Ok, folks this is my first Mr Olympia event I've ever been too and quite frankly it was overwelming as to how many people came up to chat with me and take pictures and ask all sorts of questions. I was able to meet everyone I wanted to meet so here's my assessment of the athletes I met
1. David Henry....complete asshole. I was at the Orleans and he and Darrem Charles were at the bus stop. I say hey to him but he just walked off. His person who was helping him with the bags simply shrugged at me to somewhat say sorry and that was it. Other folks I ran into said that he did the same thing to them as well....
2. Darrem Charles....complete gentleman. He shook hands with me on the bus and we chatted for a few minutes. Son was in very good condition and obviously he has his father's genetics.
3. Patrick Arnold.....was a bit nervous but friendly guy. Told me that he was coming out with some new stuff
4. Jorge Benecourt.....Also a pretty friendly guy. Wanted me to try out everyone he had and his chews are very good products. Didn't have the Halo hooked up as promised.
5. Milos Sarcev......very impressed with him. Milos spoke with me on length about his products and his philosophy on building muscle. Straight up person, no bullshit whatsoever. Folks, he's not selling snake oil and a lot of people were snatching up his stuff. He knows what's he's talking about.
6. Shawn Ray.....I really didn't expect to see him but he walked behind the ALRI stage. Hollared over to him and he shook my hand and say hey and that was pretty much the end of it. Some would consider it rude but I didn't as I saw that people were stopping him every few feet and Kris Dim was walking his way at the time so I didn't mind at all ducking out. But he did shake my hand and said hey.
7. Victor Conte....Me and Mr Conte talked for about 15 minutes as I've discussed things with him over the years so there was really no formal introduction as we've met before. I will not elaborate on what we discussed but it was related to sports nutrition and he's always a great advisor. Was limping around a bit but Mr Conte was still as sharp as ever. He did an appearance with Iris Kyle which was huge and there was a big crowd and lots of cameras, news reporters and etc around. Like him or not, he knows his stuff and can rock a mean bass guiter. If you ever have a chance to speak with him, take some notes and listen.
8. Chris Cromier.....He actually came up to me and wished me luck in the Guns Posedown, said he heard about it over the internet. Was looking really jacked and he'll once again be an Olympia Contender
9. John Hanson......Still in great shape, retired but is now marketing his seminar and DVD on Natural Bodybuilding. I already have his book so the DVD is a great addition to my collection.
10. Dave Goodin.....We also talked for a good period of time as I thanked him for writing Steve Downs for admission back into the INBF in 2005. He is the bodybuilder that I inspire to be. He's in top shape but you can obviously tell he's never touched a drop of gear.....ever!!!
11. Jason Arntz....He also came by the ALRI booth when I was warming up. Very friendly person and I answered a few questions for him about websites and how to keep designers from taking advantage of him. He was in very good condition. And no, he didn't have any synthol from what I could tell.
12. George Farrah....unknown. He was at the airport with me and I saw him walking behind ALRI stage but didn't get a chance to say hey. He had some huge ass arms
13. John Cena.....Since we've met before it was a short hey and bye as he was walking to the booth to sign autographs.
14. Johnnie Stewart....Me and him chatted up a storm again. Said he'll be competing again next year. Was jacked up as usual, great conditioning
15. Robbie Robinson.....Ohhhhhh man!!!!!!! I can't believe I had a chance to speak to this legend and he knew who I was. For a 63 year old guy, he was in shape.
16. Charles Glass....he was chilling at the BB.com booth. Good to say hey to him
17. Bob Chick....me and him talked for a bit...mainly about the internet board rats around here. Much bigger than I expected.
18. Branch Warren....recognized me from the pictures Adonis showed. He told me he didn't like the fact that he kissed his ass and then started talking shit about him behind his back. I apologized to him about that incident and told him to ignore the internet haters. Other than that, it was a good conversation. He really loves bodybuilding and lifting and we need more peopel like that around.
19. Don Long....recognized me from Getbig.com. He had me pegged mistakenly from one of the folks up here who created that "Who had the most symetrical dialysis machine thread" I told him that I didn't have anything to do with that thread. Once that was squashed it was a pleasant conversation. He is in great shape and I have to admit I was wrong for thinking he couldn't compete anymore.
20. Troy from ALRI.....now he is an NGA pro so he goes into this thread. Good guy to speak to, very great shape with good vasularity. Knows his stuff.
That's it for this thread. Next one will be the folks I met