Rob Luyando Won't Compete In APF Mendy Classic

Rob explained himself clearly.

I would do the same if I was him.

way to take a stand and be open about things rob.

Rob is honest man and to the point

Note to self - Never trust a man that brags about his gym lifts with no video.

HAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHHHAHAHA

luyandOWNED!!!!!!

Rob just called Mendy out. Mendy: what do u have to say to that, "bro"?

i have to agree, i think it is unfair that he is breaking down the prize money that low, but rob also if you can in any way take it as a compliment. Maybe mendy was implyign that there would be no competition in the middle weights because he just assumed you would not be beaten by anybody!
But anywayz, whatever whether rob competes at the mendy classic or the upa nationals or the ipf worlds or whatever as long as all these guys putting up bigger and bigger numbers, ill just enjoy watching it happen

No excuses! Just lift it!

I can totally understand Rob not competing due to the unfair split of the prize money; wheather it's 11,000 or 15,000. If the prize money were evenly split, I probably wouldn't be suspisious of Mendy competing in his own meet. I'd like to compete in my APF Al. in front of the home folk but I'm to wasted by the time it's here (I'd suck!) and I'm afraid the operations would suffer. BUT! We don't give cash prizes. Knowing I could do it unbiasedly, I still don't think I would put the integrity of my meet up for suspicion even if my partner ran everything so I could. I don't know what info Rob has about hand picked judges but if Rob has suspicion there it's his business if he wants to eliberate or not here or if that should just be between he and Mendy. I've met Mendy and like him a lot. I'm also a fan of Rob, so I'm sure not going to pick sides. I'll only say if I were competing, I'd be more comfortable if the promoter was competing if the money was even; or if the class the promoter was in had the short stack. If it is really the case that the promotion team thinks the middles is a 'one man show' and there is not enough depth at middleweight, it would make more sense to me to break it at 242's and go light weight/heavyweight and let the heavier middles like Rob and the lighter heavies decide if they wanted to go up or down in weight a few pounds. Then just split the money evenly for two classes. But, which ever way it should be split even in my opinion. Since it's a pro level cash meet, you can't blame any middle for not going as it is. Like I said, I like Mendy; but I don't see this as a sound decision.
In his defense though, if so many people hadn't blasted his 1008 lb. lift as 'illegitimate' because it was done as a guest lifter; maybe he wouldn't feel the need to lift 'in' the meet instead of guest lifting.

WHAT DID U DO TO PEA HIM OFF THIS TIME ROB? AGREED NOT FAIR SPLIT DOWN THE MIDDLE.

That would be 3,666. for each lifter.

The only thought on this matter is. Mendy knows Rob would win the middle class. So why don't he want to pay him $5,000? More money for him?

I have a few things to say, a little on both sides. In defense of Mendy, it doesn't have to be a "fair" cut between the winners (discounting the claim that he told this to Rob). It's his meet, his money. People are always complaining "records and divisions won uncontested are meaningless." If Rob, a 900+ bencher, was lifting against a 1-2 700lb benchers, for a total of 2-3 lifters, it all of the sudden is worth $5000 dollars when both of the other divisions probably have 8+ lifters and stiff competition. I don't know the exact #s but the theme is a little hypocritical compared to the opinion at large. People also have to realize that any judge that is picked, no matter how they ended up there, would be accused of "being hand picked" by Mendy. Logically, it is his meet so if they were somehow randomly selected, with no bias, from the available refs they'd still be seen as having Scott's "approval" one way or another. It's a no win situation. To counter the arguement of him competing in this meet, I'd have to side with Monstermaster, in that his 1008 wasn't seen as legit because he was a guest lifter. I do have to say that if there wasn't a UPA plug in there I'd have taken the complaint has a little more credible. It gives the whole thing more of a political spin. In Rob's defense, if he was told that 5 grad would be the payout, it should be 5 grand, taking for granted that a person is as good as their word. Rob said his not competing is strictly a trust issue and I feel he is more than justified. I also feel that Scott made a business decision, as is his right, and we know business isn't always fair. In this situation I don't think either is right or wrong, it's just one of them things.

