1999 Jan Tana (Intro)
By Jabber


Well, this was the show that almost wasn't for me.  Due to a myriad of
health issues I'd had to deal with starting the week before, and only now
seemingly under control, I was SO close to pulling the plug on this whole
trip.  Plus a small case of food poisoning caused me to miss the banquet,
too.  Oh well.

Otherwise, I was glad I made the effort, regardless of if I would've enjoyed
it better (not to mention I would've been a bit more fun to be around ) if
feeling better.  From the moment my little dipsy-doodle flight (from
DFW-Atlanta with two stops) was on its last leg (from Atlanta to Roanoke), I
knew I was in the right place.

On that leg of the trip, both Renee O'Neill and "Ropeman" were on the same
plane as me.  It was interesting jabbering to a slightly heavyset female
(obviously a non-bodybuilding fan but Roanoke resident) on the plane about
the upcoming show.  She seemed interested in hearing about it nonetheless
(she started the conversation).

There were the following "events":

Friday evening IFBB Fitness and Women's Bodybuilding Prejudging
Saturday morning NPC Fitness and Bodybuilding Prejudging
Saturday early afternoon IFBB Men's Master's Bodybuilding Prejudging (did
not attend)
Saturday late afternoon NPC Fitness and Bodybuilding Finals
Saturday evening IFBB Fitness and Bodybuilding Finals
Saturday late evening Banquet (did not attend)

With apologies to Ed Sullivan, on with the shoe...