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2015 October - AOBS Reunion Dinner (Part2) - anwnate


anwnate

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Continued from Part 1.

At this point, I wanted to get upstairs to change for the Dinner (shocking since I just about never wear a shirt and tie). Rich Cottrell followed me up, got the promised Blob and walked it to his car. I went into the room and got cleaned up. It was somewhere at this point I found out that the wifey was still pissed at me. Sigh. I did my best to apologize (admittedly I had been a jerk). Soon after we headed downstairs. I handed Hubgeezer the slightly filed #3 to see if he wanted to take it home and file the crap out of it. (see thread on GB) If I may sum up…he grabbed it, manhandled it, made it his bitch…then said that it probably wasn't what he was looking for. Somewhere around this time I met up with.

All polished up (as much as I get), Maureen and I walked into the hall for the "Reception". We met up again with Richard Sorin and joked around a bit, getting a couple of photos while we were at it. BTW…although they were hidden by his shirt…Sorin not only has larger biceps than me, they are the largest I have ever seen in person. I mean, they freakin look like softballs! I made sure his arms were covered when we took the pic. hah. Next I met Jedd and Rich Corttrell again and we snapped a pic for posterity. J

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We eventually headed to the Dinner Room and we got to see the "Rider" table. The Greenstein's were already there. Mike sat across from me next to Chris…whereas Jerry sat to my left.

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Richard was to my right following Maureen. I didn't get to talk to Mike much, but holy crap, Jerry is a funny guy. He was cracking jokes left and right and he AND his wife had quite the quick wit. Maureen and I were looking at them and both thinking the same thing. "I hope we are happy as they are when we get to be their age. I ended up buying a copy of Eric Moss's book, which he was kind enough to autograph. Pretty much had conversations with everyone but Mike and Chris…mostly due to our relative proximity. I snapped a few photos of some surrounding tables.

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To our left and closer to the dais was Slim, Jedd, Pat and Roger…all in a row. Sweet. Although I didn't talk to Bruce Wilhelm, I snapped a little pic from my seat.

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Before Dinner I wandered off and said hello to Rich and Hubgeezer again. We hadn't talked much because we were at opposite sides of the room. Dinner? It was good, considering how many people they had to serve. There was rolls/butter, a starter salad, a mini-pasta vegetable dish, chicken over orzo or something, and cheesecake and coffee towards the end. Nothing to write home about, but certainly on the better end of what I've had at similar functions. I was going to wait until the honoree was done speaking, but it was apparent that he would be there a while and frankly everyone else (including the dais) was already eating. John Decola (honoree) spoke for a while and was amusing, but a good bit of it went over my head because I didn't know the principals involved. After he was done, he took off his coat and did the double bicep pose. Holy crap. I've never seen anyone at 76yo so pumped. (pic later) If I am sparse on the details of the actual speeches please forgive me, and blame Jerry Greenstein for being so freakin funny.

After the Chicken was served, the wife and I headed into the hall for the restrooms. On the way back, I met up with Steve Weiner and Pat Povilaitis. Although I knew Pat through the internet, we hadn't met in person before Saturday. I was struck by the dichotomy he presented. During shows, he's like a beast! I got to say…in person, he was one of the most calm, relaxed guys I met that day. A cool cat indeed. He and Steve were obviously good friends and they were kind enough to include me in the conversation. The AOBS Honoree the one who was there) John Decola (Mr. America 1969) walked by and we all congratulated him. A bit later Jedd, joined in while he was getting warmed up for the performance. We all headed back to the Dinner Room and I kind of ran into John Decola. The wifey grabbed a pic of us and later I caught one of him flexing. UNREAL!

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Finally we got to the performers. Derrick and Karolin Benjamin both did deadlifting. Chad Canter two-hand cleaned and then single hand pressed a loadable circus dumbbell and Jedd did grip feats. They basically followed that order for 4 cycles which gave them all a little rest in between feats. Karolin was 5'2" and 120lbs. Although I'm not sure of the stats, she deadlifted over 2x her bodyweight. I believe Chad did 155,165,175 and 185 with his dumbbell. While impressive, I don't really have the background to know how hard each of those feats were.

