Post: #1

I know many people here are Arnold fans (myself included) and I just recently came across this podcast with Bill Simmons and Arnold (October, 2012).

For those of you who don't know who Simmons is, he's a sportswriter for grantland.com (usually listen to his podcasts and came across this, don't know how I missed it in the first place).

Here's the link if you want to stream it or download it:

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=8457563

Usually the celeb podcasts are between 20-30 minutes but this is almost 70 minutes, so has a lot of information in it.

For those who want a gist of it or don't want to listen to it, some of the main points in the podcast:

He talks about how he got started working out and how he had to work around the army.
The Pumping Iron documentary and how they worked to make it more dramatic.
His dinners with Wilt Chamberlain and Andre The Giant (pretty funny stuff)
His movie career.
His failures and successes.
He also makes an interesting correlation between the "Women's Liberation" movement in the 70s and 80s and the success of bodybuilding as a sport and a fitness movement.


It's very interesting/inspirational and highly recommended.

If you have already listened to it, what did you think of it?

Post: #2

Did anyone end up listening to this? Just curious.

Post: #3

Yeah I listened the other night, it's excellent. That said, I did notice that thread bump. We all do it.

Post: #4

(02-21-2013 04:35 PM)Teedub Wrote:  Yeah I listened the other night, it's excellent. That said, I did notice that thread bump. We all do it.

Hahaha....just wanted to see if anybody actually listened to it, given how many people like Arnold on this forum. I swear it wasn't just to bump the thread

Post: #5

Yeah Arnie is a huge role model for many on here. I think it's because there are NO actual alpha males around anymore, Arnie included. Well, I'm sure they exist, but they're probably in prison. A true alpha male - in the evolutionary psychology sense that we espouse on here - would be a friendless sociopath. I don't want to be that way, nor would I like anyone who was that way. Arnie is a 'modern' alpha male.

Regarding the 'bump' - I caught you out sonny! Haha

Post: #6

Bill Simmons is an annoying assclown but I will give it a listen at some point.

Post: #7

(02-21-2013 05:16 PM)Teedub Wrote:  Yeah Arnie is a huge role model for many on here. I think it's because there are NO actual alpha males around anymore, Arnie included. Well, I'm sure they exist, but they're probably in prison. A true alpha male - in the evolutionary psychology sense that we espouse on here - would be a friendless sociopath. I don't want to be that way, nor would I like anyone who was that way. Arnie is a 'modern' alpha male.

Regarding the 'bump' - I caught you out sonny! Haha

Yeah, Arnie is solid. Well not to get into another beta or alpha debate but I never agreed with the notion that true alphas would be in prison. I think G made a post regarding that. But anyway, if anybody needs inspiration and someone to study to become more "alpha", can't go wrong with Arnie.

(02-21-2013 05:24 PM)renotime Wrote:  Bill Simmons is an annoying assclown but I will give it a listen at some point.

Bill Simmons is a big Boston homer but his material is still very rational. I prefer him over the usually sensationalist analysts and journalists like Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith these days. Even if you find Simmons annoying, you can't deny that that his articles are researched and very well-written.

Post: #8

I listened yesterday, thanks for posting it.

One of the things I took from this conversation is how important timing is in making someone famous/rich. Simmons makes the point that the fitness craze didn't really catch on until around 1976, with the movie Rocky being a big catalyst. For anyone that has watched Pumping Iron, you know that it showcases the 1975 Mr. Olympia. Arnold explains that the producers of the documentary could not find a buyer for two years and it eventually debuted in early 1977. The presumption is that a market for the movie developed only after Rocky became a big hit.

Not trying to discredit Arnold by any means, but its important to realize how important timing is with any endeavor. And his movie career certainly benefited from the success of Pumping Iron.

Post: #9

I just mean that a REAL alpha is like a Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones. You know what I mean.

The whole alpha/beta debate is played out and doesn't really function in the modern world. That's all.

Post: #10

(02-21-2013 06:22 PM)Gator Wrote:  I listened yesterday, thanks for posting it.

One of the things I took from this conversation is how important timing is in making someone famous/rich. Simmons makes the point that the fitness craze didn't really catch on until around 1976, with the movie Rocky being a big catalyst. For anyone that has watched Pumping Iron, you know that it showcases the 1975 Mr. Olympia. Arnold explains that the producers of the documentary could not find a buyer for two years and it eventually debuted in early 1977. The presumption is that a market for the movie developed only after Rocky became a big hit.