Now that Rob's out, Mendy will be flooded with MW entry forms.

Last year there was only a total of 9 lifters. Only two made there lifts.

It would be different if Mendelson was not lifting in his own meet. Hand picked refs and lifting in your own meet is bad business. Expect yourself to be set up for a complete bashing.

So you are saying Rob is a liar since he said he is lifting in a UPA meet?

Scot is not the smartest cookie around. This was a very bad business decision because now more lifters will drop out in fear of Scot pulling some more tricks out of the hat. He also teamed up with Kieran Kidder. How do the lifters know they will see any money if Kieran is involved?

Thinking of a different idea, how about this. What if instead of only three 1st places getting paid $5k (or $1k) each; each 1st place got say $3000, with 2nd places getting $1000? That could even influence more entries from people who realize they would more likely stand a chance of placing 2nd to a top dog. That (*might) add up to $12000, provided that at least two lifters in each weight category show up and don't bomb. Now consider how many lifters actually completed a lift out of everybody who showed at last year's event. Then consider (in anticipation of possible bomb-outs or no-shows) distributing the left over prize money to the winners who did place.

Think of it this way, if by chance only two guys happen to get a lift in (wouldn't be the first time), they could be splitting the whole pot.

I say that would be a great idea. 1st 3000 2nd 1000. You would have more people entering knowing there chances of either 1st or 2nd.

"He also teamed up with Kieran Kidder. How do the lifters know they will see any money if Kieran is involved?"

Kieran Kidder has nothing whatsoever to do with Mendy's Bench Press Classic. Mendelson has ALWAYS paid out prize money on the spot at the conclusion of the event. I've been in the audience of every one of them. There's never any "check is in the mail", "you'll get paid later" crap. Lifters know that Mendy pays and pays well. Ask Tiny Meeker, Kennelly, or Rob. Did they, or did they not, get paid right after the meet and in front of the audience? You can say whatever you like about Mendy, but everyone knows that they can count on him to pay AT THE EVENT.

Concerning the loss of the Middleweight division, it would appear that relatively no one was accepting the invitation to compete knowing that Rob was in that class. It's unfortunate, but business is business.

If Mendelson shouldn't be picking the judges, WHO SHOULD? Should Powerlifting Watch have a poll to decide the three judges? These types of issues are ridiculous.

What Mendy probably should have done is have four divisions:
181 and below
182-220
221-275
276+

Give prize money to the winner of each division (highest bench)[$2500?], a bonus to the best lifter of each division (maybe determined by most times actual weigh-in bodyweight instead of a formula) [$1000?] and a bonus for overall highest bench of the meet [$1000?]. This way everyone has an incentive and opportunity to make some money, Rob or not. Total purse for the event...$15,000.

"My decision not to lift in this meet is strictly a trust issue. So if you want to see the Middle Weight class at the Mendy’s meet save your money and travel to Iowa January 26 and watch Harrison, Briggs, and my self go at it under legitimate lifting conditions with no hand picked judges."

Where is the UPA Plug Rob doesn't mention any Federation?

its amazing that when lightweights get fucked its expected. but when middles and up wont have other competiitors to compete against. they are getting f'd. nobody wanted to face rob. dont complain, just decline and not go, or go and do your best.

rob says he is getting f'd. no, getting f'd is someone saying you are getting paid at the event.
and you show up and dont get paid. that is getting f'd.

if you want to ask questions of mendelsen, ask him how many bounced checks he recieved on entry fees from lifters last year and the year before?

you are reaching. mcvicker was one of the judges last year. jeff doesnt give anyone sh%t. in his previous meet he held, i think the judges were denison and meskew. so, again your reaching.

this is the guy who actually pays.

your a good guy rob. a great lifter. i just dont see the purpose of this. you dont get your gauranteed money so you badmouth the event.
good luck at your meet. i know you are the best.

