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The New York Pro 2020: Florida, the Temporary Empire State

New York Pro 2020, held in Tampa, FL this year. L ast weekend we were blessed enough to have an IFBB Pro show go off without a hitch this year, as so few things have gone hitch-free during the COVID Pandemic, as the New York Pro was held in Tampa, Florida.  As restrictions are not uniform and the state of Florida continues to be welcoming of all manner of gathering, the event was moved south this year and we have a brand new winner in Iain Valliere who beat out a handful of IFBB stalwarts and qualified for this year’s Mr. Olympia.       Since winning his first amateur show in 2010, the Canadian heavyweight had powerful start in the world of bodybuilding winning six amateur shows and earning his Pro Card in 2014. While earning a Pro Card in four years seems good enough, Valliere won every amateur contest he was in during that time in his homeland before traveling south to Mexico in his campaign to get the elusive Pro Card at the Amateur Olympia. Life as a pro has been more of a steady c
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What's the Deal with Cedric McMillan and the Olympia?

Most of us proud meatheads fall into two categories with bodybuilding, we love the freaks like Ronnie Coleman or Roelly Winklaar or we champion the classic physiques of Frank Zane or Dexter Jackson. In the history of the Olympia we’ve seen that the judges tend to prefer a mix of both from year to year, but when the points get added up-they often don’t reward competitors with physiques in the middle. Such is the case with Cedric McMillan, the man who wins EVERYWHERE except the Olympia and there really isn’t a good reason why.   Cedric McMillan, champion bodybuilder and proud member of the United States Army McMillan came on to the scene a little over a decade ago winning his pro card in 2009 and won his first show in 2011. Since then he has competed in thirty IFBB Pro League shows and won eight of them, including winning a little show called the Arnold Classic (Columbus) in 2017. In fact, other than two early outings at the New York Pro, McMillan hasn’t finished lower than sixth place a
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The Reality of Intergender Wrestling

  One of the highlights of the wrestling year came recently when Pro Wrestling Illustrated dropped their annual PWI 500 and gave us the first list comprised of both men, woman and non-binary wrestlers. In the weeks leading up to the release of this year’s 500, the topic of intergender wrestling had again hit the internet as if this dead horse hasn’t been beat to death enough. With the traditionalists continuing to battle the rest of the world in determining just what makes fake fighting feel real, one must consider what the fans think and if this war of ideas is ultimately good or bad for the business, much less the sporting aspect, of pro wrestling.     The concept of intergender wrestling was a novelty for years in some areas and a complete in others, as for decades the inclusion of “girl wrestlers” on a card was an attraction and not taken very seriously. In the high years of the Territory Days, legends like Penny Banner and the ubiquitous Fabulous Moolah dominated and later we’d co
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Mr. Olympia 2020: The Welsh Dragon Joins the Battle

  On the surface it would be easy to dismiss anyone competing up into a bigger or more competitive pool of contestants, especially for their first time doing so. Of course, to dismiss Flex Lewis, the “Welsh Dragon” and seven time winner of the 212 Mr. Olympia title for any reason, might be a poor bet to make. But is this year’s Olympia the best place for the Dragon do tread into open water? Maybe it’s the perfect time. This year’s contest is stacked, and while the favorites are the defending champ Brandon Curry and returning seven time champion Phil Heath, the last two years have shown us that the static that once held the Sandow in place for years and year, might have lost its grip. With two new champions in the last two years, the rise in competition could be the perfect place for a dialed-in Lewis to not only make a splash, but make history. Though he ran roughshod over the 212’s for years, he was almost always among the largest contenders-or at least those appearing to be the l
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Mr. Olympia 2020: A Tale of Three Athletes

With a new venue, a new date and a new owner, the Mr. Olympia contest for the much-maligned year of 2020 is one of change in a year of firsts. Thanks to the chaos and tumult of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event will now be hosted at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas the weekend of December 18 th , but smart money says that the changes end there. With the announcement of “The Gift” Phil Heath coming out of semi-retirement to compete, this contest comes down to Heath and two other athletes, the current champion Brandon Curry and former Mr. Olympia, Dexter “The Blade” Jackson.   As of this writing, the list of athletes looks very deep and on paper this could be the most competitive Olympia in recent years. Last year controversy struck when then-champion “Flexatron” Shawn Rhoden was hit with sexual assault allegations and not allowed to compete, and that cleared a lot of room for Curry to come in and win both nights, earning the Sandow. Rhoden won’t be competing this year and that’s probably a 
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With Great Power, and So On

Even if you aren't as big of a Spider-Man fan as I am, you've heard it a million times and seen a million different memes for it. However, for the benefit of those who haven't... "With great power, comes great responsibility." -Benjamin Franklin Parker, AKA Uncle Ben It's a pivotal scene in every iteration of Spider-Man as Uncle Ben, shortly before dying, passes on this tremendous line to the young Peter Parker as he embarks on his career as a superhero. It's something that resonates with a lot of people and I'm no exception. I think about this line a great deal, especially as I get older and wiser with my years and ask myself  "why?" quite a bit more than I used to. I have always been strong barring anything catastrophic occurring, I always will be. If I am blessed enough to be an old man, I will surely be like the Odd Haugen or Danny Hodge type and trying to wow someone with the vestiges of my once proud physique and eager to impart
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Things to Keep, Things to Throw Away

I think back to the "good old days" quite a bit now. At 36 with a knee that is mostly good half of the time, a heart that gets out of rhythm quite often and the ever-looming threat of cellulitis-it's easy to think my best days are behind me. Quite often when I'm visualizing the evening's workout or planning for the week ahead, I will harken back to the old days when I hit the gym any time I wanted, worked out any way that I wanted and the results were, well, basically the same as they are now. Until you get well north of 30 you don't really get how your body changes and how little, yes how little, training actually matters. As a youth, if you are training consistently at all, you will get in better overall shape. If you do train consistently AND you eat right and rehab, you will get in great shape in the manner you choose. If you do those things AND have a good training plan, well, you will be in heaven. Most of us don't have the discipline to do that as
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