Someone please explain what makes Robert Kennedy an authority?

[Matt]

Freddie Roach used to be a decent fighter...

I was about to say - Roach had a pretty good boxing record:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Roach_(boxing)#Professional_boxing_record

Still though - it makes me wonder how many parallel industries there are to bodybuilding, that operate in the same fashion, lol.  What I mean by that is that we just saw how inept UFC judging is...and in boxing, we have these "coaches" who were never anywhere close to the level of the boxers they are instructing, lol.

Are all these sports industries basically the same?  Where you have a top heavy financial structure where the athletes on the bottom make next to nothing, and have to resort to either selling steroids or selling workout programs and diets in order to survive in their physical endeavour of choice?

It looks like bodybuilding isn't the only part of the physical culture that has the same inept judging, top-heavy financial incentives, cast of odd and interesting characters, and "experts" who seem to know less than heaps of fans on the message boards do, lol.

It's kind of funny, thinking of the similarities between bodybuilding and the UFC, as well as other areas of physical culture.

[joswift]

My friend told me that Wayne Gretzky was a bad hockey coach because his eye and mind for the game were so sharp, that he couldn't teach his ability to other pro hockey players.  I don't know if that is true, but I do recall hearing elsewhere that he was not great as a hockey coach.

Funny about the bodybuilding world - it seems like the "formula" for success is to start coaching some good clients who are already on the way up, and then, once they turn pro, you get "credit" for having coached someone who turned pro, even though that person was likely going to turn pro anyway.

I know that George Farah was coaching Jeff Long when he turned pro around a decade ago, and he started working with him when he was already competing in pro qualifiers.  Next thing you know, Jeff Long [or another top amateur] turns pro, and then Farah gets a reputation as being a Pro Maker.  In fact, wasn't Hany Rambod's nickname "The Pro Maker"?

So basically, you "coach" a handful of guys who are already coming up, and you offer them a good deal initially, and then by the time they turn pro, you get credit for having helped a handful of guys getting their pro cards, when that was just inevitable anyway.

Then other amateurs and bodybuilding enthusiasts see you as being a guru of sorts, and then more come to you, and you build up a clientele by rinsing/repeating the above formula of working with guys on the verge of acquiring pro status anyway, and it becomes sort of self-fulfilling, eventually with a big enough lineup of guys that you helped to advertise for you.

Am I missing something here?

Also, what is the education required to be a "diet guru"?  Do either Hany Rambod or George Farah have a specific education in nutrition or "bodybuilding science"?

Remember that Tom Platz posted online that he was a "Professor of Bodybuilding Sciences". 

I love bodybuilding...but what an odd industry at times. 

all the great golfers have coaches who cant play anywhere near as good as them..

[Kwon]

You often need one coach (or several) to get to the next level (be it mentally or physically), just like Jay Cutler says here.

You might have all the talent and the genetics in the world, but you need those special people to finetune it and hone you into that perfect diamond from that mass of coal you are.

[Powerlift66]

The best baseball coaches are the utility guys, the guys who spend their playing career on the bench analyzing the game w/ their own coaching staff at that time in their playing careers..

[Matt]

all the great golfers have coaches who cant play anywhere near as good as them..

Interesting...

I wonder if such a phenomenon may be more common in team sports, or sports where you can observe game play, and learn from it, as opposed to something like bodybuilding, where practice on oneself [self-observation through training and eating over the years] is a frequent component of self-improvement for many competitors, and thus, presumably, a common trait among coaches, who were also competitors.

Or, potentially, one need not be a "practitioner" of bodybuilding to be effective at teaching/coaching it.

[funk51]

Amazing that Arthur Jones convinced anybody that he knew anything about bodybuilding and lifting. The man was a puny runt.

       arthur jones wasn't always a puny little runt.

[funk51]

The best baseball coaches are the utility guys, the guys who spend their playing career on the bench analyzing the game w/ their own coaching staff at that time in their playing careers..

    true and it also helps if they have experience as a catcher.

[Roast Beef Pecs]

       arthur jones wasn't always a puny little runt.

