Are you unhappy with how you look? Do you look in the mirror wishing you had a muscular physique instead of a portly disposition? Are you unhappy with your performance? Do you want to still train into old age? These are legitimate concerns that you are okay to have. Surprisingly the “online strength training communities” seem to have a disdain for “healthy eating”, yet have a respect for strong guys who are also jacked. It’s quite possible to achieve, but it takes effort.
Jake Briskin has asked me several times to do a post on Marilyn Monroe. I think the real reason is because he has a fetish with “black and white” realities. Sorry, Jake, the world is full of color.
Marilyn Monroe was one of the first sex icons in modern American culture. It’s been said that she was a “tomboy” when growing up because she liked to run around with the boys and compete. She ran, swam, and played softball. However, later in life she established two unconventional habits: she exercised with weights and ate a “high protein” diet.
The 70’s Big week started with a female post describing how certain exercises require a good “contraction of the muscles” instead of merely moving weight, yet the post is relevant to guys too. On Tuesday I cleared up that I don’t hate CrossFit because some people thought I did (though I obviously disagree with some things). The truth is I just don’t give too much of a damn what other people do and disliking someone for their training philosophy is just being a dickhead. Disliking someone (a bro) for walking in front of you is also being a dickhead. On Wednesday we inducted Ricky Bruch into the 70’s Big Hall of Fame. Thursday I told the story of how Sid Bream did the unthinkable and asked if you could live with yourself if you missed Donny Shankle’s shot at making the Olympic team (but also good luck to Chad Vaughn and Kendrick Farris). CONTINUE READING Continue reading →
[spoiler show=”Show info about the Arnold Sport Festival”]We’re less than a month out from the Arnold Sports Festival (site), and I wanted to go over some things. First, quite a few of us from 70’s Big will be in attendance including me, Brent, Chris, Mike, and Mike’s brother Alex (unfortunately AC won’t be able to make it). Second, I hope that many of you come to the event because a) it’s the world’s greatest sport celebration and festival and b) we can meet and hang out. Third, we’ll be staying at the University Plaza hotel. Rooms are getting booked up, but we have a few reserved that we may not need, so we can coordinate that if you wanted to stay at that hotel.
Fourth, there are tons of awesome events to see including professional boxing on Thursday night (we intend to go to that), raw powerlifting on Friday, single ply geared lifting (NAPF/IPF rule) on Saturday, USAW Senior Nationals on Friday and Saturday (doubles as Olympic trials), amateur and professional strongman, arm wrestling, pro deadlift competition on Saturday (this is what happens), CrossFit, and some other stuff like fencing, table tennis, and martial arts. This doesn’t even include the expo, which will have hundreds of booths of people trying to sell us mostly stupid stuff with scantily clad women. There may be some interesting products, but my interviews will be more interesting. I really can’t imagine a cooler weekend to round-house kick you in the face.
You are all welcome to hang out or wander around with us. I think the easiest way to stay in touch on what we’re doing is to use Twatter, so I’ll update our happenings there. That way we can share information or plan meet-ups like dinner or bowling. The bowling alley is where I’ll tell you to go if I don’t want to hang out with you: “Yeah, just meet us at the bowling alley at 8. If we’re not there on time, just hang out and we’ll be there.” I hope all of you northeastern readers will get to Columbus so that I can tell you to go to the bowling alley.
Oh, not to mention all of the actual bodybuilding stuff going on. I’ve never seen a bodybuilding show before, and this is the second biggest show of the year in the world. Shawn, Brent, and I got tickets to see that, so that’ll be interesting. Note that some events require ticket purchase, and the expo tickets are pretty cheap (10 to 15 doll hairs). In any case, it’ll be a lot of fun, and I’ll be so excited I’ll be helicoptering my wiener around, like, constantly.
