Mike Menterz's take on 1980

[pellius]

good post


except the part about arnold loving the sport.......he started out loving it........but later on it just became a stepping stone and he NEVER looked back.......and right now he couldnt give a SHIT about bodybuilding
 
he doesnt care about the sport, he doesnt support the sport............

please dont argue this point , i can site a dozen examples that prove this pretty soundly


for example, dont say he gives back by promoting the arnold classic...............he has NOTHING to do with the arnold classic...........he leases his name to jim lorimer once a year in return for hundreds hundreds of thousands of dollars.............he has no part in coordinating it, no involvment whatsoever

I don't think he gives a crap about COMPETITIVE bodybuilding as it is now. I think he loves bodybuilding and will always be a bodybuilder.

He never seemed to have forgotten his friends from his bodybuilding days. When Mits Kawashima (befriended Arnold and helped him out in his early years) died a few years ago Arnold dropped everything and he and Franco flew to Hawaii to honor him.

One question I would like to ask this extraordinarily accomplished man. If he had to go back in time and relive a certain era in his life, the body builder, the actor, the politician (he's always been a business man) -- what would he choose?

[SomeKindofMonster]

Arnold just had a joy for bodybuilding and knew how to put it
in it's proper perspective in the balance of life.
Mentzer didn't seem to enjoy the whole process of challenging himself to exceed his previous best
physique regardless of the judges outcome.
Even Joe Weider said that although he had built an empire through extreme dedication and hard work;
he never had the pleasure and enjoyment that Arnold exhibited while reaching his goals.

Arnold - 2:50 - 3:17 "Most people are too close to what they are doing that they can't see themselves anymore."
I always step back and just laugh at myself because you can't take the whole thing seriously.
I believe there's certain things we have to do to keep us going and motivated; pick little goals, go after them and things like that".

Arnold - 3:38 - 3:56 "You have to be able to step back out of yourself and look at what you are doing;
and laugh about it. Because it's all funny, being the best built man in the world "Very Funny".

 

[pellius]

Arnold just had a joy for bodybuilding and knew how to put it
in it's proper perspective in the balance of life.
Mentzer didn't seem to enjoy the whole process of challenging himself to exceed his previous best
physique regardless of the judges outcome.
Even Joe Weider said that although he had built an empire through extreme dedication and hard work;
he never had the pleasure and enjoyment that Arnold exhibited while reaching his goals.

Arnold - 2:50 - 3:17 "Most people are too close to what they are doing that they can't see themselves anymore."
I always step back and just laugh at myself because you can't take the whole thing seriously.
I believe there's certain things we have to do to keep us going and motivated; pick little goals, go after them and things like that".

Arnold - 3:38 - 3:56 "You have to be able to step back out of yourself and look at what you are doing;
and laugh about it. Because it's all funny, being the best built man in the world "Very Funny".

I think Mentzer did challenge himself and always strived to improve. Indeed, one of the basic tenets in this training philosophy was progression. That to get bigger you have to get stronger and to get stronger you had to be bigger. So you always strived for the addition rep. Always strived to increase the resistance.

You may be too young to remember but I was already in my late teens/early twenties when Mentzer was all the rage. Before that I spent my teen years reading the muscle books like everyone else interested in bodybuilding. There was no internet so the mags were all we had. There was always talk about the Weider principles. The pump, peak contraction, the flushing principle, certain exercises for width, definition, peak, size.... but never really much talk about progression and getting stronger by adding more reps and more repetitions and training intensity.

Mentzer I think seems to have taken things too seriously. He didn't have fun in the way Arnold did. Arnold of course was ruthless and would stop at nothing to win. But he also seem to have fun, enjoy bodybuilding and enjoy life. Mike was more of a loner and intellectual. He struggled with a lot of the great issues of life and battled personal demons. Arnold, in comparison, might be though of as a bit more shallow. Didn't become too preoccupied with the bigger more transcendent issues about "what does it all mean?" Just have blast. Surround himself with friends that I believed he truly liked to be with.

