Yes, I wrote about this a few years ago, but it needs to be stated again: It infuriates me that the sport I love is littered with lazy, narcissistic people that do not find anything wrong with mooching money to support their “dream” of competing in a bodybuilding contest.
Discussions around this topic are typically heated because those that pay their own way (you know, people with dignity and character) get mad at the moochers, while the moochers vehemently defend themselves and try to justify why the rest of us can work for what we want and they can just beg for others to give them money. The arguments are laughable, but the moochers seem just fine with not working for anything. The excuses are equally as laughable.
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“I can’t afford to pay for travel, registration, food, supplements, a hotel room, and everything else that comes along with competing, so I am asking for your help.”
You can’t afford food? The above list is EVERYTHING you need to compete and you can’t pay for ANY of it? Here’s a thought: Maybe you could do like the rest of us, and if you don’t have the money, you just don’t get to compete. Has that crossed your mind? Maybe you should get a better job? Or another job? That’s right, you’re fucking lazy. I forgot. And it’s all about you (which is the definition of narcissism).
Another thing I find equally as humorous is that when a person does this, it is rarely someone with the potential to actually threaten to do well. No, instead it is typically those people that have no chance at placing any higher than 16. And that makes me wonder: is it easier to blow through someone else’s money when you have no chance at doing well? It is almost as if the thought process is, “I’m not going to spend my money to get blown away and have nothing to show for it.”
I am no angel but I will use my own situation as an example. I have four kids, so I have always had plenty to pay for that takes priority over something like bodybuilding or buying a motorcycle or a beautiful, absurdly expensive cat. At the same time, I would not have any of those things if I didn’t have the money to pay for them. I was raised to understand that one’s dignity and character are far more important than doing a show that I likely will get destroyed in while spending someone else’s money. Would my stance be any different if that person asking for help had a chance at a pro card? Hell no. Mooching is mooching, and a lack of character is no different whether you are a pro, a really good competitor, or a shitty one with no chance of winning.
I will go one step further for those of you that might read this and get all butt-hurt: It doesn’t matter if you are mooching money to compete or if you want to pay for college or buy an awesome cat (see how everything comes back to cats with me?). It is still mooching and equally appalling. If there was even some shame felt when someone mooches, that would be a small consolation for me, but there never is. Narcissistic people are typically blind to their selfish behaviors.
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I have been asked, “Why does it bother you and why do you even spend any time on it?” Because when it is in the sport that I love and I want the sport to be cast in a positive light, there are those pathetic individuals who insist on caring more about themselves than what the sport looks like and the people in it. We are all a representation of our sport and industry, so while I’m over here trying to do everything I can to cast a positive light on it, yeah, I’m going to have a problem with a shitbag begging for money for something he or she could pay for themselves if they weren’t so lazy and entitled.
GoFundMe was set up to help people who have dealt with tragic situations like a death in the family, mounting hospital bills, a debilitating disease, a natural disaster, etc. Leave it to the narcissistic, lazy bodybuilder to think, “I don’t have to pay for my shit. I’ll just mooch off others and claim that I can’t afford it without their help." Go figure, a bodybuilder finding the easy way out while claiming how hardcore he or she is every day on social media. Stay blinded by your one-dimensional life and keep thinking it’s all about you and wondering why you can’t seem to find good people to surround yourself with. The answer is right in front of your face; you just choose not to see it. Just Sayin’.
Photo courtesy of Csak Istvan © 123RF.com
You should have been asked: “Why did you ever think it would be a good idea to publish a posting so peevish, profane, and incendiary given the low stakes of the actual topic?”
Incendiary? Only to moochers, Joe.
I will sit here and try to guess what side you fall on.
Hey, don't be a stranger, huh?
Did you have an article where you talked about the cat? That would be cool!
I just think they aren't cat people. :)
Powerlifters do it too, Skip. It's so laughably pathetic you almost want to send em a ziploc bag full of morning dump turds!