flight of steps.

There wasn’t a third bully.

Aside from teaching me self defense, judo also gave me no small measure of self confidence.

Aside from teaching me self defense, judo also gave me no small measure of self confidence. The hyper sensitive, prone to cry at anything youth was long gone. Instead there was a scrappy, take no shit from anyone teenager who actually enjoyed confrontation more than a little bit. Not just confrontation with schoolyard bullies, but parents, grandparents, teachers, authority figures, and so on. I wouldn’t describe myself as a problem child or so much as a rebel in retrospect as opposed to stolid refusal to back down from anything. On the contrary I was usually referred to as alternatively the good or responsible one.

If there’s a lesson here, it’s that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover. I entered high school still relatively skinny, still book smart, but with a bit of reputation of being a scrapper. This odd combination made me a bit of a target again; beat me might get you a bit of a reputation if the stories were true and yet I didn’t have the appearance or mannerisms of someone who could do that much damage. Win win situation for some (not me).

One day I was walking to a bus stop from school when across the street there was a group of about 20 or 30 teenagers walking in the other direction. One of them rushed across the street to take me and I promptly took him and down and was set to pound him when I looked up and realized all of his buddies were rushing across the street to help him. I backed up, threw my hands up and said not worth it, but to my relief, the initial attacker ran away and the group left. The next day at school word had gotten around about what had happened (and rumors floated around that I actually had severely beaten three or four people at the same time which I did nothing to dissuade) and I never had to deal with anyone at school trying to pick a fight with me again.

One day in the summer of my senior year I was walking with my best friend (who happened to go to a different high school than I did) when we were jumped in a parking lot. It was odd, I remember a car of four asian kids two of them jumping out and one of them punching me in the back of the head. One of them chased after my friend, who took off running, but I whirled around, tossed my attacker into the trunk of a Buick as hard as I could and proceeded to beat him badly enough until his friends jumped out to rescue him that he wound up in the hospital. Seeing his buddies pile into their car, the one who was attacking my friend ran back to join them, but not before trying to do a running jumping kick at me while yelling “Kiyaaa!” I simply sidestepped the maneuver and he fell hard on his ass.

This victory was short lived however, as I spent the next year looking over my shoulder for the inevitable retaliation attack. There were a few close calls, but it never actually happened.

Flash forward to years later when the first UFC was broadcast. My friend, who was totally into Japanese Pro or shoot wrestling ordered the event, and we actually knew who Ken Shamrock was before the event began. Of course, I had no idea who Royce Gracie was, but the idea that most fights were won or lost on the ground was not a hard sell to me after so many years.

I’ve never updated it.

I’ve never even completed the information surveys.

I hardly ever respond to messages there.

I almost never look at anyone elses.

But for some reason I get a kick out of approving friend requests.

I’m talking about MySpace of course.  You can view mine at www.MySpace.com/GumbyOTM The pictures and the profile are intentionally goofy.  I’m more scared of the black hole of time and space that seems to consume people who are really active on that page (as oppossed to the black hold of time and space that OTM manages to consume in my life).

Billion dollar idea:  Combine Everquest with MySpace, hook feeding tubes up to computer.  We have the Matrix…

One of my all time favorite BJJ’ers is on the comeback. After an unfortunate series of events, many people over the last year have been asking where Fernando “Terere” Augusto was. This weekend he made his return to the mat:

http://www.fightsurf.com.br/VideoDetalhe.aspx?Codigo=289

Like many others, I hope that this is a positive step back and Terere has his life and career in order. He’s truly one of the free spirits in this sport, and he probably has one of the best guard passes ever.

Stephan Bonnar has tested positive for the banned substance Boldenone following a drug test by the NSAC following his loss to Forrest Griffin.

Before a lot of finger pointing goes Stephan’s way, I’m going to state on record that it isn’t much in taking a banned substance, as it is in the getting caught.  Like many professional sports there is a certain element of performance enhancing drug use, legal or not, that is a well kept secret in the sport.  It’s not always the most obvious candidates either; Bonnar’s physique does not match what the public believes to be a steroid user.

Still Bonnar has more to lose than the average MMA fighter in getting caught.  Losing two fights in a row in rather lackluster fashion, and now testing positive may spell doom for his “six figure contract” he won from the Ultimate Fighter Season One.  Only the first year that contract is guaranteed and most of the money is towards the END of the contract.  Not to mention his good guy image which was very marketable could be considerably tarnished by this scandal.

