Judging A Physique Contest

Comments on Universally-Accepted Methods of Scoring

By Bob Hoffman

Following are the official A.A.U. rules to determine America's most muscular and symmetrical athlete, better known as "Mr. America."

"The Mr. America " contest is to be held in conjunction with the National A.A.U. Weight Lifting Championships. In addition, similar contests may be held and sanctioned by the A.A.U. for the Junior National, District Association, State, County and City titles.

1. Only amateur athletes registered with the A.A.U. are permitted to participate.

2. The use of cosmetics, oils, artificial coloring or "makeup" are forbidden.

3. All athletes to appear on the stage as their names are called, walk in front of the judges and line up for inspection. Each athlete when called upon, to step on the platform for three poses of 15 seconds each, and then return to his place in line. Poses to consist of front pose, back pose and one optional pose.

4. All officials to be appointed by the National Chairman or his appointee in charge of the contest. Judging to be done according to the point system.

There shall be five or seven judges with the high and low score of each athlete to be eliminated. The referee to collect the slips from the judges, to be tabulated by clerks under the judges' supervision. The five best to be brought before the judges for a review and in case of a tie the winner to be determined by vote/

5. The A.A,U. 'Mr, America' medal a warded to first five place winners. Special prizes may be awarded in addition to the above for America's best physical and muscular development, best arm, best chest, abdominals, back and legs. Division into height classes also permitted.

6. A special platform with proper should be provided for posing."

The above American rules have been adopted, word-for-word, for the "Mr. World" contest, called "Plus Bel Athlete Du Monde," by the International Federation of Weight Lifting and Physical Culture.

The "Mr. America" contest, under A.A.U. supervision, had its inception at Chicago in 1939. It was limited to those who were taking part in the weightlifting championships. This did not prove to be a good idea, for some men who could not clean and jerk bodyweight entered the lifting to be eligible for the physique contest. This lengthened the weightlifting contest and detracted greatly from spectator interest. The first really big, nationwide contest was held at Madison Square Garden in 1940 and was won by John Grimek. The next year, 1941, another huge contest was held at the Arena in Philadelphia. John Grimek again won the contest so a rule was made that a man could not compete again after winning.

From the beginning there were complaints about the judging. These were justified in the first contest. The judges were made up of artist and art teachers, with the operator of a business men's gymnasium as chairman of the committee, Tony Terlazzo had the highest score and would have been "Mr. America" according to present standards, but the chairman decided he was too short and selected Roland Essmaker as the first "Mr. America."

In the second contest, the big affair at Madison Square Garden, there were 10 judges including Colonel Fitzpatrick, president of the Madison Square Garden Corporation; Dan Parker, New York Mirro sports columnist; Colonel Dieges, former wrestling champion; Harry Paschall, Emmett Faris, Bernarr Macfadden and the writer of this article.

The contest in Philadelphia in 1941 was even bigger than the Madi!on Square Garden contest. It was more representative of the best in America, as there were 66 entrants from widely scattered points. A number of cities had chosen best built men. John Grimek scored 147.5 points in winning, which was very high considering that 150 was perfect. Jules Bacon and Frank Leight were tied for second with 125 points. They were judged again and Bacon was placed second, Leight third. In this contest there were a number of swimmers, gymnasts, boxers, wrestlers and other athletes who found they were outclassed by the Weight trained men.

The next contest was held in Cincinnati in 1942 and was an anti-climax after the 66 entries of the year before, with only 13 men entered. America was at war. There were four lady judges, along with Siegmund Klein, Fred Hofmeister, Harry Paschall and the writer. Frank Leight, the tall New York policeman with the splendidly-developed chest, was the winner.

As the years passed judges of greater experience were selected, usually men who were leaders in their districts. There has been little criticism concerning the judging, although there have been some who were unhappy because their particular favorites or men in whom they had special interest did not win. After the 1942 contest I ceased to serve as a judge, so there would be no hint of favoritism when a York man won.

The late Dietrich Wortmann, national chairman, sometimes selected the judges and on other occasions delegated vice chairmen to make the selections. Dave Matlin, for example, when contests were held in the west, and Emmett Faris when they were held in the east. As international chairman of physical culture, which means bodybuilding, I selected the officials for the "Mr. World" contest. They were:

- Wilbur Smith, National Vice Chairman and weightlifting chairman of the Allegheny Mountain Association district of the A.U.U.

- Rudy Sablo, member of the Metropolitan Weightlifting Association.

- Jack Ayars, vice chairman of the Middle Atlantic Association' of the A.A.U.

- Larry Barnholth, chairman of the Northeastern Ohio division of the A.A.U. and coach of the American College of Modern Weightlifting.

- Jack Lipsky, member of the South Atlantic A.A.U. committee.

- Jorge Macedo, official representative of the Brazilian Bodybuilding Association.

- Mark Berry, former National Chairman, editor of Strength magazine and author of a number of bodybuilding books.

Any unbiased reader will agree that we had a well-qualified, fair group of officials. Only the man from Brazil could have been particularly interested in any of the contestants (there were two men from that country entered), but reports indicate he was fair and judged about the same as the others. It is estimated that 2,500 people saw.this contest and we received only one letter of disapproval from a man who said the judging was a 'farce." This man said "things are really dark when corruption sinks so law as to invade the bodybuilding field." He must have been listening to political speakers talking about corruption, for we certainly have none in A.A.U. weight lifting or bodybuilding ranks. But this letter does prove it's just about impossible to satisfy everyone.

