Vince McMahon

[dallasmsl]

Vince McMahon is now on the cover of Muscle & Fitness. As you may or may not know, he and the former owner of Muscle & Fitness and Flex, Joe Weider, hated each other because Vince tried to start a competitve pro-bodybuilder outfit called the WBF which failed miserably due to a lot of errors.

It is now rumored that Vince may be considering buying the two magazines. He is, afterall, a great fan of bodybuilding.

Here's the question:

Do you think Vince would be a better leader at the helm of bodybuilding than Joe Weider was....or worse?

[LittleArm]

It's an interesting question. The WBF was a total disaster, but I think Vince is a smart man and learns from his mistakes. Not to take anything away from the Weiders, because they have done amazing things for the sport, but things have become a bit stagnant and too self-congratulatory at this point. (I've been to the Olympia about 6 or 7 times and it's become a complete bore.) Even if McMahon took over, messed things up for a year and then stepped down, at least it would shake things up a little.

I'm definitely up for a change.

[dallasmsl]

Thanks for the reply. You made some very good points. Someone voted NO and I'm not interested in flaming anyone as much as I am hearing their opinion. Again, just curiosity and not hate.

Dave

[glammaman2000]

...largely because of the WBF debacle.Exploiting bodybuilders'"personalities"won't get you very far.A lot of the best ones don't have any.Someone with some real charisma(like Arnold or Steve Reeves)will come along every once in a while;&general interest will"bump";but you have to accept that competitive bodybuilding is what it is.If you try to"grow"it;it's not"sport"anymore.&wrestling inspires bodybuilding&vice-versa NOW!Let Vince buy the magazines.Bodybuilding is already wrestling's"farm team".But I don't think the sport would be helped by more trash-talking or a plot.

[dallasmsl]

Wow! All very good points which I can't refute, especially at 3:19 a.m. With regard to the personalities of bodybuilders, or lack thereof, you are spot on in that most don't have any. There are exceptions - Lee Priest comes to mind immediately what with his truthful way of talking and his NASCAR hobby. Still, I like to read the bio's of some, like Eric Bui and David Henry - certainly not giants in the 'sport' of bodybuilding but interesting guys nonetheless. Oh, you mentioned the words 'sport' in your reply and I, and others, often have trouble with that term or at least that term in the full sense of the word since our sport is the most subjective sport I can think of. The biggest man doesn't always win; the most symmetrical man does not always win; the most muscular man does not always win - so how can you know if you're going to win going into a competition if you don't know what kind of physique the judges are looking for or whom their predetermined favorites are? Hardly a way to call it a sport....but yet we do. So, when someone wins some big title or contest - to me - what does that really mean? Not very much. If it's someone I like - great; if not ...oh well.

Dave

[glammaman2000]

...in the sense that it's a physical activity that some people are clearly better at than others.You're absolutly right about subjectivty,though.Guys are being judged on a SIDE EFFECT of a physical activity.The only activity taking place during a contest is the posing.

[LittleArm]

If Vince were to take over, that doesn't mean he'd do things the same way he did with WBF or Wrestling. As I said before, I think he's smart and would learn from his mistakes. He wouldn't necessarily create new "muscle personalities" for all of the competitors. At least let's hope he wouldn't do that again.

The bigger issue to me is that bodybuilding is unusal in the sense that the major competitions are owned by the media company that creates the star athletes. ESPN or FOX might have a very strong influence on football, but they really can't create good teams or affect the outcome of a game. With bodybuilding, I think the magazines DO have a strong influence on who wins. It may not be in terms of corrupt judges, but the mags definitely help create fan favorites which I truly believe gives a competitor an edge.

I think bodybuilding would be greatly improved if there was a separation between the competitions and the media which reports on them. I'd like to see McMahon take over either the publishing aspect of the sport, or the competition aspect, but not both.

[dallasmsl]

You bring up some very good points and I agree that there should be a separation. Otherwise, it looks contrived. And that's one thing our sport already has enough of.