USAPL Best of 2008 Voting Underway

why is madvig on the list instead of Jeff Theile. Theile totaled like 25kgs or more than madvig at raw nationals and was like 75 pounds lighter. her also won the the heavy male best lifter. doesn't make sense to me, until i realized it was madvigs forum, so he has to be on the list (instead of the actaul best).

The USAPL members nominated the lifters on the list from USAPL members.

Regina

Its sad that comments like this come up and the need to attack people continues to infest this site.

Since obviously you have trouble reading (or just a burning desire to be an asshole) allow me to explain how the best of went on.. its really simple.

1. I put up links on one of my pages allowing USAPL members to vote on 3 folks in various categories to whom they feel is the best. I put no criteria as to what that meant other then a given division.

2. Once compiled I put the top 3 to vote with one option to consider.. I just happen to fall into the top 3. My gut told me that someone would post shit like you did.. but others I asked on the subject said put my name up as it was voted on. My gut instinct was right I guess

The fact I own the board and built the best of voting had NOTHING to do with my name being on it. Jeff Theile is awesome and should have been considered, but he was just not voted as such.

On that note I am going to remove my name from it as idiot points of view like yours tend to spread like a virus... Not that I was in any danger of winning based on current voting.

Thank you Regina

hennis washington for raw lifter

What has become clear to me as time goes on is that people take many things into consideration when deciding who “the best is of’ really is. Obviously the weight you lift is a major factor. Others also take into consideration longevity and being able to stay on top for long periods of time. Some take into account lifters whom face major injury or health issues and bounce back to perform well.

Others have even considered ‘the best of’ those lifters who many not take best lifter or gold all the time, but give to the sport in a certain way and still lift big. The list goes on but those are the major factors I have seen.

Where I want to make it clear I have no idea of other accomplishments Jeff has made in the past , Despite him making best lifter at Raw Nats (which is a major deal) appeared not to be the sole factor when it came to the voting.

Now, I challenge you and the others who have spoken the same line of criticism. Email me at mad@thepress.org and tell me what criteria you feel should be used in next years best of. Or just post it here.. if you don’t want to use your name.

i think it needs to be an objective analysis. this means i dont think that we the lifters should vote who is the best because as we compete we make friends and relationships are forms that make someone want to nominate one because he/she is well known. this keeps the sport closed because a perosn who is ignorant to powerlifting may not be able to apprciate the nominee's acomplishments or understand them. so with that in mind the wilks formula and total pounds lifted for best of anything should be used. and in the envent of ties then best lifter awards from national competitions should be utilized. yes it sucks if somelike like you(madvig) totals over 800kg raw at the arn,old last year or krogman toataling 850kgs this gets dissed because these totals did not win (madvig) or were not at a naitonal competion (krogman)but if we dont start putting importance on national level wins and elevating competition making these wins the pinalce of the sport with father reaching benefits than just recongnition the day a perosn wins. then powerlifting will be forever a divided sport with people competing simple where is is easisty to win cause the glory is the same.

I doubt that the number of people pissed at Hennis is very large. It's more like a small handful of people. It wouldn't surprise me if the people who are pissed at him don't give a damn about the men's world team until they have something to complain about.

You present some very interesting points. Having the lifters vote does create the very real possibility that someone will be voted on only due to how well they are known.
In other words, it becomes a popularity contest. Using the Wilks is an ideal tool to determine the best of for Powerlifting. The Wilks is that one worldwide recognized method to
truly measure how good someone is which has become vital in a diluted world of Powerlifting we are in today.

The thing is with any best of list in any subject there is going to be debates on if the list is valid or not. There will be debates on whom really should be on a given list and why.
These kinds of things will never change. When it comes to using best lifter awards at National meets (or any major meet for that matter) I think those are things that should be considered
for best of. But why not local events as well? Krogmans 850kg total at the Twin Cities Open was the most awesome lifting I have seen locally since all 3 of the Gillingham Brothers competed
at MN State in 96. Krogman could have been competing in the fiery pits of hell and could still have pulled off that 850 kilo total he was so on top of his game that day.

So Nat events should be first in consideration for best of I do agree, Wilks should be part of the consideration. But I do not want to ignore local meets outright. I know and agree
that Nat events are the true proving ground of lifters for obvious reasons. But in this day and age where traveling is not always possible due to jobs, money etc for us not to recognize
major lifts on the local level outright we are shooting ourselves in the foot. Then as I noted before the intangibles that really can't be measured by numbers like longevity, dealing with tragedy
and coming back and contributions to powerlifting while still competing at a high level.

So the next year for the best of I think I am going to keep it in the hands of the members to vote on. But I will put up a more focused criteria for voting and incorporate your suggestions in some
capacity. How exactly I will do that I am not sure right now, but its still a year out till the next round of "best of' so its something to chew on.

I plan on getting the best of up on usapowerliftingforum.com today.. Should be a good bunch.