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I'm not keeping my mouth shut anymore! Part 2 – the update |
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3 March 2010
As of this morning things seems to be looking up and an understanding seems to have been reached with regard to the Shameen classic debacle. Shameen called me this morning to blow off some steam. We had it out with each other and it seems that there is a lot of political bullshit going around, which inevitably resulted in his silence toward me. If this had been properly communicated to me we could have resolved it very easily with a simple phone call.
According to Shameen, shortly after the IFBB Samson's Classic in KZN last year, Mervyn Hannie and Sydney Booysen returned home to Cape Town and reported that the reason they didn't qualify in the top six at that show (even though a few weeks earlier they were crowned IFBB SA champions) was because I said to them that the IFBB was pissed off that they entered Shameen's Night of Champions show the week prior. What they should have divulged when they returned home, instead of crying like sore losers is the fact that I came up to them both and told them that they were both out of contest condition. As much as Mervyn's mother wanted to kill me for saying it, it's how I felt!
The truth is that they didn't deserve to get a place in the top six. The standard of conditioning at the IFBB Samson's Classic was brilliant and anyone that didn't bring their A-game got punished – pure and simple. The judging panel at the Samson's Classic was also completely different from that of IFBB SA's and I can tell you right now that not one of the judges from that evening knew or cared what shows they had won before stepping on to stage that night to be judged. The IFBB President, Gavin Conlon even pulled them aside and told them outright that if they went to the IFBB World Championships looking like they did at the Samson's Classic, they would be horrified with their placings, and in fact shouldn't even bother getting on the plane if they intended to compete as they were. So on numerous occasions, both Mervyn and Sydney were told that their condition was off, but why they had to go back to Cape Town with a politically motivated agenda, making the statements they did is beyond me. Sometimes, as athletes you need to swallow your pride and admit that you didn't prepare properly, plain and simple. Rather have the balls to admit your condition was off than start a campaign of bullshit.
I have no interest in who competes for who and where they compete. Why should I care? If I didn't like a federation and I felt it was bad for the sport then wouldn't I simply choose to rather ignore the federation I disagree with and promote only those I believed strongly in? It is also not my job to dictate how the sport should be run in South Africa. It's my job to take the good, enhance it and try and defeat the negative aspects of our sport so that, at the end of the day the best interests of the sport are kept at heart.
Shameen and I went on to discuss a few more issues and we both vented our frustrations. We agreed on some things and agreed to disagree on others, but all in all we concluded that the best way forward is to continue to support one another and that's what we intend to do. After all, the best interests of bodybuilding in South Africa is what counts, nothing else... |
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I'm not keeping my mouth shut anymore! |
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2 March 2010
Since Shameen Adams' “fallout” with the IFBB, due to the announcement of his life ban with the federation in 2009, I have tried numerous times to get in touch with him. I have probably left three or four voicemail messages with him over the past few months, to which I have yet to receive a reply. What did I do? If you know maybe you can tell me, because I sure as hell don't. It is however very clear that he doesn't want to talk to me. Although public knowledge to anyone that knows how to look for information on the Internet, Shameen's life ban was never publicised in Muscle Evolution for the simple reason that I didn't want to expose his ban and wave it in the air as if it was “hot off the press” news. I have a huge amount of respect for the guy and I didn't want to throw him into the public eye as a banned athlete – he doesn't deserve that. He has represented our country at the IFBB World Championships on numerous occasions and will always be one of the greatest physiques that South Africa has ever seen. It's just a pity that he drew the wrong ball out of the pillow case one too many times and ended up paying the ultimate price.
The reason for wanting to get in touch with him is pretty simple. Apparently he has a DVD of the 2008 IFBB SA Muscle Evolution Grand Prix, which is the only copy – hence my desperation to get hold of him, as I want to put it up on our new website and start marketing the show for 2010.
With nowhere left to turn I decided to call “Shameen's Supplement Mecca” - a store in Claremont, Cape Town that he owns. Riad Adams runs the store in the afternoon and he answered the phone. I mentioned to Riad that I needed a copy of the DVD quite urgently, to which he mentioned that he would chat to Shameen and see what he could sort out. Two weeks later with no return phone call I decided to make another courtesy call to check up on the DVD of the show. Riad was surprised that Shameen hadn't called me and said that he would ask Shameen again. We then chatted a bit, because I've always liked Riad, he is a humble guy and I respect people like that, so I mentioned to him that I am looking forward to coming down to Cape Town to cover both the IFBB Cape Classic, as well as the WFF-WBBF Shameen Classic. That was when things took a turn for the worst. I was notified that I could visit the show with pleasure, but unfortunately I would not be allowed to give coverage of the event due to the fact that an opposing magazine had “exclusive” rights.
I felt slapped in the face. For the past seven years I have supported, promoted and sang nothing but praise for Shameen and his athlete status in South African bodybuilding. We would often chat and come up with great ideas, which would result in me booking flights to Cape Town to do Township Training articles, where we would spend the entire day driving around some of the local townships in Cape Town to promote bodybuilding and put together heart-felt articles with the aim of developing the sport further in these poorer areas... And then, all of a sudden I am not “allowed” to cover his event since his move to another federation? Something fishy was going on...
Clearly pissed off, I called the President of the WFF-WBBF, Tommy du Rand and shared my feelings with him. I've known Tommy ever since I started publishing and I have always had the utmost respect for what he has done for South African bodybuilding. He draws huge crowds here in Johannesburg and he has a true passion for our sport.
