2 coaches who ordered supplements were listed as endorsers

[Droid]

 

Posted on Sun, May. 08, 2005 



2 coaches who ordered supplements were listed as endorsers

By Danny Robbins
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The two coaches who ordered supplements labeled as containing banned substances for Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin were listed as endorsers for the companies that distributed the products.

Such endorsements are discouraged by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

"From my perspective, common sense would tell you not to do this because if something bad happens, like an unforeseen outcome, you're really up the creek in terms of liability," said Dr. Bryan Smith, medical consultant to the Atlantic Coast Conference and former chairman of the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.

Mike Clark was assistant athletic director for strength and conditioning at A&M and an endorser of AdvoCare International when he ordered thousands of dollars worth of the company's products for the university's athletes.

AdvoCare is a Carrollton-based company that sells supplements on a multilevel marketing basis. AdvoCare's Web site and publications regularly tout the company's endorsements from athletes and coaches.

At the same time Clark was endorsing AdvoCare, his wife, Kris, was a distributor of the company's products.

From August 2000 through October 2002, the A&M athletic department ordered 24 AdvoCare products for just more than $53,600, records show.

One product, a vitamin and mineral supplement known as Coreplex, was purchased by the university after a bidding process in which AdvoCare was the lowest bidder that provided complete product and company information, records show.

The other 23 AdvoCare products were purchased directly by Clark for less money and did not require bids. Those purchases, which included seven products listing ingredients banned by the NCAA, totaled just more than $38,500. Most of the products were sold to A&M at 40 percent off their advertised prices.

Clark, who left A&M in 2004 to join the coaching staff of the Seattle Seahawks, said that obtaining free or discounted products for the university was his only compensation for endorsing AdvoCare.

He also said that he did not hide his relationship with the company and that it was widely known at A&M.

Karl Kapchinski, the university's assistant athletic director for athletic training, said he was initially uneasy about Clark's ties to AdvoCare.

"It appeared to me that there might have been a conflict of interests on his part," Kapchinski said. "But Mike assured me the only products we were purchasing were strictly for A&M and that he got no financial gain whatsoever. He said he wouldn't even allow any of our [football] players to buy products from his wife."

David Batson, the university's director of compliance, said he did not make an issue of Clark's relationship with AdvoCare because it did not violate NCAA rules.

"It could certainly create a potential conflict of interests," he said. "But is it against the rules or anything like that? No."

At UT, the school's assistant athletic director for strength and conditioning, Jeff Madden, ordered the caffeinated energy drink Jacked and two other supplements from Performance Edge Nutrition, which listed him on its Web site as a member of the company's advisory staff. UT spent $1,370 on the products, records show.

Madden, one of the most recognizable figures in strength and conditioning coaching, said he never agreed to serve on the advisory staff and did not know he was listed as such until the Star-Telegram brought it to his attention. The Web site is no longer accessible.

On its Web site, Performance Edge Nutrition described itself as a division of Lansons Athletics, an Austin-based company. In a 1997 filing with the Texas Secretary of State's Office, the company listed Scott and Steven Lancashire of Austin as its directors.

Contacted for this story, Steven Lancashire directed all questions to Scott Lancashire, his brother. Scott Lancashire could not be reached for comment.

The NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook includes a recommendation that athletic department staff members avoid endorsing supplements. The recommendation has appeared in the publication since the August 2000 implementation of NCAA bylaw 16.5.2 (g), the rule limiting the kinds of supplements schools can distribute to student-athletes.

"People have said endorsing supplements is no different from endorsing a particular brand of shoe, where you have all the kids [on a team] wearing that shoe," said Frank Uryasz, president of the National Center for Drug Free Sport, which conducts drug testing and drug education for the NCAA and other organizations. "But it is different. You don't eat your shoes.

"There's a big difference between endorsing something you wear and endorsing something that's consumable and not well-regulated."









--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted on Wed, May. 11, 2005 



NCAA listens to UT concerns

By Danny Robbins
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The National Collegiate Athletic Association will not penalize schools that provided student-athletes with dietary supplements containing added amounts of amino acids, even though such conduct violates NCAA rules, an official said Tuesday.

Steve Mallonee, managing director for Division I on the NCAA membership services staff, said the misunderstanding of the issue expressed recently by the University of Texas has led the NCAA to determine that neither UT nor other schools should be punished.

He stressed, however, that the NCAA is taking this approach only with supplements in which the sole issue is amino acids, and that any school that dispenses such products in the future will be considered in violation.

"Basically, we understand that there is confusion out there," he said. "And so we believe the best approach is not to require institutions to report violations, but to educate them on the appropriate application of the rule."

UT spent nearly $90,000 on five types of supplements labeled as containing "free-form," or added, amino acids between 2000 and 2004, school records show. Such purchases run contrary to an NCAA rule, implemented in August 2000, that severely limits the types of supplements schools can distribute to athletes.