Not trying to discredit Arnold by any means, but its important to realize how important timing is with any endeavor. And his movie career certainly benefited from the success of Pumping Iron.

Yeah, the level and magnitude of success Arnold is not just because of his hard-work and talent. As you said, not to discredit him or take anything from him but the timing, the team around him, and everything else played into it. If you remember he mentioned how one of the marketing/PR guys on Pumping Iron used to send 6 page handwritten personal invitations to the editors of the major newspapers to check out the documentary.

(02-21-2013 06:24 PM)Teedub Wrote:  I just mean that a REAL alpha is like a Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones. You know what I mean.

The whole alpha/beta debate is played out and doesn't really function in the modern world. That's all.

Yeah, I hear you. Makes sense.

Post: #11

Thanks for the link. I would never have found it without your pointer. Anyway - looking forward to listening to it. Will pop back in when I get a chance (it can take a few days sometimes).

Post: #12

I like Arnold, but he's kind of boring in these interviews.

Post: #13

(02-21-2013 05:58 PM)TheSlayer Wrote:  

(02-21-2013 05:16 PM)Teedub Wrote:  Yeah Arnie is a huge role model for many on here. I think it's because there are NO actual alpha males around anymore, Arnie included. Well, I'm sure they exist, but they're probably in prison. A true alpha male - in the evolutionary psychology sense that we espouse on here - would be a friendless sociopath. I don't want to be that way, nor would I like anyone who was that way. Arnie is a 'modern' alpha male.

Regarding the 'bump' - I caught you out sonny! Haha

Yeah, Arnie is solid. Well not to get into another beta or alpha debate but I never agreed with the notion that true alphas would be in prison. I think G made a post regarding that. But anyway, if anybody needs inspiration and someone to study to become more "alpha", can't go wrong with Arnie.

(02-21-2013 05:24 PM)renotime Wrote:  Bill Simmons is an annoying assclown but I will give it a listen at some point.

Bill Simmons is a big Boston homer but his material is still very rational. I prefer him over the usually sensationalist analysts and journalists like Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith these days. Even if you find Simmons annoying, you can't deny that that his articles are researched and very well-written.

He's a solid writer...when it comes to sports. But then he pretends to be some Hollywood insider b/c he was a writer on Kimmel for 2 weeks. Like that article on his formula for what qualifies to be a movie star. Apparently Will Smith is the only movie star in existence.

And his overuse of footnotes in Grantland is god damn excruciating.

I will take Drew Magary over Bill Simmons any day of the week.

Post: #14

(02-22-2013 04:00 PM)renotime Wrote:  

(02-21-2013 05:58 PM)TheSlayer Wrote:  

(02-21-2013 05:16 PM)Teedub Wrote:  Yeah Arnie is a huge role model for many on here. I think it's because there are NO actual alpha males around anymore, Arnie included. Well, I'm sure they exist, but they're probably in prison. A true alpha male - in the evolutionary psychology sense that we espouse on here - would be a friendless sociopath. I don't want to be that way, nor would I like anyone who was that way. Arnie is a 'modern' alpha male.

Regarding the 'bump' - I caught you out sonny! Haha

Yeah, Arnie is solid. Well not to get into another beta or alpha debate but I never agreed with the notion that true alphas would be in prison. I think G made a post regarding that. But anyway, if anybody needs inspiration and someone to study to become more "alpha", can't go wrong with Arnie.

(02-21-2013 05:24 PM)renotime Wrote:  Bill Simmons is an annoying assclown but I will give it a listen at some point.

Bill Simmons is a big Boston homer but his material is still very rational. I prefer him over the usually sensationalist analysts and journalists like Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith these days. Even if you find Simmons annoying, you can't deny that that his articles are researched and very well-written.

He's a solid writer...when it comes to sports. But then he pretends to be some Hollywood insider b/c he was a writer on Kimmel for 2 weeks. Like that article on his formula for what qualifies to be a movie star. Apparently Will Smith is the only movie star in existence.

And his overuse of footnotes in Grantland is god damn excruciating.

I will take Drew Magary over Bill Simmons any day of the week.

To be fair grantland is now 50-50 in terms of sports and pop culture content. I don't care for the pop culture content even if it is Simmons'. Although some of it is decent, for example, his podcast on fast five was hilarious. I only go there for the sports content and his sports content is pretty good.

The footnotes aren't overused in my opinion. If anything it explains the material more which is a change from any other material you read online. Sometimes when you are reading other stuff you don't know if the writer's just talking out of his ass or if it's really researched.