Tom Eiseman Bombs from Jerry Capello Memorial

And that is exactly why he wasn't invited to do the Arnold deadlift competition.

Tom is a great deadlifter..... but I don't understand we he and so many others do not open with a weight they can easily triple , just to get a number on the board.
You can't win anything if you don't get on the board.

How do you bomb in the deadlift? I know Tom is a very good deadlifter but geez...

He may have pulled but just not locked out?

other people bombed at the arnold last year and are still competing.

I really didn't expect that from Eiseman. But some days it's a complete miss while others it's a PR. He will come back strong.

wow im suprized.. but its ok we all know that some days are great and some days suck. I think every powerlifter has bombed out before!

Your results are off, he opened with 716, locked it out and missed with 2 reds. He then missed a near 776 pull twice. He didn't redo his opener as he was a GUEST LIFTER, like me. FYI I opened with 710 and had a close shot with 810. We did the show to honor Jerry, and we did. It was an honor to lift. SEMPER FI. SGT ROCK

As a couple comments said, some days are great and some days are a complete miss -- I have seen Tom have both. He never gives up, always tries again. What probably matters to him is having the opportunities to compete, and the experiences of being around the lifters and fans. I heard this was a meaningful meet honoring a fellow lifter who had passed on, and it was important to the family and friends to have Tom and other lifters there. I think he felt grateful and honored to be welcomed and to take part; it wasn't just about lifting for himself.

I have never bombed out from a meet in my life. I was taken off two Arnold invite lists. Meanwhile, others bombed out of the Arnold last year and invited to return. We all know this issue had nothing to do with Tom bombing out of anything. It's apparent that lifting at the Arnold doesn't even have to do with lifters' wilks formulas or meet performances anymore; doesn't matter if they can go 9/9, or if they usually go 4/9, or if they tend to bomb.

IMO, Tom's competed long enough and successfully enough to know his reasons behind his attempts. I guess if you want to put yourself in his shoes and see if you could have done it, calculate what poundage would give you 221 deadlift wilks points and then try pulling it. I would imagine it would be pretty challenging to do on a bad day. BUT, I wouldn't feel too bad knowing I had been able to do it at all in my lifting career -- and could do it again on a good day!

Bottomline is the Arnold is an invitational meet, so they should take down the criteria and invite who they want. This happens at the USPF FitExpo. That way no one cries about it anymore!

same way you bomb in the bench

Tom is a great lifter, and one of the best deadlifters ever, but some of you just can't help yourselves from bashing him. He was guest lifting, and most guest lifters usually lift all out to please the crowd, which is what it sounds like.

Everyone bombs once in a while even the great Ed Coan bombed in a meet,(APF Nationals 1987-Ed didn't get a deadlift in)if you haven't bombed in a meet maybe you should stop holding yourself back, you have to push the envelope to get to your best, and sometimes it just won't open, just ask Gen. Chuck Yeager.

George Phipps

Sometimes you cut weight and it affects the lift, like anything else...
Sometimes it is a different bar...
Maybe he had an injury and couldn't lift the last week or 2 before, but still wanted to keep the commitment...
Robert Herring bombed out of the Night of the Living Deadlift this past year after winning the Arnold last year. He had cut too much weight and it affected everything.

Thank you Cheryl and everyone that cares. This was a Memorial meet and I was invited as a friend of Jerry Capello's to be present. I was honored to be there. What an amazing powerlifter and person Jerry was.
The show they put on to Memorialize him was awe inspiring and heart felt and the energy at the
meet was incredible. Bill Pearl was there, Brent Howard showed tremendous power nearly
pulling 800. The calibre of powerlifting at the
meet was a testament to Jerry's great teaching
and inspiration.
I went in honor of him. I hadn't lifted over 640 in the gym since last Oct. but I ate the weights up only to lose my grip at the top with my easy opener of 716. I hope they don't remove my name from last years top 100 list atop the 198 and 181 wt. classes.

Tom

By the way if you forgot I won the USAPL qualifier, went to the WABDL Worlds and was promptly de-selected. Blantant territorial, tribal issue that showed a frank disrespect
for me and everyone involved with the qualifying process.

Tom

Tom- at least you showed up and gave it a pull.
Why the hating by so many people?

I met tom in tennesee and he is a nice guy :)

HE DIDNT STAY QUIET. HE IS OUTSPOKEN

he should be considering what happened

Just an FYI for everyone, Tom did not win THE qualifier. He won A qualifier. Let me repeat that, he won ONE qualifier. But, the NOTLD was the third tier of qualifying meets. Not even the first or second tier.

if he won A qualifier weather it be first or third, shouldnt he have been QUALIFIED!??!?

Tom I totally agree with you! Thank you for always putting on a great show and ALWAYS putting forth 100% effort!!

The guy is obviously strong and has done well before. For everyone that has a problem with him bombing take a look around. It is part of the sport-- happens to almost every lifter at some point in their career ( especially in gear and with tuff judging).

So move on and give the guy some credit for atleast attempting big weights that most of you haters would dream about at his body weight and age.

To Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous,

Third tier? Tell that to Alex Campbell, the meet director, all the judges and all the lifters I beat.
You must be a tribe member or joking. Wake up!
Show the world the tiers.
Call it what is, tribal rule, exclusivity or the highway. Why was the winner of the arnold at a third tier qualifier? Did you forget he bombed there?
Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous what will you make up next?
You are funny but not clever because deceit is usually transparent.
I'm sorry my tribe snubbed you.
Their actions are bad for the sport would begin to suffice.

Tom

Stay with it Tom! You are a great asset to the sport and WABDL and I hope you come back stronger and more precise than ever! Pull that 800 you have been chasing and no one will remember the frivolous political events of this past year when they look at the all time list.