So it's Rob's fault he dominates the MW class??? There are no entrants because they know who will win and that they have no chance if Rob shows ups. Is that Rob's fault? Does that make his lifts worth less money (if no one shows up to battle him)?

The classy thing to do in this situation would be to bow out of the meet without publicly speaking out against it. Raising suspicions about a meet when Mendy has never failed to pay out is a little low. Rob has his reasons and that is fine, but I had hoped that a lifter as good as he would have taken the high road. This is Mendy's party and he can divide up the cash however he wishes as long as he let's everyone know before the meet. Let's not forget that we all usually do this for free. I wish both parties good luck and I am sure that everything will work out in the end.

Mario

Why should Rob ignore all the questions he received about his thoughts about the meet or weather he was going or not? Its about time someone had the balls to speak honestly about MENDY!

As for McVicar ask him why he isn't coming back to judge.

Why go if thier is only one payout for the mw class ? Why would Gene show if Kennelly is there and there is only one payout ? Just send the freaking check to thier house and dont even have a meet if your not going to pay on a 1,2,3rd place finish .You already know nobodys going to take rob in his class , you already know Kennelly right now is unbeatable anyone even close to him knows that . So here you have the rest of the guys spending at least a 1,000 just to show up for what a good time getting thier balls handed to them ?? I would hope that Kennelly , and Rob if asked would agree they would welcome the competion and a little less money vs no competion and a fat check

John, yes, all your points do make me feel completely bashed. Thank you for your thoughtful, yet moronic reply. I'm not against anyone here and my post clearly states that but you think I'm bashing Rob. I was mistaken in my original post but Rob was the ONLY middleweight lifter scheduled to lift so he just shows up and makes 5 grand? I'm sorry, Rob's a benching machine and one of the top 3 around, but taking home $5000 uncontested isn't going to happen by many meet promoters. And John, you're a freakin' genius. I'm so glad you were able to read between the lines that I was indeed calling Rob a liar (just so you know smart guy, that was sarcasm ;) ). The other poster was right, he didn't name the UPA by name but by any one who has paid attention to powerlifting watch in the last year a major issue was the UPA being formed in large part from backlash of KK/WPO and, by extension, and the APF. If he said "I'm going to lift in Columbus on the 20th" a retard could figure out he was talking about the IPA Pro/Am. But he didn't, he was talking about UPA Iowa/MidWest Championship. And I'm all for the UPA and Rob lifting there but I (emphasis on I) felt that him adding it to his post put an unnecessary political spin to it.

OK, I need to interject here guys! The reason Scot lowered the prize money for the middle weight class is because it would have been between Rob and one other person. We want to keep this as a competition.

I then approached Rob with another option which would have opened up the middle weight class from 198.4-275lbs and we would have put up $5k. This way we would have another aspect to the meet. He shot that down.

As far as people lifting in there own meets, everyone does it. This meet happens to be on a bigger scale and all of the judges are all APF/WPC judges who are consistant and 100% legit. We happen to run an awesome venue. I know because, I run it.

One last thing here is Scot takes all of the money out of his pocket. We do not have sponsors etc..we want to give back to the sport. We wanted to make this as fair as possible while still having a great time. I am sorry Rob is upset with what has happened, but again I gave him another option to compete in a great competition, and he declined.

Hope to see you all soon! Stay strong!

Shawna Mendelson

haha c'mon Shawna, this is an attempt to save face. Do you really expect us to believe that Rob said he wouldn't compete for 5K because he's afraid of lifting against the 198 class? That just doesn't make any sense. What 198er or 220lber out there is going to go over 900lbs. Also, you really proved Rob to be right when you said "the money would have been between Rob and one other guy and we want this to be a competition" I'm sorry but what do you think that is? Thats a competition in my book but really what it boils down to is you decided Rob wasn't worth the 5k simply because he's unstoppable right now.

