alv-cc wrote [blockquote]Mike, that is a good analogy, but the difference is that all the BIG athletes you mention were and are just that: ATHLETES!! They are performance tested from a young age and if they perform they make it to the NFL! [/blockquote] [color=red]Point taken. HOWEVER, we cant forget athletes like corey stringer, who at 6'5" and 345 DIED during Minnesota Vikings training camp, from BEING TOO BIG and working TOO hard in the heat for his body to handle, and this was a man who did this his whole life. Which, sounds a helluva lot like what we are hearing about alot of mastino these days, dying after working. The lineman in football personify to a T, the short bursts of speed, power and fury, like it states in the neo standards. If these men, who ARE being raised and trained as combative athletes are dying from this, what is to be expected of dogs who arent being bred or tested for it, and are getting bigger at just about the same rate as the men are?? Mike[/color]