He mentioned to me that the show was already set up before it had become affiliated with the WFF-WBBF. However, this didn't answer the burning question, which I intended to pose to Shameen and find out why he doesn't want South Africa's number 1 bodybuilding magazine to cover the event. I was told that the opposition magazine had “bought into” the show and was sponsoring quite a few line-ups. What really irks me is this narrow minded approach, which will only serve to strangle the media exposure this sport so badly needs to thrive and grow. To exclude Muscle Evolution, the biggest bodybuilding magazine in the country with the biggest following and community support is sheer madness and will only hurt the sport in the long run. Communication also seems to be a problem in that, by Tuesday evening (before I took any action) I had yet to receive a call from Shameen, explaining to me that I am not allowed to cover the event. By strangling your reach by limiting media exposure you inevitably cut short the effect that your show can have on the sport and the industry.
Sitting behind my desk I realised that it was time to speak out. In seven years of Muscle Evolution I had steered clear of political drama, kept my mouth shut and never “made waves” - well those days are over, and now that I have a place to blog and share my feelings, I'm going to do just that. I decided to log into my Facebook account and posted the following: Andrew Carruthers is disgusted to report that Muscle Evolution will not be covering the WFF-WBBF Shameen Classic. After years of media support to Shameen Adams, Muscle Evolution are not welcome to cover the event due to other media interests. This is completely unfair on the athletes that wish to be featured in the magazine. I hope that the athletes taking part will express their disappointment to the organisers.
The word disgusted is pretty strong, but it's a true reflection of my feelings at that time. Within minutes I was inundated with responses by athletes, participants, judges, chairmen and chairladies, and everyone else who shares a common interest in South African bodybuilding. You see, when athletes find out that they are going to miss out on an opportunity to get featured nationally in our magazine they tend to get a little pissed off, and rightfully so.
As I write this, my Facebook page is growing with interest and comments are flying in, showing their support for Muscle Evolution. I've never used my position as Editor-in-Chief of this magazine in this manner before, but times are changing, and if politics are what some people want, then I am quite happy to turn myself into a politician for the sake of the sport. I love bodybuilding, and I refuse to sit back and let shortsighted thoughts bring the incredible potential of our sport to a halt. The athletes are what make our sport great, and anyone who thinks that they can dictate the sport in ways that don't suit its growth is horribly mistaken...
The amazing response and outcry we have received from the industry has shown me, without a shadow of doubt that Muscle Evolution is the voice of the South African bodybuilding community - and believe me, we're going to start putting it to good use. |
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Not everything is within your control.
Putting together a great online bodybuilding experience (which hopefully you'll agree is the case with our new look website, which you are currently reading) doesn't just happen overnight. There have been many challenges and some valuable learnings that I will take from this whole experience. What I have learnt through this whole process is that having an idea of what you want to provide for South Africa's bodybuilding fanatics and actually being able to realise that vision are two completely different things altogether.
Why? You might ask... Well, in all honesty, unless you are the person conceptualising and holistically planning all the ideas you want on your website, being the guy in control of the “look and feel” of the idea, as well as the one developing the platform and the website's digital capabilities, then you fall victim (as I did) to being at the mercy of those that actually know the “code”, can key in all the “figures”, punch in all the “digits” and actually turn your ideas and mental images from computer based text into a real life experience.
To put it simply, it's kinda like playing Pictionary - you can only draw so much and your drawings can only be interpreted in so many ways. Another perfect example would be racing a really fast car around a racetrack while sitting in the passenger seat, expecting the driver to perform a lap in exactly the same way you would – but achieving this by only listening to your verbal commands. I think you get the picture.
More often than not, the way you are interpreted doesn't fully represent the initial idea you conceptualised. What I have learnt through this process is that the key to bringing your vision to life is working with the experts in their respective fields that are assisting you on the project by allowing open and healthy debate, and adopting a willingness to compromise on creative interpretations and differences in opinion and direction. By doing so you will more often than not be pleasantly surprised with a result that may surpass even your highest expectations...
One thing is for sure though, as the custodian of the idea you can never let it go and hope it comes back to you the way you want it. Being possessed by the will to make my idea a success comes with a fair amount of suffering, torment and frustration due to the pressure I place upon myself to get the job done, and get it it done right. I suppose it's a built-in mechanism that pushes me continually until the job or the idea has been fulfilled. So, as tormenting and persistent the will to succeed may be, we have to credit it with the fact that without it most ideas would simply never become a reality. As far as I'm concerned, a dream is a idea that never breathed life - and everyone has ideas, but very few ideas are ever realised.
Remaining excited and motivated throughout the initial stages of setting up this website, which we hope will be considered innovative and original in the industry, was also quite difficult. Just like the transformation of the human physique, motivation and the will to continue, persevere and pursue even greater success comes from achieving smaller milestones, which all ultimately add up to creating the envisaged end product. Nothing motivates me more than witnessing progression, no matter what the subject or task at hand. When effort is translated into a result, and a positive one at that, the knock on effect is renewed and often invigorated motivation to continue seeing the idea through to the end.
But no matter how motivated we are and how much we believe we are in control of things, there are often factors that influence the outcome which are outside of our control. This is when we need the fortitude to accept the fact that we unfortunately don't always hold the remote control of our destiny. Looking at it now, I don't really believe this to be a bad thing, because the more diverse and interactive the ideas are that surround a concept the better. Why restrict the potential of the end result (in this case the website) by restricting the amount of minds influencing the final outcome?
The lesson I have learnt throughout the creation of this website is that you must concentrate on and succeed at things that are within your control and let go of those that aren't. For all those elements of life that are beyond your grasp or understanding, just hope that whoever is holding the controls has your best interests at heart. |
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