Here's another point, Kennelly will win the supers. Not Scot or anyone else. Kennelly is light years ahead of anyone else, so are you going to take money away from that class too? This whole deal was really shady and I think you made a mistake screwing Rob over like that. Oh but its okay to screw people over when its your money isn't it Kidder...er um Scot. Sorry, the two stories just sound so much alike I got them mixed

it was going to be 198+. that means over 198.

how is it screwing someone over. he pays what he says he is going to pay? when lwts get fucked none of you guys care. but as soon as a lifter doesnt get his gauranteed 5k in his pocket becuase nobody wants to compete against him. you start bitching.

many of the checks bounced in the last two years. from the lifters to enter in his meet. did you see him smear the lifters on the internet?

ask kennelly if he has gotten paid. i get it. you dont like mendelson. he pays. who else pays 10k on the spot every year?

Is Rob implying that he won last year because the judges were hand picked...or is he implying that the meet is no longer legit because he is not lifting there?

Rob has always been a pretty stand up guy. I'm not sure why he's begining to bash other meets.

I don't see that Rob is bashing anybody or anything. The original announcement was for $5000. Nobody wants their ass beat by Rob, so they don't sign up, so the $$ changes. OK, Mendy has the right to do so, its his meet. But, Rob was willing to go to the meet under the original conditions, now he's not.
And, I can see why he's not happy with Mendy on this. Basically, the rules were changed in the middle of the game.

As for Mendy's judges and lifitng in his own meet, I'm inclined to agree with Rob. I really don't think a meet director should ever lift in his own meet. Especially since most, if not all, of Scot's recent lifts have caused so much debate.

At the end of the day, the only person affected is Rob, so I guess I don't see why all the anonymous posters are so riled up over this.

Ryan Kennelly

Joined: 03 Sep 2007
Posts: 2
Location: WA
Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 7:10 pm Post subject:

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I totally agree with your decision Rob, I would do the same thing if I was in yous shoes. Mendy has put on a great contest the last 3 years, but with these last minute actions, it might leave a blemish.? I think of paying each weight class 3500 was a great idea, but its Mendy's show an he's the boss.

How come there is not a contest to find out just who is the top bencher? All these post bashing each other. Lets just see who is the best and get on the bench. It can the WPO, IPF, USAPL, NASA and if I have left out any other federation I am sorry. Just put a contest together and get it on. Sometimes it is not about the money. It is about being the best.

At least the money's not in pesos or Armenian money, then you'd really be peeeeiisssed.

Peace.

DON'T BLAME YOU ROB. WE ALL KNOW YOU WOULD WALK AWAY WITH THE MONEY. RYAN AND MENDY BOMB 90% OF THERE LIFTES!

THERE SCARED!

gotta disagree there--Ryan is Mr. Consistant and almost never bombs. I can think of maybe 1 or 2 times in recent years he has bombed, and at least one of those was as a guest lifter.

Why is it that everything has to be so "soap opera" like-lol Okay, Rob decides not to do a meet, gives everyone the reason why he decides not to do it, and then everyone has to make such a big deal about it.
Seriously, it sucks that he is not competing, but he will lift again, at some other meet and get paid at some other time.
Then we hear Lil' Mendy's side of the story also. She stated the reason why they did what they did, and regardless of whether we agree or disagree, I respect getting both sides of the story.
I understand that we all have opinions, but to make something into such an "issue" really leaves me scratching my head.

I never said Rob was afraid of anything. In fact I know he is not. He is an outstanding lifter and guy. The weight class would have been 198+ - 275lbs, and yes he did turn it down. I just state the truth. That is the bottom line. Good Luck everyone! Have a great new year!

SORRY ABOUT THE MEET ROB.. IF U WERE WONDERING WHERE THE REST OF THE DOUGH IS? IT WENT TO KITS!

I'm sorry to say out of all the drama with feds not being fair! whats new?

At least I can say Carpenter has been the only fair guy I know! *UPA*

Now all we need is some more sponsors for prize money UPA!

Now you guys know how it feels. I've been to a few cash meets and the money was much lower for us than the men!!

