the ending of Sandow the magnificent

[Steel 0]

A few weeks ago I finished reading this book. As I see different events, I thought I should post about it. For those of you who don't know, Sandow is commonly considered the father of bodybuilding. He was born in 1867 and lived to 1924. In the yearly Mr. Olympia contests, (the top competition in bodybuilding,) the 1st place gets a mini sculpture of Eugen Sandow (His real name was actually Friedrich Mueller). Now it sounds like I have talked him up and without any need because in this day and age he is obviously revered as the magnificent Sandow. But the reality is that, it was not always as such. He was hated in his time. He was famous for saying with his German accent in English, "people a come to see me de strongeste man in de weld".
The book ofcourse end with his death and the funeral. People who were there said that there were very few amongst them and even amongst the few there was not a tear shed. But eventually when all the jealousy faded, he was revered for who he was, "Sandow the magnificent".
I guess the question this leaves is what is preferable to you? Is it better to be the most liked? or is it better to be the best? I will choose the ladder and I do find the to be very often mutally exclusive. This I think is pitty however.

If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.

[happythoughts 0]

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People who were there said that there were very few amongst them and even amongst the few there was not a tear shed. But eventually when all the jealousy faded, he was revered for who he was

I'd have to see a reference where it said that everyone hated him because they were jealous. I can't imagine that everyone was jealous. Maybe he was a dick. A successful one, but a dick.

[Steel 0]

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People who were there said that there were very few amongst them and even amongst the few there was not a tear shed. But eventually when all the jealousy faded, he was revered for who he was

I'd have to see a reference where it said that everyone hated him because they were jealous. I can't imagine that everyone was jealous. Maybe he was a dick. A successful one, but a dick.

He was the best, he knew it and he was not afraid to say it. My trouble is with the fact that it took 55 years for the bodybuilding community to acknowledge it. I think such a lack of objectivity is sickening. I believe that if somebody accomplishes something, its ok to hate him and say all the negative things you want about his personality. But when you try to spin the facts to discredit someone simply because you dislike him, that is another story, one that I find disheartening.

If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.

[metalslug 36]

What was he the best at, exactly ?
I haven't read the book you speak of, so I'm going guess that Sandow, while at his peak, was the best within his specific time period of bodybuilding history and within the judging rules for competition bodybuilding of that time period.
However, I'm not convinced Sandow was a really nice guy.

I think it's a somewhat narrow viewpoint to think that jealously is the automatic cause of animosity towards a successful sportsman (or sportswoman) within their sports community.
Did Babe Ruth have a small funeral ? Will Michael Jordan and Michael Schumacher receive a poor eulogy from their sporting peers if they die tomorrow ?

"people a come to see me de strongeste man in de weld"
Now that was a very bold claim to make, even for Sandow.
You would know yourself that bodybuilding and strongman competitions are not the same thing.
Chances are realistic that some burly Viking descendent in rural Scandinavia could have benchpressed more than Sandow at the same time period.
However, Sandow did compete in competition and his name is in the record books rather than the pretenders that may have claimed to be better, burly Vikings included.
As the saying goes, "Put up or shut up." Sandow put up.

Being remembered as a likeable guy only lasts a generation or two, until the people that remembered you have passed on themselves.
Being remembered as the best has the advantage of being written in history and of being timeless.

As for me, I'll strive to be likeable first. That way, if I can never be the best at anything, I'll at least have qualities to fall back on, because there's very little historical glory for being second best.

[Steel 0]

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What was he the best at, exactly ?
I haven't read the book you speak of, so I'm going guess that Sandow, while at his peak, was the best within his specific time period of bodybuilding history and within the judging rules for competition bodybuilding of that time period.
However, I'm not convinced Sandow was a really nice guy.
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Actually although body building may seem intuitive, its not. During his time most physicians would discourage against it. However there had been for sometime many "strongman competitions". Most of these strongmen were people who were naturally strong. Usually these men were fat as well. Sandow was the first one that was strong and not fat, had bigger arms, chest, quads and so than most, but low enough fat levels to show it. Women of the time loved it. Some would pay up to 3 hundreds dollars (which now would equal thousands) just to touch his biceps. He was actually not the stongest even of his time. Aurthur Saxon defeated him in a strongman competition and I understand Louis Cyr was stronger too. But no women would be paying money to touch them because they had quite a bit of fat go along with their muscles.



I think it's a somewhat narrow viewpoint to think that jealously is the automatic cause of animosity towards a successful sportsman (or sportswoman) within their sports community.
Did Babe Ruth have a small funeral ? Will Michael Jordan and Michael Schumacher receive a poor eulogy from their sporting peers if they die tomorrow ?
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these are sports that I don't follow and know enough about to express an opinion on. However, I can think imediately of Arnold Schwarzzneggar. He is liked/respected by many, including myself. But if you read enough bodybuilding articles and newsgroups you will see the many who will line up to bash him. Since bodybuilding is much larger now, it makes it more difficult to ignore somebody's accomplishments in that. The same can be said of basketball or baseball.

"people a come to see me de strongeste man in de weld"
Now that was a very bold claim to make, even for Sandow.
You would know yourself that bodybuilding and strongman competitions are not the same thing.
Chances are realistic that some burly Viking descendent in rural Scandinavia could have benchpressed more than Sandow at the same time period.
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actually nobody bench pressed in his lifetime period. Back then the common exercise done was called a bent press, which is not in anyway similar to benchpressing. There were a few other lifts but none of them are done in this day and age. Bodybuilding and strongman competitions at the time were one as I have already explained. Sandow was actually the first bodybuilder so there was nobody for him to compete with.

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However, Sandow did compete in competition and his name is in the record books rather than the pretenders that may have claimed to be better, burly Vikings included.
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actually the only competitions he competed in were infromal ones, the only thing that was available. One guy would say to another I am stronger than you and then they would have a show down. They would take turns picking things up in attempt to display their strength. The only guy whoever beat him was Aurthur Saxon but as I said before others could. Its just a question of who got to compete and when.


As the saying goes, "Put up or shut up." Sandow put up.

Being remembered as a likeable guy only lasts a generation or two, until the people that remembered you have passed on themselves.
Being remembered as the best has the advantage of being written in history and of being timeless.

As for me, I'll strive to be likeable first. That way, if I can never be the best at anything, I'll at least have qualities to fall back on, because there's very little historical glory for being second best.

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that is a valid opinion, even though its different from mine and it answers the question I posed so thanks

If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.