Bill Morrison
January 2004
Click here for past editorials
Well.... Happy New Year everyone!! I have a lot to say....
UPDATE Jan22:
I received bad news last night that one of Strongman Competition's
biggest fans, Katrina Williamson of the U.K., had passed away on Jan. 16th after a
courageous battle with cancer. Katrina loved watching Strongman games on the
television with her husband
Andrew.
Katrina proved that you do not have to lift a weight to be a "strong" person. As
Andrew says, "Her strength and courage was admirable." The photo of Andrew and
Katrina at left was of them having their wedding vows renewed on Nov. 15th,
2003. Katrina arranged the church, cake, car, flowers, party, food,bell
ringers, etc.. all in two days from her hospital bed... after having been told
she would not live more than one week.
Heavy Sports and the Williamson family is grateful to
Mr. Hugo Girard
for the autographed picture he sent Katrina and to Mr.
Alan Black for arranging it. It meant a great deal to them.
Our thoughts are with the Williamson family during these difficult times.
I can't believe another year has come and gone so quickly. It was a big year for Heavy Sports Inc. and 2004 looks to be even better. We introduced our online magazine or E-Mag last year and it was an instant hit with many readers. The articles by Curtis Dennis Jr. , Guy Grundy and others were very inspiring and I even had a few top powerlifters calling me to raise hell if they weren't happy how they were portrayed or didn't get enough coverage.
We
also introduced our own line of heavy-duty hand grippers--Heavy
Grips !! The grippers are made of cast aluminum handles machined with a
light knurl and topped off with a heavy duty spring that is available in five
different strengths. The grippers were so popular that we sold out of two of the
levels in just two months and are waiting for inventory. In only a short time
the Heavy Grips made it around the world to many countries including an order to
a chain of stores in Sweden called Budo
and Fitness. Although we're out of most grippers right now, you can still
get some at APT's Pro Wrist
Straps ,
Ironcompany.com and Fitness
Mania stores in the USA as well as Budo
and Fitness in Europe. We are currently negotiating with a European
distributor who will handle all sales of the Heavy Grips outside North America
so the shipping time won't be as long for foreign customers.
Heavy Sports is proud to sponsor Heavy Grips™ for the
2004 California Pro-Am Strongman Competition hosted
by Mr. Ron Sterk of Strength Mania at
www.strengthmania.com . What makes this event even more special is that some
of the proceeds will be going to help the families of soldiers who are MIA and
POW's. More info is below or click on the poster at left.
For 2004 we are adding a new segment to our E-mag featuring a different athlete each month. It's going to be called.....you guessed it... "The Athlete of the Month!" To qualify for athlete of the month, send in some good pics(under 40k) as well as an interesting athlete profile. You can send info on yourself or someone you know who competes or trains in a sport involving strength and power. We believe the guy or gal who works out in their garage or basement, or flips tires around in their backyard for fun deserves as much credit as professionals, so send us your info! click here for more info on the athlete of the month.
The
first ever Heavy Sports 'Athlete of the Month' is
Albert Yodakis from New Jersey. As his
wife Janeen says, "Albert's a civil engineer by day, a gym monster at night!".
That's what Heavy Sports is all about. Click on the picture on the right to read
Al's profile. Keep training Heavy Al !!
I
just finished watching a Strongman documentary featuring Canada's own Hugo
Girard along with fellow competitors and friends
Jessen Paulin
and Travis Lyndon. The documentary was filmed by Alan Black of 'Top of the World
Productions' and it really is a must-see for all strongman and strength
enthusiasts alike. My wife walked in the door as Hugo was easily flipping over a
car and was also enthralled by his super-human strength.
Mr. Black sums up his film perfectly:
"STRONGMAN" is a personal, intimate, and unique look at Hugo Girard, one of the
strongest men on the planet. It reveals Hugo's deepest motivations, desires, and
secrets. We follow Hugo from the gym, to
"North
America's Strongest Man". Along the way, we get a glimpse of Hugo's
relationships with his wife, with his fellow athletes, and with the sport that
he is determined to conquer. "STRONGMAN" is a film about passion, determination,
hard work, and strength. It is a movie about a strongman the likes of which we
have never seen before; and may never see again.
