Neue Pro Undercover

Ausgabe 39 :

"Sorry for the delay on this edition of basically the truth, but for good reason as you soon will see. With that being said, let's get into the niddy griddy of the soon to be dead IFBB!

No Press Pass... What? Wayne Demilia.

Here is some information all you readers may be interested in... Did anyone know that Wayne Demilia paid out of his own pocket the prize at 11 IFBB sanctioned shows, due to the fact the promoters for whatever reason, did not have the funds to pay the athletes who placed in the money spots. Keep in mind the promoters paid the sanction fee's to the IFBB prior to the contest start time. So here you have all that money in the IFBB and [Weider's] pocket. IFBB... LOL!?!

Challenge Round 2005

It was pretty bad last year and everyone hoped they would do away with it... but the geniuses who are running the Olympia [(they must be carpenters because they are screwing things up)] don't know when to stop. So, this year the "Challenge Round" will be a contest within a contest.

The Challenge Round will have no bearing on the final outcome, but will be an event of itself, with its own prize money and its own judges [(former Mr. Olympia's)].

What does this mean? It means that the winner of the Olympia could possibly lose the Challenge Round! Why run a Mr. Olympia? I thought that this was a new level of stupidity but then I was informed by an older bodybuilding fan at my gym that this idiocy has happened once before.

This happened in 1978, the first year the AAU Physique Committee, [which became the NPC], was affiliated to the IFBB. That meant the AAU Mr. America contest would decide who would represent the US in the IFBB Mr. Universe.

But there was one problem... the AAU Mr. America was in height classes and the IFBB Mr. Universe was in weight classes.

In the Mr. America, Ron Teufel won the short class and Tom Platz was second. Tony Pearson won the medium class and the overall Mr. America title. Now they had to decide who would represent the US at the Universe so they brought in the IFBB Universe judging panel [(different panel... Sound familiar)] and made the athletes compete according to weight.

Tom Platz was now a middleweight and competed against Tony Pearson. Of course, Platz beats Pearson to represent the US in the middleweight division and Pearson doesn't go to the Universe. So here is poor Tony Pearson (overall Mr. America), who was not good enough to win the middleweight division because of a different panel.

If you think that sounds weird... the head of the AAU Mr. America judging panel was Jim Manion, the same Jim Manion who will be the head of the Mr. Olympia panel. The other panel was selected by the IFBB in 1987, just as it is in 2005. The more things change... well enough on this subject.


Sad To Hear - Another Death:

I was saddened to hear about the passing of Fannie Barrios. But when I heard it was a clot to the brain it made me think that this has happened before.

Claudia Blanchi, an Italian pro woman bodybuilder died about 18 months ago from the same thing. It is too much to be a coincidence.

In Italy, the Italian government demanded an autopsy on Claudia.


"The result, according to the government was blockage of the arteries caused by steroid use."

An arrest warrant for murder was issued for the drug dealer. There are only about 50 registered women bodybuilders and when two out of 50 die from the same thing within 18 months, I think it is time for the IFBB to do something if they really care about their athletes.

Young women [(Claudia was 35, Fannie 39)] should not die from this. The IFBB should fund research to find out what the chemicals are doing to the health of their athletes.


Arnold: Backing Away From Roots?

As reported by the Associated Press: "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has cut his business ties with the "Arnold Classic," the annual bodybuilding competition in Ohio that bears his name, his spokeswoman said Saturday. But money from nutritional supplement companies apparently continues to flow to the government although less directly.

The move comes as the government relinquished his title as executive editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines, giving up at least $5 million in income to distance himself from nutritional supplement companies that advertise heavily in the periodicals.

More from the San Francisco Chronicle:

"The governor decided last week to cut his financial ties with the Arnold Classic, a major sales forum for dietary supplement products, and its Ohio-based parent firm, Classic Productions, Schwarzenegger spokesman Rob Stutzman said Friday."


New Federation: WPI/MPI!

There is news of a female federation started by two very well known IFBB Professionals which also has the Masters Physique International (MPI).

From what I've been told it's an international organization that is both amateur and professional. There is a current web site at www.officialwpi.com which I've been to several time and looks to be almost completed. It's about time someone has formed another organization that can rattle the cages of other current organizations.

It's caused a great deal of hype in the bodybuilding and fitness community and looks to have changed the infrastructure of the MPC/IPB.

Jim Manion has announced he is leaving the IFBB and forming the MPC Amateur and Professional Division. Manion says the way his MPC is structured so he does not need the IFBB; the IFBB needs him.

Funny thing is that none of this has happened until the WPI was formed. If the NPC does pull away from the IFBB and form its own organization by having both amateur and professional divisions it will then be structured the same way WPI is. There are, however, a few differences between the two organizations.

MPC has male bodybuilding included, and is a national organization. WPI is for women athletes and is an international organization. Rumor has it that WPI has joined forces with WFF (World Fitness Federation) that is based out of Lithuania.

What this means is WPI athletes can compete in WFF sanction shows and WFF athletes can compete in WPI sanction shows making WPI an international organization with huge potential.

I think it is important to say that citizenship does not matter in WPI's organization. This will allow you to compete anywhere in the world that there is a WPI sanctioned show just by having a current WPI membership card.


Did you see the Olympia, and what did you think of Ronnie Coleman winning again?

Yes, I was at the Olympia sitting about twenty rows off stage, and from the time Coleman took center stage it was apparent that Ronnie had won again. I've said it before and I'll say it again,

There is no one, and will never be anyone that can beat Ronnie Coleman".

The two questions that kept going through my mind the entire prejudging was, "Where is Dexter Jackson?" and "What the hell happened to Chris Cormier?" I kept thinking that Dexter Jackson would have taken a clean second place, and that is the worse I've ever seen Chris Cormier.

The entire Olympia night show production was a disaster. Sometimes it seemed as if there was almost ten minutes in between posing routines.

With Jim Manion leaving the IFBB forming his own pro division only time will tell what will happen to the outcome of the biggest show of bodybuilding history, the Mr. Olympia.


IFBB pro undercover, I was so happy to see your column back this month. I love the honest tone and detailed explanations behind each of your opinions. I was present at this year's Mr. Olympia contest held in the Orleans Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was truly disappointed with the overall quality and production of the entire show. What happened to this year's Mr. Olympia?


Thank you, I had to take a few months off from writing IFBB Pro Undercover but I'm happy to say the column is back in full force. I agree, the Mr. Olympia production was terrible to say the least.
First, the Mr. Olympia should have never been taken out of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and then held at a second tier hotel like the Orleans Casino.

I think the main problem with the entire production is that AMI used inexperienced employees to run the production instead of using the employees from years passed. AMI employees simply do not have the experience that the past IFBB expediters had, causing the entire show to be poorly run.

Not to mention it was really weird to see a fitness contest without the likes of Kelly Ryan. One of the main reasons my wife and I attended the fitness portion of the event was to see Flyin' Ryan in action during her routine. We were saddened to hear she retired from the IFBB.

I only have one more thing to say here at Bodybuilding.com, why is it that a company such as Bodybuilding.com, which gives hundreds of thousands of dollars to MPC and IFBB, does not have deluxe press passes to any of the shows?

You would think you wouldn't want to bite the hand that feeds you. Give back to those that give so generously to you."




Gruß,
Jeff