I had to sit on this one overnight to figure out what truly bothered me about Val’s behavior this weekend. It was not that she goes to the beat of a different drum; God only knows Barbie dances to her own band. From what I watched and listened to, the issues did not start when she stepped on that stage, but when she stepped off the plane. Val acted from the jump like she and only she would be the next Ms. Figure Olympia and consequently everyone should act accordingly. Her behavior towards the other women was disrespectful and rude in her presumption of grandeur. I think she let the shmoe worship (hmmm, why does the name Tre keep ringing through my mind) go to her head and inflate it to a point that she was ready to float away. Even before prejudging I was debating sending a piece of raw meat and thick concealer to her room because I was sure by the end of the night one of the other women were going to pop her in the eye. Even the normally sweet girls were plotting to put glue in her bikini-bite. By press time she was on a role. I think she misread the schedule and thought it was her private press conference. You do not as a rookie (yes, in the scheme of things she is a rookie) grab the microphone and start talking about how you are going to redefine things and take them to a new level. Particularly, do not do this if you are directionally challenged and do not know which direction is up. You absolutely do not do this if you are stepping onto the stage in the condition she was in.
OMG, prejudging!!!! At first I felt sad watching her self destruct. I have been in her corner since the first time I saw her on the stage. She does have superior genetics, but it takes more than good genes to truly be a Pro with a capital P. She was not “high on life” she was high on an ego trip. To be “high on life” would mean that she had some inclination that others existed on this planet besides her. That stage was hot and there were gazillion (ok, only twenty something) competitors on that stage. She took forever strutting her stuff! By the end of the judging I was ready to hand her a pole and tell her the real money is across the street.
IMO it is true that Figure quarter turns are boring. IMO it is also true that there could be a more graceful creative approach to display the beauty and definition of the muscle these women should have. If the IFBB would have some cohunes (whoops, I mean clarity) and admit that figure women should have muscle definition (instead of the bikini babe crap) maybe then they could help in establishing a consistent yet creative way of doing this. If this is what Val was trying to drive home on the stage her approach to it was that of a self engrossed, naive know it all teenagers.
Well, as my grandma (or maybe it was some twelve-step program or maybe it was my bartender) used to say, “This too will pass”. For Val I hope it does. In my heart I believe Val is a good person who got caught up into the egotistical silliness and insanity that this industry can dive people to.
