Pros and Cons of The Cage & National ABC

[Kowboy]

I agree in principal with all parties here on both sides, both have valid points - too many non-Animal people in the box, but some of those definitely had reasons to be there. Nothing but love for D, and I would have done the same in her shoes with the knowledge we had, but I think maybe non-shirt wearers/non-form havers should be at the discretion of an actual staffer, not an intern.

Regarding sight lines - I know that Animal knows this is a problem, both inside the box and out. There arent any easy solutions - even if you get TV's and hang them up, where do you put the cameras feeding the video? Do you have a cameraperson? Now you have yet another person wandering around the inside, blocking views. That said, I think that there was no live webcast with a camera in the control center like last year, and as a result enforcement of sight lines between box and lifters was much more lax, especially Sunday. Multiple people (even Animal athletes) had to be asked to keep out of the "aisle" between the power rack and monolift, as that is the place where the box sees.

With technology now you could fairly easily mount lightweight cameras in the cage. You could even mount them in the squat rack if you wanted to. If you had a camera man I would almost build a platform for them to sit higher then anyone else. This would allow for them to be out of the way and always have a good shot.

[Universal Rep]

CONS:
The only negative i have this year is the "dj" playing 80% hip hop songs..... Thank god for Jesse Norris for putting on some death punch.
I do remember last year hearing a good mix of metal and rock in the cage.

Aint nuthin wrong with rap but I agree with ya, if there wuz that much playin on the CAGE speakers as ya say, its prolly too much. Need to mix it up with other kinds of music for sure...

Yes the sound system needs to be upgraded. It was a miracle that we got it back up and running with the one speaker for the rest of the weekend.

Ive heard several issues with the sound system so that would be an easy fix I think...

[Kowboy]

I think the hardest thing w/ it is that it seemed to cut out when someone was lifting. It probably threw a couple guys off. I would even use spotify or google play and pre-make playlists. It may help save time with the music.

[Universal Rep]

I think the hardest thing w/ it is that it seemed to cut out when someone was lifting. It probably threw a couple guys off. I would even use spotify or google play and pre-make playlists. It may help save time with the music.

Ima guessin mebbe bring new speakers, new amp/mixer, new tunes. Amirite?

[Kowboy]

Ima guessin mebbe bring new speakers, new amp/mixer, new tunes. Amirite?

Yeah, it sounded like there were definitely some hardware issues. I think Twoheadboy could help or you could even go in to a Guitar Center and talk with one of the pro sound guys. It has been a long time since I ran sound. I use to do it a lot when I played in the country band but I am out of practic.e

[DoubleTapJak]

My only real problem was with the Box - the way it was set up only the people against the fence could see anything, and only as long as none of the Athletes were standing in front of it at the moment which happened many times. I came up with an idea for a different setup though, to use the space of the Cage better:

My humble proposal: http://i.imgur.com/HtJpXVx.png

By cutting the width but more than doubling the length of the box, you'll be able to maximize the square footage of fence people can get up to to see. Less people to see through, short people have a better hope. This can also set up the lockers/shelves/storage better so you don't have to fight through 30 people to get your bag or a drink of water.

[Enforcer]

Pro: Got the reality check I am always needing- I always feel great going into the Arnold and then I see all of the big freaks walking around and it sends me right back to reality and makes me work even harder in the gym when I get back home

Con: Running out of the gray Animal hats. I only say this because so many people came up to me asking me if we had anymore. I wasn't in the shop that much over the weekend but I guess these were a big seller

[Phil800101]

My only real problem was with the Box - the way it was set up only the people against the fence could see anything, and only as long as none of the Athletes were standing in front of it at the moment which happened many times. I came up with an idea for a different setup though, to use the space of the Cage better:

My humble proposal: http://i.imgur.com/HtJpXVx.png

By cutting the width but more than doubling the length of the box, you'll be able to maximize the square footage of fence people can get up to to see. Less people to see through, short people have a better hope. This can also set up the lockers/shelves/storage better so you don't have to fight through 30 people to get your bag or a drink of water.

Awesome idea.

[twoheadedboy]

Yeah, it sounded like there were definitely some hardware issues. I think Twoheadboy could help or you could even go in to a Guitar Center and talk with one of the pro sound guys. It has been a long time since I ran sound. I use to do it a lot when I played in the country band but I am out of practic.e

I'm talking with NG via PM's about this very topic.

[naturalguy]

I'm talking with NG via PM's about this very topic.

Yup, very helpful Chris, thanks for the suggestions

[D-NUTZ]

Awesome idea.

x2. I remember my first year there were 2 Boxes...one where it was now and one where the sound stuff is now....It seemed a lot less crowded and easier to see since people were more spread out.....I understand why it needed to change, but I think this idea is genius.

