And it went straight downhill from there!
At least conspiracy theories, lost placings, and big predictions add some flavor. The only buzz leading up to any Olympia since Ronnie won was the year he was coming back after losing to Gunter. In the last 8 years of watching him compete that was the only time I really looked forward to him competing. I don't think he ever looked better - there is a huge difference between fighting to keep your title and fighting to get it back.
The fact that Gunter hasn't beaten Coleman since the Show of Strength is a testament to the fact that his win was an abberation.
Besides, when someone tries to add some "flavor", all we hear is blubbering and complaining about it. I refer you to the Challenge Round from the last two Olympias. Dexter Jackson (and others) griped about that for over a year, because Gustavo Badell leap-frogged over him to place 3rd at the 2004 Olympia. And last year, Badell beat Ronnie Coleman in that same Challenge Round (even though it had no bearing on the overall outcome). And, certain folks have been screeching about it ever since then.
You can't claim that the judges don't know what they were doing, as those doing the Challenge Round were all FORMER MR. OLYMPIAS.
Thank you. At least with what I proposed there would be SOME excitement, and the fans would get to see the top pros more than once a year.
Not necessarily.
All that would happen is that the top six would enter an overseas show, immediately after the Mr. Olympia, qualify there, and go into hibernation (if you will) for the next year. Of course, some of them were already doing that, even though a top-ten placing (prior to 2003) automatically qualified them for the next year's Olympia.
Exactly how much "excitement" has been added since the 2003 rule change occured, which reduced the number of qualifying spots at the Olympia itself from 10 to 6?
In any event, Mr. Olympia should not have to qualify to defend his title. And, there certainly shouldn't be any "Grimek rule", for the big O.
