‘The Predator’ fell from fourth place in his inaugural Olympia the year before to a disappointing seventh and the two-time Arnold Classic champion took a beating from the critics. In their defense, the Brooklyn, New York native did come in out of shape and had a distended midsection that was noticeable by everyone, including the judges.

Greene sat out this year’s Arnold – a strange decision but one that makes sense in some ways – to concentrate on the O. He seemed to peak earlier in the year since 2009 at the Arnold but now has changed his strategy to get it together six months later. If he knows that he has one shot every 12 months to do some damage, then it would seem wise to move up and go after the big prize.

having already dominated in Columbus, Greene’s career will be completed with at least one Olympia win. But that seemed as unlikely as Barry Bonds eventually being inducted into the Hall of Fame last September. Perhaps the best thing that could have happened to Greene was the shock of a bad showing on bodybuilding’s biggest stage.

There is a lot of pressure on him as far as quieting the critics and putting himself back on the map. Greene’s name has hardly been mentioned and no one is expecting him to be a factor at the Orleans Arena. But he can pull off a stunner and break into the top three by putting together a presentation like the one in Ohio the night he won his first Arnold.

The line-up for the O is stacked with Cutler, Phil Heath, Dennis Wolf, Branch Warren, Ronny Rockel and so many others, so Greene has his work cut out for him. His work ethic has come into question but that would seem ridiculous when you see Greene at his best. He has arguably the best back in the sport and brings a flair that is unmatched to the stage. Greene needs at least a top six placing to get back into the pack but anyone who counts him out of the top three this early has obviously forgotten how much of a difference he made not too long ago.

KAI GREENE’S CONTEST HISTORY

2005 New York Pro – 14th

2006 Iron Man Pro – NP

2006 a Ray Colorado Pro – 14th

2007 New York Pro – 6th

2007 Keystone Pro – 3rd

2007 Colorado Pro – 1st

2008 Arnold Classic – 3rd

2008 New York Pro – 1st

2009 Arnold Classic – 1st

2009 Australian Pro Grand Prix – 1st

2009 Mr. Olympia – 4th

2010 Arnold Classic – 1st

2010 Australian Pro Grand Prix – 1st

2010 Mr. Olympia – 7th

Middleweight (185 pound) superstar and 2008 DREAM Grand Prix tournament runner up “Jacare” Souza (11-2) will collide with hard-hitting sensation Joey Villasenor (27-6) in another featured bout.

The winner of the coveted ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in 2005, the 28-year-old Gracie, a second degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Carlos Gracie, Jr, made history by submitting all eight of his opponents during the tournament, a feat that had never previously been achieved.

The 6-foot-4 Gracie’s submission skills have, thus far, proven their worth in MMA competition. In his pro debut on Dec. 2, 2006, he forced Ron “H20″ Waterman to tap from an armbar and, on May 18, 2008, he submitted Japan’s Yuki Kondo with a rear naked choke. A native of Brazil, Gracie resides in West London, England where he owns and operates The Roger Gracie Academy.

At age 38, Randleman of Columbus, Ohio will attempt to re-enter the win column after two consecutive defeats and reclaim the glory he achieved more than a decade ago when he was crowned UFC heavyweight champion after scoring a knockout on Pete Williams at UFC 23 on November 19, 1999.

A tremendous athlete with explosive power, Randleman captured back-to-back NCAA Division I national wrestling titles in 1992 and 1993 while competing for Ohio State University. His stellar collegiate career gained him entry into the school’s Hall Of Fame in 2004.

On Oct. 22, 1996, Randleman made his professional MMA debut in Brazil where he stopped Luiz Carlos Macial in the first round of action. After amassing a 6-2 record, he entered the octagon for the first time at UFC 19 on March 5, 1999 and pulled off a stunning upset of MMA and kickboxing legend Maurice Smith.

Randleman enjoyed a lengthy career with Japan’s PRIDE Fighting Championships, winning his first three fights with the now-defunct promotion and stopping superstar Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in one round on April 25, 2004.