Boldenone is used for getting more permanent gains in “high quality” muscle, but is not popular because it stays in the system longer than most other steroids, and is thus more easily detected than most other steroids.  Because this was a non title bout, Bonnar may have been gambling on the fact that he would not be tested (the NSAC typically tests all title fights and one random match on UFC cards).  But this is speculation on my part, because Bonnar has yet to respond to the complaint or make a statement.

The moral dilemma with steroids comes from the “cheating” aspect of course, that a normal person can’t competes with a performance enhancing drug using athlete without possibly risking their health.  Can a non performance enhancing drug using athlete compete against those that do?  While strength  is only one factor into what makes a successful MMA athlete, no one in the right mind would suggest that being stronger wouldn’t give you a distinct advantage.  Anyone who enters the sport should be aware that there is always the chance you could be facing someone on steroids.  The choice is then how to deal with this, but be mindful, every choice has consequences whether or not it is health related or simply the stigma of being caught.

For the record, I’ve never tried an illegal performing enhancing drug in my life.  But it more to do with the fact I have a few specific heath concerns / risks as opposed to the moral aspect of it.

FANS of Steve Irwin have been asked to wear the Crocodile Hunter’s trademark khaki colour tomorrow in a stylish tribute to the fallen wildlife warrior.

International Khaki Day this Friday began as a chain email calling on all recipients to pay homage to the Australian conservationist, who was killed by a stingray while filming a documentary on Monday.

Since his death, websites have been inundated by thousands of messages of condolences from the animal activist’s huge fan base around the world.

Now the cyber campaign to honour him by wearing khaki has continued to circulate around Sydney and the world, with thousands of workers expected to turn up to their offices tomorrow wearing khaki clothing or accessories.

Like Jeans For Genes day, the fashionable campaign is also expected to raise awareness for the conservation work Irwin championed and his family have vowed to continue in his name.

While Robert Irwin, Steve’s father, rejected the offer of a State funeral for his late son because he was “just an ordinary bloke,'’ the plan to wear the Crocodile Hunter’s signature safari colour seems more fitting.

Yesterday Bob Irwin paid a heart-rending tribute to his son yesterday – and demonstrating Steve’s common touch, said there was no way his boy would have wanted the pomp of a state funeral.

Struggling to describe the strength of his mateship with Steve, Bob said: “Steve and I weren’t father and son. He was my best mate ever.”

As this photograph shows, Steve was at his happiest with his family, doing what he loved in the wild.

Good friend John Stainton said: “That last month was the happiest time of his whole life.”

Steve’s toddler son Bob was already getting into the act, dressed in khaki on his first hands-on croc-hunting expedition.

“Bob was up there and had started helping him,” Mr Stainton said.

“Steve had his family and was doing what he loved best.”

The Irwins were in the remote Cape York park as part of a joint University of Queensland-Australia Zoo research project tagging wild crocodiles to find out where and how far they swim through the region’s creeks.

These exclusive photos of the Croc Hunter and his family were taken by crew members during the trip.

Most of the crocodiles were more than 3m long and needed at least three men to jump on their backs and hold them down while researchers wired satellite tracking equipment to them.

Young Bob and his sister Bindi showed signs of continuing their father’s fearless legacy, practicing their croc-catching technique at every opportunity.

“Steve and Terri would watch Bob, who they thought was concentrating totally on something else, but he had a toy crocodile,” Mr Stainton recounted.

“He’d jump on the crocodile and he’d call for Bindi to get on the back and he’d take the head and then he’d call for Terri to get the top jaw.

“At three, I mean, he was taking it all in. He could very well go the way of his dad.”

On the subject of the film showing the attack on Irwin, Mr Stainton said that the footage was so harrowing it should be destroyed to prevent it being leaked to the public.

Mr Stainton said he had watched the tape of Irwin suffering the fatal stingray wound and vowed: “It will never see the light of day.”

“I would never want that tape shown,” he said. “It should be destroyed.”

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that a belt promotion was over due, and Ricco is as decorated as anyone in the sport.  Still, he had a long lay off from “pure BJJ” for quite sometime, so the delay in getting his black belt is understandable.

I remember seeing Ricco compete as a blue belt, significantly larger than he was in his UFC hey day, and being amazed at how well he moved for such a big guy.  His battles vs Garth Taylor on the California circuit were definitely something of legend.  Ricco went on to make a name for himself at both ADCC and later on in the UFC, where he was actually the heavyweight champion.  I sort of knew him through the circuit at that point, but didn’t really hang out with him until after he got the title.  I can honestly say I like Ricco a lot, he’s a hell of a fun guy to be around, but something tells me he’s been through a lot in his life and when he was on top he certainly knew how to live it up.

