MD Kicks Ass at the Olympia
Written by Steve Blechman
04 October 2006
I just got off the plane from Vegas and am happy to say we had a kick-ass Olympia Weekend! In fact, I believe it turned out to be our best, most productive Olympia Weekend ever!
Obviously, the surge in our effort was because of the support of our legions of fans on the message boards- and especially our launch of MD Digital. Dave Palumbo gets his props first, for getting into the press pit to cover prejudging and get those photos up online before anyone else. We also bought a half dozen of our own VIP tickets, and with Per and his zoom lens, it was no different than not being denied press credentials. I mean, come on- Palumbo was in the press pit at prejudging! It was more of a challenge to us to cover the show better than ever before without press passes. We had to be more creative and work harder and just do it better. So, we did. Our prejudging shots and Flex Wheeler's commentary were posted online four hours before anyone else.
My thoughts on the show are pretty simple. I thought it was a really good Olympia- better than last year. I'm giving props to Robin Chang for pulling it off. He's obviously getting very good at what he does and has become a tremendous asset to the promoters. The show was nothing fancy. But I'm old school and I believe it's the athletes who make the show, and not all the ancillary entertainment. This year the lineup was astounding- there was no need for a sideshow.
Of course props have to go to our 11th Mr. Olympia in 41 years. Jay Cutler, a Team MuscleTech athlete, is a phenomenal bodybuilder. He did his homework, he played his cards right and brought the best Jay Cutler to the O. He deserved to win. Ronnie is a great bodybuilder- at his best, he's the best of all time and truly unbeatable. But, in 2006, Team Ronnie failed. He wasn't at his best and he got beaten. Let's see what happens at the European Grand Prix.
Props are also in order for Team MD. Four out of the top six were MD guys- Victor Martinez, Dexter Jackson, Gustavo Badell and Melvin Anthony- who was involved in a car accident three hours before the finals, and made the show. I'm so proud of our Team MD champions!
The Olympia promoters still have to fix the logistics problem. The shows were good and the expo was tight, but they need to centralize the weekend in a respectable location. The Orleans is a dump not worthy of the Super Bowl of bodybuilding. It causes everyone to spread out. Making it back from the expo to your hotel (with a paucity of cabs), grabbing a bite, a shower and a change of clothes, and making it to the Orleans in the two hours allotted is just close to impossible.
My Meeting with the Weiders:
For me, the highlight of the weekend was seeing Joe Weider and his lovely wife, Betty. It was so nice to see
him out among the people he loves. I also had the honor of a separate meeting with Ben Weider at his request. We had a nice, private talk. We discussed the Olympia, of course. Then he said something to the effect that some people say MD's against the IFBB!
I implored Ben to tell me who says we're against the IFBB. Because it's not the athletes. We pay the athletes, we give them contracts, we pay them for photo shoots, we cover them at contests and we do it more than any other bodybuilding magazine. The IFBB has the best athletes in the world! I want the industry to do better- to be better. So, it's not the sponsors or advertisers who say we're against the IFBB. It's not the IFBB chairman, Jim Manion. As publisher of MD, in the last two years no one has given IFBB/NPC shows more coverage than MD. In fact, this month we have 30 pages of the "Flex Report" (starting on page 32) devoted to IFBB shows and the 2006 Olympia.
We're a no bull magazine, and not everyone's going to like what we say. But all that means is that some people don't like the truth. And, there's nothing I can do about the truth. Some people might say we're against the IFBB, but that's like saying we're against NASCAR because we reported on a pileup at Daytona. We just tell it like it is- the good, the bad and the ugly. Some people might not like it, but that's the truth.
I've made a genuine effort to move forward and I pointed out to Ben the many ways in which I have. Ben is such a nice man and the finest gentleman I've ever met. I thought we had a very constructive meeting, and Ben
knows that moving forward, we'll continue to support the industry, the IFBB and the Olympia to help this industry grow.
Without Ben and Joe we wouldn't be here today. Ben built the best federation in the world, where the best bodybuilders in the world call home. No one can deny that, and he has my utmost respect and my commitment to continue what we do best.
Between leaving an after-party at the Tangerine Lounge and arriving at Spearmint Rhino for a lap dance, John Romano joined Larry Pepe and Dave Palumbo early Sunday morning in the studio and aired the announcement of MD No Bull Radio. John also wrapped up Olympia coverage during the first three segments of the show with Lonnie Teper, making the launch of MD No Bull Radio the first to air post-Olympia coverage! Not bad for the first day, huh?
Each week, MD No Bull Radio will be broadcast live and available immediately for podcast. It's going to be the most outrageous show on radio just by telling it like it is.
Sunday also marked the beginning of four days of incredible photo shoots with our athletes, taken by our ace photographer, Per Bernal. We also did unbelievable shoots with the German giants Markus Ruhl and Dennis Wolf. As I said, 2006 Olympia Weekend turned out to be one of the best and most productive in MD history.
