brian bombed!!!

[brianmincher]

Great job everyone in Florida. Sad to report, however, that Brian Mincher bombed out of the McAlester meet. I am not going to make excuses, but suffice it to say, I had shirt problems, and for some reason just could not get the switch turned on.

I opened with 450, thinking I should smoke it. Even after realizing I was not totally "on" that day, back in the warmup room, I still had no idea I could possibly bomb with 450. Hell I have done it (although in a different shirt) a half dozen seperate occasions in the gym. But bomb I did. I hit the lip of the rack on my left side coming up on the first two presses, and ended up stalling just short of lockout both times. Third attempt, I moved my hands in just a bit, putting my pinky finger on the rings, and although I was completely worn out from the first two missed attempts, came the closest out of the 3 to a passable lift. I was told by my wife that it looked like I locked out the right arm, but was an inch short with my left. I could not tell you for sure, except to say, I could not quite lock anything out. Bar speed was terrible, and I could not seem to get a full breath of air. I felt like at the top of the lift, I just ran out of oxygen.

Screwball was there at the meet, and although I hated for him to drive all that way just to watch me bomb, I was and am glad to meet him. Screwball, thanks for the support, and when you come up for the May 11th meet, you are staying at my house. Don't even argue about this. Come up the night before and stay with me. My wife suggested this on the way back to Tulsa.

Screwball can fill everyone in more about what the lifts looked like, but I must say that despite my dissapointment at bombing and looking like a fool in front of my hometown crowd, I could not be any more proud of my son. He is 10 years old, weighed in at 142 lbs, and deadlifted 140, 160, 185 for what appears to be an age group national record. I was so proud I nearly lost it.

Guys, let me tell you, Screwball is the nicest, coolest guy you could ever want to meet, but let me tell you, this fella is a monster. He said he was six two and 292, and he looked bigger than that. And if you could find some fat on him you are a better searcher than me. Screwball will be lifting in 8 weeks with me, and hopefully Bigokie, if we can track him down. I will not bomb again. Big numbers will fall.

B

 

[k1401]

Sorry to hear about it Brian.

I'm sure you at least learned something from the meet, so hopefully you left it on a positive note!

 

[powerlifterjay]

Little things can change the entire out come of a meet. Weight loss, sleepless night before, nervs, no food. You name it. Those shirts are very tricky. Even the ones that fit. But your problem is easily fixable. Now i am sure at 100% you can smoke the weight. But basing my advice on your lifts its lockout. If your getting right to the top perfect. At least your driving it up off your chest. Dont let it get yu down. Your strong and you can learn from this. As far as i am concered i bombed too. 2 to touches the oper was so light its really not worth it. But i had fun so if you did too thats what matters. Here is a quote from George Halbert "I have learned more from bombing at meets then..." shit i cant find the rest its in a mag! But you get my point.

Dude i didnt knwo you had a 10yrold. I do too. I swear dude we got a lot in common. But dam your kid did awsome. I would have cried myself! I have 2 girls. So they kinda arent into the whole lifting thing. BUt your kid is big. My 10yrd girl is 65lbs. Your kid might be the next Gary Frank. Your very Lucky.

Scewball has been around the iron game , he knwos bombs happen. He is probably glad he made the trip. That was really cool of him. It says something about his character. Props to you Screwball. You massive dude! Powerlifters are so modest with size. If we were all BB's we would be like my arms are? My chest is ? But here comes screwball 300lbs low fat thick as hell. I love powerlifting!

How was the turnout? If you could get a decent turnout i knwo for sure the APA president would come and do a meet there. You could use an open back and it is a great oRG. I love the APA. You would just do like i do here. Get a venue and promote it get people to come, make fliers and shit, then he will come with all the trophies and you got a meet. Details would have to get worked out but thats cake. Anyway head up bro get em next time. Evaluate and fix the problem. Its like racing you crash one week and win the next.

 

[Prometheus]

Good try, Brian. Just look at it as a warmup for May - you'll hit that one stronger and smarter....

 

[brianmincher]

Thanks Jay,

Screwball can confirm these numbers, but I think I remember hearing that there were 117 lifters. and a shitload of spectators. Maybe 500 or more.

