Ok,
dont post much, been a fan of bodybuilding for a while. Want to see what is good for the sport. 1) lets wait to hear lee's side of this
2)bob think you have done some good things as an athlete rep
but from an outsider, it seems like you are not defending lee in this situation. I know you two have had your little pdi spat, whatever. In this case though it is an IFBB pro who is now not compensated for the olympia (and I dont want to hear about last years contract, we dont know all the details and this is this year). It seems as if it was someone other than Lee than you would be arguing for the AMI to upheld their end of the contract. And AMI was not going to pay for lee this year, then they should have never sent him the contract in the 1st place. A business is never going to send someone a signed contract where both parties. It is assumed that AMI sends lee the contract that they have already agreed to the terms. Lee sends it back and it is official. If lee did sign this years contract and it did stipulate that flight and hotel will be paid for then you should argue for him to get those things. If he does not competer or IFBB bans him then let the IFBB or AMI deal with him at that point. At that point it would be an organization against an athlete.
Again I do think you have done a lot so far this year, but arguments like these make it look like you work for the IFBB instead of an athletes rep. Again this is a just a fans view. Keep on the good work.
G
This is a good example. Geeves posts very rarely, and has been here and followed the boards for quite a while, if i recall correctly.
Of course you'll have the normal pro-PDI folks and other conspiracy crazies, waving their arms in the air yelling about whatever happens. But when you have a level-headed middle-of-the-road fan like this, stating his opinion that the IFBB kinda did break their word, you may want to stop trying to "be right" and start thinking about the best long-term solution to this problem.
And it is a problem now. Some will casually look at this and deduce that hey, Lee's doing the PDI so they're going to take his plane ticket back. Simple as that. Sure, there are contracts and debts, but since they did make an offer, and he did accept, then they did take it back... well...
My 2 cents - Chang, get Lee on the phone and resolve this tomorrow morning. You might lose a grand on those tickets, but you'll more than make that up on the # of people buying the webcast just to catch a glimpse of Lee in the crowd, even if they do prevent him from competing. Don't be penny-wise, pound-foolish. Do what's best for the IFBB and the O, THIS YEAR, not this week. And above all, most people on the boards don't know who Robin Chang is - and it would be a shame that someone who worked so hard to put on good shows and keep a low profile would only be known by one negative event.
