People - The short end of the stick -- and the chains

For the past three years, high school football players who played at Vigilante Stadium in Helena, Mont., had a tougher challenge than they realized:

The first-down chains that are supposed to measure 10 yards actually are 10 yards, 6 inches.

"It's just one of those things that you take for granted that it's accurate," said school activities director Jim Opitz.

The inaccurate markers, purchased new three years ago, have been used at home games for the city's two high school football teams, Helena Capital and Helena High. Carroll College of the NAIA played home games at the stadium through the 1999 season.

"We've used them five times, it was no big deal," said Carroll coach Mike Van Diest. "There's a lot worse things to worry about than that."

The error wasn't noticed until the second half of the season-opening high school football game between Helena Capital and Missoula Hellgate last month when Hellgate went 10 yards on a fourth-and-short, but a measurement of the chains showed Hellgate was short of a first down. Th ball went back to Capital.

Dave Powell, facilities manager for Helena schools and in charge of chalking the lines on the field, didn't like that his crew was being blamed.

"When I heard they were running my crew around, doublechecking the fields, I was a little bit upset, because the first thing I thought they should be double checking was the chains," Powell said.

"Our officials are the ones feeling bad about this," Opitz said. "They're embarrassed. They like to do a professional job."

Watch your form. Better yet, check your head

Weightlifters may be at risk from a newly emerging distorted body image syndrome which could be a negative consequence of their training, scientists said on Tuesday.

Although pumping iron has given them muscular and toned bodies, men suffering from muscular dysmorphia (MD) have a poor body image. They are convinced they look scrawny and are driven to work harder to enhance their physique.

"Muscle dysmorphia is a new syndrome characterized by highly muscular individuals (usually men) having a pathological belief that they are of very small musculature," said Dr. Precilla Choi, of Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia.

In addition to thinking that their muscles are not big enough, men suffering from MD are also worried about gaining fat and are particularly concerned about the shape and look of their buttocks, hips, thighs and legs.

MD is a unique form of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a condition in which people are abnormally preoccupied with a real or imagined defect of their physical appearance. Someone with BDD may think their nose is too long or their legs are too fat, which may lead to depression and anxiety.

Instead of being unhappy with a particular body part, men suffering from MD are dissatisfied with their entire body.

Choi said the results of her study, which are reported in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggest that more research into the perception of the body and health is warranted.

"If more men are taking to the gym in order to increase their musculature, some may be at risk of developing MD," she added.

-- From staff, wire reports