Vince Basile and The Fixing of The 1970 Mr. Canada -
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Vince Basile explains that it was a shitty contest -
"Melvin and Bob are on a mission to dismiss me any way they can. So they cling to the notion that I won Mr Canada because I was the only competitor. What a load of rubbish. What is true is because it was held in Vancouver for the first time only one competitor from Quebec represented Eastern Canada. No one was from Toronto. So, yes, it was a much depleted lineup but you can win only if you show up. Very few BC guys enterred early Mr Canada contests because of the distance to Quebec where they were usually held because Ben Weider lived there.
Walter Milner and John Mikl who placed 4th and 5th went on to win Mr Canada later on. Philippe Alfani from Montreal came 3rd and Ken Rivard from Vancouver was 2nd. There were 13 judges including Chuck Sipes. I got 8 out of the 13 votes for first so Ken could easily have won that day. I won best poser and best legs and Ken won best arms, back and chest. Walter won best abs and most muscular. We called him cuts in those days. He was from Moosehorn, Manitoba. He died from a fall as a window cleaner. What a great guy he was. There was also a Mr Pacific Northwest Contest that day for people from Alaska, BC, Washington and Oregon. We didn't get many competing so I won that easily. That was a good day for me. You can only imagine the envy that hapless Melvin Goodrum has for anyone who won a national title. Since I bag him regularly on Getbig he is keen to retaliate so questions my victory and suggests I was a heavy drug user. Ha. Even Bob doubts that I took as little as I did. What the hell would that stooge know? Guys like him think they know everything but end up stooges for others who really run bodybuilding. I wouldn't let him sell tickets for a chook raffle in a pub!"
http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=313320.25 .
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Vince picked the judges -
"I picked 15 judges but 13 were there. Ken Rivard got 5 and I got 8 first place votes. I picked intelligent, independent, experienced and unbiased people. Chuck Sipes picked me which I felt good about. It was a close contest and I was surprised that I won."
Post 21 here -
http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=349068.0 .
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Vince admits Chuck Sipes was a (paid?) guest poser -
Post 60 -
"Chuck Sipes was the guest poser. He also put on a strongman display where he bent a steel spike and a steel bar. He had the announcer read out some hype while he was doing his feats. He bent a 6 inch nail by wrapping a small towel around it. Then presto, one bend and it was U-shaped. He then tossed the spike to the audience where it was passed around. Several of us went out and bought steel nails to see how we could go. The 6 inch nail was fairly easy but in fairness to Chuck, he bent it much quicker than any of us. I was able to bend a 7 inch nail after some practice"
Vince had a bone to pick with the second place winner -
Post 69 - "Ken Rivard was a loner. I don't know his background but I used to hang around English Bay Beach in Vancouver and Ken was there occasionally. I knew him from the gym so we were mates. Somehow he turned on me before the Mr Canada and acted rather cocky and ruthless. I would have helped him with his posing but he dismissed me. Things like that got to me and inside I wanted to show him."
Vince was Ray Beck's (contest promoter's) right hand man -
Post 65 -
"Here is the article published in Muscle Builder around 1970. Bob should shake his sorry head but I guess his toupee might fall off! LOL. What does he know about bodybuilding history?
Ray Beck didn't write that article but I did. I put Ray's name there so I wouldn't sound like a big head. I wasn't paid for the article or the photos which cost me something."
Post 77 -
"Ray Beck didn't have much money to promote the contest properly and I think he lost money on the show. Heck, he had to pay the IFBB a big fee, in those days, just to stage the contest. Roz and I helped Ray with the contest and I was working for Ray at the time in one of his gyms. Would you believe he asked me to select the judges! That wasn't easy. I had to find guys who were independent, honest and who had integrity. I picked two guys I knew well."
Snippits taken from this thread -
http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=313320.0 .