The first time I heard booing at a "Mr. America " contest when the decision was given was in 1952 at New York City. Some of the fellows back in the less expensive seats were not pleased because the man they were rooting for did not win. But even then there was not too much booing. Reports of the ill-mannered disturbance were, like the premature reports of Mark Twain's death, greatly exaggerated.

Naturally there are differences of opinion. I remember that in 1948 when George Eiferman won the "Mr. America" contest that many sitting near me thought Elias Rodriguez, "Most Muscular Man" winner, should ha ve been "Mr. America.:' Rodriguez had unusual muscular definition, like a human anatomical chart, but certainly did not rank " with many men in that contest for development. On the beach he would be, lost among the others.

There has been some divurgence of opinion about what constitutes 'most muscular." Certainly the man chosen should have considerable muscle and some definition. Definition alone or bulk alone should not win the award. At the 1946 contest when John McWilliams Won "best arm," many thought it should have been called "most arm" and that Sam Loprinzi should have won "best arm."

At Chattanooga in 1944, when Steve Stanko had won "best chest," "best back" and "best arm" and then got out to give others a chance, Dan Lurie was awarded the "Most Muscular Man" title. When I asked the judges "how come?" one said, "Well, we wanted to give him something."

In 1947 Steve Reeves and Eric Pederson were tied for the "Mr America" crown when the votes were tabulated. Reeves is one of the most admired of all "Mr. Americas" because of his wide shoulders, narrow hips, slender waist and magnificent legs. Pederson, who was selected as "Most Muscular Man," had a more muscular torso and was compactly and symmetrically developed all over. In the final selection Reeves vas chosen over Pederson, although Pederson had his full share of partisan rooters. Later Reeves went on to win the "Mr. Universe" title. over Reg Park, proving his greatness after being outscored by the incomparable John Grimek for the overall title, amateur and professional, the year before.

Some spectators are so impressed or biased in favor of a certain man they can't see anyone else. In 1946 I was not judging, but as a spectator was so impressed by Sam Loprinzi and John Farbotnik that I thought the choice must surely be between them. I simply couldn't see anyone else and was surprised when Alan Stephan won. Stephan had appeared on the cover of this magazine in 1944, and after two years of navy service during which he carried a pair of 40-pound York adjustable dumbells with him every,here, he had improved a lot. He was selected winner by Emmett Faris, Chester Teegarden, Art Gay, Harry Paschall, and Fred Hofmeister. Sam Loprinzi, Leo Stern, Joe Lauriano and John Farbotnik were not far behind in the scoring. Truly this was one of the hardest decisions to make. I would not have wanted to be a judge on that occasion, but I certainly would not complain about the judging done by such a capable panel.

There are many kinds of physiques. One man may like one, another judge prefer another type. But throughout the years the judges have done a good job. Men of long experience and great personal interest in the sport are chosen. The officials are men with such love for and interest in the game that they travel miles to contests without any kind of remuneration. If, by any chance, a man should be biased, his "slanting" of his score would be simply wasted effort, for the high and low scores given each man are eliminated. Officials selected are from widely-scattered districts so no contestant will have judges favoring him, perhaps unconsciously, because he comes from the same territory. But one judge cannot outvote nine others even if there is favoritism of that sort.

It is the judges' problem to pick a winner who is truly the best man in the district, nation or world. He is usually a man who is terrifically muscled. John Grimek won "Mr. America " and "most muscular"; Jules Bacon was the lightest "Mr. America," but even his "muscles had muscles" ; Steve Stanko was a Hercules, weighing over 200 and six feet tall; Frank Leight was also a herculean six-footer, as were Steve Reeves and Alan Stephan; George Eiferman and Jack Delinger were, like Grimek, of average height but with superhuman development. Roy Hilligenn was the shortest "Mr. America," but enormously powerful, a wonderful athlete and magnificently muscled. He was chosen "World's Most Muscular Man" in the recent "Mr. World" contest won by Jim Park.

Most of our "Mr. Americas" have been handsome, a number of them as handsome as movie star~. Good looks only count one point, but when that point is multiplied by five or ;even ( the number of judges) it can easily be the deciding factor. In one district contest I saw a man with an enormous muscular development win the "Mr." contest. He had a craglike face with lines deep enough to plant seeds in them. He should have been content to be "most muscular." A well-muscled man, with a more symmetrical body, better hair, face been a better "Mr." winner.

We are not trying to pick America's most handsome man when we select "Mr. America," but neither are we trying to select an abysmal brute with much more of his share of muscles. We want to select asphysique contest winners the man with the best development, the most symmetrical proportions, who is a good poser, an athletic type, a man who is good-looking in a manly sort of way a man who is the superior physical specimen.

It is too bad if the man who has a lot of muscles has little or no hair, has teeth missing, is awkward as he leaves or approaches or leaves the stage, or has a rough or marked face - the best all-around man should win.

I have been master-of-ceremonies for at least least part of every national contest since there have been "Mr. America" contests and I would say that the judges have been right more than 99 percent of the times. That's pretty good, don't you think, considering that the "Mr." contests are based on opinion of the judges rather than performance which can be accurately measured and compared with that of other men. Just remember, please, that the best men are selected as judges. They have no favorites; they try to be fair and honest. Every man gets a square deal, but - unfortunately - every man cannot win.