[GunRock]

I will also say regarding the non Animal people that it's very cool to be a part of something, even peripherally that people want to sneak in! When I took the Marine Recruiters over to the Cage where they met Deanna (thanks again for letting them in D!) they saw my Animal shirt and direct quote said, "Man I'd love to be able to get inside the Cage! I've always wanted to do that and it just looks so freaking awesome! I just want to see what's going on in there!"

I've been in their shoes and now I'm a part of the Animal family through this Forvm and I can say it's good to be a part of it! Imagine if NOBODY cared what we were doing, if we were one of those booths begging people to stop for a second! Think about it, people snuck into the Cage, just to stand on hard concrete, shoulder to shoulder cramped up to be a part of what we have!

That is all kinds of awesome and we should ALL be proud of that!

[leightylifts]

guys and gals give your input, I wanted to post this to help out those who put this whole thing together to see if by any chance they make it any more awesome than it already is: here are mine

pros:

every cage event was awesome
abc was a lot of fun, good opportunity to meet some people
the shirt options this year were sick
the cage intensity was unreal
abc food rocked
all the pros that i got to meet were very nice and very down to earth



Cons:

the box: way too many people on Saturday in there, the rules were clearly stated - no Animal shirt, no entry….i was surrounded by, according to my count, 11 people NOT wearing animal shirts yet they were sampling things and moving up to the front of the box just like they belonged there

just my opinion but there has got to be a bigger gym than metro, i know they rock for letting us use the gym but 200 people is a lot for a big gym, let alone one with 1 squat cage



other than that it was a great time and I'm already waiting for next year, A HUGE THANK YOU TO ANIMAL AND UNIVERSAL FOR PUTTING THIS ON….YOU GUYS ROCK!!!

there is a bigger gym, i was walking downtown arnold weekend and the guy that worked there handed me a flyer, it said biggest gym in columbus at 25,00 sq feet, it was called intense fitness or something like that. i do agree though that's a lot of people for that gym.

[leightylifts]

This was my first year at the arnold classic. I had a hell of a weekend and really enjoyed all the cage events.
Cons: the flexicus booth was 100% in the way of the cage
too many people in the box without animal shirts

as for my first ever national abc

pros:animal makes it feel like a family gathering
no other company does anything like this for it's dedicated fans like animal does
great food, great people
the gym was pretty nice itself
i got to meet richard the ant hawthorne and frank the wrath mcgrath. two people in which i look up

cons: nice gym but was over crowded
i did somehow get sick not too long after getting there and was throwing up the whole time
only lifting i got to do before that was incline plate loaded press and the plate loaded lat pulldown

[Razor]

My only real problem was with the Box - the way it was set up only the people against the fence could see anything, and only as long as none of the Athletes were standing in front of it at the moment which happened many times. I came up with an idea for a different setup though, to use the space of the Cage better:

My humble proposal: http://i.imgur.com/HtJpXVx.png

By cutting the width but more than doubling the length of the box, you'll be able to maximize the square footage of fence people can get up to to see. Less people to see through, short people have a better hope. This can also set up the lockers/shelves/storage better so you don't have to fight through 30 people to get your bag or a drink of water.

NICE bro i could definitely see this working!

[deanna7272]

My only real problem was with the Box - the way it was set up only the people against the fence could see anything, and only as long as none of the Athletes were standing in front of it at the moment which happened many times. I came up with an idea for a different setup though, to use the space of the Cage better:

My humble proposal: http://i.imgur.com/HtJpXVx.png

By cutting the width but more than doubling the length of the box, you'll be able to maximize the square footage of fence people can get up to to see. Less people to see through, short people have a better hope. This can also set up the lockers/shelves/storage better so you don't have to fight through 30 people to get your bag or a drink of water.

"Sound Shit" ... That's the technical term for it, right? Lol

[Firefist]

My only real problem was with the Box - the way it was set up only the people against the fence could see anything, and only as long as none of the Athletes were standing in front of it at the moment which happened many times. I came up with an idea for a different setup though, to use the space of the Cage better:

My humble proposal: http://i.imgur.com/HtJpXVx.png

By cutting the width but more than doubling the length of the box, you'll be able to maximize the square footage of fence people can get up to to see. Less people to see through, short people have a better hope. This can also set up the lockers/shelves/storage better so you don't have to fight through 30 people to get your bag or a drink of water.

Great concept, however this completely blocks out everyone outside of the cage on that side.

[DoubleTapJak]

Great concept, however this completely blocks out everyone outside of the cage on that side.

Hmm. That would be a downside. Unless we put in benches to make people sit.