On the March issue of PL USA there is an ad for a raw BP meet and they specifically call Gene Rychlak out.
They say that they will pay all of his travel expenses and give him $500 if he benches 600 (or over) raw. The ad goes on to say that he probably wouldn’t be able to lift that.
Is this common in the sport? Calling out the WR holder?? I’m fairly new to PLing and have only subscribed to the magazine for less than a year.
-J
I don’t know much about powerlifting but seriously could he possibly get 400 pounds out of a shirt? Sounds doubtful.
Julius,
Are you the same Julius from the Dragon Door board I talk to over there?
I haven’t gotten my issue yet. I think it is ridiculous to call him out like that. I think the whole raw vs. gear thing is beginning to be the most ridiculous debate ever. I am an absolute PL newbie, first meet in a week and a half, and this is the ONLY thing that turns me off to the sport. The whining and crying about RAW is better than equipped and vice versa. Who cares? There is a FED out there to suit everyone’s wishes, raw, 1-ply, 2-ply, drug-free, non-tested. No one should have to complain at all, but the debate goes on. The funny thing is, how many of the people on net’ forums doing the bitching actually compete?
Why can’t the challenge go the other way? If benching in a shirt is so easy, why can’t one of the strongest raw benchers throw on the magic shirt and go beat Gene at his game? It is ridiculous in my opinion. On one hand I don’t think Gene needs to prove anything to anyone other than the fact that in an equipped meet he is the man. I can’t speak for him, but I am willing to bet he doesn’t give a damn what he can do raw, that isn’t his game. So who cares? On the other hand, I would LOVE to see Gene do this and smoke 600lbs. to shut some people up.
RAW, equipped, it is all good man. Powerlift to powerlift and support each other regardless of choices. Who cares, just get out there and have some fun.
Just my $0.02
-Scott
Hey Scott, yes it’s the same Julius from DD.
I was very surprised when I read that; dogging the current WR holder seems disrepectful to me but I wasn’t sure if that was normal for the sport.
I agree with you, it would be great if he showed up and pushed 600+ and put some cash in his pocket.
-J
PS: Be sure to post your results and insights on your first meet over at DD. This would help out other noobs like myself who have never been on the platform. Best of luck and have fun!
Julius,
I am looking forward to the meet. My squat and deadlift work has been going well, but my bench has been giving me a little problem. I am going with a conservative opener. After I get back into training after the meet, I am going to need a LOT of raw lockout work. Lots of 3 and 4 boards. We’ll see. I am pretty excited about the meet, but EXTREMELY nervous as well. I will be sure to fill you in on my first-time meet experience when I am done with it. Hopefully I don’t bomb out and actually have something to report!
Later,
Scott
His response was priceless. A pic of him holding the magazine flipping it off. Classic, and deserved!
Scott,
You’re not going to bomb because you’re nervous, you’re going to bomb because you’re weak and slow.
Now THERE’S a callout.
Kidding aside, Scott I think you hit the nail on the head – if you don’t want to PL with gear, lift in a raw meet. If you don’t think lifters with gear “count” then only compare yourself to raw lifters. Am I way off base with that? It seems like common sense?
Jeff
Erika,
Is the picture in PLUSA or somewhere else?
-Scott
[quote]Jeff K wrote:
Scott,
You’re not going to bomb because you’re nervous, you’re going to bomb because you’re weak and slow.
Now THERE’S a callout.
Kidding aside, Scott I think you hit the nail on the head – if you don’t want to PL with gear, lift in a raw meet. If you don’t think lifters with gear “count” then only compare yourself to raw lifters. Am I way off base with that? It seems like common sense?
Jeff
[/quote]
Yeah Jeff, you are WAY off base, get back on your swiss ball! LOL! Looking forward to training with you when you get back brother. Stay safe over there!
-Scott
Wouldn’t it be easier if someone videotaped Gene benching 600 pounds without a shirt on. By shirt, I mean a regular T shirt so he can show that he isn’t hiding a shirt underneath? Just have a bare chest and maybe some shorts on. It would save him the trip and he could have the money Paypal’ed to him 
$500 ? less than a dollar a pound to come play a little bitch game ? FO ! even at $5000 it’s still less than the price of a steak. they’re asking the guy to put his rep on the line for a couple of sucker bucks ? bunch of fuckin jokers man.
I for one would like to see him do it. I couldn’t imagine him not being able to put that up, no way he gets 405lbs out of his gear. I think it would generate some really good PR for him.
It’s publicity, plain and simple…
People can look at it all different ways. Its just like politics. People called out Bush on his service in the national guard. Its going to happen. If you are at the top of your game, people are going to question your ability.
Also, gear in powerlifting can be compared to NOS in racing. A car can have a 250 shot of NOS and beat every car out there, but if that shot of NOS isn’t allowed, then the car might get beat. But, in this case, gear is legal in whatever federation Gene lifts in, so its all good.
[quote]Scott Shetler wrote:
Erika,
Is the picture in PLUSA or somewhere else?
-Scott[/quote]
It’s on Gene’s website and also on another PL site.
Here’s the link to Mr. Rychlak’s response.
here’s the pic
It would be cool to have a big raw bench contest. Put it in Vegas, get some real prize money (say $50,000 for the winner), maybe get some football players (I believe I read Larry Allen does 700 raw)and strongmen as well as powerlifters. There would be a lot of publicity and it would give powerliftimg more exposure.
“I for one would like to see him do it. I couldn’t imagine him not being able to put that up, no way he gets 405lbs out of his gear. I think it would generate some really good PR for him.”
405? I honestly dont know much about shirts, but I highly doubt that any shirt is giving someone 600lbs.
I mean come on, 405?
How can Gene win this?
Let’s say he smokes 600(I have no idea what he handles raw, so this is hypothetical). Lets say he even manages a near world raw record of 700. You’ll still have people screaming that he gets over 300 lbs. out of a shirt and they knew that his shirted record was a fraud.
And for $500 bucks?
Who’s behind this?