Notable by their absence: Weider, Muscular Development
Best New Kids on the Block: Species / RX Muscle, of course!
Weirdest Use of Giant Booth Space: Met-Rx (drinks and pancake bits)
Most entertaining conversation: Collette and I sharing late-night peanut butter consumption anecdotes. We each need help!
Hardest Working Celebrity: Big Lou Ferrigno (say what you will about his charging kids for photos, but he's at the booth before the Expo opens and hard at it until the crowd has gone).
Hardest Thing I Did All Weekend: Walk a quarter mile with 16 kilogram and 8 kilogram kettlebells, from the truck that was loaded up with them (in an outside parking lot) to our parked car in the Hyatt Regency garage. Popeye would have been envious of my forearms when I completed that death march!
Most Beast-Like in the pump-up room before pre-judging: Branch Warren, easily. He looked like a monster, slinging dumbbells and concentrating while photographers stuck big lenses in his face. I kept waiting for him to growl and pull a Bowie knife...
Who showed up working at the most booths: The Smalley Brothers!
My favorite question I'd ask when cutting through long, stagnant lines: "Do you know what you're standing in line for?" Often, people replied, "No, we're just in line." Amazing.
Possible secret photo session at Metro Fitness I stumbled into Sunday night after the Expo shut down: Flex Wheeler! He looked amazing. He was big, cut, shaved, and oiled. Three photographers had lots of lights and screens and equipment moved around. When I got to the gym he was doing dips. I wonder what's going on with Flex?
Most Fascinating Dynamic of the weekend: Backstage in the big pump-up area prior to pre-judging, I was struck by the sight of Steve Blechman standing alone, or at one point talking to one of the security people, while watching the athletes warm-up. He looked lonely; it was almost like there was a cone of emptiness around him wherever he moved. In contrast, not 15 feet from him, John Romano and Dave Palumbo were surrounded by friends and well-wishers, laughing and talking it up. The difference in tone and body language was huge. All the personality was in the Palumbo/Romano group; they are easy in their own skins and with themselves.
But wait, there's more: I sat in the sixth row, middle. Two rows behind me Shawn Ray settled in with his laptop computer, all business, soon joined by Flex Wheeler. Steve Blechman walked up the aisle, talked to the two of them, and sat down. He watched Dorian Yates, who was posing for photos and signing autographs a few rows away. When they made eye contract (this was only two minutes or so prior to the beginning of pre-judging), Dorian hung his head a bit and walked over and sat down with the group. He moved like he was going where he was supposed to go--to be by his new boss-- not necessary where he wanted to sit.
At the same time, oblivious to all of it, Triple H, Dave, and John sat in the third row, handling the blow-by-blow on the forum, and enjoying the performances.
By the way, I had Victor Martinez in 6th place, and Branch second!
Watch for new "Stuff I Like" product review columns soon. There were some pretty cool new products at the Expo I got my hands on; you'll read about them soon.
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