The 6 foot Souza, a 30-year-old submission wizard from Brazil, made a splash debut with STRIKEFORCE on Dec.19, 2009 when he forced former Olympic wrestling silver medalist Matt “The Law” Lindland to tap out from an arm triangle choke in the first round (4:18).

Two years ago, Souza made a brilliant run to the championship round of DREAM’s single-elimination middleweight tournament in Japan. After submitting Ian Murphy on April 29, 2008 with a rear naked choke in the first round (3:38) of their opening tournament round matchup, Souza went on to earn a unanimous decision over American star Jason “Mayhem” Miller on June 15, 2008 and, then, submitted Zelg Galesic with an armbar on Sept. 23, 2008.

The 35-year-old Villasenor, a seasoned striker and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu player who hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico and is a member of the fearsome fight team led by Greg Jackson, is riding a four fight win streak. He produced his last victory, a split decision over Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, during his STRIKEFORCE debut at ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash. on June 19, 2009.

During the first live, primetime telecast of an MMA event on network television (CBS) on May 31, 2008, Villasenor came out of the gates with guns blazing and overwhelmed notorious brawler, Phil “The New York Badass” Baroni, crushing Baroni with a barrage of punches in the first round (1:11) of their meeting.

Tickets for STRIKEFORCE St. Louis: Heavy Artillery are on sale at the Scottrade Center ticket office, all Ticketmaster locations (800) 745-3000, Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com ) and STRIKEFORCE’S official website (www.strikeforce.com ).

In the main event, STRIKEFORCE World Heavyweight Champion Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem (32-11) will put his title on the line against heavy-handed knockout artist Brett “The Grim” Rogers (10-1).

In another heavyweight confrontation, former world champions Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski (15-7) and Antonio “Big Foot” Silva (13-2) will face off with each other.

Doors at Scottrade Center will open for STRIKEFORCE St. Louis: Heavy Artillery at 6:15 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 15. The first non-televised preliminary bout will begin at 7 p.m.

The event will be televised live on SHOWTIME® at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Shamrock Promotions is assisting STRIKEFORCE with local marketing for the event.

About STRIKEFORCE
STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com ) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE, sanctioned by ISKA, has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts (MMA) series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.

Source: Mike Afromowitz/StrikeForce

The sport lost one of its true heroes on May 6 when Roberts passed away at 83 of natural causes. Over a 19-year major league career, the righthander won nearly 300 games and amazingly won 20 games in six consecutive seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies. Roberts was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.

“Probably the best fastball I ever saw was Robin Roberts,” said fellow Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner. “His ball would rise about six or eight inches, with plenty on it. And he had great control, which made him very difficult to hit.”

Born on September 30, 1926 in Springfield, Illinois, the 6’1”, 200-pound Roberts had an auspicious start to being the king of the hill. “I went out for the baseball team at Michigan State,” he recalled. “They asked me, ‘Well, what do you play?’ And I said, ‘What do you need?’ And they said, ‘Pitchers.’ So I said, ‘Well, I’m a pitcher.’”

Following a brief minor league career, Roberts was signed by the Phillies in 1948 and two years later was part of a team for the ages. Coined ‘The Whiz Kids’ because a majority of the team was very young, the 1950 Phillies won the National League pennant on the last day of the regular season. Roberts, who started three games in the last five days of the season, earned his 20^th win in the 10-inning affair at Ebbets Field against the favored Brooklyn Dodgers. Unfortunately the Yankees were waiting for them in the World Series.

Roberts would go on to win 20 games in each season up until 1955 and led the NL in wins in each of the last four of those years. He once pitched 28 complete games in a row and never walked more than 77 batters in a season.

After the 1961 season ended, Roberts’ contract was sold to the Yankees. He never pitched for the Bronx Bombers and they cut him loose. The Baltimore Orioles called and Roberts won 42 games in three and a half seasons for them. He concluded his career with brief stops with the Astros and Cubs before retiring in 1966.

