Intro by -jabber I made the now customary pilgrimage from my current hometown of Dallas to Columbus, Ohio (home of the Lorimer Classic - oops that doesn't have a great ring to it now) on Continental via Houston. Once I got to Houston, I realized I was in the right place as I saw miscellaneous fit folks on the plane and some non-fit ones who I know are involved with this stuff. J I recognized Ralph DeHaan, who I never talked to before, we talked about Threshold Video, shows, and so forth. Also, on the plane, of note was Sharon Robelle, who with the orange tint of her skin and even more orange tint of her hair I assumed was going to be in the show - if so, this would've been her first Pro show - after winning the heavyweight class at the '99 Nationals in Orlando. She wasn't in the show, never found out what was up with that? Columbus, although this show was a week earlier than last year, was atypically going through quite a warm spell. Friday and Saturday, it hit the mid 70's! Then Sunday, still warmer than usual, it only hit a high in the mid 50's. I wonder if the presence of so many hot bodies in Ohio's Capital City caused the warming trend. Plenty of muscular exposed limbs that weekend, so I was happy. About the Expo: This year, because last year was so darn crowded, they decided to move the Expo itself from adjoining Veterans Memorial Auditorium (where it was in previous years) to the much larger Convention Center. I'd been to the Convention Center last year, since concurrently the Auto Show and the Expo were the same week. This year, evidently the Auto Show caused the Expo to need to be bumped up a week - hmm, mere autos have more pull then "Arnold"? Anyway, I was looking forward to this much more spacious Expo, as last year, it was difficult to walk around with so many big bodies in the building (and I'm just talking about the fitness girl's silicone here - JUST KIDDING). The Friday evening FBB and Fitness Finals was in the Auditorium (like last year) as well as the Men's Prejudging and Finals on Saturday (of course I didn't go to them), and all other events were at the Expo (including the Kickboxing Finals Saturday evening which I did attend). But the first thing that crossed my mind when I walked into the "spacious" Convention Center is that it was a spittin' image inside of the hall adjoining Veterans in previous years! The booths were pretty much in the exact same place, stage layout (for the FBB and Fitness Prejudging), that I had a sense of déjà vu. In fact, I mentioned to a couple others, remember the Steve Martin movie, "The Jerk"? Where at the end he rebuilt a house EXACTLY like it was before? Sheesh! Well, maybe the aisles were 8 inches wider than last year, but I think some bodybuilders were also 8 inches wider than last year. J Anyway, I'll review the Fitness show briefly, then the FBB show (there were two weight classes for the first time in the Pro's - was supposed to be three - but I guess this was just a great precursor to show how wishy-washy the IFBB will be with judging criteria, among other things). I'll also mention "some" notables seen at the Expo. I will not be reviewing the Kickboxing finals, as there was simply one female match, but seeing Kathy Long ringside, and just being in a great ringside seat was great for me. My first experience covering an "action" type sporting event (but Kelly Ryan's fitness routines are so action-packed, maybe I can't even say that). Oh, and just for you guys, although as usual, the majority of pics I took was contest coverage, I DID take more Expo pics than before. Just for you guys! J Stay tuned. On with the shows?