Directionless yet driven by a fervent desire to make something of himself, Doug "The Thug" Smith took his only marketable job skill--amateur boxing--and followed an unlikely career path to become a hockey enforcer, a.k.a. "goon." Entrusted with aggressively protecting his teammates from tough guys on the opposing team, he punched, elbowed and cross-checked his way up the ranks of minor league hockey to win a championship ring and the respect of his community. His entertaining underdog story is the subject of the cult-classic motion picture Goon (2011) and its sequel Goon: Last of the Enforcers (2017).
Three years of resolute weightlifting had not gone as planned for this scrawny 18-year-old. But it was 1980 and a legal prescription for the magic elixir, anabolic steroids, was just $20. Now he would transform himself while away at college and return home with trophy-winning strength and a body like a Greek god--a Charles Atlas magazine ad come to life. That didn't go quite as planned either. This revealing memoir recounts an athlete's experiences with performance enhancing drugs at a time when the public and law enforcement knew little about them. Venturing into the "steroid underground," the author used and sold them, was featured in muscle magazines, went under a surgeon's knife and faced interrogation by a federal marshal.
Three years of resolute weightlifting had not gone as planned for this scrawny 18-year-old. But it was 1980 and a legal prescription for the magic elixir, anabolic steroids, was just $20. Now he would transform himself while away at college and return home with trophy-winning strength and a body like a Greek god--a Charles Atlas magazine ad come to life. That didn't go quite as planned either. This revealing memoir recounts an athlete's experiences with performance enhancing drugs at a time when the public and law enforcement knew little about them. Venturing into the "steroid underground," the author used and sold them, was featured in muscle magazines, went under a surgeon's knife and faced interrogation by a federal marshal.
Directionless yet driven by a fervent desire to make something of himself, Doug "The Thug" Smith took his only marketable job skill--amateur boxing--and followed an unlikely career path to become a hockey enforcer, a.k.a. "goon." Entrusted with aggressively protecting his teammates from tough guys on the opposing team, he punched, elbowed and cross-checked his way up the ranks of minor league hockey to win a championship ring and the respect of his community. His entertaining underdog story is the subject of the cult-classic motion picture Goon (2011) and its sequel Goon: Last of the Enforcers (2017).
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.