The Ms. Olympia has been the schmoos' holy of holies for the better part of two decades. Ms. O is the queen of the FBBs...a schmoo's dream. Yet, in reality the Ms. Olympia contest is a front for Joe Weider's capitalistic needs. This month that sometimes-subtle truth became painfully apparent to the patron's of Diana's Coffee Lounge.
Early in September the horror of horrors happened. NO, the stockmarket did not crash. NO, the 9.0 earthquake did not hit San Fransisco. NO, Diana the Valkyrie was not consumed in a hostile takeover by the Boomer-led FEMSPORT monolith. No, this month the Ms. Olympia contest was cancelled, apparently due to poor advance ticket sales. That's right, the Schmoo Super Bowl was CANCELLED!
As one would imagine, a castastrophe of this magnitude was the main topic on the lips of chatters this month. Here is some conversation that is representative of that chat...
Warrior - I'm glad to see that life exists without the Ms. Olympia. Diana the Valkyrie - Actually, it could be rather good for FBB... Diana the Valkyrie - It means that FBB is free of the Weider empire... MadScientist - Well, they are free form Ben and Joe, but what are they going to do now?... oriole99 - Well, I have a curious thought about the Ms. O --The Weider Corporation supports the whole bodybuilding/IFBB things, if I recall. Why out of diplomacy are they not saving it?... MadScientist - Thats what they were doing for the past 15 years. I am told the show has never made money since then.... Diana the Valkyrie - Oriole, a lot of people think it's because they want to kill FBB, so that MBB can become an olympic sport.... MadScientist - Diana, I bet they wouldn't KILL female bodybuilding if it weren't half-dead already! MadScientist - If the show was a box office success we wouldn... MadScientist - we wouldn't be speculating about why they canned it! oriole99 - Well, that would be a little ridiculous and unfair..support the males and kill the females?... Diana the Valkyrie - First and only, Oriole. The purpose of MBB and FBB is to sell "supplements"... Diana the Valkyrie - Yes, but they sell "supplements", so they're safe Gwill - With the Ms O cancelled what the competitors should do is all enter the Ms International. It seems to be a strong event... TomNine - The Ms I is the next biggest show, even if it is treated as a minor event in the Arnold Classic. Gwill - Yes and because of the Arnold success the Ms I won't be cancelled most likely... TomNine - Right, the Ms I won't be cancelled. Just marginalized in favor of the MBBs and the fitness girls. Gwill - I would bet Kim C will be entering it this year TomNine - Even the Jan Tana, which is supposed to be about the women, puts most of the prize money and attention towards the Masters Mr O. Gwill - We have to face the fact that we like a small market sport TomNine - Kim C will have to do something. It must be a major disappointment to the women who train all year just for the Ms O and don't do any other shows.... TomNine - It's up to us fans to support the sport better by going to the shows... Diana the Valkyrie - The trouble is, the promoters don't support the fans Gwill - I think FBB needs a media superstar Sometimes inside the blackest cloud is a silver lining. After the cancellation of the Ms. O, the powers-at-be decided to hold the remnants of the schmoos' holy of holies in conjunction with the longstanding New Joisey femuscle event, the Women's Strength Extravaganza. In this writer's humble opinion, the WSE has always treated real femuscle with respect. Despite the WSE's compromising inclusion of a fitness competition, the main focus has been female bodybuilders. They even have the fitness gals compete in strength and endurance events! Even the greedy, narcissistic Weiderfuhren contributed a rumored $50,000 for prize money. So perhaps the catastrophic crucible of change may yield an improved environment for women bodybuilders...TomNine - The WSE is just a week before the Ms O, so most of the women should be closing in on contest shape. I bet several will change their plans. TomNine - FBB hasn't had a media-friendly champion since Cory. Gwill - Is she entering the strenght part of the show TomNine - I have no idea what the promoters are thinking of. TomNine - They already cancelled the FBB strength competition, but WSE added a pro FBB event. Diana the Valkyrie - That part of the show got scrapped Gwill - too bad TomNine - Of course they kept the fitness girl strength show. Stupid stupid stupid!... TomNine - I'm sure they will get some bigger names. The biggest draw for the pro show before was that it was a Ms O qualifier. Now they will be getting real Ms O contenders.... So what will become of women's bodybuilding? Diana certainly has her own ideas...and apparently she read my opinion in last month's Tattler. If you don't remember, check it out: 01.htm at www.thevalkyrie.com . Regardless, here's the Valkyrie's sage advice...Diana the Valkyrie - I'm hoping that FBB cuts loose from the IFBB TomNine - That would be best, let the IFBB chase its own dreams while the women get along with the competitions. Diana the Valkyrie - And I'm hoping that one of the women organises it TomNine - A few influential women and fans could put together something much more interesting than what the IFBB and NPC has been promoting. Diana the Valkyrie - I'd like to see a separate federation, ideally. TomNine - I hated to see Denise Masino on AAWA suggest that everyone write the Weiders. That's the best she could think of? Diana the Valkyrie - That's just a knee-jerk reaction. It'll be followed by some more thoughtful response TomNine - The problem is that there are already plenty of federations. All with their own agendas, none eager to go after the IFBB's hegemony. TomNine - Denise is exactly the type of leader who can help bring the women together. She clearly has a better idea of what the fans and the general public want to see...(Tex asks,"Sexual content, Tom?") Diana the Valkyrie - Yes, but it's a no-brainer now. FBB has to split off from the IFBB TomNine - Is this site taking a position, or will it? Its sponsor money could play a major role. Diana the Valkyrie - I'm encouraging the women (Tex asks,"How Diana?"), the FBBs should take the initiative. If they do, I'll support it. Diana the Valkyrie - If there's a new federation, I'll support it Diana the Valkyrie - But the initiative *has* to come from the FBBs TomNine - That's good. The other players, like WPW, have their own agendas. Diana the Valkyrie - Hey, we all have our own agendas, me included. That's why I think the FBBs should take the inititive, and organise and define the new federation... But I'm too big a human being to say "I TOLD YOU SO"...:-)