However, I did know exactly what Jedd ended up doing and how hard it was. Jedd's already clarified what went down…I'll just add a little flavor. He definitely rose to the moment…and in my NSHO, was the star that evening. While up there, he made audibles…deciding at the last moment to go for things. The double blob curl while holding the INCH in the other hand was particularly impressive. He did the one…then actually paused and went for the second. Ah he completed it, yes…the ROAR came out from him. He owned that moment.

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As you can see in the photo, I thought it particularly fitting that you could draw a line between Dennis Rogers (strongman) and Richard Sorin (strong-man and blob originator) and Jedd would be dead smack in the middle.

During the whole performance, Steve "Mighty Stephan" Sadicario (emcee) kept asking anyone in the crowd if they wanted to attempt it. I made a crack to Richard Sorin that I stayed where I was because I didn't want to show Jedd up. He was again kind to me and said something to the effect that I'd get there. The truth is that there MIGHT (and only might) be a handful of people in the world that could pull that off, and most likely they've been Mighty Mitts contestants.

After that finale…people began their goodbyes and other with the dismantling of the stage. Although at that point I don't know if he needed it, but I helped Jedd load his weapons (heavy shit) into his car. The car promptly dropped two inches. heh. Coming back in, I again chatted with Chris Rider…just picking up an ongoing conversation that may end up lasting for years. After saying goodbye to everyone, the wifey and I headed back to the room. I called down and requested a late checkout. The response? 1p.m. is fine. Score!

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Great write-up Nate! Just read through both and it sounded like a blast!

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Awesome write-ups and pictures Nate! Should be published elsewhere too!

Ha. Thanks man. I don't know about the elsewhere thing. Part of me feels bad that I didn't have a better appreciation for what was going on, but the reality is that it's not exactly set up to bring more people into the fold. This will probably have to change or it will simply die out when it's members do. This is not an attack, just an observation.

Great pics Nate and awesome write-up, sounded like an awesome time!

Glad you enjoyed it Tom. I'm hoping your family will watch the kids next year and you and the wife can take a night off.

Great write-up Nate! Just read through both and it sounded like a blast!

Thanks man. You know what? It really was fun. I walked around in a bit of a daze, but it was really enjoyable.

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Great write up. Sounds liked like a lot of fun. I'll definitely be there next year. I'm really looking forward to it.

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Nice write-up Nate, and good to meet you. Hope things went well go well for you.

Never thought about it before, but although "grip" is just a tiny part of the Big Tent of the Iron Game that is celebrated at the AOBS, it is Grip or Bending that always brings down the house during the dinner show.

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Nice write up Nate and good to see you again as well as Jedd and many others that I have been seeing for many years.

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Nate, It was a pleasure to break bread with you ,the sons of the mighty Atom and the Red Rider himself! Good fellowship followed by Jedd the Deisel man stunning us all grinding out great reps with legit weights and turning it up with the crowds hearty approval of being a true master of Grip. It is nice to see the future of grip in yours and other's worthy, steady hands. Best regards to all that took the time to support their history.

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Nate, It was a pleasure to break bread with you ,the sons of the mighty Atom and the Red Rider himself! Good fellowship followed by Jedd the Deisel man stunning us all grinding out great reps with legit weights and turning it up with the crowds hearty approval of being a true master of Grip. It is nice to see the future of grip in yours and other's worthy, steady hands. Best regards to all that took the time to support their history.

Thanks, Richard.

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Sounds like an awesome time - definately gotta make it next year too!

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I would like to give a special thanks to battle scarred Eric Moss after an eye opening onslaught of 1/2" rebar pieces bent in succession (for time )over the bridge of his nose. Workman- like and strong he motored through the bars. Bent but not broken he was a guest with me at the Red Rider table for the dinner. His well thought out book is on the top of my stack to read. It is a chronicle of Eric's life as he has sought to become as strong or stronger than he looks. I thank him for his effort and hard nosed entertainment . These men are the future of strongmen as we know it.

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Great write up, Mr. Brous. I think you may have brought many more people into the fold by sharing your trip.

Side note: Dude, you're like Santa, delivering blobs to gripsters everywhere you go.

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