Monthly Archives: March 2014

Presidential Cup

by Al Myers

Denny took me to one of his favorite places last year at the Presidential Cup, and as you can tell from this picture, we had a good time at the Downtown Lounge!!!

Our Prez Denny Habecker has sanctioned this year’s Presidential Cup again!  The President’s Cup is the KING of USAWA Record Days.  I like to think of it as the CHAMPIONSHIP OF RECORD DAYS in the USAWA.   It is under direction to be promoted by the USAWA President, with the lift that impresses the President the most being recognized as the winner of the Presidential Cup.

The meet will be held at Denny’s private gym – Habecker’s Gym.  The number of different lifts one can perform is up to the number of lifters that enter and time allotment.  Come prepared to do at least 4 or 5 for record purposes as that is usually the number each lifter gets with the turnout of lifters in the past. Maybe you will get to join this exclusive list of past winners!!!

PAST PRESIDENTIAL CUP WINNERS:

2012 – Dale Friesz

2013 – Art Montini

There is no entry form or entry fees for this meet, but please contact Denny ahead of time if you plan to attend.

ARNOLD’S MULTI-RINGED CIRCUS

BY DAVE GLASGOW

The heart of team HASA, Dave Glasgow throwing at the Arnold (photo and caption by Larry Ventress)

I HAVE HEARD OF ‘THE ARNOLD’ ALMOST FROM THE BEGINNING, ALL SORTS OF STORIES AND RECOLLECTIONS FROM THOSE THAT HAVE MADE THE TREK. I NEVER FIGURED I WOULD MAKE THE JOURNEY MYSELF, AS LARGE CROWDS ARE JUST NOT MY STYLE. HOWEVER, WHEN I MADE THE CUT TO BE ONE OF THE FIRST GROUP OF AMATEUR THROWERS FOR A HIGHLAND GAMES AT THE ARNOLD, I FIGURED THIS TO BE A ONCE IN A LIFE TIME ENDEAVOR. (I WANT TO QUALIFY, RIGHT NOW, THAT I WAS NOT ONE OF THE FIRST TO BE INVITED. THERE WAS A ‘DROP OUT’, SO I GOT THE NOD.)

SO, OFF TO OHIO I GO. LUCKILY FOR ME, CHAD ULLOM HAD BEEN CHOSEN AS WELL AND WITH THOM VAN VLECK FOR SUPPORT, WE WERE ON OUR WAY. NOT TO BE LEFT OUT, LARRY ‘FLOYD’ TRAUB CAME FOR THE RIDE, SO, AS YOU CAN SEE, CHADER AND I HAD ALL THE SUPPORT WE NEEDED!

WE PROCEDED TO THE EXPO HALL ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND THE STORIES I HAD HEARD WERE, INDEED, TRUE. TO CALL THIS A FREAK SHOW IS QUITE AN UNDERSTATEMENT. EVERY POWER AND STRENGTH SPORT YOU COULD IMAGINE WAS REPRESENTED. THIRTEEN HUNDRED BOOTHS FOR ANYTHING RELATED TO THOSE AFOREMENTIONED SPORTS WERE LINED UP AS FAR AS THE EYE COULD SEE. I HAD NO EARTHLY CONCEPT THAT THERE WERE THAT MANY PROTEIN POWDERS AVAILABLE!!

NOW, AS STATED EARLIER, I HAVE NO DESIRE TO ATTEND THIS TYPE GATHERING SO QUITE A FEW OF THE THINGS I SAW WERE NOTEWORTHY. FOR EXAMPLE, I HAD NO IDEA THAT WOMEN COULD HAVE A ‘TWELVE PAK”. NOT A SIX PAK, MIND YOU, BUT A TWELVE PAK!! HOWEVER, RIGHT THERE, BOYS AND GIRLS, IN THE FLESH, STOOD NOT ONE, BUT TWO FEMALES WITH MORE MUSCULATURE IN THEIR ABDOMINAL AREA THAN, WELL, I HAVE. PERIOD.

