Hate posting at the bottom of a page when other people are exchanging punchlines. Nothing you write gets noticed....
I reckon this is germaine to the discussion, so much so that I'm going to reiterate my diabolical plan.
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Lee, please... please read this.
Not my area of expertise, but I just had to chime in on this one.
This is a problem of power... and there is a simple answer to all this, CHANGE THE BALANCE OF POWER!
Step 1:
Get a lawyer to draw up a membership contract which would unionise the competitors: an agreement (in principle) to abide by the rules and regulations (and be a member) of the hypothetical union described in the contract, with a few stipulations:
-the membership of the signed athlete (and the existence of the contract) remains secret till a point in time when at least 75% of all active pro bodybuilders have signed similar contracts
-once the membership requirement has been met the union becomes official and the contract becomes binding
-should the union fail to come into existence in a period of say, one year, the contract becomes null and void
This way you could draw up an ideal contract descibing the kind of union the athletes want, in secret, without anyone ever being any the wiser... until it was too late.
Imagine the hissy fit the Weider brothers would throw if it was suddenly announced that IFBB Pros had unionised, elected their own leadership and three quarters of them had signed binding contracts that forbade them from competing in events that weren't sanctioned by the union. Not only that, the union athletes are legally bound to boycott any event in which non union athletes are competing.
Ask yourself...
Wouldn't it be cool if the athletes union was charging both the promoter and the IFBB a sanctioning fee... wouldn't that be ironic?
How about judges being blackballed by competitors?
How about promoters having to disclose their profit margins to the athletes union?
What about the union setting the prize money?
What about the union demanding prepayment for prizes, seminars, guest appearances, guest posings?
What about the union running and promoting their own shows?
Would we still need the IFBB??
It's that simple you wingeing bitches... just hire The Luke... put this evil genius to work FOR YOU, TODAY!!
I'd take over the IFBB in two weeks.
The Luke