Scott / oldschool Did either of you see him competing.
I agree that Dickerson was / is the most unworthy ‘O’ Winner ever
Also as good as Coe was at the 80 ‘O’ how he was tied with Mike
& award a place higher.
I’m wondering if Mike maybe suffered the reverse of Dorian
Whereas I Never thought Dorian was that Good & Didn’t get the hype
From the Pic’s - until I See him & Competed against him,
Dorian was far better than he looked in photos especially as a Pro.
Likewise this Pete Molnar he looks unreal / cartoon’ish in pics on his own,
Although He is a fantastic physique put him in a line up of other World class
Physiques & He isn’t so outstanding,
Maybe Mike suffered in the same way, Outstanding on his own & in photos
Somehow not the same up against his peers.
I never saw him compete in person but I did see him, his brother and Casey train at Gold's Gym. They trained as they said they did and it was INTENSE! He looked quite impressive in person and while a gym pump is probably the most dramatic to have, it was still eye opening.
I tried HIT for a month or so back then (failing memory? LOL!) but it just didn't work for me and looking back I suppose the two big reasons were I did not give it enough of a chance by really putting effort into it and I didn't take drugs. I've said it before but the guys in the 70s at the original Gold's were very honest about taking steroids and I knew that this was what truly seperated me from them. Yeah, genetics count but to get bigger and stronger than you ever could you needed steroids. Anyone that thinks otherwise isn't thinking. Just look at women bodybuilders on drugs and you'll know the truth.
Genetics dictates shape and to a degree size. Drugs just amplify the heck out of those two things as shape is more pronounced when the muscle is so much larger. They won't change your muscle insertions or the shape of those muscles but they will make 'em grow like a weed. And strength? The proof was not in the pudding but in the bottle and the results it gave people. Night and day with those on drugs being the "day". Talk about seeing the light.
But as was said in the book Pumping Iron, a good tall man will usually beat an equally good shorter man and all because of the not so illusionary "illusion of size". Alone, Franco was a beast. Next to the Oak? A sapling. There's a reason I think of Padilla as a miniature Arnold and that's not only because he is built in a similar fashion but also because when he's next to Arnold, he looks miniaturized. Mentzer was what, 5' 8" as was Zane? Arnold was 6' 1" to 6' 2". I met him and he was that tall, now not nearly as my daughter saw him in Sacramento and she told me I am much taller than he is now. But again, the good big man will almost always beat an equally good short man.
Having said that I do think that if Mike had just put his anger into his training like Arnold did after losing to Zane, he would have won the next year and at least two more times. Franco could not have beaten a spot on Mentzer and Bannout was the more aesthetic but Mike was taller and more impressive and Dickerson just never belonged on the same dais as those men. Chris is better than me, but that's damning him with very faint praise, LOL!
