Global Gossip

Death Of Expediter Steve Stone

bbcom_developer — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 02:06:48 +0000

The bodybuilding and figure world lost one of its greatest assets on September 26, 2008. The head expediter for the IFBB/NPC, Steve Stone, died suddenly prior to the finals for the 2008 Olympia.

Most people do not know who Steve was, but if you ever competed at the national or pro levels, you knew who made the shows run as smoothly as they did.

Show Expediter Steve Stone Passed Away 9/26/2008.

Condolences to Jen Hendershott

bodyspaceadmin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:39:40 +0000

One of the reasons Jen told us that she was doing the Olympia was for her step brother, Todd. She reminded me that life is short and you never know when your health may be stripped from you.

Todd was battling cancer and recently found out that his chemotherapy did not work. Earlier this week the doctors gave him 2 weeks to 2 months to live. Unfortunately, Todd passed away last night.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jen and her family.

Gary Strydom seems to be a world travler now

jpt62001 — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:47:50 +0000

If you ever train late at night here at Gold’s Venice then your bound to see the massive Gary Strydom who trains from 9:00 pm till midnight about 6 or 7 days per week. I had noticed that Gary wasn’t around so I gave him a call and was shocked to hear` that he’s in India for a appearance for an anti-aging company. I think Gary is 49 this year but he’s now about 309lb and great shape. I trained with Gary for several years and he’s the hardest training bodybuilder I’ve ever trained. Chris Comier told me the same about Gary when he trained with him. Who know’s maybe we’ll see him up on stage again next year.

California Fitness Champ Mona Reyes making rounds at the Mr. O

jpt62001 — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:39:17 +0000

Over the past year I have had the good luck of becoming friends with the beautiful and smart Mona Reyes. Mona competes in the fitness division and ever show she enters it seems she has a hugh following of fans. I had only talked to Mona by phone or e-mail so when at the expo with my good friend and National level bodybuilder Mongo Chang we ran into Mona. Talk about great energy Mona is so full of life as well of being beautiful, great shape and very down to earth. Mona wasn’t able to make it to the show as she was actually in Vegas to shoot some video’s for Jamo of My Fit Tribe which Mona is also very involved with. If you ever run into Mona stop and say hello as she is a great spokesperson for the sport

1st there was Woff, then Armin and now Matthias

jpt62001 — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:31:37 +0000

A few days out before the Mr O while at Golds in Venice I saw Armin Scholz who ia around 300lb now talking to another bodybuilder about his height and only a little smaller. When I had a chance to talk with him i found out he’s also from Germany where he is a cop and owns a gym. His name is Matthias Botthof and he told me he’s not pro as of he even though he won the German Championship he only got 3rd at the Worl Championship. Now is weight is 290lb and in good shape. Keep an eye out for this guy.

Flex Lewis takes 3rd at 202 Mr. O

jpt62001 — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:20:45 +0000

Having worked the Mr. O I really thought that Flex Lewis should have placed 2nd behind Dave Henry. Not to take anything away from Kevin English who had more size and was hard but he had trouble keeping his stomach in and his shape wasn’t as good as Flex. After the show I was out at a club with Ernie"Mongo" Chang and Shavis Higga when I ran into Flex. What a great and humble guy he is. Fklex said he was just happy to be able to be up on stage. At a young age of only 24 it’s only time before Flex takes the title.

Hidetada does the Atlantic Cityand stops by Venice

jpt62001 — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:13:05 +0000

Gold’s Venice has been very busy this week with the Mr. O coming up this Sat in Las Vegas. During a set I looked up and saw my old friend Hidetada who I hadn’t seen sice he guest posed last November in Hawaii. It looked as if he didn’t age at all with the ripped tan body and the spiked hair. Hidetada said he has a visa which will allow him to stay in the USA for the next 4 months and that he plans to stay here and get some hard workouts in during this time along with visiting alot of old friends. If your a fan then he will be arriving in Vegas this Wen thru Sun and at the Weider booth during the Expo.

