The inaugural Europa Battle of Champions is less than 24 hours away and many of the top IFBB Pros in the world have descended upon Hartford, Connecticut looking for a check and a trip to the Olympia in September. Rx Muscle will be there in full force with stage video and photos, video interviews, and a live play by play with yours truly, Jeff the Producer, and Aaron Singerman. The action starts at 6pm Eastern on Friday and we will be live in the middle of the action.
To kick of the show some predictions are in order and this was no easy task. The line-ups are deep and just one week after the Tampa Pro I expect most competitors to be sharp and improved. Without further adieu, the Rx Muscle Predictions-by-Committee:
Could You Imagine Two Guys Who Competed in the 1973 Mr. America Facing Off Again at the 2011 IFBB New York Pro!
Just imagine...... You're sitting in the audience at the 2011 IFBB New York Pro and a very special guest named Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger comes out onstage and says, "Ladies and gentleman, tonight we have a special feature presentation. Two men that I trained with back in the 70s; two guys who were with me before Pumping Iron; two guys who competed together in the 1973 Mr. America; two great bodybuilders now in their 60s are here tonight to face off against each other in an unprecedented comeback. I want you all to help me welcome back to the stage my two former training partners Bill Grant and Leon Brown!"
I've just received news from an informant who wishes to remain anonymous... Believe me, this tip is a doozy! Apparently, late last night Milos Sarcev was arrested for felony robbery. I have no other details at the moment but I'm awaiting a copy of the police report.
Q.- What got you into bodybuilding?
> When I was about 15 (in the late eighties) I got into weight training to prepare for a international schoolboy rugby union tour. I needed strength and size to be competitive against bigger kids. I was training without a program three days per week at my school's gym, it was basically a universal multigym machine system (bench, shrugs, machine squats, cable upright rows, cable curls, dips). I really enjoyed the results and the competitive nature of the team training around me, I had no idea of nutrition and one of the other players in the team really spurred me on as he was really well defined and developed (for his age 17) he would have walked around at 5% bodyfat year round! From there I got really into it and at a news stand I saw my first bodybuilding magazine (FLEX) and it had Lee Haney on the cover (stage pic taken from 1988 Olympia).
With a name like “Quads,” what bodybuilder would pass up the opportunity to visit that gym? When SallyAnne texted me Saturday morning at 7am, “We are going to Quads today," I thought she just made a typo and left out the “do” (as in going "to do" quads today). Immediately, I told Big Sean Andros that it’s time to get his nocturnal ass up; we’re leaving in 30 minutes because SallyAnne says we’re doing quads today. Without even so much as lifting his head off the pillow he corrects me: “We’re not training quads today, we’re going to Quads today - we’re training shoulders. It’s the name of the gym. It’s been voted one of the top 10 gyms and it’s supposed to be amazing.” Now I was really excited (and I was glad it wasn’t leg day).
