IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT .....

[stuntmovie]

According to the intelligentzia of this century, the worst opening line of any novel ever written is “It was a dark and stormy night”.

Apparently the Intelligentsia have never read my shit on this GetBig Board.

Anyway …. ONE DARK AND STORY NIGHT last December one well known GetBigger asked me to write my memories about  what did and did not happen before bodybuilding and bodybuilding hatred (dislike???) became a popular passtime.

So as a late response the following is submitted:

Once upon a time ….

II was back in 1888 that the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) was founded (and “Nope, I wasn’t there!) with the goal of creating common standards in amateur sport and since then most national championships in the United States have taken place under AAU leadership.

And the “sport” of bodybuilding as we know it today  (with very slight differences such as the elimination of the contestant interview) was under the direct supervision of the AAU as specified in the AAU Bodybuilding Rulebook of which I no longer have a copy.

Gary Leonard used to tell me that he was the last AAU Mr. America and he won that overrall AAU Me.America title  in 1980.

So if the above is correct 1980 is the year that the AAU ended its relationship with competitive bodybuilding and soon thereafter the NPC was born …. after many months of hard labor and difficulties.

I was a participant (mid-wife???)  during those hard labors and difficulties and to this very day I wish I had a camera and had recorded it all.

(JOE, Correct me if you see any errors here! I’m very bad at recalling dates!)

SO the big question at this point in this long and overdrawn story is ….. What caused this AAU/bodybuilder breakaway after Gary won title?

And who were the usual and the unusual suspects?

And then what happened!!?

Memory banks, don't fook up now!!!!!

[Royalty]

Chris Aceto is Muslim

[El Diablo Blanco]

Chris Aceto is Muslim

Happy Ramadan to Chris.

[stuntmovie]

So what did cause the AAU/bodybuilder breakaway?

As I recall it there were two major problems which caused this split.

The first problem was a request to the AAU national office made by an AAU bodybuilding winner for funds to travel to an AAU national bodybuilding contest only to discover that no funds were available because those funds were used to send other AAU athletes to other events and there were no more funds available for bodybuilding expenditures.

The second big problem was that bodybuilding contests were sometimes held in conjunction with Olympic lifting events (recall Bob Hoffman) and would often start only when the Olympic lifting was over and the trophies were presented.

This meant that some bodybuilding contests would not begin until well after midnight.

There were most likely other problems but I was unaware of them at the time.

And then the 'rebellion' slowly started!

And all hell broke loose until ...........

[Never1AShow]

There were AAU bodybuilding shows at least through the late 90s, including the Mr. America.  Gary Leonard was not even close to the last or the best.  The NPC came along to compete, that's all.

1981   Tim Belknap
1982   Rufus Howard
1983   Jeff King
1984   Joe Meeko
1985   Michael Antorino
1986   Glenn Knerr
1987   Richard Barretta
1988   William Norberg
1989   Lou La Luz(bodybuilder)lLou Laluz
1990   Peter Miller
1991   Joe DeAngelis
1992   Mike Scarcella
1993   Billy Nothaft
1994   Andrew Sivert
1995   Terence Hairston
1996   Doug Rieser
1997   Bill Davey
1998   Anthony Kremar
1999   Tracey Dorsey

[BodyMachine]

Chris Aceto is Muslim

And? No worse than you who believe a human is their God.

[Never1AShow]

It was a Schmoe and Oily night ... the phone rang.  "Do you have my money?"  "Yes" said the man.  "Are you shirtless, wearing little blue gym shorts?"  "Yes" said the bodybuilder. 

The Schmoe looked out through his binoculars, down towards the corner of Ocean and Lincoln Boulevards.The bodybuilder looked up and saw the man, 5 stories up on a patio, peering through binoculars.

[stuntmovie]

NEVER, Thanks! I appreciate your corrections.

You have to remember that all of this is based on my memory of a long time back, so your help is honestly appreciated.

I don't believe anyone has ever written the historical facts regarding this subject matter and this could possibly be a first ... so everyone's hep is appreciated.

So Gary Leonard (a very good friend back then) won the Mr. America title in 1980 which was held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and then got a job at the Lake Tahoe Caesars Palace and was somehow instrumental in helping to reserve the venue at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas when and where Belnap won that year's AAU Mr America title.

Now here is where my memory fails to serve me well .....

Prior to and around the same time a group of individuals were gathering under Robert's Rules of Order in an attempt to legal set up a new US Bodybuilding organization separate from the AAU.

The names of all these individuals escapes me at present but I do recall Jerone Weise and Ralph Country and three others who were there most responsible individuals at the meeting which I attended.

Also around this same time period Peter Grymkowski invited me to attend a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia where we would vote for a national NPC Chairman.

Two individual were in contention to serve as the NPC national chairman .... Doc Neely ad Jim Manion ... and Jim won

To the best of my recollection that was the same weekend in which Ray Mentzer won the national title. The venue was the old FOX theater in Downtown Atlanta and I can also recall that a number of individuals took a tour of Atlanta Underground.

Also around this time there was some argument regarding the term "Mr." for any winner in a contest which resulted in the AAU's exclusive right to use that term in future bodybuilding events.

Any correction to anything I have stated above would be appreciated.

Next up ..... How did Ben and Joe and the IFBB get involved with the NPC?

[timfogarty]

AAU Mr contests were to find the best representative of the ideal male.  Judging included physique, athletic abilities, facial appearance, and personality.  Therefore often the people with the best physiques did not win.  Other orgs (including the relatively new IFBB (1964 was the first time the IFBB was not just two guys promoting shows), that only judged on muscle were becoming more popular.   Some people in the AAU felt they needed to adapt with the times, others did not.   A bunch of guys broke away and formed the NPC. There was a court case.  Both sides won and lost. Ten plus years later the AAU  tried to become a drug tested org, but kept getting sued by people who failed the drug tests, and finally in 1999 the AAU washed its hands of bodybuilding.