Click here for
information, trailer, pictures and an opportunity to purchase the video in DVD
or VHS from Top of the World Productions.
Update: We are now selling the "Strongman" documentary in DVD format: Click here
for pricing and details.
For those
that watch "Strongman" they will notice that during the North American
Championships there were very few spectators. I wrote an article a few years ago
about "Strength Athletes-Getting
the respect they deserve?" When I see guys like Hugo, Jessen, Travis and the
others pouring their hearts and souls into their strongman training for little
more than pride and achieving personal goals I remember why I started Heavy
Sports in the first
place.
Whenever you see a professional hockey, basketball, football or baseball player
holding out for $12 million because $10 million isn't enough, think of the
strength athletes who compete out of heart, because they love their sport. I've
never heard of "too many" strength athletes holding out for more money!!
I say "too many" because the late
Big
Rick Zumwalt who starred as Bull Hurley in "Over the Top", the armwrestling
movie with Sylvester Stallone, once told me he organized a strike during an
armwrestling competition around 20 years ago after a sponsor backed out. Many
people probably don't know that
Big
Rick was a union organizer for the Teamsters before he became a movie star!
That explains the strike!
Bill Soberanes and Dave Devoto
Motto: "Raw Strength and Courage"
Speaking of Armwrestling, my friend and mentor, Mr. Dave Devoto (whom incidentally ended that Arm Wrestling Strike) of United States Armsports at www.armwrestling.com has informed me just today that he has armwrestling.tv up and running on the net!! For those that don't know Dave, he was one of the original founders of the organized sport of armwrestling as we know it today. Dave joined up with the late Bill Soberanes in 1962 to put together the first World's Wrist Wrestling Championships in Petaluma, California.
The
sport of Armwrestling really came of age when Dave contracted with ABC's 'Wide
World of Sports' which broadcast the championships held yearly at Petaluma. The
Petaluma tournament was so popular that Charles Schulz of Peanuts did 11 comic
strips where Snoopy was practicing his techniques to go to the championships in
Petaluma. Click here for more
history on the sport of Arm Wrestling.
As I mentioned earlier, Dave is at it again with a great new
idea that will revolutionize the sport of armwrestling.
Armwrestling.tv has streaming
online Arm Wrestling video and it is a great opportunity for those that have
never had the chance to see an armwrestling match watch some of the best matches
of all time. Armwrestling.tv also
enables armwrestlers to send in footage of their matches and it will be
broadcast or streamed as I think it's called on Armwresting TV!!
Dave has had this in mind for years now and was just waiting for the technology
to catch up with this great idea. I wonder what Dave will come up with next? If
there is a way to promote the sport of armwrestling, Dave will not only find it,
but pour his heart and soul into it just like the other strength athletes I
mentioned earlier. Did I mention that Dave has streaming arm wrestling of David
Letterman?!?
For all the armwrestling information you will ever need to know including
Q&A, tournaments, World Championship DVD's and many other stuff visit United
States Armsports at www.armwrestling.com
.
Upcoming Big Events :
-
The Arnold Classic ----Everything you can imagine. From bodybuilding to fitness, to powerlifting and armwrestling. California's new governor has put it all together for us! March 5 to 7, 2004. Columbus Ohio. Call Ticketmaster at 614-431-3600
-
2004 California Pro-Am Strongman Competition -- May 15, 2004. Riverside California. March Field Air Museum. Some proceeds are going to help the MIA-POW Families Organization. For more information on this great event, contact Ron Sterk at (909) 765-2739 or by email at sterkravingmad@verizon.net or click on the poster on the right.
-
Michelob Ultra Presents the 2004 West Coast Pro-Am Armwrestling Championship ---Over $25 000 in cash and prizes along with food, drinks, music and an old fashioned "chili cookoff"! Saturday April 17th, 2004. Santa Clarita California. If you're an armwrestler, don't miss this one! Too many time to mention world champion John Brzenk will be competing against all comers in an armwrestling challenge that pays out $3000 to the first person to beat him (good luck on that one...)
'til next time: "Live Strong and Healthy!"
Bill Morrison(straw hat)
Heavy Sports Inc. President