Big Armin headed for Europe

jpt62001 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:49:21 +0000

Just got off the phone with my training partner Armin Scholz and it seems he missed his peak last week in Jersey. We talked about his plans and he said he will fly back to Europe early to avoid jet lag and the get ready for the shows coming up there, he also said he might start working with David Palumbao on diet as he has never tried a low carb diet yet. Armin is as nice as they come so all our love goes with him

Golds Gym to close it’s doors

jpt62001 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:44:53 +0000

It seems like this economy is hitting everyone and everywhere. Back in beautiful Oahu Hawaii Gold’s Gym was forced to close it’s doors for good. This was sad news when i heard because what an atmoshpere this place had with both record tital powerlifters, strongman which Hawaii is know for and both pro and National level bodybuilders all trained under the same roof. Not far away last year Powerhouse gym had opened and they are taking the members in. That what we call the Aloha Spirit

BB.com gets FUBARed at NASCAR, Pt. 2!

bbcom_developer — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:19:07 +0000

Hey NASCAR racing fans, here’s an update from Bodybuilding.com and FUBAR, who have partnered up to sponsor this car…

News headline at NASCAR.com: "Sauter pleased as he gets EM Motorsports in first race - After 10 DNQs, Toccoa, Ga., team to start 43rd at Fontana".

FONTANA, Calif. — At the far end of the garage in stall No. 20, directly across from a nondescript white hauler, EM Motorsports team members were doing something unusual on a Saturday afternoon at Auto Club Speedway.

They were preparing the No. 08 Dodge for practice.

For the first time in 11 attempts this season — the ultimate definition of "if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again" — John Carter’s Georgia-based one-car operation made the show.

To read the full article, click here:

http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/08/30/fontana.happyhour.jsauter/index.html

FUBAR, the sponsor on the hood, is a new drink Bodybuilding.com is currently selling. Check out the drink here:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/fubar/fubardrink.html

For more info about FUBAR, click here:

http://www.getfubar.com/

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/fubar/fubar.htm

Peter Putnam filming on the West Coast

jpt62001 — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 06:32:17 +0000

Big Peter Putnam was at Golds today where he was with MTV filming a Tv show called the Maid. They filmed Peter and Silvo at both Golds and Max Muscle. Peter told me he’s 12 weeks out from the Nationals and is looking forward to start training for it but he has another week left to film here. By doing this filming I hope to be able to help bring bodybuilding to the main stream. Peter is always down to earth and is a positive attitude so we wish him the best at the Nationals this year.

Eryk Bui filming at Golds Venice

jpt62001 — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 06:26:17 +0000

IFBB Pro Eryk Bui who hasn’t step on stag this year to compete and is now stating to all that he’s training natural was at Golds to film last Sunday. Eryk who still seemed to be in good shape was at Golds to filmed as what looks like a workout video. For being Natural Eryk still use some heavy weights as I saw him to to Incline bench with the 120lb dumbells without help. Let’s see how long this last as im sure Eryk will want to step back on stage soon.

Fitness inventor , Pro Bodybuilder Dean Torabene spreading company out.

jpt62001 — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:30:55 +0000

Back in the late 80s and 90s you might remember Pro Bodybuilder Dean Tornabene who competed during that time and then once leaving the competing side he got into info comericals and started inventing exercise equipment and became very sucessful. One of his companies lookcut.com is going to be the nutritional sponshor for John De Beer and Dave’s new reality show. Dean just showed me a new invention that Bowflex and Natalius want to be part of. To top it off Dean is training hard daily and looking very ripped.

Aiman Faour is the latest Pro that’s moved to the Mecca

jpt62001 — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:40:14 +0000

Aiman, the IFBB Pro who is from Lebanon but was livining in Germany has made the big moved to Venice Ca. Aiman was livining in Germany where he had a gym decided to relocate to the US. If you get a chance to run into Aiman make sure you stop and say hello as he is one of the most down to earth bodybuilder that you’ll ever get to meet. I had the chance to train a few times with Aiman and what an animal he is. We were both about 4 weeks out from a contest and both on low carb diet’s but Aiman still trained very heavy and hard at a fast pace with alot of force reps.

Having competed at the Europa Aiman then took off for about a month of guest posing in Lebanon,where he has a fitness club, Germany, Kuwait, Abi Dahbi. Now that he’s back in LA he’s training for Oct 11 where he’ll compete in Europe. At 280s or 290 he staying very hard and lean. So if your looking for a guest poser you cant go wrong with Aiman as he’s very friendly and outgoing with the audience.

Top Fitness model Binais moves to Los Angeles

jpt62001 — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:15:09 +0000

Binais the fitness model who was on last month Muscle and Fitness cover and also the model for Gasp clothing is now training at Golds Venice. Binais is from Sweden and was staying in OC but now has moved to LA and can be seen training daily at Golds. This guy is getting big and thick like National level competing but the only thing is he doesn’t compete. I guess some guys are just blessed with genetics!