Bodybuilding is the sport we all know and love, and no one loved it more than the Godfather of Modern Bodybuilding, Mr. Joe Weider. Joe launched the magazines, introduced the weight-training systems, and together with his brother Ben, gave us the IFBB
. The IFBB, unlike the AAU, considered bodybuilding its chief priority and wanted to spread the sport throughout the world. The Weiders, together with the help of countless others, set in motion a movement that lives strong today.
The crown jewel of this sport has always been the Mr. Olympia. It's the most coveted and respected title in the sport. It's also the single most important event of the year, where fans from a multitude of countries congregate to celebrate their love and appreciation of the sport. This weekend’s event marked a half century that the community has gathered to celebrate the greatest athletes in the world. For fifty years the IFBB has crowned a Mr. Olympia - the undisputed best bodybuilder in the world. This titleholder is also the chief representative of the sport - "the ambassador" if you will.
Every Olympia is significant for the aforementioned reasons, but some are especially important. This year's contest marked the 50th anniversary of the event, and for the first time in a long time, it would be carried on network TV. This development will bring the Olympia to millions of homes throughout the United States. For a lot of people, this will be their first interaction with what bodybuilding truly is - or should be.
Most people in the mainstream have a highly biased, largely inaccurate view of what the sport is all about. They don't know that it saves lives through training and clean eating; they have little to no knowledge about supplements, and even less knowledge about the great champions we call IFBB Pro's. All they really know - or think they know - is about the Craig Titus case, the stupid Planet Fitness commercials, steroids, and "roid rage" - whatever that is. They'll never know about Leroy Colbert gracing magazine covers before the civil rights movement started, or Arnold refusing to travel in a whites-only bus in South Africa. They'll never know about how Lee and Ronnie won 8 Sandows or how Iris Kyle won 10. If we're lucky, they'll watch the Olympia on NBC.
Then again... what are they going to see? They'll see a great competition, chalked full of classic posing under the lights of the Orleans, with thousands of fans clapping & cheering. Then they'll see Kai Greene rush the champ in a fit of rage, his face only inches from Heath's. They'll hear the head judge screaming for competitors to back off, see an expediter physically trying to separate the two best athletes in the sport, and if they decide to air the press conference, they'll see Kai interrupt Phil answering a question that involved a dedication to his recently deceased father. What kind of a reaction do you think that's going to bring about?
I can see it now on article' comments sections; people are already calling Kai's outburst a product of "roid rage." That's just the kind of PR this sport doesn't want. In years past, we've had folks fined and suspended for things they've said, how is it that seemingly nothing will happen to Mr. Greene?
For all his intellectual mumbo jumbo and super-marketed nonsense, Kai is just another guy - just like you and me. The monk on the mountain-top ditched his robe for boxing gloves as soon as he didn't get his way. You can "Believe" all you want, but if you can't channel your anger and maintain your composure, it's all fortune cookie bullshit. You've got Kai the loudmouth at the press conference, Kai the thug at the pre-judging, Kai the head-game player at the finals, and then Zen-Man returns for the mellow, soft-spoken post-show interview with Dennis James.
As far as that bi
zarre interview George Farah gave MD's Shawn Ray... all I'm going to say is this - if & when Phil's camp concedes the whole event was staged, I'll be the first to pen a retraction to this article. However, I find George's explanation about as bizarre as Kai Greene's last minute on-stage handshake. If anything, I think George put Kai up to that - because it's the only example Farah could pull to support his painfully ridiculous argument.
I would also like to stress that I'm by no means saying Phil's an angel in this either. He gave back to him as best as he could during the press conference, albeit never losing his cool. During the prejudging, Phil's foot inadvertently knocked into Kai's and it's true, Kai didn't have much room to pose. By the end of prejudging, Phil was giving some back - I'm not denying that. Then again, if you're rudely interrupted and ridiculed just answering a question that involves your deceased father, you can see where that might get someone upset. I'm not making excuses for 'The Gift.' He was wrong to crowd Greene, but nothing justifies Kai using that dreadlock of his as a weapon (lol). Not only is it offensive, it's really weird.
What's truly made the rounds though, from the mainstream media, to MMA publications, to every bodybuilding
message board known to man was the lunge. This confrontation makes the historic backstage exchange between Arnold & Mike Mentzer seem like a tea party. And for those of you that didn't see it - you can be sure NBC will gladly air it. Of all the clips the mainstream press could pick up - a moving retirement speech by 10x Ms. Olympia Iris Kyle, Phil earning his 4th Sandow, or the awesome tribute to Joe Weider video... I think we all know what clip they're going to run if & when they talk about this year's event.
Speaking of NBC, I don't think Weider/AMI will be able to deny the network the juiciest part of the show - even if it makes 50 years of Olympias into a joke. Think back to how stupid Bigger, Stronger, Faster made Greg Valentino look. Think about how ridiculous it's going to look for a guy in posing trunks with a giant braid of hair going ballistic. A head judge will be heard screaming, an expediter will be shown physically trying to separate two grown, oily men in posing trunks. Can you see it yet?
Letterman, Maher, Colbert, they'll all have a nice big laugh. They won't appreciate Phil's 4 Sandows, Dexter's insane placing at 44 years of age, and they won't appreciate the internationalism or the speeches of the greats like 8x Mr. Olympia Lee Haney. For most people who just happen to watch the Olympia because they've seen the Seinfeld re-run on the other channel - this Olympia may be their only contact with our sport.
Kai's behavior throughout it all w
ill undeniably taint that viewer’s perception…Thanks Kai. I can't wait to hear about your next seminar or motivational speaking tour. If any Kai fan-boys are butt-hurt as a result of this article, go buy yourself a grapefruit.
