I took a short personal vacation a few days over NYE. Read this on my ipad over those few days. (Almost finished, but not quite). Some notable writings :
When he first went to the mecca in Venice, he was 29 years old, 205lbs, 29" waist and 20" arms.
For over 15 years he had worked out on a whole body routine every day, rarely taking a day off and doing a total of 75 sets for the entire body. When he got to Venice, he started following the split training style that was popular then, doing a total of about 25 sets for the entire workout.
By the time he arrived in Venice, he had entered close to 300 contests.
He was always the best guy on stage, but promoters did not want to give 1st place to a black guy in those times. He would win every "Best Body Part" category and then place 4-5th in the show. The audience mostly boo'd because no one could figure out how someone would win every single best body part and still lose the show.
(I think) He said Louisiana was the first state to give him a 1st place overall trophy. And then again at a top amateur level.
If even 1/4th of what he wrote about how the Weider's treated him is accurate, he was pretty dicked over by them.
(No word yet about how much he looted from other people's gym bags.
)
While looking like a homeless man now, he apparently made some really nice coin over the years. He had a sponsor that paid him $10,000 a month for years and he was one of the most sought after guest posers / seminar speakers in Europe. Based on quick math from what he wrote, he probably made close to a million in the last four years alone when he lived in Amsterdam. That's not counting all the time he spent in Europe in other places and global hopping with appearances. I think he said he was getting $2000 for an hour seminar in the mid 80s and doing several a week.
He considered his back one of the best until Samir came along, then sought to catch up and overcome Samir. But at a show where he was standing behind Haney and Haney's back blocked out all light coming from the front of him, he decided why bother because he would never catch Haney's development.
The decision by the judges to place him first and as winner in the first Master's O, left the Weiders absolutely distraught. It was obvious long before the contest that Lou was supposed to win. They only invited Robby to enter because Lou needed someone with a name to beat. Lou was already celebrating basically when they called his name for second place. He was in shock when they said 2nd place.
The Weider's only gave him a contract when the WBF started up. When the WBF closed in 18 months, they terminated his contract the next day.
Ok, that's it so far. It's an interesting read. I am sure some is exaggerated or made up completely.