After he lost the title (and was robbed of a decision in Pride in my estimation) he kind of fell of the scene for awhile and took a lot of lumps in both the press and fans eyes.  He made a comeback which has it’s ups and downs, but the fact that the guy was at the very top, then went to the very bottom and continued to try speaks volumes about the type of man Ricco is.  He’s way too talented to keep down, and if he focuses his mind I have no doubt he has the ability to come out on top.

Obviously achieving the black belt was a huge milestone for Ricco, and receiving from none other than Jean Jacques (a man I respect as much as anyone in this sport) speaks volumes for where Ricco is at right now.  Jean Jacques handing Ricco is actually a milestone for both men in a lot of ways, and I know it meant a lot to both of them.

Congrats Ricco and good luck!!

ADCC Trials 2 DVD set for 34.95

For me, the ADCC trials were great, and yet another road trip where I (supposedly) nearly got the entire party killed. (Sadly, my friends would almost make this seem to be a regular occurrence.)

First of all, you must remember that the Trials were being held in Vernon, Canada. Where is Vernon, Canada? A few hours north of Vancouver, where unfortunately a large majority of the fighters actually flew into! International flights were expensive enough (in the trials, participants had to cover their own way), but to not even fly into the correct airport was brutal, so the ADCC staff had to play shuttle most of the day.

Why Vernon, Canada? A local gym bid on hosting the event in hopes of getting some publicity for their gym, despite the aforementioned hardship on having the fighters actually get to the event. Might have been a good plan except there was only one member of the press present (me), and the gym charged me (as well as the rest of the fighters) for the after party, so in a foul mood I conveniently forgot to make any mention of the gym. Until now I guess. And in reality I can’t actually remember the name of gym.

Because of the expense (and remoteness) in getting to the event most competitors actually traveled by themselves to the event. Many people knew each other from the circuit anyway and the rivalries are generally friendly, although with the stakes this high there was a definite tension. Still as competitors were eliminated, former opponents were often found to be coaching each other!

I went at decidedly the last possible second (I went with Cameron Earle who was a last second replacement), and as round trip tickets to Vernon were close to $1000 at that point (US, not Canadian), I opted instead to fly to Seattle and rent a car and drive the five to six hours the rest of the way.

The remoteness of the locale also precluded many spectators from attending the event; there were probably less than a dozen spectators for the event total. You’ve probably rolled in front of more people in class than these guys did. Despite this, the energy level among the competitors was extremely high and this has to go down as one of the greatest tournaments I had ever witnessed (up until the actual ADCC event itself anyway).

The other unusual thing I did was during the Tyrone Glove vs Tyson Griffin match (Tyson actually stepped up on the sport because one of the 76K competitors couldn’t make it) I thought the match may have been stopped early (Tyrone pulled off a Sakuraba style standing shoulder lock on Tyson, but Tyson said he didn’t tap. I usually don’t allow instant replay of a match from my camera, but because people were so unsure and the stakes so very high, I actually let them view the footage, and my camera angle actually did reveal three distinct taps from Tyson, proving the stoppage by the referee (Carlao) was justified.

After the tournament we pretty much got in the car (actually SUV, the cute girl behind the rental car counter gave me a free upgrade) and drove back to Seattle, taking on Primo and Nelson (the other cameramen) for the trip because they had to be back in Miami the next day. There were mountain roads to traverse, and it began to snow pretty heavily, and with the conversions from kilometers to miles and gallons to liters I was getting pretty confused as to how much gas we actually had used to that point. There were long gaps in between gas stations, and at this point many of the ones we passed by were actually closed. The guys were getting to be quite nervous about the prospect of running out of gas and freezing to death before help arrived. I was less nervous, because in the back of my mind I knew if we were going to go Donnar Party that Primo would probably be the first one eaten. Fortunately the trip was largely downhill and we made it to Seattle intact.

The Trials were shelved for so long because of various other projects. Primo, who edited the ADCC Main event stated that that set was his first priority and other tournaments would be worked on at a later date. Primo is a busy guy and after the main event, the Trials and a few other project got shelved for the time being, which was obviously a shame as these were some great videos. At some point to thank us for our sponsorship Dan Lambert (the owner of American Top Team and the man largely responsible for ADCC these days) gave us (OntheMat) the rights to the trials footage as well as a few other projects (which will be coming out shortly) as a way of thank you for our support for the event and grappling in general. So we owe a very big thanks to Dan (for a number of reasons) and now we hope you enjoy the trials as much as we did.