Regarding the long number of hours spent as a spectator at the USA Championships ......
I'd say that most of the spectators are there to support friends or family members who are competing, so there is a big rotation of people coming and leaving throughout the contest. Hardly anyone ever stays for the entire event cept for Ron and the officials and others who are somehow involved with the contest.
Even the contestants will get out of there when they are no longer needed.
And ..... based on my personal observations a good number of spectators depart the auditorium once the ladies have completed the prejudging and/or finals stages.
I'm not positive about this but I would say that the ladies 'sell' more tickets (meaning that they put the asses in the seats) than the men themselves do, as once the ladies depart the stage, there seems to be a good number of vacant seats scattered throughout the auditorium.
For you guys and gals who live in LV or plan to be here prior to the contest, the UNLV ticket office is open during the week from 10 - 6 and from 10 - 4 on Saturday (closed Sundays unless there is a show that day) and will be selling USA tickets but expect to pay a bit more than the advertised price as there is some kind of entertainment tax involved. (For instance a $40 ticket will cost you something like $45 and it you order over the phone you have to pay an additional $2.50 telephone usage fee. These figures are estimates based on a recent call to the UNLV box office for another function.
For further ticket details go to ....
http://pac.unlv.eduBut don't forget, you can purchase tickets by referring to the NPC USA Bodybuilding Championships web site or by visiting the ticket sales office during the weigh-ins at the Embassy Suites.
RON - How will they determine the FOUR pro card winners?