Tom
Hope to see you, Cheryl, Mitch and some of the other great pullers at the AAU National BP.D.PP and No American PL July 9-11 at the fabulous Casablanca Resort in Mesquite NV AND The AAU World BP,DL,PP and International PLOct 8-10 at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas.

I truly feel sorry for people who have to degrade others in this sport to make themselves feel better. What comes around goes around - now shut up and lift.

First of all, I cngratulate Tom for going all the way across the country to help memorialize a freind and great lifter. Second, it wa for fun and to remember a freind that always pulled like a beast and if he wants to go for broke, so be it.

Second, people are really pitiful that have to denegrate others who are such great people and lifters in the sport. Especially those that were hating even before they knew the full story.

Third, there are only 2 meets that are deadlift only qualifiers for the Arnold (Deadlift Nats, and the NOTLD). So, you can call the NOTLD what you want, but if you look at the lineup between the dl nats and the NOTLD I am sure you can figure out which one was "third tier".

I think people should get the full info before they start flaming on the net. It will change your perspective on things. Just like when the story about why Robert Herring bombed comes out on here in a few days everyone will understand why things happen.

Less hate and more respect,
Alex Campbell

The problem was that certain sponsors were able to
have a say so as to who lifts.Thus a certain bencher who bombed at the last Arnold is back. He complained to the sponsor of the Arnold meet who happens to be his sponsor as well.
The lousy thing about doing this is that it lets people help control the compitition as far as threats to sponsor lifters being at the meet.

I already spoke my mind on the disgrace to Eiseman...too bad those USAPL members posting anonymous won't post with their real name, why is that?? But it was said right here...he WON a qualifier...still was not invited. And why is that??

Yes. Stop misleading the lifters into thinking their selection is going to be based on meet performance -- at Tier One, Two or Three (LOL!!!!).

Get rid of the false advertising that if you buy a membership and enter a nationals and lift well, or even win (for example), you have a shot.

Make it clear that "they" will invite who "they" want.

Want to tell the 4000 members who "they" are? Can you? If you could, are you allowed to? Are you sure it is not a "she" or a "he?"

I can't be sure. The names of the selection committee is highly confidential information that cannot be released to the members or the lifting community....... for some reason.

Not even Sherman Ledford, the title sponsor of the Quest Invitational - and various Athletes Reps - don't know who "they" are.

At the Fit Expo, about 10 people asked me 1.) if I am going to the Arnold, 2.) why I am not going to the Arnold. They wanted to know more than I did, LOL. I attempted to get answers personally, but "they" weren't/wasn't present in the building that weekend for questions. So "they" continue to hide behind the Anonymous guards you are seeing online.

But anyway, yes -- the new criteria for qualifying for the Arnold: "They" invite whomever "they" want.

So, you have a responsibility to tell the lifters: If you want to lift at the Arnold, be sure that "they" like you enough (and that you don't wear certain gear, and that you don't lift in certain meets, and that you don't argue with certain people, and take a vow of secrecy when you notice odd things happening to yourself or other members...). If you can do all that, and figure out who "they" are -- "they" will want to invite you to the Arnold :)

Also, yes, the American Cup at the Fit Expo is an invitational meet. The difference is, I can gladly and easily name who invites the competitors every year -- the meet director, Steve Denison. (I can also thank him for that and for giving me an "Arnold" this year, the experience of lifting there.)

NOTLD Third Tier? Jeez little harsh...i feel there was great comeptition there...Mike Hedleskly almost pulled 800! And there were multiple guys over 700! And yes Tom beat me...but i didn't mind being beaten by a legend :)

"It is not the critic who counts. Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause. Who at the best, knows in the end the trimph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, at least falls while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt

?

Alright, one more time, Tom did not get uninvtied because of the sponsor. He talked with the head honcho at GNC and was told it was the USAPL's decision, not theirs. Stop rehashing that same old line that is obviously false.

There is an article in the Feb. issue about the Eiseman snubbing. It's mostly the USAPL, behind the scene, e-mail discussions.

Feb. issue of PL USA?

Yes, It is.

I hope to meet Eiseman one day. I wish I had half the deadlift he's pulled in his time.

Anyone who ever meets Tom is a lucky man. He is one of the finest human beings I have ever met. I remember when I had only met him one time, my phone rang on Fathers' Day. It was Tom calling to wish me a happy fathers' day since my first son had just recently been born. What a guy.

Alex

Shame on you PL Watch. People traveled all over the country to attend this show And you MISINFORM everyone he bombed 3 times with 766. What about the reason for the show itself! Let's see how long you leave this up
SEMPER FI
SGT ROCK

Brent,

No fear, why would it be taken down.

It would be nice if we were perfect but we are not.

The information that we initially received apparently was incorrect. We corrected the article as soon as that was relayed to us. We can't do any better than that barring live scoring updates like some have implemented.

WOW! Never saw someone come on to argue a bomb. I have seen arguments for made lifts. LOL

Ok STAFF,
Then answer the question at hand? THere were 85 lifters at the show, ALL there to suppor the Capello family, you FAILED TO MENTION THAT, YOU ONLY MENTIONED ONE LIFTER THAT BOMBED. And dont go saying he was the only world champ there, there were half a dozen including two in the open class......now what ya say bro?

Semper Fi
SGT ROCK

Brent,

We would very much like to feature an article on the event. Unfortunately, there is no information available at this time. Would you write up a piece for the website?

Thank you for your assistance.

Robert Herring bombed do to the fact he had an bone infection and a broken jaw from wisdom teeth being pulled earlier that month. He walked around with a broken jaw for over a month and did not know it. More to follow with his story after having a plate put in his jaw etc but hes doing better now.

Robert Herring won the Arnold Classic again this year!