Remember that final scene in Pumping Iron during the ride back with "Big Louie"? Like me, most of us were probably teenagers when we first saw this movie. You can't help but like Arnold and want to be like him. You know that in one situation he'd stick a knife in Louie's back if he had to, but in another, beginning at around 1:35, you see him just having fun and really enjoying life.

Mentzer was far more influential to me than Arnold was in a bodybuilding sense. But Arnold was Arnold. Living life to the fullest. Who could ever imagine that someone from such an obscure subculture could rise to the level he did?

[SomeKindofMonster]

I think Mentzer did challenge himself and always strived to improve. Indeed, one of the basic tenets in this training philosophy was progression.

I totally agree with this but I think it was a labor for him and not a labor of love or he would have continued regardless of the 1980 outcome. I had the pleasure of seeing one of only six seminars Mike did with Boyer Coe after the 1981 Mr. Olympia. Let me say that Mike had not let himself go at all at that time. He still looked very big and muscular. I was 16 I believe and Boyer Coe guest posed although Mike looked in fantastic shape in a tank top and shorts.

I think Arnold would and has stepped on many a people to get where he has.
The dichotomy of this is, it seems he has remained very loyal to people who have been there from the
beginning.

   

[suckmymuscle]

pretty long but interesting none the less

The controversy of controversies.

The 1980 Mr Olympia contest staged in Sydney, Australia, remains by far the most controversial in the event's history. The contention centers on the participation of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had announced his retirement from competition in 1975 after winning six consecutive Mr. Olympia titles.
Seemingly only in Sydney to do commentary for CBS TV , Arnold stunned the bodybuilding world on the eve of the contest by declaring that he was returning to competition in pursuit of a seventh title.

Two days before the contest, Mike had that same " death's door feeling " which again confined him to bed for a whole day. By the morning of the contest, though, he had fully recovered. He was 225 pounds and more cut than he'd ever been. " I looked my best , but I didn't feel at my best.  It just didn't feel like a normal contest; no one was being their usual selves. There was a strain and tension in the air all the way though."

WHO TERMINATED WHOM!

That strain and tension came to an electrifying climax at the competitors meeting held the morning of the contest. Fifteen of the 16 athletes had signed a petition asking that the two weight classes be abolished and that the Olympia should be contested as one open class. The one athlete not in agreement was Arnold Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Whatever the rights & wrongs , facts and misconceptions , theories and myths surrounded the 1980 Me. Olympia contest , in the interests of this narrative, it's important to understand that Mike Mentzer felt he was cheated in Sydney, and that sinister machinations were afoot. His belief is that certain forces , fueled by ignorance and sycophancy, combined to thrust an undeserving Arnold to first place and relegate him - perceived as owning the best physique in the contest - " ridiculous " fifth place.

This is how Mike recalls that fateful day. " There were maybe 50 people at the competitors meeting and as usual, Arnold wanted to be the center of attention. In every situation, he tries to be the standout, and on this occasion, he was the only athlete of the 16 in the contest who wanted to keep the two weight classes. " He said something to denigrate Samir Bannout that I thought was uncalled for. I passed on that, feeling Samir should have defended himself. As the debate progressed, there was a lot of arguing between Arnold and some of the guys. I wasn't really concerned one way or the other - I thought I could win anyway. Then Boyer Coe stood up and , as the gentlemen he is , said , " Why don't we let Arnold explain to us right here and now his exact reasons for wanted to have two weight classes? "

" Arnold barked , ' Boyer, lets talk like adults here. ' That really irked me , because Boyer made his plea with no hint of malice. In addition, this was the IFBB's event, but here was this big Prussian son of a bitch standing there acting like a Nazi and trying to walk all over us. " For some reason , that question pissed him off. He seemed like a guy out of control as he turned to face me, his upper lip curled around like a snarling animal. We were debating the issue of weight classes, but Arnold choose to snap at me. ' Mike Mentzer, we all know Zane beat you last year because you have a big stomach! '

