Thanks Howard and by all means keep them stories coming from when you were competing
Thanks and I was worried I might be boring too many on here.
Ok, you might enjoy this one.
The first bodybuilding contest I saw in person, was the 1975 AAU Mr NH ( *Manchester Armory)
I was still 16 and entered the open men's arm wrestling.
Back then, it was common to have a lifting or strength event with the bodybuilding contest.
The arm wrestling started at 1 pm and I arrived before noon to weigh in.
On the other side of the armory was the bodybuilding contest.
They had a raised platform with sheet background with "1975 Mr NH , in bold letters.
Attached to the basketball rim , was one bright spot light they posed under.
There were about 50 folding chairs around the 10 ft x 6 ft platform , but everyone was standing.
I stood on the left side , about 30 ft from the platform.
They suddenly announced it was time for the overall pose down and called for the short and tall class winners.
The shorter man was thicker and had incredible definition . The tall guy was cut but not as muscular.
The head judge had them compare in each of the basic poses.
The crowd of only 40-50 people were loudly screaming and the atmosphere was like a rock concert.
It was contagious and I got into it and started to root, rather loudly for the short guy.
He won the overall and was given a massive trophy that came to his chest.
I'll never forget the image of him standing there, with his arm raised as the champion.
I weighed in a hair under 175 which put me in the biggest wt class of 10 entrants, all grown men .
I ended up getting 3rd and got a lot of praise for my quick and explosive snap start.
On the drive back home, all I could think about was the bodybuilding.
I was hooked and there was no going back.
4 years later , I was on the 1979 Mr NH stage as a dopey college kid , thinking I'd win.
The contest had become a separate show and moved to a HS auditorium in Manchester.
LOL, I was young , delusional and put in my proper place , getting 3rd... again.
I went into the USMC soon after the show and my recruiter took a pic of me .
I did a gym shorts , no shirt double bicep beside my 3rd place trophy and the USMC flag.
He posted a copy in his office and send it might help him with recruiting. I was honored and full of myself.
On my way down to Parris Island for Bootcamp, I imagined I might be greeted as semi-celebrity.
That fantasy rapidly evaporated when a DI rushed us off the bus , on to the infamous PI "yellow footprints".
I returned to compete in the Mr NH, as a marine on leave for the next 2 years.
My parents had divorced after 23 yrs of marriage before I went to boot camp.
However, they BOTH came out to see me compete at the 1980 , 81 Mr NH's.
I barely knew what steroids were back then. Plus, I was clueless where/how anyone bought 'em.
I'd like to give this a fairy tale ending and say I finally won, but that never happened.
I improved my size and cuts each year, but so did the competition. I got 3rd each year.