You picked the wrong photos to back that claim. Seems like a small man in those photos. A very small man

[IroNat]

Joe Weider had a daughter, Lydia Ross, by his first wife Vicky Uzar.

Lydia had three children, Joe's grandkids.

[Kwon]

[Powerlift66]

    true and it also helps if they have experience as a catcher.

Yup, calling games, etc... With the Redsox losing their Manager (Cora) to that Astro's cheating scandal, one rumor was Jason Varitek becoming the MGR.
Seems like just a rumor though, talk of promoting Roenicke to manager though it seems.

Roenicke, 63, managed the Milwaukee Brewers for five years and has 21 years of major-league coaching experience. He also has coordinated the Red Sox’s spring-training camp the last two years.

[Fortress]

   Kennedy was an art teacher who lived his passion for bodybuilding. He started Musclemag on a wing and a prayer, inviting Gino and his family to join him. They made a hell of a team. Both trained hard regularly with weights and did cardio. He was into the lean beach body look. Both trained with most of the champs including the likes of Sergio, Arnold, and Franco. Boh trained with top trainers like Vince Gironda. He wasn't a huge fan of the drug culture but always seemed to appreciate the size of the all drugs guys, wrestlers and other athletes who regularly visited Musclemag. He sure loved staring at the asses and boobs of the fitness models!

  Robert had a heart of gold. A man of his word. Invited many of his staff to his home for gatherings. Things were going great for him until the internet came along. From there Bob's luck in life turned sour. A car accident resulted in terrible injuries to his young son. He was a vegetable with round the clock care after that. Many of the staff remember him running around as a young kid at Kennedy's parties. So sad. Following the accident, Kennedy's wife killed herself. As time passed Musclemag became Muscletech mag as the dominant advertiser controlled the magazine. Musclemag began shilling for Muscletech. The combination of the three took a toll on him. I miss Rob, and Gino. I miss those days.

Well said, Graham.

[funk51]

Joe Weider had a daughter, Lydia Ross, by his first wife Vicky Uzar.

Lydia had three children, Joe's grandkids.

                    jw's daughter

[Humble Narcissist]

I loved Kennedy's magazine and his books.  When I was in high school I ordered Savage Sets:The Ultimate Pre Exhaust Pump Out.  When the package arrived I opened it up and my mom was standing close by and glanced at it and thought it said Savage Sex.  She was like "Humble, what are you reading?"  I had to show her the book and show her it was bodybuilding.   After seeing it was full of oily men in thongs she was probably wishing it was regular porn.

[Kwon]

I loved Kennedy's magazine and his books.  When I was in high school I ordered Savage Sets:The Ultimate Pre Exhaust Pump Out.  When the package arrived I opened it up and my mom was standing close by and glanced at it and thought it said Savage Sex.  She was like "Humble, what are you reading?"  I had to show her the book and show her it was bodybuilding.   After seeing it was full of oily men in thongs she was probably wishing it was regular porn.

Wait, is Narcissist your familyname?


That's so epic!


Pleased to meet you, Humble!

[Mothballs]

Bob was a clever, creative, charismatic, unique, and knowing man.

He had forgotten more about the culture of bodybuilding than the next thousand “kill it” commandos will ever know.

Bob was my friend.

RIP

Can we assume he was a conservative like you and not some PC Phaggot?

[Matt]

I loved Kennedy's magazine and his books.  When I was in high school I ordered Savage Sets:The Ultimate Pre Exhaust Pump Out.  When the package arrived I opened it up and my mom was standing close by and glanced at it and thought it said Savage Sex.  She was like "Humble, what are you reading?"  I had to show her the book and show her it was bodybuilding.   After seeing it was full of oily men in thongs she was probably wishing it was regular porn.

LOL!!!!

I'm reminded of a similar story of my own:

In the sixth grade, my mom found a binder I had filled with pages from magazines with pictures of top actresses and models at the time cut out.  I was embarrassed that she found it, and she then said that she was relieved.  When I asked why, she said it was because at my age at the time [12] there would have been no way for her to know my sexual orientation [this was in 1994 - before the era of 3-year-old children girls knowing they are "non-CIS homosexual males"], and the binder was evidence that I wasn't a bender.