" I was seated 20 feet away from Arnold, who was standing holding court, and I perhaps allowed that comment to irritate me too much, as on impulse, I bolted toward him. As I approached him, I decided I wouldn't hit him, but nevertheless I was surprised when Arnold sat down: I scared him! He sat as I continued to berate him. Wagging my finger at him, I told him, ' Look, Arnold, Boyer Coe said what he did as a gentlemen- he didn't deserve that response. You're the one who's acting like a baby,literally! ' Armold couldn't look me in the eye. He went from being a frantic hysterical adolescent to shrinking away like an injured child. "

Not for the first time in the history of bodybuilding, Joe Weider stepped in and defused the situation. He advised Arnold to accept the voices of the other 15. The debate ended as Arnold proclaimed, " I withdraw my objection. "

DECISION DOWN UNDER

" Throughout that meeting, Arnold had on a tight-knit weather that made him look skinny. I was curious to see what he looked like once he stripped down. When he did, I remember looking at him and thinking, Not only and I going to win this contest, but I'm going to beat Arnold Schwarzenegger as well!

" When I was called fifth, I was totally shocked. It was just a ridiculous placing, made more ridiculous by an out-of-shape Arnold winning. As for the other who finished ahead of me, I knew Frank Zane [ third ], due to an accident he had sustained four months earlier, wasn't as good as he had been the previous year. I mist say that Chris Dickerson [ second ] and Boyer Coe [ fourth ] were in phenomenal shape, particularly Chris. I felt he and I were the ones in absolute peak condition, and we should have been top two.

" The majority of observers at the 1980 Mr. Olympia, with the exception of the judging panel, didn't have Arnold in the top five. The crowd booed Arnold at the contest's conclusion, and there were a number of things that took place during the prejudging that perhaps should have provided an indication that as was not as it should have bee.

" Several of the judges were close friends of Arnold. Boyer Coe told me afterwards that he saw Reg Park, one of the judges, actually coaching Arnold from the official's table. In contrast, Bill Pearl had honorably removed himself from the judging panel, as he had spent some time training with Chris Dickerson.

" At times, the contest was like a circus. We had Franco Columbu- one of Arnold's weak-willed namby-pamy lackeys - coming onstage with a towel, a comb and oil, to go through a little act with Arnold at the expense of everybody else. I could quote other anomalies, but possibly the most pertinent is that CBS Sports flew half away around the world to tape the event and then never televised it. The word was that they were convinced it was a fix. " The record may show Arnold Schwarzenegger as the 1980 Mr. Olympia champion, but he wasn't the best bodybuilder onstage that day - not by a mile. "

In the immediate aftermath of the contest, several top names stated they would never compete again. They would later reverse their decisions and return to the contest dais. But even as he was announced fifth, Mike knew he would never compete again: " There was no way I was going to put myself though the same tortuous process again for a similar reward. At no point since 1980 have I been even sligthtly tempted to consider the possibility of competing. I don'tmiss it. "

Of all of its repercussions, it is difficult not to nominate Mike's premature retirement at 29 as being the major consequence of the 1980 Mr. Olympia contest. It effectively denied the sport of a view of the physique he could have built in future years.

  Arnold clearly won. He was far from his best, but was still light-years ahead of everybody else. You are not compared to your best: you are compared to your competition, and his chest and biceps alone would have been enough for him to win the show.

  But Mentzer...even if Arnold hadn't competed, he would still have placed fourth. He wouldn't have won the show anyway, so why did he care so much? But the thing is that the defeat of Mentzer at the 1980 Mr.Olympia killed him. Literally. He became addicted to drugs and then went on a downhill spiral from which he wouldn't recover. Mentzer had a very difficult personality with lots of obsessions, need for perfection, dogmatism, etc. I actually think that Ayn Rand killed him.

SUCKMYMUSCLE

[Sherief Shalaby]

I should have just scanned it 

i was just telling myself the same thing "why didnt this asshole just scan it"

i read it long ago,.. nice to post here..