Since when has this "sport" been about money?

I can understand Rob's feelings but the decision to alter the prize money (for the Bench Meet) was based on a competition and the lack of entries and sponsorship is what Mendy had to go on. It's his meet and money after all. If a lifter chooses not to lift then that is the decision they make and that's ok.

Food for thought. In the past several years the 198's were called middle weights and had to compete against 242's. Money was based on total weight lifted. Was if fair. NOPE. Did any 198 ever even have a chance of winning. NOPE. Did they still compete. YEP.

I am only suggesting money can't be the ONLY reason for competing or not competing. If you are looking to make money in this sport you are in big trouble.

While I can agree with you, also look at it from Rob's perspective this way: he can fly to Cali, compete, win $1000, and fly back, being probably $500 in the hole for the weekend. Or he can stay home, compete locally, and keep his $$ in his pocket.

I don't think anybody is really trying to make money lifting, but if you are the top contender, and you are going to a cash meet, the money has to be enough to at least break even. Otherwise, there is no real appeal to Mendy's meet.

This is why I'm not going. I have maybe a 10% chance of winning, and the way I figure it, the whole trip will cost me about $2000. I can't go head to head with Ryan or Scot (yet--I'm working on it), so I would be going hoping Ryan bombs (which just doesn't happen at money meets) and hoping I put on my absolute best to take the cash. That would be ok if I had the $2000 to spend, but my budget just won't allow it. So, like Rob, I'm opting for a local meet that same weekend.

I would love to get out there and compete and see all my friends show up and have a great comp, but I just don't have the $$ to risk.

So, its not that I am NOT competing because of the $$, I'm still competing. Just in a different location.

Rob's motivation is a little different, but its the same scenario.

If you're the top contender, you compete at the biggest meets.

Think about all of the other lifters who make up this sport, who never have a chance to win any money. Their gear and supplements and travel costs are expensive, and they don't get any return on it -other than competing and winning a meet here and there.

If you're a top contender, you compete, period. That's the problem with powerlifters these days, everyone understands that they won't make money from powerlifting, and then they set some records and demand to get paid.

Compete, be a real, true contender.

I swear, for big guys who get under a lot of weight for fun, powerlifters are babies about a lot of things.

so if you're a top contender, you are expected to pay 2k to travel across the country ? I think not. Most of the joe average powerlifters that you are talking about wouldn't even consider paying that much money to travel and enter a meet.

I gotta agree with you Latt. It isn't like the most of us are sitting on a huge next egg so I totally agree money is a factor. Wouldn't it be a dream to be able to compete at the top level without having that issue.

FUCK YEAH ROB!!!! FUCK YEAH!!! yo Rob is a man's man that recognizes bullshit a mile away. it's amazing how people have an answer for every shanangin and ruse they try to pull. bottom line is when you look at the simple facts, the horseshit is obvious. Rob is most a most honorable man, along with his hommies ryan and frankl, and i gotta include mcvigor of course. lookin forward to crossin paths with you guys again...... big nick nyc

It's Mendy's money and Mendy's meet, but it is a APF/WPO sanction. Mendy isn't srewing Rob, KK isand he pulls all the strings, Mendy just isn't that smart!Come to Iowa, and lift with Rob and BIG! Yes Rick and Beca will be there, APF who!

Don't kid your self. This decision was strictly MENDY's call. KK may have his faults but not responsible for MENDY's actions and NOBODY BUT NOBODY CAN TELL MENDY WHAT TO DO OR HOW TO BENCH HE IS THE BOMB. (OR has the bomb mastered)

What ever happen to just competeing in a good meet for the love of the sport?

$2000. TO TRAVEL TO CALI? ARE U INSANE? $250. MAYBE AND HOTEL. THATS YOUR CHOICE TO STAY THERE LONGER THEN 2 DAYS! SO IT WOULD BE UNDER $500. WITH ROUND TRIP AND 2 DAYS AND NIGHTS