NCAA officials who developed the rule were concerned about the safety of supplements, which are largely unregulated. They also believed that supplements containing muscle-building compounds, such as amino acids, could provide an unfair advantage for schools with the resources to buy them in large quantities.

UT officials have said they believed they had the go-ahead to buy the supplements with added amino acids after receiving a letter from Mallonee approving the products only months after the bylaw took effect. But Mallonee has said his approval was based solely on the products' protein content -- the only information provided by the university -- and not their actual ingredients.

Tina Bonci, co-director of sports medicine and athletic training at UT, has said the university believed it didn't have to be concerned about added amino acids as long as a product's protein content was less than 30 percent, one facet of the rule.

Texas A&M spent nearly $30,000 on supplements labeled as containing impermissible ingredients from 2000 to 2004, records show. About half of the money was spent on a supplement that was apparently impermissible because it contained an added amino acid.

Of the rest of the money, nearly $9,000 was spent on seven supplements labeled as containing substances banned by the NCAA, which also are impermissible.

Texas Tech reported to the NCAA in February that the university violated the bylaw by purchasing 15 impermissible supplements at an undetermined cost during a 30-month period. Based on the way the university described the supplements in its report, most would appear to be impermissible for reasons unrelated to amino acids.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Danny Robbins, (817) 390-7258 drobbins@star-telegram.com 





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

© 2005 Star-Telegram and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.dfw.com

[Big Papa Satan]

The National Collegiate Athletic Association will not penalize schools that provided student-athletes with dietary supplements containing added amounts of amino acids, even though such conduct violates NCAA rules, an official said Tuesday.

Steve Mallonee, managing director for Division I on the NCAA membership services staff, said the misunderstanding of the issue expressed recently by the University of Texas has led the NCAA to determine that neither UT nor other schools should be punished.

He stressed, however, that the NCAA is taking this approach only with supplements in which the sole issue is amino acids, and that any school that dispenses such products in the future will be considered in violation.

"Basically, we understand that there is confusion out there," he said. "And so we believe the best approach is not to require institutions to report violations, but to educate them on the appropriate application of the rule."

Motherfrickers sure like penalizing players who did the same thing that the institutions of UTerus and the Aggots did for their players, though.

[Macgyver_Hawg]

If Arkansas were a television drawing state like Texas or a consistant top team we wouldn't have had a 3 year investigation and Rowlett and Bridges would still be on the team.  I really believe that.

Tee Martin from Tennessee received more money than our 24 athletes combined and it was over with in no time.  With no consequences.

[3kgthog]

I know I'll get blasted for this since most of you people are Republicans, but Michael Moore should do a Bowling for Columbine/Fahrenheit 9/11 type documentary that completely blasts the NCAA.  He could start right here in Fayetteville and have enough story to cover half the movie. 

[Smithers™]

I know I'll get blasted for this since most of you people are Republicans, but Michael Moore should do a Bowling for Columbine/Fahrenheit 9/11 type documentary that completely blasts the NCAA. He could start right here in Fayetteville and have enough story to cover half the movie.

He would be run out of any town in Arkansas besides Fayetteville. 

Wow, pretty much everyone in the 1st thread predicted that there would be no consequences.  Way to go.  I haven't even seen anything about this on ESPN, and now that it appears to be resolved I doubt that we will.

[Theolesnort]

Tenn has to know where the skeletons are buried in the NCAA's closet. No doubt in my mind.

If Arkansas were a television drawing state like Texas or a consistant top team we wouldn't have had a 3 year investigation and Rowlett and Bridges would still be on the team. I really believe that.

Tee Martin from Tennessee received more money than our 24 athletes combined and it was over with in no time. With no consequences.

[Theolesnort]

I am old and I am slow but I will eventually get thar.

[Theolesnort]

Tenn has to know where the skeletons are buried in the NCAA's closet. No doubt in my mind.

If Arkansas were a television drawing state like Texas or a consistant top team we wouldn't have had a 3 year investigation and Rowlett and Bridges would still be on the team. I really believe that.

Tee Martin from Tennessee received more money than our 24 athletes combined and it was over with in no time. With no consequences.

Congrats Dad on finally figuring out how to insert a quote from another person in your post. I am proud of you. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Now I just need to show you how the spell check works.

Dr is not the only whippersnapper on here you young whippersnapper.

[Macgyver_Hawg]

I'm honored to be the first person you quoted. 

[RebelliousHog]

The National Collegiate Athletic Association will not penalize schools that provided student-athletes with dietary supplements containing added amounts of amino acids, even though such conduct violates NCAA rules, an official said Tuesday.

Why am I not surprised.  I was born and lived in Texas for 10 years. I moved back there and worked there 4 years before coming back to Arkansas. I'm proud of my Texas heritage, but DAMMIT. This pisses me off. Other schools can do minor shiite and get probation and worse, but these schools do it and don't even get a freaking wrist-slap. There is something inherently wrong with a guy buying stuff from his wife on bid and HER bid gets accepted. DUH?

[Macgyver_Hawg]

I take the above mentioned products.  They are safe and very good.