Why it took the Baseball Writers Association of America 10 years to vote the seven-time All-Star into the Hall of Fame is puzzling. Roberts’ career record of 286-245 also included 2,357 strikeouts, a 3.41 ERA, 305 complete games, 45 shutouts and 4,688 2/3 innings.

Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson saw many great traits in Roberts. “Robin was such a giant in baseball,” he said. “Not only was he the face of the Phillies in the 1950s, but he was among the most dominant hurlers to ever step on a pitching mound. His legacy will be his Hall of Fame career and his important role in establishing the Player’s Association, but his hallmark was the class and dignity with which he led his life.

“Robin’s warm heart and humorous personality made him a fan favorite and there’s not a person who met him who did not become richer because of that,” added Idelson. “He was a dear friend, a frequent visitor to Cooperstown and we’ll miss him very much.”

During a ceremony at City Hall on Friday, January 22, 2010, the Muscle Beach Venice Bodybuilding Hall of Fame, Lifetime Achievement Inductee with his wife Betty, family and friends received recognition and acknowledgement for his 73 year commitment to his philosophy.

Standing proud, Joe acknowledged his meager beginnings in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He described his early achievements in publishing magazines, books and inventing equipment that supported weight training as a form of exercise. He went on to include nutrition in his publications and soon became the co-innovator and voice of the International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB).  He described his dedication and persistence when the health care community including physicians and mental health workers thought his ideas were “nuts”.

Congratulations Joe!!! You were right! Today, the modern perspective includes strength training, aerobics and nutrition as the foundation for a healthy lifestyle.

(Source – Joe Wheatly Productions, www.musclebeachvenice.com)

He had at least seven television stations on hand to document this event. Also on hand was John Balik, the owner of IronMan Magazine, who by the way is one of the big Sponsors of this great event. Reg Lewis was the recepient of the Muscle Beach Hall of Fame award. Chet Yorton also made an appearance for this show and he also was the recipient for the July 4 Muscle Beach Hall of Fame Award. One really has to physicaly be there to get the real feel and energy of how great this event is. It has the best backdrop that any show could wish for.

You’ve got the boardwalk, which on any given Saturday, Sunday or holiday has thousands walking up and down from Santa Monica to Venice. You have the sun, the surf and all types of entertainmet all along the boardwalk. I would hope that anyone visiting Los Angeles, especially if it is on a summer holiday such as Memorial Day, July 4 or Labor Day, you have got to visit Venice Muscle Beach. You will find it a great experience. See you at the next Muscle Beach Show.

2009 Muscle Beach Championships (Results)

MEN

Heavyweight - Peter Jablonski

Light-Heavyweight – Ramsey Abdin

Lightweight – Bishoy Hanna

Masters Over 40 – Thorsten Vosgerau

Masters Over 50 – Ramsey Abdin

Masters Over 60 – Jerry Burton

Middleweight – Guillermo Escalante

Novice Heavyweight – Shawn Zimpfer

Novice Light-Heavyweight – Ryan Swasey

Novice Lightweight – Bishoy Hanna

Novice Middleweight – Kinshasa Moffitt

Overall Novice – Bishoy Hanna

Overall Winner – Peter Jablonski

Teen – Boston Loyd

WOMEN

Heavyweight – Victoria Dominquez

Lightweight – Jackie Lee

Masters – Jutta Vosgerau

Overall Winner – Victoria Dominquez

FIGURE

Masters Over 35 – Cheryl Stoneham

Masters Over 45 – Cheryl Stoneham

Medium – Andrea Mandella

Novice Medium – Kelly Grossman

Novice Short – Taylor Hansen

Overall Novice – Taylor Hansen

Short – Sonjya Rossow

Overall Winner – Andrea Mandella

MIXED

Mixed Pairs – Jutta Vosgerau, Thorsten Vosgerau

BIKINI

Medium – Victoria Kirsanova

Short – Carolyn Wang

Tall – Victoria Hodgkins

Overall Winner – Victoria Kirsanova

For information on Bill Grant’s Old School Training DVD and Creatine Cocktail supplement, please visit www.billgrant.net

(Photo: MuscleSport Mag staff writers Bill Grant and Brenda Kelly by “The Pit.”)