There was some drama at the meet. Jason Jackson benched 600, although I did not see it, because I was back in the warmup area punching walls and throwing chairs. Screwball saw it and can tell you what he thought. (the bench, not the punching)

A State Trooper came very very close to a 700 deadlift, twice. There were some strong MOFOs at this meet.

I will be lifting at an APF meet in May. I think it has similar rules on equipment and testing to the APA, but I am not positive. Anyone that knows for sure, I would welcome your input.

I don't know if I mentioned this in my first post, but after the meet, my brother, who was my liftoff man, told me that I hit the uprights on the way up with my first two lifts. I did not even realize that I had done that. Shows where my head was.

I crashed this week. I will take the checkered flag next time.

B.

 

[brianmincher]

thanks prometheus,

And Jay,

You are right, my boy is a monster. Crowd went nuts over him. Best natural puller I have seen. As you know I can't pull shit, but this kid just walks up, barely bends his legs at all, grabs the bar and just stands up with it. Awesome to see. He plays defensive end for Jenks, and is the fastest down lineman in the league. The high school coaches already know him by name, and this is a school where the high school has so many kids on the football squad, they have to double number, i.e. two number 98's etc. . .

His current coach was very fired up about the results. He said two things. Congratulations, and you have no excuse now for not putting every guy who lines up against you on their butt!!

If he had not competed and done well, I would have been extremely disapointed, as it is, I am proud at the same time as being disapointed, and that makes it easier to swallow.

B

 

[powerlifterjay]

Thats cool. I wish i had a son period. But A big ass athletic one? Gulp... i almost lost it, sorry. BUt my wife really knows i want a son. Were gonna try one more time once all school is over. So there is hope.

The APF is the same rule wise as APA. 2 layer equip ok. As of now open back ok. Juice ok. HEHE! Its wide open! You will kill it , just mope around for a day or 2 like i do when i feel i didnt perform well then i just forget about it, and move on. I mean when i say i forget about i mean it doesnt even bother me anymore if i wanted it too, after a week.

 

[brianmincher]

I just got off the phone with Lambriarvet. I think my heifers will be good and healthy by May. he he he. And the son came with the wife on my deal, so I can't claim any credit for him being big or athletic. All I can seem to throw is girls too. Somebody once told me that the more macho you are the more likely you are to have girls. Kind of like karma or something.

I have the mope around thing down to a science. By the end of the week, I will be the same lovable ass-hole I was before, stupidly thinking I can twist horseshoes, and bench press my truck.

I will give 5 bills a ride in may. I will also have the sense to open with something i can get in my sleep. This was my last meet for a while in the 242's and it was my last meet ever as a novice. I am entering only open or pro divisions from this point forward. The guy who won the novice 242's which I bombed out of finished with less than I did in warmups without a shirt. I was really only entering this meet the way I did looking for a record. From now on, I am going to sink or swim with the sharks, not the guppy's.

B

 

[Screwball]

The WABDL McAlester Meet...

First thing I want to say about the meet was that it was a class act. The venue was awsome. It was held at a brand new exhibition hall at the McAlester fairgrounds. There was a large lifting platform erected that was about 3-4 feet off of the ground. The judges sat at floor level with only the bench, lifter, spotters and loaders on the actual platform. The audience sat in chairs out in front of the lifting platform. The warmup room was in another room down the hall. It appeared to have everything required to get a sufficient warmup. On some attempts the lifters would emerge from the hall when their name was called which was also pretty cool. First time I've seen a set-up like this and I liked it. The announcing was good and the meet moved along rather quickly. It only started about 30-45 minutes late due to last minute entries (this is better than most). There were 5 flights of benchers and 3-4 flights of deadlifters. I would estimate around 100 lifters and 150-200 spectators, maybe more. The atmosphere was very positive with varying levels of lifting ability. Lots of family support. There were numerous 500+ lb. benches and one 600 lb. bench. There were also numerous 600+ lb pulls with two very close missed attempts at 700 lbs. We witnessed a few state, national and world records for the WABDL. I really, really enjoyed the meet but I was antsy as hell to move some weight. I get more tired watching than actually lifting because it's like your attempting each lift with each lifter, if you know what I mean. My voice was shot by the end of the day.

