If anyone knows anything about Kovacs, it's that Kovacs lives and breathes bodybuilding. I was thinking about amateur bodybuilding in Canada and I realized that I wanted to stay in touch with the young athlete's coming up the ranks. I was contemplating what I could do to stay connected and I decided to attend a local bodybuilding show this past weekend and test-judge as an Ontario Physique 
Association (OPA) Judge. After the prejudging ended, I figured I might as well kill two birds with one dumbbell and go back for the night show, visit a few vendors/booths, see some friends and have a great night with my girlfriend Caterine.
When I walked into the venue before prejudging, I was immediately greeted by a slew of familiar faces. Anyone that knows the Canadian Colossus knows that I am a very humble and respectful individual. So the following observation is just that, an observation. When I am out of Canada, I always notice that I'm frequently asked to take photos and sign stuff for fans. I love that I left an imprint on the minds of people and that they actually want to take photos with me or want my autograph after all these years. At local events, this is not typical. It's almost like if you're from the area, you're too familiar and people don't really care to take a photo with their local pro. I'm not the only guy this happens to. There are a number of professional bodybuilders in the area who also attend these events and they all report the same experience. They all say the same thing; they don't get swamped with photo or autograph requests at local shows. To say the least, it's definitely not like being at the Arnold Classic or the Olympia. I always figured that it had to be one of two things. Either the numbers are lower at local shows or people didn't want to bother someone who is familiar to them and will likely see again. Maybe, if I go and become rich and famous and then come back to my hometown for a local show, people will get excited again?
And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming. So I entered the auditorium and went down to the judging area to prepare for prejudging. I have to admit, it was an odd feeling being at the judges' table. For years, I was on the other side and now I was seeing things from a whole new perspective. I felt like I was supposed to be prepping backstage, not eating a protein bar at a judges' table. Anyway, I shook the feeling off and I began scoring the competitors. I don't think that many people have written about what it's like to be sitting in the judges' pit. From my seat, I watched the competitors walk out and line-up. I could see that some were nervous and that some were stage experienced. For all you competitors reading this, make sure you practice your posing and stage presence. Poor posing and stage presence is a sure fire way to lose a show. I'll be honest, since it was my first time at the judging table, I didn't really know how to handle the competitors making eye contact with me. I wasn't sure if I should give them the famous Kovacs' wink or the famous Kovacs' thumbs up. All I knew was that I wanted everyone to feel good about themselves. So I got to work judging and tried to only look at the competitors from the neck down.
I have to admit; judging was very straight forward until we got down to the bikini competition. They all came out and lined up and I thought to myself, "How in God's name do you judge Bikini?!" I mean, for all intent and purposes, it was a group of pretty young ladies strutting their stuff and competing for your attention and marks. In my day, we never had a bikini class, but I have to admit that the best part was when they turned around and stuck out their butts! Judging this class was a total write-off because I felt kind of lost. However, I still completed my testing with a 98% score and am now an official OPA Judge! Yay for me!
After prejudging finished, I knew only one thing. My body was launching a full-out catabolic, hunger, war. I could actually hear my pancreas digesting itself. It sounded pretty crunchy. Okay, okay... enough kidding around. After lunch, Caterine and I laid down for a nap because we were both exhausted. We looked at each other and it was evident that neither of us wanted to go back for the night show out of sheer exhaustion. However, we eventually decided that we would head over to the show because I promised a vendor that I would stop by their booth for a few photos and a chit chat. Not only that, but we wanted to sit back and enjoy the night show as spectators. Unfortunately, we probably should have stayed in.
Being a man of my word, I stopped by that vendor's booth - as promised - and we took pictures and had a nice little conversation. Shortly thereafter, Caterine and I decided to enter the auditorium. At the entranceway, we were greeted by a girl taking tickets. As most of you probably know, it's customary for IFBB Pros, or judges, to be admitted to shows without requiring a ticket. When she asked for my ticket, I told her that I was an IFBB Pro Bodybuilder and a Judge at the show. That obviously wasn't good enough for her. Believe it or not, just prior to my attempted entrance she let another IFBB Pro come in "free of charge". What really irked me was that I'm friends with the promoters and the girl at the door actually knew me! I mean, we used to train at the same gym and talk all the time. Ultimately, she was very adamant that I needed a ticket to get in. I really wasn't going to stand there and argue with the girl; she probably thought she was just doing her job. Plus, I had already seen and judged all the competitors at prejudging. My girlfriend and I just decided to go eat and call it a night. A few days later, gossip was going around the gyms saying that I threw a hissy fit over not being granted access to the night show. Ya' gotta love this industry and how all these ridiculous rumors start!
Before we wrap this one up, I have one more anecdote from the show. A few weeks earlier, the booth I visited at the show gave me a coat with their logo on the back. They gave it to me at a gym I was training at for the day. Because I was training at the time, I asked the guys working the front desk to leave the jacket behind the counter for me. When I finished my workout, I was informed that someone had stolen my brand new jacket. I was seriously upset that someone would just swipe it like that. I felt seriously disrespected. At the show, I told the vendor what had happened to the coat and told them how terrible I felt about the whole thing. The guy was notably upset but we kept talking and I thought that was the end of it. Inevitably, a few days later I saw a post on Facebook that read, "We gave IFBB Pro Greg Kovacs a $250.00 jacket and within 2 weeks he lost it. Should we give him another one?" Really, he should have replaced lost with had it stolen. It was a huge topic of discussion and the person had a huge issue over it apparently.
To wrap this whole thing up, I probably shouldn't have gone to the night show and I should've stayed in my "cave". Maybe I should have lied about the coat and said "The coat is so awesome I have it in storage." Or maybe, next time I'm in doubt, I will opt to stay with my girlfriend; nuzzle, watch a movie and munch on popcorn ..... and chicken breast.
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