Obviously, the surge in our effort was because of the support of our legions of fans on the message boards- and especially our launch of MD Digital. Dave Palumbo gets his props first, for getting into the press pit to cover prejudging and get those photos up online before anyone else. We also bought a half dozen of our own VIP tickets, and with Per and his zoom lens, it was no different than not being denied press credentials. I mean, come on- Palumbo was in the press pit at prejudging! It was more of a challenge to us to cover the show better than ever before without press passes. We had to be more creative and work harder and just do it better. So, we did. Our prejudging shots and Flex Wheeler's commentary were posted online four hours before anyone else.
My thoughts on the show are pretty simple. I thought it was a really good Olympia- better than last year. I'm giving props to Robin Chang for pulling it off. He's obviously getting very good at what he does and has become a tremendous asset to the promoters. The show was nothing fancy. But I'm old school and I believe it's the athletes who make the show, and not all the ancillary entertainment. This year the lineup was astounding- there was no need for a sideshow.
Of course props have to go to our 11th Mr. Olympia in 41 years. Jay Cutler, a Team MuscleTech athlete, is a phenomenal bodybuilder. He did his homework, he played his cards right and brought the best Jay Cutler to the O. He deserved to win. Ronnie is a great bodybuilder- at his best, he's the best of all time and truly unbeatable. But, in 2006, Team Ronnie failed. He wasn't at his best and he got beaten. Let's see what happens at the European Grand Prix.
Props are also in order for Team MD. Four out of the top six were MD guys- Victor Martinez, Dexter Jackson, Gustavo Badell and Melvin Anthony- who was involved in a car accident three hours before the finals, and made the show. I'm so proud of our Team MD champions!
The Olympia promoters still have to fix the logistics problem. The shows were good and the expo was tight, but they need to centralize the weekend in a respectable location. The Orleans is a dump not worthy of the Super Bowl of bodybuilding. It causes everyone to spread out. Making it back from the expo to your hotel (with a paucity of cabs), grabbing a bite, a shower and a change of clothes, and making it to the Orleans in the two hours allotted is just close to impossible.
My Meeting with the Weiders:
For me, the highlight of the weekend was seeing Joe Weider and his lovely wife, Betty. It was so nice to see
him out among the people he loves. I also had the honor of a separate meeting with Ben Weider at his request. We had a nice, private talk. We discussed the Olympia, of course. Then he said something to the effect that some people say MD's against the IFBB! I implored Ben to tell me who says we're against the IFBB. Because it's not the athletes. We pay the athletes, we give them contracts, we pay them for photo shoots, we cover them at contests and we do it more than any other bodybuilding magazine. The IFBB has the best athletes in the world! I want the industry to do better- to be better. So, it's not the sponsors or advertisers who say we're against the IFBB. It's not the IFBB chairman, Jim Manion. As publisher of MD, in the last two years no one has given IFBB/NPC shows more coverage than MD. In fact, this month we have 30 pages of the "Flex Report" (starting on page 32) devoted to IFBB shows and the 2006 Olympia.
We're a no bull magazine, and not everyone's going to like what we say. But all that means is that some people don't like the truth. And, there's nothing I can do about the truth. Some people might say we're against the IFBB, but that's like saying we're against NASCAR because we reported on a pileup at Daytona. We just tell it like it is- the good, the bad and the ugly. Some people might not like it, but that's the truth.
I've made a genuine effort to move forward and I pointed out to Ben the many ways in which I have. Ben is such a nice man and the finest gentleman I've ever met. I thought we had a very constructive meeting, and Ben
knows that moving forward, we'll continue to support the industry, the IFBB and the Olympia to help this industry grow. Without Ben and Joe we wouldn't be here today. Ben built the best federation in the world, where the best bodybuilders in the world call home. No one can deny that, and he has my utmost respect and my commitment to continue what we do best.
Between leaving an after-party at the Tangerine Lounge and arriving at Spearmint Rhino for a lap dance, John Romano joined Larry Pepe and Dave Palumbo early Sunday morning in the studio and aired the announcement of MD No Bull Radio. John also wrapped up Olympia coverage during the first three segments of the show with Lonnie Teper, making the launch of MD No Bull Radio the first to air post-Olympia coverage! Not bad for the first day, huh? Each week, MD No Bull Radio will be broadcast live and available immediately for podcast. It's going to be the most outrageous show on radio just by telling it like it is.
Sunday also marked the beginning of four days of incredible photo shoots with our athletes, taken by our ace photographer, Per Bernal. We also did unbelievable shoots with the German giants Markus Ruhl and Dennis Wolf. As I said, 2006 Olympia Weekend turned out to be one of the best and most productive in MD history.