[The_Infidel]

I'm glad this thread was started because in all my years following the sport of professional bodybuilding I've never heard or read what Mike Mentzer thought about the 1980 Mr Olympia.  What a fresh topic.  Bravo.

[kiwiol]

I'm glad this thread was started because in all my years following the sport of professional bodybuilding I've never heard or read what Mike Mentzer thought about the 1980 Mr Olympia.  What a fresh topic.  Bravo.

Up next - Dorian vs Ronnie

Stay tuned

[dr.chimps]

Up next - Dorian vs Ronnie

Stay tuned

*reaches for revolver*   

[Parker]

good post


except the part about arnold loving the sport.......he started out loving it........but later on it just became a stepping stone and he NEVER looked back.......and right now he couldnt give a SHIT about bodybuilding
 
he doesnt care about the sport, he doesnt support the sport............

please dont argue this point , i can site a dozen examples that prove this pretty soundly


for example, dont say he gives back by promoting the arnold classic...............he has NOTHING to do with the arnold classic...........he leases his name to jim lorimer once a year in return for hundreds hundreds of thousands of dollars.............he has no part in coordinating it, no involvment whatsoever

What about those articles he used to "pen" in M&F and how he berated Dorian?

[kiwiol]

*reaches for revolver*   

 

[NarcissisticDeity]

I'm glad this thread was started because in all my years following the sport of professional bodybuilding I've never heard or read what Mike Mentzer thought about the 1980 Mr Olympia.  What a fresh topic.  Bravo.

STFU noob you better wipe your feet before you step into my house 

This wasn't for you fuck-tard this was for some of the younger members who might not have heard it from his point of view so do us all a favor and fuck-off 

[Pollux]

STFU noob you better wipe your feet before you step into my house 

This wasn't for you fuck-tard this was for some of the younger members who might not have heard it from his point of view so do us all a favor and fuck-off 

LOL!

Well said, ND. 

[Reeves]

I would choose Arnold over Mentzer and have Mike second overall.  Zane third.  The rest?  Who cares? Chris Dickerson had an awful physique.  !981 was a genuine travesty as Padilla should have won the Olympia.  Danny was robbed.  If ever there were a 1/2 scale Schwarzenegger, Padilla was it.

Back to the topic.  As was pointed out before, Arnold lost to Zane in 1968 (?) and he cried about it, but only to himself.  He came back and never looked back.  Mike should have done the same. 

[caseyviator]

i remember watchin the tape of this contest at our gym about a year later...arnold wom EASILY not just his chest an bis,...gota remember this was the most ripped arnold ever had gotton for a show, check his back double biceps pose he killed them all i mean not even close...he may have been a bit smaller but damm he was ripped....with his stucture he was just unbeatable the day of that show...heres the thing all those guys had to deal with everyone every year after he retired hearing about arnold this and arnold could come back now and dominate.....then he did and they couldnt take it they all bonded together like 5 hurt puppies and cried foul....come on guys we always talk on here about arnold vs ronnie and alll and you dont think with only a 5 year break he didnt wipe the floor with a bunch of guys with tons of structure flaws    come on man!!!!  arnold won that show by the most points ever at a mr olympia

[Playboy]

Mentzer was the biggest crybaby of the early eighties. If he wanted to do something about his 1980 loss then he should have come back bigger and better looking then ever the following year. Instead, he cried, cried, cried. He lost plain and simple.

[~UN_$ung~]

Mentzer was the biggest crybaby of the early eighties. If he wanted to do something about his 1980 loss then he should have come back bigger and better looking then ever the following year. Instead, he cried, cried, cried. He lost plain and simple.

right, instead of putting his nose to the grind.........and coming back better


he melted down and went on  a 12 year meth binge




........a could-have-been, not a champion

[devilsmile]

Awesome times... and awesome hairs 

[no one]

This thread is useless with, or without, Vince Basile.

lol