With the passing of Mike Matarazzo still fresh on the minds of many people in the bodybuilding industry, I thought I would take this opportunity to discuss something that has been irritating me for quite a while now. I get that my opinion and position on this may not be looked upon favorably by everyone, but I get that a lot so I'm used to it.
I get it when people hear of someone passing and they offer up a statement about how sad it is. I think most people want to convey their condolences and show respect. This makes complete sense to me. I also get that some people simply say what they think they should say because not all of us really know what to say and might prefer not to say anything at all. That makes complete sense to me. However, in situations like this, I don’t think it's fair that people speculate as to why someone died or, even worse, speak in absolutes as to why or how someone died when it's nothing more than a best guess. I also don’t think that it's fair to “judge” how someone lived or the choices he made while living regardless of whether or not those choices may have been related to that person's death.
I'm not sure that it matters at all why or how someone died, but I do get that people are curious. In a situation like this where a well-known bodybuilder dies at a relatively early age, I also understand that some people want to know whether decisions made while that person was living the bodybuilding lifestyle contributed to his death and what part things like AAS played. Did they play a part? How much of a part did they play? Was it diet related? Was it completely a genetic issue because he was predisposed to a heart condition? There are a ton of questions. Questions aren’t the issue. That's normal. However, it isn't normal or fair for people to pipe up with statements like, “It's obvious that so and so died from AAS use” or “his diet of red meat was clearly the reason why he died so young—no one should eat that much red meat.” When did we all become so well versed on what someone did and how he lived his life? Does speculation give us more clarity and comfort in knowing that someone has died and there is a reason? Do we feel better if we feel that his death wasn’t just random?
I know an awful lot about nutrition, health, AAS use, and heart issues. I'm not a doctor and I don’t play one on the internet, but I'm well versed in these areas. My sister passed away in her sleep at 29 years old from heart issues that she was unaware she had. After her death, I had to look into our family history and see if I was vulnerable to a similar fate, so I do know a thing or two about nutrition and AAS and how they relate to potential heart issues. Still, I don’t dare speculate as to why Mike or anyone else has passed in this sport because there really is no way for me to know.
Too many people can abuse their bodies for years—sometimes decade after decade—and live a long, full life. Others, like my sister, don’t even make it to 32 years old. My sister never took a steroid in her life. Had that been me going out at 29 in my sleep, I can only imagine the speculation and “absolutes” that would have been discussed. Clearly, AAS would have been the culprit. You can take that to the bank.
More importantly than the speculation is the question, why is Mike's passing so sad? Is it sad for Mike that Mike passed away at a relatively young age? I get that it's sad for Mike’s friends and family. I totally agree. But think about it for a minute—is it really that sad that he passed?
Hear me out for a minute before you all start frantically typing blistering comments in the comments section. Do you know how Mike lived his life? I'm not talking about what you read about him in the magazines or the compliment that he gave you at a show you competed in. Did you really know him? Were you a friend or someone close to him who knew whether he was a happy guy living the life he wanted to live? Did he have great relationships with friends and family or was he a shit bag? Did he help people and not just in bodybuilding? Was he charitable? What did he do for a living? Did he come home to his wife and family every day and make a lasting positive impact on his kids? Did something he say change your life or empower you?
I ask all these questions because it's incredibly important to know whether he lived a full and happy life. When someone passes, we want closure, and many of us find solace in thinking that he's “in a better place.” Personally, I get satisfaction out of knowing that someone lived his life the way he wanted to live, not how the rest of us thought that person should live. We can talk until we're blue in the face about how he should've eaten better or he shouldn’t have abused his body, but that wasn’t our choice. It was his, and I'm pretty damn sure that he made educated decisions knowing full well the potential consequences. These weren’t decisions made once or twice. They were decisions made over the course of a very long time.
When someone passes, I try to relate his or her situation to mine. It's how I deal with death. I know that whether I decide to jump out of airplanes, work daily as a scientist with deadly diseases, or live a bodybuilding lifestyle, I'm living how I see fit. I'm a happy person and the people around me know this. I would not be the father I am or the husband or friend I am without the decisions that I've made in my life leading up to this point. If I go at a relatively young age, I hope that people don’t judge me or my decisions either.
I would like to think that Mike lived the same way. In reality, I tend to think that when we say someone’s passing is sad, we really mean that it's sad for us because that person had such a positive impact on us and the world of bodybuilding will miss him. How we deal with death is an individual thing, but in fairness to Mike or anyone else who passes, we should all be more fair. We should judge that person on the positive things he or she did and the impact he or she had on us and others. Analyzing how that person lived and the personal decisions that person made seems incredibly unfair. I’m not sad for Mike. I'm sad that not enough people live the way they want to—happy and on their own terms. Just sayin’.
"Oh, god, where do I begin? I'd have to say that everything that led to my heart problem began the minute I started getting serious about competitive bodybuilding. In order to get bigger, I'd eat five, six, seven pounds of red meat a day, no vegetables. And I'd stay away from fruits because of their sugar.
Worst were the chemicals. I have so many memories of being alone in a hotel room the week, five days or two days before a contest, and doing unspeakable things to my body—steroids, growth hormones, diuretics—anything and everything that we as bodybuilders do to achieve a certain look.
It has affected my whole life, so to all those guys who are on an eternal quest to have 21" arms and 20" calves, and who are so vain about their never-say-die attitude, I say, "Change
your attitude." Worry about keeping that body of yours as healthy as possible, because it's going to have to last you not just through your next contest or to the end of your bodybuilding contract, but for a long time. And a long time for a human being is nothing. It goes by real quick, even quicker when your health is gone and you have nothing to stand live for."
