THE WORD

According to Paul Dillett

IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, SUCKA?

Sugar Shawn Ray calls it quits from his post as the IFBB Athlete's Representative. The little bastard fought tooth and nail for that job. He had mad struggles to get the backing of all the athletes. THE WORD should know; I voted for him! I really thought he could handle some business once he got in. THE WORD knows Shawn ain't afraid to speak his mind no matter what the consequences. In fact, you can't shut the little guy up.

Now, what did he actually accomplish? For starters, he put up $1,000 for dudes that placed out of the money. That was a nice gesture. There was the $10,000 Best Poser award. THE WORD is on the fence with this one. Did Shawn do it for the sport, or to prolong his own legacy? Back in the day, he was considered one of the best posers. So was it for his own good, or the good of the sport?

But here's the question we really want to know the answer to: Why are you stepping down, Shawn? THE WORD is that he can't overcome all the obstacles put in his path by the powers that be. He claims no one is taking him seriously. Shawn, if no one is listening, it's on you to make them listen. Use that motor mouth of yours and let the athletes know you are working for them.  Tell them you're trying to make changes. It's not about making things better for Shawn Ray, but making things better for the athletes. The athletes have to get his back. If they voted him in, they need to rally behind him. It doesn't matter who he's battling with, be it Jim Manion, Ben Weider, David Pecker, or the magazines. He has the athletes.

THE WORD can't believe Shawn thought he was gonna revolutionize the sport in six months. He's not stupid. It's a given that it was gonna be an uphill battle all the way. I guess he couldn't stand the heat, so he got out of the kitchen. You don't need to go to the athletes' meeting to implement changes.  No way! What you need to do is call a meeting with the necessary people who are in a position to fulfill those demands. You need to talk to the movers and the shakers. If they don't want to meet with him to improve the sport, he needs to get the athletes to boycott the contests. Period! Look at the NHL. Guys are losing millions of dollars because they want changes. They're sticking together to make it happen. They have a player's association that lobbies on their behalf. They meet with the NHL commission and the owners. It works because the players support the association. Well, in bodybuilding, Shawn Ray was the player's association.  

When THE WORD was a young buck, he heard Mike Christian, Gary Strydom and all the other athletes he admired speak on having a union. It was all about making changes. Well, I've left bodybuilding and we're still just talking about it. One dude stepped up to the plate, but the athletes didn't get his back.  It's not about the officials. Screw the officials! It's as simple as pie. No athletes means no sport, no officials. Why would you need officials if there's no longer a sport?

            It's on the athletes to call Shawn and let him know that they got his back.  THE WORD says to Shawn, "Stop being a whiny little baby and be the outspoken bad-ass I truly know Shawn Ray to be!" We've had our differences in the past, but THE WORD is honest enough to admit that Shawn is da man for the job. No one intimidates the little bastard. It doesn't matter if you're 300 pounds, or a deadly martial artist like Flex Wheeler standing one foot away from your face screaming about tearing your head off. It doesn't matter if you're Joe Weider or Ben Weider- Shawn takes all comers. What the hell happened? All of a sudden, when the going gets tough he backs out? No, no, no! That's when you have to fight twice as hard. THE WORD did not vote for this.

            We obviously need to make changes in the sport. Look at the track record of some of our homeboys. Guys come in, compete for a couple of years and then disappear. Or, they get hurt and never make it back. Some of them are selling drugs or doing gay porn just to make a living. THE WORD has to hear about so-and so in the big house, or this person being under federal indictment. Does that sound like the life of a professional athlete?

            Everybody's making money except the athletes. Promoters, supplement companies, magazines, they're rolling in it! Everyone but the actual people that make it possible- the athletes. Bodybuilding needs a complete overhaul.  David Pecker said he was gonna make all these changes to improve the sport.  THE WORD has heard that tune before. It's obvious the changes they're referring to are all about making mo' money for them. It's not gonna benefit anybody but the people who are already making loot off the bodybuilders.  These are businessmen. The bodybuilders won't see a single dime from these monumental changes. 

If you're gonna be the athletes' rep, you shouldn't be on contract with anyone that's affiliated with the IFBB. If that's who pays the bills, how can you fight them? How can you do the best job possible for the athletes if it conflicts with the very federation that pays your bills? You can't. You'll end up half-assing it because you don't want to cross that line and wake a sleeping dawg. THE WORD feels the least Shawn could have done before stepping down was shoot an email to everyone. He should have explained his reasons for leaving and suggested that they find someone else who could serve them better. 

SET THE STANDARD, FOOLS

THE WORD recalls the glory days of women's bodybuilding. They used to be drop-dead gorgeous. Those girls were hot! But then the IFBB had these girls looking like men. They kept getting more and more muscular. Look at the Fitness girls. They have more muscle than the Ms. Olympia contenders in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I exchanged WORDs with a couple of girls who said they didn't want to compete in bodybuilding because it wasn't beautiful anymore. They don't want to have to shave their faces. I couldn't agree more. The lines of the girls' bodies are all hard and masculine.

Who do we blame for all this? THE WORD holds the IFBB responsible.  They're the ones who rewarded the girls who were bigger and harder. That sends a message to the rest of the field. Then all the other girls saw what they needed to look like in order to win. The IFBB should have put their foot down and said that's not what we want. THE WORD sees the writing on the wall for fitness girls, too. The same old thing is happening this very moment. These girls have striations and veins on their stomachs!  What woman wants to look like that? Call me old-school, but a woman needs to have sex appeal. That's what sells. The IFBB tells them they're too small, they need to get bigger. They want the glutes harder. OK, then they're too hard, so they want them softer. It's just flip-flop, flip-flop. The girls are all twisted and turned around. They don't know what the standard is. THE WORD has heard this same complaint for years.

The IFBB has control over the standard they want to see, but they chose to ignore it. And now they can't sell tickets, they can't sell magazines and the girls can't endorse products. That's how twisted it's gotten.

THE WORD used to enjoy women's bodybuilding. I admire the Carla Dunlaps of the bodybuilding world. Now, when I peep a female bodybuilding show, I'm like, ‘Omigod, I wish I could get as hard as these girls.'

The IFBB killed women's bodybuilding. And that's THE WORD!