Weeks prior to leaving for the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, my assistant contract manager and photographer, Jason Minto, informed me his good friend Mike Scuillo of Miami, Florida was named Bodybuilding.com’s Amateur Bodybuilder of the Week, #431. Jason also told me that Mike would be coming up from Florida for the Arnold and that he would try to catch up with me sometime over the weekend. I never met Mike and I only have seen his picture on BB.com’s profile of him.
Now comes the weird part of this blog story. On Saturday, March 7th, Merv Petralba and I planned to meet IRON MAN’s Senior Editor Ruth Silverman and Nancy Di Nino, co-host of LivingBeautifulRadio.com, outside the Expo hall at 8:45 am to make three wrap-up videos of the women events from the previous day. We met up with them at the coffee stand and found a table where we all could go over the plans for the videos.
After sitting down for a few minutes while reading some technical material, I heard my name being called. It wasn’t Ruth, Nancy or Merv because they were doing other things. I heard my name being called again and it was coming from behind me. I turned around and to my amazement it was Mike. There was no prior contact between Mike and myself; it was just one of those weird instances when people are at the same place at the same time. I just happened to sit down at a table next to Mike’s table.
After talking a few minutes and getting Merv to take a photo of Mike and me with my iPhone, I sent Jason the picture of us. I think that freaked him out and then Mike called Jason to freak him out a little more. While Mike was talking to Jason, I came up with the idea to take a picture of Mike in front of the Bodybuilding.com booth in the Expo. When Mike was done talking to Jason, I grabbed Mike and took him to the booth for a quick photo.
Bill Grant, a long-time friend of the family, was signing autographs at the booth, along with Bob Cicherillo and Sherry Goggin. All three of them were kind enough to take a minute for me to grab a quick pic of them with Mike. The line for the Bodybuilding.com booth was off the hook; it was probably the most popular booth at the Expo.
For those who have never been to the Expo, it is wall-to-wall people on Friday & Saturday. Total madness. Trying to find someone in the Expo Hall is like trying to find a single BB in Yankee Stadium. Without a cell phone and earpiece, you’re SOL. I can’t wait to do it again next year. See you there!
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