As to Mike I only knew him from the magazines and his contests,and it is sad when some one like Mike dies in the context of his circumstances & as he stated as result of his choices & is certainly sad for his family,and is sad for me too,he had a great sense of humor,may he rest in peace.
Everyone is butthurt because they want to feel sorry for Mike and I don't. If you do, that is fine by me and you absolutely can do that. I say that he should be left alone for the choices he made and not judged for them. For the life of me, I don't get how you (his neighbor, apparently) or anyone else can't get that point. Instead, you have to respond as if you have all of the facts and I am just some dumbass that "doesn't get it". Hopefully, I will continue to be enlightened and informed for another year by neighbors, co-workers, ex-girlfriends and such, that also don't get the point of the article. Lucky me.
we all make choices in life, some good some bad. If your wife or girlfriend drove down the expressway at 80mph, got a trye burst and crashed and died, would you be sorry? Why, it was her choice to use the expressway. Most of our choices are chance, so was mikes decision to juice. Maybe he didnt have a choice, cause noone can be successful in the IFBB without roids, GH.
Dont try to sound overly philosophical on mikes death, you sound like an idiot. When someone passes, if you cant say something good, just zip it. We really feel sorry for the wife, kids someone leaves behind. How would one of mikes kids feel reading such a cold, moronic article about tgeir father? Think about it before you try to get hits off someones death..
My point still gets misunderstood but the point I was making was that when people live the way they want to, I respect that and I am happy for him that he made the choices that he thought were best for him. Yes, he died young and that is terrible but there are people that prefer to live shorter but more "quality" lives, too. Was that him? I have no idea but those people are out there. He will live forever with his fans as young, vibrant and as a great bodybuilder - not an 80 year old drooling on himself in a nursing home where no one comes to visit him and he secretly wishes he had died years earlier.
But I'm the bonehead. Just sayin'.
If you have to explain it, you've lost the argument. So while this was a fantastic article, the only reason most people replied to it was the "I don't feel sorry for him" qualifier. They instinctively feel the need to poke around and figure out why you don't feel the need to regurgitate the same disingenuous empathy that they dole out on the regular to their social circle. As for Mazz, he's been dead for nearly 2 years and isn't reading this discussion. End of story, let's lock up this article and move on!
Stew Green said on Sep 10, 2015
"You don't know if Mike regretted his choices? Have you read his interviews before he died? Its pretty obvious that he regretted it. Seems like the gear is affecting your brain."
To which you responded:
"I'm sorry, I just can't take someone seriously with an email 'greendickstew'"
This was more that a small copout on your part- you've simply avoided responding to the very valid point that Mike's life wasn't one he lived the way he wanted to. If you've read interviews with Mike, then you'd know that he regretted his decisions greatly- a basic google search that will take you all of 5 seconds will show you that. That you base your article on such an obvious fallacy is alarming in itself. That you dodge the point again via ad hominem speaks volumes.
How about try again? Mike's life wasn't one he lived the way he wanted to. If you've read interviews with Mike, then you'd know that he regretted his decisions greatly. So (after you google to verify via interviews with Mike) how does this change your article, if at all? And why or why not? Hopefully you won't pick on my name and instead actually address the point this time.
Articles aren't written for debate, they are written essentially for entertainment purposes and to state an opinion of the writer. Your response is arrogant in that you must think that only you have read interviews and I obviously have no clue. Or, you are not terribly bright and don't understand that a lot of interviews - especially in muscle magazines - are influenced to be sensational or emotional. I mean, you don't REALLY think that everything you read in the magazines is true, do you? And before you act like you know, I have written for 2 major muscle magazines and I doubt you have.
Unless you KNEW Mike and were close to Mike, you really don't know whether he had regrets or not. Even if you did, it STILL doesn't take away from the point of the article of which you continue to miss even after another year has gone by and that is: I AM NOT EVER SAD FOR ANYONE THAT LIVES THEIR LIFE MAKING THEIR OWN CHOICES AND LIVING THE WAY THEY WANT TO.
You don't have to like or agree with my position on this - I don't really care one way or the other. I am curious, though: What does it feel like inside when you argue with someone that wrote an article on the internet? Do you smile and feel you "owned" me after you hit the send button? Do you show it to your wife and get her approval? I ask because I can't relate to being a troll.
“I’d have to say that everything that led to my heart problem began the minute I started getting serious about competitive bodybuilding. In order to get bigger, I ate five, six, seven pounds of red meat a day, no vegetables. And I’d stay away from fruits because of their sugar. Worst were the chemicals. I have no doubt in my mind that the primary cause of my problem was the chemicals. It was the steroids, the growth hormones, the diuretics. I wouldn’t in a million years change a lot of the aspects of bodybuilding, but that’s the one aspect I’d discontinue if I had a second chance.”
Asked “What should those who still have a second chance do about it?” the 1991 USA winner responded:
“Put [the drugs] away. Only a handful of men on this entire planet make barely a decent living at bodybuilding. I happened to be one who did for 15 years, but I probably took 20 years of my life. No amount of money in the world is worth that. I’d rather go back in time and get a nine-to-five job and live to a ripe old age, like my grandfather. I took the gamble and lost in every way. Physically, I’m completely limited. Financially, I’m pretty close to ruined. Emotionally, it made a guy like me—whose only fear in life was the loss of his mother and father—afraid of every little ache and pain.” Matarazzo encouraged bodybuilders to buy health insurance and get frequent medical checkups. (He had no insurance and endured mammoth bills.) “Worry about keeping that body of yours as healthy as possible, because it’s going to have to last you not just through your next contest or to the end of your bodybuilding contract, but for a long time. And a long time for a human being is nothing. It goes by real quick, even quicker when your health is gone and you have nothing to stand on.”