Muscle Radio – the first show – some notes. While I didn’t have time to listen to it all, wanted to hear how Larry Pepe sounded, and if it would be different from Pro Bodybuilding Weekly.
Larry Pepe started by wishing everybody a Happy Mother’s Day. Steve Weinberger was waiting on the line – as Phil Heath won the Colorado Pro show yesterday and Steve was there to give some of his analysis on that. The first thing Larry wanted his audience to know iis why they start at 4:05. It is because the studio is run like an AM radio station. Every top of the hour – they run a live feed for five minutes, usually of current news. Larry said the show will be interesting – as you will hear in the second segment. It is about usually training segments – not just about bodybuilder’s lives. The scoop section is where there will be updates – contest results – articles. There will be a past show area on the site since 80% of the people do not listen to a radio show live. They call it it On-Demand Replay.
Talked about how Rick Collins – an IFBB laywer – a steroid lawyer – has agreed to be on the show whenever he is needed. Rick is also a criminal defense lawyer. Larry Pepe used to be a lawyer too. Also, Steve Weinberger is also part of the team. Both Larry and Steve were National NPC Judges. Steve owns a gym with Bev Francis.
Regarding the incident that Steve was involved with a trainer and a punchout, Steve said “The trainer wasn’t happy with his athletes callouts – we spoke – someone I knew – turned around – got hit from behind. After that – situation of a situation – and everything is fine right now. I like to think of myself as a peaceful person.”
Steve Weinberger on Gary Strydom. Gary looked terrific, skin was tight, still holds great muscle, it was amazing, condition was excellent, been away for 10 years, looked like he hasn’t posed in a while. His back was a problem, looks liked it still is.
Tryo Alves. I think he needs a rest, a little burnt out. Not as hard as he usually is. He is dangerous when he is on. He needs a break. He may not even do the Olympia, he needs a break.
Regarding the Colorado Pro Show: This was a first time pro show, I have to take my hat off to Shawn Ray, the lighting was perfect, the stage was nice, it was an absolute class act. Bob Chicherillo and Dan Solomon were a great team to use as emcees. Next year they are doing it again on June 1st.
Regarding Bill Wilmore – He looked excellent. Better than he was when he won the Nationals. It was a tough top 5 to break.
Regarding Marcus Haley – 4th. It was a coin toss between Bill Wilmore and Marcus Haley. They were neck in neck.
Regarding David Henry – He is always dialed in – stage presence was perfect – very polished. He is really a professional.
Regarding Phil Heath, Phil was 100% on the money. He was dialed in perfect, flawless, conditioning was perfect, skin quality was perfect. Symmetrical is perfect, his back is wide in comparison to his waist.
Regarding Darrem Charles, Darrem looked great, could have been a little been tighter. They were close, but Phil Heath beat all mandatories against Darrem.
Regarding the NY Pro next week, other athletes that should compete there include King Kamali, Dennis James, Alex Federov, George Farah, and many of the guys from the Colorado Pro.
Does Heath win next week? Steve said “I am not a betting man, I am just a judge”
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The second part of the hour, originally we expected to have Phil Heath on the show.
Larry said “I know you were expecting to hear from Phil Heath – but I got cold cocked, like Steve Weiberger did in Colorado. I am not thrilled about it, but not devastating. I am sorry to not have him here. I didn’t get any phone calls from anybody on this. I did get an email from Peter McGough saying that due to contractual obligations, Phil can’t appear on the show, but that was via email this morning. I will always take the high road… but I don’t think taking the high road doesn’t mean telling the truth.
Regarding Phil Heath, and my claims on the website. As of 3am this morning, everything was ready to go. A friend of mine was with Phil and everything was confirmed, everything set. I was in shock this morning when I found out that I didn’t have a guest for the premier show. I won’t let anyone make me sound or look like a liar. I have been around this sport for a long time, I know the politics.
I made sure that the powers that be in the IFBB and NPC were not opposed to the show in advanced. I spoke to Peter McGough on it, told him that the guest was going to be Phil Heath, had a great conversation, told him it was not a Musclemag Productions, and that Sprayflex owns it. I invited him to come on the show which he agreed to do, and put links on the website. It came as a total shock to me today when I got that email.
I did appear on Probodybuilding Weekly about a month ago regarding changing the Mr. Olympia to have weight classes. I have nothing but respect for Dan Solomon, but do I think there will be one internet radio program? No! There may be 5 or 10 radio shows in the future. Had some conversations about doing some things together, but I found out I can do my own thing in a studio near my house, I would have full ownership of the show, wouldn’t have any sponsors to be accounted to. I called Dan directly, told him that it would be best to do something on my own. We only had 2 conversations. Talked to Bob Cicherillo also about it too.
I am questioning the other sponsor of ProBodybuilding Radio. I don’t know if Muscletech is going to have an issue with their athletes coming on Muscleradio.com, now that AMI/Weider has blocked all of their athletes. At the end of the day, I can guarantee you that we will have many athletes who want to come on and talk about their training, whatever they want, etc. Also have the judges, and many others. What does the audience want to have? Larry Pepe has committed for six months on what to do? I want to have suggestions, and we will have real talk bodybuilding radio soon.