SPANDEX!!!? YOU WANT SPANDEX? THIS PLACE COULD HAVE CARPETED THE VAST HALLS AND HAD MATERIAL LEFT OVER! TATOOS AND THE FAKE ‘LAT SPREAD’. THOSE GUYS HAD TO HAVE BEEN TIRED AT THE END OF THE DAY!! FOLKS STANDING IN LINE FOR 30 MINUTES FOR FREE STUFF. REALLY!!? NOT THIS GUY.

POLE FITNESS. MR. TRAUB TOOK AN IMMEDIATE INTEREST IN THIS ACTIVITY. I HAD NEVER HEARD OF ‘POLE FITNESS’, OUTSIDE OF WHAT I HAD HEARD WENT ON AT ‘GENTLEMAN’S’ CLUBS. BUT THERE IT WAS! IN THE FLESH, BABY! LITERALLY(YES, THEY WERE CLOTHED BUT JUST BARELY (PUN INTENDED). UNBELIEVEABLE. NOW, I REALLY DID’NT UNDERSTAND IT BUT I OVER HEARD ONE YOUNG LADY TELL ANOTHER THAT IT WAS THE ‘PERFECT EXERCISE’ FOR TOTAL FITNESS. OK. I’LL TAKE YOUR WORD FOR IT. I MEAN, REALLY, COULD THE CREATOR OF ‘POLE FITNESS’, ‘BAD KITTY’ (I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP), BE WRONG?

I WOULD HAVE REALLY LIKED TO HAVE SEEN SOME OLY LIFTING AND THE COMBAT SPORTS, BUT THIS WAS JUST NOT THE VENUE FOR THE AVERAGE ONLOOKER. THE PLACE WAS, ABSOLUTELY, PACKED. WE STAYED, AND HAD PRETTY GOOD SEATS, FOR THE PRO DEAD LIFT COMPETITION. THAT WAS MOST IMPRESSIVE! JUST VERY AWE INSPIRING.

NOW, FRIENDS, I WILL NOT GO INTO THE GAMES A WHOLE LOT, AS THIS IS NOT A ‘GAMES’ WEB SITE, HOWEVER, I WOULD LIKE TO NOTE THAT THIS WAS THE FIRST OF MARCH IN OHIO. WE KNEW THE WEATHER WOULD NOT BE CONDUSIVE TO OPTIMAL THROWING OR GOOD MARKS. WE WERE CORRECT IN THAT ASSUMPTION! NEAR WHITE OUT CONDITIONS GREETED US FROM THE GET GO. REGARDLESS, OVER 60 ATHLETES IN 5 DIFFERENT CLASSES TOOK TO THE FIELD. MY ONLY COMMENT TO THIS MADNESS WAS TO SAY, ‘WELL, SOMEDAY, WE WILL LOOK BACK AND TELL ONE ANOTHER, “REMEMBER THE ARNOLD IN ’14!!?”

WOULD I GO BACK?? I DOUBT IT. I SAW AND DID WHAT I WENT TO DO. THAT’S ENOUGH FOR ME.

HOWEVER, IF ‘BAD KITTY’ CALLED AND WANTED ME TO CRITIQUE HER GIRLS, I MAY HAVE TO RECONSIDER!!

Better than Gold

by Thom Van Vleck

The medal my Uncle Wayne gave me.

I was recently at an event and one of the other competitors reached over and pull out a medal I had hanging around my neck.  He wanted to know what it represented.  It is a medal that I’ve worn in every competition I’ve been in or at least been on between lifts or events.  It’s been dipped in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, the Irish Sea, Mississippi River, Columbia River, Missouri River….even Loch Ness and other places I have traveled and competed.

It is a medal my Uncle Wayne Jackson won the year I was born. The story goes that he went to the meet and won this medal.  He would have been around 21 years old and in the midst of a great run of winning Olympic lifting events in the Midwest that included a Teenage National Title and 5 Missouri State Championships.  Wayne came back from the meet ready to show off his “winnings”.  He had been unable to reach anyone by phone and since this was the days before answering machines and cell phones….if you weren’t there to answer the phone you missed the call!  So he had not been able to tell anyone about winning.

When Wayne arrived at home the house was empty and there was no note or other information on where everyone had went!  He was a little concerned and a little disappointed that he had not been able to share his victory with his family.  Then my Grandmother showed up and told him that he needed to get down to the hospital as his sister had her baby.  Which was me of course!  He told me I had upstaged him!

