Tony Pearson! He won the Nationals in Ohio, I believe. (Or was it further south). I think that was the same year Ronnie Teufel was expected to win but he suffered a major disappointment losing to Tony.
I recall having breakfast with one of the contestants' mom and dad in a pretty fancy coffee shop ajacent to the weigh-in site.
This was the first time these older folks had been to a major contest, so they were kind of bewildered and awestruck by it all.
So we're sitting there having breakfast and Tony walks by either on his way to or from the weigh in, so I shouted, "Good luck, Tony" from across the room.
So he comes walking over and tells me that there is no way that he is gonna lose to Teufel or anyone else for that matter.
And then he drops his pants to show his legs and the whole place (mostly bodybuilders and their fans except for the "older folks" sitting at the table) let out a roar of approval, while the older foks almost choked on their Chock Full O Nuts.
They had never seen anyone drop their pants in a public place, let alone receive a roar of approval.
And they had never seen a pair of legs like Tony's!
I ran into Tony recently (at the Oly, I think) and he looked great.
It might have been that next year or one year later. We were in Atlanta, Georgia and the contest was being held at the Fox Theater which was famous for showing the World Premiere of "Gone With the Wind".
I had an old hillbilly truck and was transfering the guys from the host hotel to the contest site and I must have made about 3 to 4 trips in the process.
As I dropped off my last load, Mike Mentzer came running out of the theater asking me if I had seen his brother Ray. I answered in the negative and told him I'd go look for him and bring him back alive if I was able to find him.
So I run back to the hotel and there he is, just sitting there watching the morning go by with not a worry in the world.
"Let's go, Ray. You're late!"
"OK, thanks! I knew someone would come by and get me if I just sat here and waited!"
And as we drove he told me how well he was gonna do that day. No BS, just sheer confidence. He was gonna take it home.
And sure enough, he did.
Damn! That was a boreing story, huh? Sorry.......