The War Memorial in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida was robust with plenty of hootin’ and hollerin’ on Saturday afternoon and one can only imagine how loud it is going to get later on. The judge’s panel were very meticulous in getting every available angle and view of all the competitors and asked for the music to be turned down on more than one occasion to concentrate and get the scoring right.

Category after category were marched out and went through their routines as family, friends and fans cheered them on. Getting a good look at the costumes during the ‘theme’ rounds also resulted in rounds of applause and showed just one of the many reasons why attending a FAME show is an entirely different experience than anything else.

Some of the women’s outfits were reminiscent of a Victoria’s Secret modeling show with muscles. And it wasn’t all just for the guys in the audience. The men’s fitness rounds gave the impression of a large bachelorette party.

FRIDAY NIGHT’S FAME SHOWCASE

The weekend began with a public yet intimate evening with a room full of not only the FAME athletes, but their family, friends and support teams. Competitors came from as far as Australia and the United Kingdom and were called up to the stage to tell their personal story.

Inspiring and touching tales accompanied the positive feeling of seeing these special people in person and learning first hand why they decided to become ‘BodyProud.’ In some ways it had the feel of an AA meeting or something along those lines but instead of stating how many days they have been ‘clean,’ these people said what made them decide to make a lifestyle change and dedicate themselves to the gym.

From recovering addicts to accident victims and the physically challenged, these men and women all had their time with the microphone and it was an experience unlike any other that one would expect the night before a bodybuilding show.

Unlike the Mr. Olympia (as seen in the photo), where the prejudging takes place the day before the Finals, the line-up at the Arnold can either take advantage of that or have it go against them, depending on how they come in. They will not have to be concerned with keeping that tightness if they have it, but also do not have the time in between presentations to make up for any weaknesses or bloating. 

Because the posing routines have not been as original and, for lack of a better word, important as in the past, that is the main reason why the prejudging has taken on even more importance. One competitor who can and will make up points during his posing routine is Kai Greene, who has brought an unorthodox but very entertaining style to the stage.

Edgerrin James hasn’t been the player the Arizona Cardinals thought they were getting when they signed the dreadlocked running back as a free agent from Indianapolis following the 2005 season. Yes, he did rush for over 1,000 yards his first two seasons in the desert, but he didn’t eclipse four yards per rush in more than 300 attempts in each.

This year, it all fell apart for the former Colt when he only had 514 yards on 133 attempts. At one point, he was third on the depth chart and fell out of favor with the franchise. He was used as the feature back (100 yards on 14 carries) in the season finale in a meaningless win over Seattle, with the cardinals having already clinched the weak NFC West crown a few weeks earlier.

After being rebuffed by the front office in November after asking to be released, James, 30, now has publicly stated that he will not return to the team in 2009 even though he has a year remaining on his contract.

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According to a report by ESPN, James said, “I can’t go through this again. I didn’t come here to block. I’m not an offensive lineman.”

The timing of James’ comments come at a time when the team needs to concentrate on it’s wild card playoff game Saturday afternoon versus the surprising Atlanta Falcons. Any distractions – especially from a veteran with nine playoff games in his pocket – cannot be comforting for Arizona head coach Ken Wisenhunt.

Although James may have a leg to stand on by wanting to run the ball more, he has been a thorn in the team’s side all year long. Opening his mouth days before the team’s most important game in over a decade will not bode well with any general manager around the league.