Reverse side with the 1964

From as early as I can remember my Uncle Wayne was a part of my life.  As a kid he would pick me up and throw me high in the air.  We would wrestle and he would take me out hunting arrowheads.  He never had any children of his own and he became a second father to me.  My kids are like his grand kids.  Obviously, he’s the main reason I got into weight training and in doing so he may have saved my life.  At the least, my life has been much better for getting into lifting.  Over the years he is the first person I call after a contest and he’s also kept up to date on my workouts.  He’s always quick with a compliment and slow to criticize.  He has also been an inspiration to me for his faith in God and using his strength not to intimidate others but protect those that needed protecting.

There came a time when he wanted me to have this medal.  I’m sure it’s not worth much but it’s priceless to me.  It represents our friendship and love for one another.  It represents a passing of the torch in the Jackson Weightlifting Club.  It reminds me of him and when he’s not able to be there with me I feel like he’s there.  It is better than gold to me.

Lifter of the Month: Dave Glasgow

by Al Myers

Dave Glasgow with a 1200 pound Harness Lift at the 2014 Dino Gym Challenge in January.

Congrats goes to Dave Glasgow for being the USAWA Lifter of the Month for January!!  Dave competed in the Dino Gym Challenge in January – the tribute to Warren Lincoln Travis.  Along with competing, Dave encouraged other Ledaig Club members to attend (Larry Traub, Doug Kressly, and Logan Kressly).  Without Dave’s support of this meet – it would not have been the success it was!  Dave has been one of the most active members in the USAWA these past few years and has promoted several meets (including last year’s Club Championships).  He is well-deserving of this award, and is a great representative of the organization.

Postal Series 2013

by Al Myers

Dan Wagman performing a 350 pound Reverse Grip Bench Press at the recent Dino Gym Record Day.

As the first quarterly postal meet of 2014 is less than 30 days from being completed, I finally got the results from the 2013 Postal Series tabulated.  The USAWA has 4 postal meets per year (March, June, September, and December), with the last one being designated as the Postal Championships.  All these together make up the Postal Meet Series.  Each postal meet a lifter competes in generates points for him/her, that total up for the final Postal Series Ranking.

The way the points are generated is pretty simple.  I take the overall placings of the meet and then reverse “the count” for the points earned for each lifter.  I.E – if three lifters compete lifter number 1 gets 3 points, lifter number 2 gets 2 points, and lifter number three gets 1 point.  The Postal Championships is worth “double points”. Obviously then, as more lifters enter more points can be earned for winning the meet, and ALL lifters earn points regardless where they place overall.  Just entering will earn points toward the Postal Series Ranking.

Overall there was good participation in the USAWA Postal Meets last year.  A total of 18 lifters competed in the various postal meets.  The first Postal Meet had 17 lifters, the second had 9 lifters, the third had 9 lifters, and the Postal Championship drew 11 lifters.   Several lifters competed in ALL of the postal meets last year and they deserve to be recognized.  These lifters are Ruth Jackson, Dan Wagman, Sam Rogers, Orie Barnett, Denny Habecker, and John Wilmot.

Now for the overall rankings for the 2013 USAWA Postal Series!

WOMENS DIVISION – TOP TWO

PLACING LIFTER MEETS ENTERED POINTS
1 Ruth Jackson 4 6
2 Gabby Jobe 1 1

MENS DIVISION – TOP TEN

PLACING LIFTER MEETS ENTERED POINTS
1 Dan Wagman 4 51
2 Orie Barnett 4 35
3 Al Myers 2 32
4 Sam Rogers 4 30
5 Barry Bryan 2 29
6 Chad Ullom 2 26
7 Eric Todd 3 22
8 Denny Habecker 4 18
9 John Wilmot 4 15
10 Les Cramer 2 15

Congrats to Ruth Jackson and Dan Wagman for being the OVERALL WINNERS of the 2013 USAWA Postal Series.  On top of winning the series both of these lifters won EACH and EVERY Postal Meet of 2013!  That has never been done before in the history of the USAWA Postal Series.

1 2