2009 Mr. Olympia antics – Good Cop/ Bad Cop
I’ve been waiting to talk about this for awhile. Millard Baker has been conspicuously absent from the Internet, and although this story involves him, he’s chosen not to blog about it for long enough that I think it’s fair game.
Millard had purchased VIP tickets to the Mr. Olympia contest, after he had his access to press passes revoked by Jim Manion, the guy who is effectively the head of both the American arm of the International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB) and National Physique Committe (NPC), in response to his writing about the connection between the IFBB and anabolic steroids. The “connection,” if you were wondering, is that there would be no IFBB as it is known today without anabolic steroids. Specifically, Millard wrote:
Jim Manion called me and flat out told me my press credentials would be revoked indefinitely as a result of an article i wrote on Mesomorphosis.com prior to the Arnold connecting steroid use with the IFBB. I asked why. He explicitly told me that I was not permitted to write anything that connected anabolic steroids with the IFBB/NPC.
Jim Manion (L) and Lee Thompson (R) shown relaxing at the 2009 Mr. Olympia contest
The interesting thing here is the idea that a.) Jim Manion thinks he is in a position to dictate what people can write about his steroid-laden organization and b.) that he thinks people don’t know that the IFBB and NPC are completely drug fueled. It must be nice to live on his planet…
Then, Millard went ahead and published yet another article connecting the IFBB/NPC - specifically NPC chairman Lee Thompson being busted on anabolic steroid charges…he also joined in the fun when the IFBB/NPC attempted to cover up the details of the indictment, not only criticizing them, but asking them to take a stand on the steroid issue, instead of towing the company line. Around that same time, Millard went on Off-Topic, a bodybuilding centered podcast hosted by Aaron Singerman, and openly criticized Jim Manion and much of the IFBB/NPC.
Then the fun began…
Lee Thompson reached out to Millard, and told him that he intended to become an advocate for steroid law reform once the charges were dropped or he was found not guilty – and then he gave Millard complimentary front row seating at the Europa. Aaron Singerman , who had also written an article about Lee’s arrest for SteroidTimes.com received similar treatment according to his Twitter account which said on August 28th, 2009:
Just got back from the weigh-ins… Took pics of the BBers. Lee Thompson made Amy and I feel welcome… Thanks Lee!
It would seem that Lee is the “good cop” in this scenario…
Because not long afterwards, I got wind that Aaron was denied press passes for the next bodybuilding contest he had planned to attend, and that the word came down from the top – Jim Manion himself. But the coup de gras was when Millard went to the Mr. Olympia contest, having purchased a rather pricey VIP ticket for himself. In Millard’s own words (err…tweets):
- September 25th, 11:02 PM: Jim Manion makes effort to kick me out of Olympia prejudging during show. Doesn’t like it that i have front row seat.
- 11:05 PM: Manion has security ask me to leave since i don’t have press pass. But i have VIP pass. Oops. Security leaves me alone.
- 11:11 PM: Security returns with revised message from Jim Manion: will not kick me out of Olympia as long as i dont take photos.
- 11:15 PM: Ask for clarification of Jim Manion’s no photo rule in VIP section. Explicitly told the rule only applies to me in the VIP section.
Naturally, people with VIP tickets are allowed to take all the photos they want, and of course, everyone in that section but Millard was allowed to take photos. In fact, when Muscular Development was denied press passes, they frequently bragged about the ease at which they were able to take photos from the VIP section, and how good their photos came out.
All of this is at least moderately interesting to me, as the IFBB/NPC is clearly attempting to play some kind of “Good Cop/Bad Cop” routine. I guess the next contest is the Arnold Classic, which the now-indicted Lee Thompson is slated to be on the judging panel for…we’ll see what develops…I wonder who will be the good cop and who will be the bad cop this time around. I’m very curious to see how handing out all of this VIP treatment plays out for Thompson…and how the bullying plays out for Manion.
Stay tuned.
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