The Chronicles of “B”

I read a short article in Ironman Magazine last night about Ronnie Coleman.  The article spoke of Ronnie still wanting to compete even though his Mr Olympia days are most likely behind him.  Seems the consenus is against him competing again most citing the reason as not wanting him to tarnish his image as one of the greatest if not the greatest bodybuilding Champion of all time.  But it seems Ronnie, being the great champion that he is, still has a burning desire to compete and says that as long as he can still get up on stage and the desire is there he’s gonna do it.

If you’ve ever been to a bodybuilding contest you will know that in every one there is that one guy that you just have to look at yourself and say, "What the hell was he thinking?"  You know the one that lacks any size or muscle definition what so ever, doesn’t know how to pose, and just looks like he walked in off the street threw on a posing suit and walked onstage.  I myself have said several times that I would not ever step onstage if I thought I had even a slight chance of being that guy.  And, much to my shame, I have made fun of such people at contest I’ve observed.  As a matter of fact the last contest that I was in there was one guy there that I joked…must have lost a bet with someone and this was his punishment.  Again to my great shame.

Well as the author of the article I read pointed out you really have no idea what drives a person to get up on stage.  With Ronnie Coleman it’s the drive of being a champion that keeps him coming back for more but what about that one guy I mentioned earlier?  what posessed him to get up on stage when he so obviously should not be?

Well who knows?  Maybe he just dropped 100 lbs and is in the best shape of his life and wanted to show the world what he had acomplished.  Maybe he was a cancer survivor and this is his way of saying, I beat the odds!"  Maybe he just has a burning desire to be something more…to do one crazy thing that will make him feel good about himself.  Maybe he’s overcoming stage fright or is backwards and shy and wishes to burst forth from his shell.  Who really knows. 

I know that at 52 I never ever dreamed I would step onstage and yet here I am on the verge of doing it for the 2nd time and in a few short weeks after that I plan on entering a Pro Qualifier.  How crazy is that.  Maybe instead of making fun of these people we should encourage them.  God knows we could use more competitors onstage to help this sport we love continue to grow and thrive.

So the next time you’re at a contest and you see that one person please consider why they are there and maybe clap just a little louder.     

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 8:51 am and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.