Note that you will want to get expo tickets before the event. The total cost of the weekend expo pass including fees is $32.55. Otherwise it’ll be at least $13.50 per day. If you’re only going to go to Friday/Saturday expo, then it would be cheaper to get two one-day passes. Note that there is no expo on Thursday.[/spoiler]
I’d like to talk to you about an event on Saturday morning at the Arnold Sport Festival. But first, let’s go back in time.
1992. A leap year designated the “International Space Year” by the UN. A year that included American President George. H.W. Bush vomiting into the lap of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa before fainting at a state dinner in Japan. It was a glorious year; I was six years old. The previous year the Atlanta Braves lost the 1991 World Series to the Minnesota Twins in a season when the went “from worst to first”. They were back in the playoffs in 1992, and it all came down to the final game of the NCLS against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Braves rallied from being down 2-0 in the bottom of the 9th inning of game seven. Things were TIGHT.
Fast forward to two outs, with two runners on. David Justice, who is known for banging Halle Berry, was on third, and Sid Bream, who was known for his mustache and being the slowest fucking runner in the universe, much less Major League Baseball, was on second. Bobby fucking Cox brought in another pinch hitter: Francisco Cabrera. Cabrera was in the minor leagues a few months before and had only batted about ten times before this. He was pretty much thinking, “Fuck.” Terry Pendleton, who is known for being a good hitter and having a giant ass, told him to “hit the ball over the short stop”. Apparently Pirates center fielder, Andy Van Slyke, told Barry Bonds, known to be an asshole, to play more shallow in left field. Bonds ignored him because he’s a fucking asshole.
On a 1-2 count, pitcher Stan Belinda, known for what is about to happen, threw a high fastball that Cabrera put over the short stop. Asshole Barry Bonds was too far back to field it, and David Justice easily scored. Then the unthinkable happened. The third base coach waved Sid Bream — the slowest fucking runner in the history of everything — to keep running to home plate. They had nothing to lose since the game was tied.
I’ll never forget what the next few seconds looked like. Sid Bream was running slower than a buried dead body. Seriously, this guy couldn’t beat Stephen Hawking in a foot race. Sid is running, and running…and fucking running. Asshole Barry Bonds’ throw comes into the plate. And Sid slides…AND BEATS THE TAG! THE CROWD AND ANNOUNCER GO APE SHIT! THE ATLANTA BRAVES ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES! HELICOPTER WIENER!
This event would spark the Atlanta Braves decade long domination in the NL East, and it would also spark the last time the Pittsburgh Pirates ever had a winning season. Barry Bonds is still an asshole.
To this day, people in Atlanta still say, “Where were you when Sid slid?” It was a magical moment for Braves fans. And here is where our story comes full circle. Donny Shankle is set to lift at 10:00 AM on Saturday, March 3rd at the Arnold Sport Festival. Donny has grown into a legend in the small sport of Olympic weightlifting. He has persevered through a decade of training and finally — FINALLY — has a realistic shot at making the Olympic team. This website has directly supported Donny through generous donations that have allowed him to focus all of his efforts into training — and it’s paying off.
Donny has two chances to hit a total that will earn him the one male spot on the US Olympic team. Arguably his best shot is at Nationals since he will travel to Ohio instead of South America for the Pan American Championships a few weeks later. He’ll weigh in at 8 AM, so cutting weight won’t be as bad as lifting later in the day, and he won’t have to eat South American food (known to get lifter’s sick). The Arnold is probably the time that he will hit his qualifying total to go to the Olympics.
When that moment comes, and his bar is loaded to his third, and final, clean and jerk attempt…do you want to miss that moment? When he cleans the weight in his nonchalant style, when he finally dips and drives that bar up…do you want to miss that moment? When he locks the weight out and holds it triumphantly overhead, knowing that he just made the Olympic team — a lifter we as fans have directly supported — DO YOU WANT TO MISS THAT MOMENT?
Besides, you aren’t going to see him lift at the Pan American Championships and you aren’t going to see him lift at the Olympics in London. History will remember that defining moment when Donny Shankle, a respected and seemingly legendary character, hit a clean and jerk to put him into the Olympics. People will say, “Where were you when Shankle hit it?” Hopefully it’s more classy than that, but we will all remember that moment. Where will you be? Will you miss it?
