Five grueling (but fun) days in cold, snowing Columbus, Ohio and where do I get my first period of rest since I returned Sunday night from the Arnold Fitness Weekend? In the Dentist chair today, as my favorite tooth repairer, Dr. William Ingram, stuck and filed away in his Pasadena, California office as he put in two temporary crowns.Shoot, I couldn’t even tell Doc about what happened at the latest Arnold Sports Festival; when either the needle, or the filer, wasn’t being shoved into my mouth, I was more numb than Robert Downey Jr. out on the town during his famed party days.Don’t ask if I hit the town in Ohio. No time at all. But I am not complaining in the least. I was honored to be hired once again by Jim Lorimer to host the Ms. International on Friday night, and the Arnold Classic the following evening for the 20th Anniversary of the event. Additionally, I was also asked back by Bob Lorimer and Mike Davies to emcee the NPC Arnold, which included an International field this year and produced a tremendously high level of competitors.With an expanded line-up in the NPC show, I had to get into Ohio a day earlier than usual, since the prejudging for the fitness and figure took place Thursday evening, with the bodybuilding running on Friday morning (both were held on the Veterans Memorial stage) and the finals Saturday at 10 am on the main Expo stage. Don’t think I’ve ever seen more people in one place at one time.This event was at least twice as strong as the year before; some of the men could have more than held their own in the ASC line-up; there were a slew of outstanding figure competitors as well. Check out Roland Balik’s pictures to understand what I’m talking about.The best part of the weekend was when the Governator told the crowd at the finals that he liked my intro of him so much he was going to hire me as his new PR chief; I told the the fans moments later I had accepted the job (make sure to watch the replay of the webcast at www.bodybuilding.com iif you didn’t get to see the contest first hand , or get to watch the webcast the first time around).Ranking close behind in the “best” department were the kind words that California’s first lady, Maria Schriver, said to me at the post contest banquet about my emcee performance. Now, that made me smile even more than seeing the huge plate of chocolate desserts at the “Legends” table where I was seated. Say, does being placed at this table mean I’m really old?
The worst part of the weekend was having to bow to both of my lesser qualified partners on “The Experts” wrap up videos of the prejudging (Bodybuilding.com) and the finals (this site, which includes special guests Shawn Ray and Kevin Levrone). Yogi, as in Ron Avidan, gets the stogie for his correct selection of Dexter Jackson as the winner of the show in our ASC predictions tape two weeks earlier. Lifter, as in Isaac Hinds, picked Phil Heath, who looked great and finished in second after his victory at the IM on my 39th birthday February 16.
The Experts also hit the street to find out what the fans thought; Hinds threw the video camera at Yogi, and told him to take over the taping, after two fans said they felt that Gustavo Badell could take the show. Haven’t seen Lifter that upset since the IM, when he did the exact same thing when a couple of fella’s from Frenso said they had King Kamali winning the show after seeing how wide he looked at the weigh-in. Obviously, those anger management courses Hinds took a while back didn’t work; neither did the public speaking seminars Yogi attended in recent times. Check out our interview with the cabbie (Bodybuilding.com) and see Downtown Leon Brown do his Avidan imitation. A true classic. Imagine these two as debate partners?How do I feel about my selection, Melvin Anthony, dropping all the way down to eighth? Hey, even I have an off night now and then. I remember back in 1986 I picked Rich Gaspari to upset Lee Haney at the Olympia in my predictions piece for FLEX Magazine. The only one who ended up upset was Haney, who introduced himself to me at the Nationals, and said he would crush Richie like a gnat. Told Totalee Awesome I was just kidding in the story, tried to spice up the show. Lee didn’t laugh.Until after the contest, where he did not only crush Gaspari, but the entire field. So, yes, I do err on occasion. But, once every two decades ain’t chopped liver.
Jackson deserved the crown; even though Isaac, the President of the Phil Heath Fan Club in Greenwood, Colorado, said Heath was the only person that could have finished second, Yogi felt Kai Greene should have been rewarded with that slot. And, some fans had Branch Warren, looking at his all-time best, as the runner-up. Warren, as he did two years earlier, did cop the Most Muscular Award, to go with his eventual fourth place finish. You look at the Merv, John Balik and Roland Balik pictures on the site and tell me what you think.
The funniest part of the contest for me was not finding out who the eventual champ would be; it was getting the chance to bring back on stage most of the past male and female bodybuilding winners during the finals, complete with a life-sized photo from their championship days.
Seeing the likes of Wheeler, Coleman, Cutler, Ray, Levrone, Gaspari, Francois, Ashley, Taylor, Martinez and Jackson (who had to come on stage in a posing suit, not a three piece suit like most of the others) line up, side by side, conjuring up images of so many great battles of yesteryear, was very emotional for me. Just when I thought Lorimer couldn’t do anymore with the weekend than he already has.Okay, the novocaine is wearing off; have to hit the Advil. Over, under and out.
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