According to a story penned by Zev Chafets in ESPN the Magazine (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4192628), the Mick was given a concoction of test and amphetamines in a dirty needle which caused the Yankee centerfielder to miss enough time during that famous summer. Both he and teammate Roger Maris were locked in a home run chase before Mantle’s injury forced him into the hospital. He finished with 52 home runs while Maris hit number 61 on the last day of the season to surpass Babe Ruth’s mark.

Chafets, who wrote “Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame,” also mentions that gaining that edge may have went all the way back to the nineteenth century. A pitcher named Pud Galvin is said to have injected monkey testosterone in 1889.

Just how Chafets came across this information remains to be seen. It appears to be a good way to market his book. According to records, Harvard professor Charles-Edouard Brown-Sequard self-injected a substance consisting of the extracts of dog and guinea pig testicles but there was not any significant progress in that field until 1927.

Galvin, baseball’s first 300-game winner and member of the Hall of Fame, was one of Brown-Sequard’s test subjects during a study at a medical college in Pittsburgh. What was called an ‘elixir’ at the time was widely praised by the Washington Post, with the telling line being, “It is the best proof yet furnished of the value of the discovery.”

On the Mantle issue, all the reports state is that a doctor gave him an injection which caused him a great deal of pain in his hip. It later turned into an abscess and eventually shut him down in September. What exactly was in that injection is the million dollar question.

Of course frequency and intent hold a lot of integrity in many people’s minds, but the old ‘pure’ days may be a little different than many were made to believe. One shot of test is not going to do anything for you, especially a professional athlete, but if critics were killing today’s players for admitting to using on only a handful of occasions -which in of itself is ridiculous – then they have to keep their minds open if the Mantle reports are in fact valid.

The early 1960s is the period where bodybuilders began using performance-enhancing drugs more regularly so it is not out of the realm of possibility that a doctor treating an athlete, ie:) a baseball player, would have known that the use testosterone would have a positive affect on physical performance.

So the next time that an argument starts going towards the modern day players all being cheaters, that can be counteracted by stating that two Hall of Famers were doing it, too.

Mark McGwire may have been the first to feel the wrath of the Baseball Writers Association of America the past few years but he certainly will not be the last. The group that votes in the candidates annually met in St. Louis during the All-Star break and turned down a proposal that would have established guidelines on player evaluation during the steroid era.

Rick Telander, a Chicago Sun-Times columnist, first brought up the topic at a local BBWAA gathering and then made a formal proposal in St.Louis at a national meeting, which was voted down 30-25. The rules in place now state that voters must consider a player’s “record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.”

That can be interpreted in many different ways and it would not be the worst idea to amend that rule slightly with the recent addition of performance-enhancing drugs into the equation. But there are two ways to look at this and it would not be a stretch to say that neither include the obvious.

Initially, would these journalists, who for the most part do not have any independent knowledge of the use and effects of PEDs besides what has come out post-McGwire, actually take the time to speak to people who are more knowledgeable in the subject before coming to a conclusion on this new set of criteria?

Secondly, if things remain the same, are these writers going to be consistent in their vote for all of the players that have been proven to or suspected of using PEDs that would have otherwise deserved to get into Cooperstown? This also brings the consultation into the equation with personnel from the medical profession or another qualified field.

Judging by the low percentage of votes McGwire has received in his first three years of eligibility, the BBWAA may be against the so-called “cheaters.” Big Mac was never a sure thing to make the Hall anyway, so it will be very interesting when the likes of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are on the ballot. The unofficial ‘automatic’ entry statistics such as 500 home runs and 300 wins may go by the wayside if some of these numbers may be viewed as being tainted.