Of course, I had never met Brian or BigOkie so when I first got to the meet I was sizing everyone up trying to figure out who was who. I was standing at the back of the hall and Brian walks up and asks, "You don't happen to go by the name, BigOkie or Screwball do you?" My response, "I'm Screwball". How's that for a few first meeting words? Oh well. We commenced to talking "shop" and we tend to agree on powerlifting methods, meet prep, etc... Brian asked the announcer to "call out" Big Okie but I guess he couldn't make it. Until next time, BigOkie. He invited me over to sit with his family which I greatly appreciated. He had a big cheering section and they were all terrific people. One of the nicest, most supportive families you will ever meet. Brian has a wonderful wife, two beautiful little girls and a 10-year old "man-boy". I couldn't believe it when Brian told me he was 10. He looks about 13 or 14 - big & solid.

Brian is around 5'8" - 225 lbs. The first thing you notice about his physique is his chest. His chest is huge - big, thick pecs. When his shirt is on, his upper pecs are damn near touching his chin. He says he has short arms but I think it's more of deep, barrelled chest than anything. Also, very big across the upper back, traps and lats. He is built for benching and squatting so I can see how he struggles a bit with his deadlift, much as I struggle with my bench (long, weak arms). All three attempts were very, very close. If there had been 445 lbs. on the bar it would have gone. Good technique, set the weight properly, good push off the chest. The bar just would not go up the last few inches on each attempt. Each attempt was better than the last. It was just one of those off days that each of us experiences from time to time. Like PLJay said, "We learn more in our defeats than in our victories." I know Brian is going to push some big numbers the next time the opportunity presents itself. I plan to be there when those big numbers happen.

I really got excited when Brian's son (Brian Jr. ???) deadlifted. All three of his attempts were eeaasssyyyy! We were yelling our butts off! He could of easily gone over 200 lbs. Pound for pound he was one of the strongest lifters at the meet. This kid could do some amazing things in the future - powerlifting, football, wrestling, you name it... If Cubanito sets some teenage records at 17-19 then Brian' son may be breaking them at that age or before. It is too early to tell yet if he will reach "Freak" status but he very well may be shooting for those records in the future as well. We were all very proud of his accomplishment.

Brian, I want to thank you personally for allowing me to be a part of the event. I really had a good time. I don't even know what to say about you and your wife inviting me to stay with you for the Tulsa meet. Truely generous, thank you. Thank you also for all of your kind words. The money is in the mail, ha, ha!

Oh, on a side note. I'm not making excuses for Brian but I think it's important to know that Brian and his family closed on their new house (2-3 weeks early) and moved in last weekend. He won't say it but I'll say it for him. The last week or so has been stressful whether he will admit it or not. Big numbers will fall in the future!

PLJay, that would be awesome if we could get an APA meet here in Oklahoma. Powerlifting meets are few and far between so they are greatly appreciated by the Oklahoma lifters.

- Screwball out!

 

[brianmincher]

Thanks Screwball,

for those on the board that don't know him, you are missing out. And I am dead serious about staying at my house in May. My wife instantly liked you, my son thinks you are a monster, and my feelings will be deeply hurt if you don't stay with us.

I told my brother to help me keep a lookout for BigOkie and Screwball. He of course did not know what they looked like either, so I just told him to keep an eye on the double doors and when someone blocked most of the light out then that was probably one of them. About 10 minutes later, a lot of man blocked most of the light through those double doors, and Jeff (my brother) said, that is one of your guys, I bet. After dealing with one of my many domestic crisis' of the day (brought both babies to the meet) I walked up to Screwball and had the conversation mentioned above.

I knew I had better find him, because finding one particular, guy 5'8", 225 guy with a goattee out of the crowd at a powerlifting meet is not easy. Screwball, thanks for coming down, I had a great time talking to you. Train hard, and lets both bust 500 in may. Shoot me an e-mail sometime and we will discuss "meet prep".

B.