Some compare him to Phil "The Gift"; some are just in awe.  Others can't understand why Roelly Winklaar is not in the top row.  Most of us never saw him before and don't know who the hell he is.  The latter notwithstanding, the other rants are common in big bodybuilding shows about any number of competitors who seem like they didn't get a good enough look or don't get compared to those who undeservedly finished well above them.  This is sometimes blamed on the pregame hype that usually focuses on a the few guys who placed well at the last show, or who hold a title or two, and of course, the rumors that fly before each show about the guys we "hear" are looking "incredible".

The reality TV show called "Jersey Shore" chronicles the lives of a stereotypical group of Italian-Americans.  While attention to such heritage is usually paid on the Discovery Channel and Nat-Geo with programming related to great inventors, scientist, artists, explorers and even the Mafia, MTV decided to chronicle the "Guido" Italian-American culture commonly found  along  the south shoreline of New Jersey.

In this subculture, the guys are known as guidos and the girls are referred to as guidettes. Additionally, there is a particular version of guidette known as the "guidette monster".  Big hair, big boobs, big butt, gum chewing sassy little thing that can always be found in the DJ booth at Surf Club.

How good does BSN's Sythna-6 ready-to-drink (RTD) protein supplement taste? Well, if you work for BSN you'd say it tastes better than any other RTD on the market. What else would you say?  You get paid to think that.  Well, if you're a savvy marketing director with balls of steel and supreme confidence in your product, then you'd say: "In a blind taste test against three of the other leading RTD's you'd pick Syntha-6."  Then you'd put what you just said to the test (literally) at the largest and most highly attended fitness conglomeration in the world, the Arnold Fitness Expo.  And that's just what BSN did.

In two words, the ladies on stage tonight in the Fitness International BROUGHT IT.  No one took their invitation to this prestigious show lightly and all the top competitors stepped their game up.  Unfortunately, the overriding theme at the finals was the slippery floor.  Its standard practice to begin every show with the fitness routines because the floor is dry and none of the bodybuilders have had a chance to sweat and oil up the floor.  Tonight the show began with the women's bodybuilding routines and it made for a dangerous surface.  It created slips, falls, and nerves that impacted each routine and could have had some role in the final judging. CLICK HERE FOR CONTEST GALLERY OF ROUTINES AND PHYSIQUE ROUND.

At the end of Rocky, a banged-up Apollo Creed muttered something about, "There ain't going to be no rematch." Well, if you notice, "ain't no" is a double negative, meaning there was going to be a rematch. If you saw Rocky II you know what I'm saying.  Well, rematches are like that.  You think you may not want one, or that another shot at a title might be impossible, but the universe has a strange way of making things happen.  Things such as rematches.

Legendary NFL football coach Vince Lombardi once said, "Winning isn't everything......It's the only thing".  And while there are those who might argue the point with the famed coach who won the first Superbowl, Iris Kyle probably likes the sound of the philosophy he trumpeted.

You see, Iris Kyle has always enjoyed winning in her chosen sport of bodybuilding.  And she has done it with regularity.  So often, in fact, that she is fast becoming a legend in her own time.

The 2010 Figure International has a deep line up and no one can say these girls are scared to get on stage and fight it out for the second most prestigious title in the sport.  The scorecard is stacked with well-known veterans and well deserved rookies and while the defending Olympia champ will be on stage, the winner is not a foregone conclusion.

2009 Figure Olympia Champ Nicole Wilkins-Lee seems the likely favorite, but I am not ready to give her the title just yet.  The judges decided to go with the "softer" look at the Olympia and that could change in a different city at a different show.  She's got amazing lines and structure, but her conditioning leaves a little to be desired and she runs the risk of being too soft.