Editorial by Juan Carlos Lopez

Still surprises me how many people read the editorial, left and right men and women talk to me about what I write here, this together with Misty Green's "Ask Misty" most be the most read columns.

So the aftermath of the Arnold has come, we have waited for the Arnold weekend to be over in order to put out this issue. The reason is that there is way too much to cover and little time to edit things. For sure we have tons of more coming for the April issue but show coverage will be dry. It seems that shows are now in bulk, the Ironman, Sacramento and Arnold all weekend after weekend.

So who gets her pro card now?

A list was compiled by Misty Green to see who was a likely candidate for it. I know a couple names that will turn pro but shouldn't say anything and those of you who know me personally will hear it from me. It takes a lot more than just a good physique or even politics don't matter that much sometimes. Anyone with a good physique can get their pro card and it will be proven this year.

I would venture and say sometimes we can call on who gets their pro card. Specially if their momentum is building per show. Those that did well at the Arnold amateur might be finding themselves as top 5 on stage at any given National show. Those that made a poor appearance might not even crack top 15. The worst is a top 5 competitor presenting themselves out of shape and then going into a show like the Arnold Amateur, their momentum will go down. Judging panels might have been different for this past show but word gets around of who was in shape and who wasn't.

Arnold Amateur

So many competitors have been looking for pictures of the show and indeed there aren't many given that most photographers covered the Pros that day. It was the first time an NPC sanction was given to the Arnold and you have to give props to the promoters for being so aggressive but the reality is that they probably need more people to help them out in organizing it. Many NPC competitors felt they were on the back burner and the show lacked coverage. Some competitors really wanted to watch the pro competitors that same day. The Brehm room is very small and had plastic chairs setup to watch the fitness routines and a few other classes in their one/two piece round. The main stage could have been ideal for everything but timewise the show could have been planned earlier and get the pros come in later. But you just don't want to disturb the time schedule regarding the pros so the NPC show will not exist anymore for next year or it will be more organized.

We hope that the promoters can fix this and somehow have this show in conjunction with the Pros. But if you want to keep the Arnold as it was before I think most people would be fine as well. Monetarily it was like getting the income from a National level show which probably is good for the federation but we all have to realize that we have to do what is best for the competitors who put in all their hard work and want to get recognized.

One last detail to notice was the number of NPC competitors who signed up and then dropped out from the competition due to not being able to hold the diet. At least 10 or maybe more did not compete and the reality is that the competitive season is so long that doing this show is killing yourself. Most women will prefer to save their money and hold a diet for Nationals where they can obtain the coveted pro card.

Back to Issues