Ken Davidoff, a columnist for New York Newsday and BBWAA member, voted against the proposal. He explained in today’s edition, “Why would we as a group discuss guidelines for PED use – rather than have every voter make that value judgement on his or her own – when we don’t discuss guidelines for closers, or designated hitter, or the merits of on-base percentage versus RBI?”

While Davidoff  does make a valid point, the main objective here is if the members of the BBWAA can make a value judgement on their own without the full knowledge necessary.  Will they hold a certain degree of prejudice against someone who may have used such a limited amount of steroids that it did not even make any difference in his performance?

When anyone – especially an athlete – begins using a PED, it takes more than just one needle in the ass to change warning track power. An entire regimen that includes a proper diet, sleep and intense training must accompany a cycle of steroids for it to have any effect on the user. Most people who take these substances without knowing what they are doing end up just retaining water and getting fat – certainly not a performance enhancer in those situations.

For this Hall of Fame steroid proposal to work, there are many more questions that need to be answered. Some of them will be next to impossible to attain, such as exactly what was administered and what else was done during these cycles. But for this to have any merit, there needs to be an attempt to ascertain those answers.

Sure, it’s easy to broad brush it and say steroids were against the rules and anyone who even tried them once should be sent to the brig. But it is more complicated than that and the idea of certain criteria concerning the Hall of Fame and PEDs is a noble one that can be honed to actually have some validity to it. Before we scoff at the notion, more information, such as what exactly was proposed in St. Louis, is needed to come to a conclusion.

We have contacted both Telander and Davidoff and would welcome their input on what we are proposing.

Photo by Jim Leary

It is totally understandable when a former player criticizes someone who enhances their performance by using banned substances, but how does that compare with someone who destroys their performance by using different types of substances, mainly cocaine, alcohol and tobacco?

During an episode of “SportsNite” on SNY (the network owned by the New York Mets) , Hernandez commented on Alex Rodriguez’s ESPN appearance and said, “I think that A-Rod knew what he was doing. If you look at his teammates over there in Texas, it was a nest of cheaters.”

“Mex,” who played a good portion of his career for the Mets and is currently one of the team’s television announcers, then speculated if he would have had a plaque in Cooperstown if he had used steroids.

“I was 191 pounds my rookie year,” he said. “If I had ingested steroids, I would have been close to 230 pounds. Now how much better would that have made me, 230 pounds without any body fat? And how many more home runs would I have hit?

“I hit 164 home runs,” continued Hernandez, who in addition to being a wonderful player has been lauded for his broadcast booth savvy in his second career. “I probably would have hit over 250. I drove in 1,100 runs. I probably would have drove in 1,400. And I think that, along with 11 Gold Gloves, I’d be in the Hall of Fame.”

Sorry to break it to you, Keith, but using steroids by themselves won’t make a difference. You have to commit to a workout program, proper diet and plenty of quality rest. That wouldn’t have mixed too well with all the partying that Hernandez was famous for during his playing days.

A star during his tenure in St. Louis (which included a co-National League MVP Award with Willie Stargell in 1979 and being part of the 1982 World Series championship team), he was dealt to the Mets on June 15, 1983 amidst much speculation of cocaine use. That all came to fruition when Hernandez and other players were called to testify at the 1985 trial of a Pittsburgh drug dealer named Curtis Strong.

During the 1986 World Series, Hernandez was seen on television smoking cigarettes in the dugout and became part of baseball folklore when he left the dugout with two outs in the ninth inning of Game Six and went into manager Davey Johnson’s office to drink a Budweiser. He was watching the game on a television while the Mets made their miracle comeback, most likely reaching into the refrigerator more than once.

If Hernandez had used steroids during this period of his life, it would have done nothing more than shut down his already affected liver. His bodyweight and stats would not have improved as he speculated, but there was a way that he could have performed a hell of a lot better. No, I’m not insinuating that he should have used something else, but he could have stayed away from coke, booze and butts.

Although he may be in a different ‘glass house’ than A-Rod and Barry Bonds, Hernandez has some pair of stones to start throwing them around.