[spoiler show=”Show reactions to this story”]When Jacob Tsypkin told me he didn’t think he could make it to the Arnold, I told him this story. He then replied and said, “Fuck. You.” He now has plans to attend.
When I told Jacob Cloud this story, he said (and I quote):
Jacob:
we’ll see what i can do
fine
im gonna go drown myself in the shower now
thanks for reminding me that my life is meaningless and full of empty
LATER MAN THANKS A LOT
The 70’s Big Hall of Fame is a way to pay tribute to legendary lifters and athletes. Currently there is no criteria for nominating or selecting candidates, much less criteria for when these processes should occur. I open this topic for discussion; together we will set criteria for growing the ranks of the 70’s Big Hall of Fame.
[spoiler show=”Show Hall of Fame rule proposals”]- Lifters must be five years removed from retirement or active lifting. This is a requirement in most professional sport halls of fame. While Klokov’s name has come up quite a bit in nominations (and he has been my favorite lifter for several years), his career is yet to be over.
– Nominees are judged on their performance, their masculinity, their desire or intensity to be successful, and their inspiration. Most halls of fame include a collection of qualities that can’t necessarily be quantified (i.e. everything other than performance). 70’s Big evokes a particular attitude and intensity with respect to striving for success. Our candidates should also have these same qualities.
– Nominees are not judged by their inclusion of “being from the ’70s” or “being big”. Pyrros Dimas, at most an 85kg lifter, is one of my nominees for his tenacity, heart, and results. 70’s Big isn’t “being big for the sake of being big”, and that criteria isn’t relevant to nominees.
– Electors will include the entire readership of 70’s Big as opposed to a select group (like the NFL and MLB).
– Nominees will be inducted four times a year, every three months. March, June, September, and December would be inductee months. This is one item that should be most debated. Perhaps three inductees a year is more appropriate?
– In the two months preceding the induction month, there will be secondary and primary vote-offs (polls that run throughout the month). These polls will eliminate the total nominees to narrow the choices down.
– The number of nominees is debatable. Should 20 nominees be selected for secondary voting? Then 10 for primary? Then 5 for induction?
– There will be a final vote during induction month (with set dates, perhaps the 1st to the 14th days of the month).
– If still alive, 70’s Big will attempt to contact the athlete for an interview or to send a letter of thanks with a token of our gratitude.
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Today it is my honor and pleasure to induct Swedish discus thrower Ricky Bruch posthumously into the 70’s Big Hall of Fame. Ricky Bruch had man battles throughout his life, yet he passed away on May 30, 2011 after his toughest battle, pancreatic cancer. He was 64.
Björn Rickard “Ricky” Bruch was an exceptional athlete, but failed to achieve the highest gold medal honors in international competition. Bruch placed 8th in the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City with a discus throw of 59.28m. He won a bronze medal in the 1972 Olympic games in Munich with a discus throw of 63.40m but also equalled the world record in June 1972 with a throw of 68.40 meters. Bruch was also an outstanding shot putter with a lifetime best of 20.28 m and a bronze award from the European Championships in 1971.
Bruch made it to the next Olympic games in Montreal (1976), but did not make it past the qualifying rounds, an event that would spark his legacy. This failure set Bruch off, inspiring him to train harder than ever. He trained with tenacity and maniacal intensity for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. However, he was snubbed by the Swedish Olympic committee from competing. Bent on revenge, Bruch continued training and entered smaller competitions. Eventually in November of 1984 he set a new World and Swedish record with a 71.26m discus throw at 38 years old. This throw allowed Bruch to prove to himself, Sweden, and the world that he was the greatest thrower since the throw would have won the 1984 Olympic gold medal by nearly five meters. That throw places him 9th in the all-time list and still stands as the Swedish record today.