LOL...to be honest, I would also be relieved, in her shoes.  Not that I have a problem with benders, but the easiest and most natural way to have children would be to be straight, so...for that reason, I would want them to be straight.  Again, I take no issue with benders, but I do want my own biological grandchildren eventually.

[Fortress]

Can we assume he was a conservative like you and not some PC Phaggot?

I’d suggest he was a libertarian, but NOT a Liberal/lefty, no.

Certainly the convos myself, him and Gino (Johnny Fitness) had were anything but PC.

[tres_taco_combo]

MMI in the late 1990s/early 2000s was awesome

[Army of One]

Michael Jordan is known as one of the worst, if not the worst judge of talent in the NBA.

[Rambone]

Thank you Robert Kennedy for your Musclemag whores. Many nuts busted. Thank you!

[IRON CROSS]

Thank you Robert Kennedy for your Musclemag whores. Many nuts busted. Thank you!

Gironda was writing for Musclemag !.

[BB]

Thank you Robert Kennedy for your Musclemag whores. Many nuts busted. Thank you!

This is true, Musclemag had the best fitness poon spreads in the industry. The greatest thing was that he didn't try to pertend they were athletes either like most of the rest.

Musclemag and low key, Balik's Ironman of all magazines, had the best girly issues.

[tres_taco_combo]

This is true, Musclemag had the best fitness poon spreads in the industry. The greatest thing was that he didn't try to pertend they were athletes either like most of the rest.

Musclemag and low key, Balik's Ironman of all magazines, had the best girly issues.

agreed! MMI is how I became a schmoe

stacey lynn

[Matt]

   Kennedy was an art teacher who lived his passion for bodybuilding. He started Musclemag on a wing and a prayer, inviting Gino and his family to join him. They made a hell of a team. Both trained hard regularly with weights and did cardio. He was into the lean beach body look. Both trained with most of the champs including the likes of Sergio, Arnold, and Franco. Boh trained with top trainers like Vince Gironda. He wasn't a huge fan of the drug culture but always seemed to appreciate the size of the all drugs guys, wrestlers and other athletes who regularly visited Musclemag. He sure loved staring at the asses and boobs of the fitness models!

  Robert had a heart of gold. A man of his word. Invited many of his staff to his home for gatherings. Things were going great for him until the internet came along. From there Bob's luck in life turned sour. A car accident resulted in terrible injuries to his young son. He was a vegetable with round the clock care after that. Many of the staff remember him running around as a young kid at Kennedy's parties. So sad. Following the accident, Kennedy's wife killed herself. As time passed Musclemag became Muscletech mag as the dominant advertiser controlled the magazine. Musclemag began shilling for Muscletech. The combination of the three took a toll on him. I miss Rob, and Gino. I miss those days.

I previously learned some interesting things about Robert Kennedy on his Wikipedia page:

"In 1974 he started his first magazine, MuscleMag International, with an initial print run of 110,000. He had no previous experience with magazine publishing and MuscleMag would not turn a profit for 15 years - forcing Kennedy to dodge creditors and even sell his home and his car to finance it."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kennedy_(publisher)#Career

Wow. 

Also, this:

"Kennedy had two children, a son, Braden, and a daughter, Chelsea, with his first wife. In 1998, Kennedy and Braden who was then 11, were in a car crash. Kennedy was thrown from the car but Braden suffered severe brain damage and would require round-the-clock care (until his death in March 2011). After the accident Kennedy's wife committed suicide."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kennedy_(publisher)#Personal_life

That's sad. 

It just goes to show you can have all the money in the world, but may potentially still have to deal with issues like that.  I don't know if Kennedy was in any way at fault for the accident, but I suspect it would be hard to live with that no matter what.  This hits close to home for me because my son is turning 10 next month...and I can't imagine if I had to accept his life as I know it would be over in just over a year, and change in an irreversible way.  Sad stuff.