Romano Rages On: Nothing But the Real Thing!

[huge285]

Romano Rages On: Nothing But the Real Thing!
RomanoRagesOn.jpg

http://www.rxmuscle.com/articles/rom...eal-thing.html

[juggies]

Oh yes the prestige of a 30 something year old company... Hahahaha

You should tell Jim Manion to get rid of the prize money because people only need the prestige.

[baby muscle]

I think what John is saying is :The prestige is in the competitive process, not necessarily the acronym.

It's perceived as easier for many to turn pro in some of the smaller federations such as OCB because it's not as stiff competition.

[Anders JP Eskilsson]

Romano is a great writer ..... usually, and he is in fact one of the guys who inspired me to begin myself.

I personally do only cover IFBB/NPC on my site etc. But what I can't understand is this: when I used to listen to your VPX shotgun big show like 2 years ago, you more or less always put shit on these organizations, in fact you almost didn't do anything on these shows. So why have you changed your mind all of a sudden? Are you moving home from Mexico or what, I don't get it. Why my reaction? I hate wishy washiness.

[juggies]

I think what John is saying is :The prestige is in the competitive process, not necessarily the acronym.

It's perceived as easier for many to turn pro in some of the smaller federations such as OCB because it's not as stiff competition.

Seeing as how there's more money in getting tons of social media followers than there is in winning pro cards... What's the point?

[Carolyn Bryant]

Romano is a great writer ..... usually, and he is in fact one of the guys who inspired me to begin myself.

I personally do only cover IFBB/NPC on my site etc. But what I can't understand is this: when I used to listen to your VPX shotgun big show like 2 years ago, you more or less always put shit on these organizations, in fact you almost didn't do anything on these shows. So why have you changed your mind all of a sudden? Are you moving home from Mexico or what, I don't get it. Why my reaction? I hate wishy washiness.

Hmmm. Waiting to hear a reply to this. He can't even dike right. lol

[Chris the Swede]

You are a great writer John, and I have enjoyed the radio shows, was happy to see you back on HMR even though I especially liked the one you did with Lee Priest.
I can understand you wanting to get back "in". But seriously, the amount of cocksucking in these two articles is just disturbing.

[John Romano]

wishy washy.... cock sucking..... interesting. Well, I can see how some could look at it that way; that my stance has changed. But, not really. I've been writing for one bodybuilding publication or another since 1986. I have always paid the most attention to the IFBB/NPC and always promoted their athletes in the best light possible, usually to the exclusion of all others. Did l have some disagreements with Manion and company over the years? of course, they are well documented, but make no mistake, my friendships with Manion and Weinberger started back in the early 90's. We always got past the rough patches and fell back in line. 95% of my experiences with them over the last 30 years have been good and under the umbrella of the IFBB/NPC my career flourished. The juxtaposition of my feelings for them changed to that with which you seem familiar from two or three years back. The story behind that is, we had a bad falling out over something profoundly stupid that escalated into my all out banishment from RX and the industry as a whole. My ego and my pride pushed me along the path with some of the other outcasts, and, well, I fed off of it. Ultimately, my ego fell by the way of my pride and I had to admit that I missed the camaraderie I had with Dave, the RX community, the athletes and the assorted members and officials of the federations, especially Jim Manion. I always liked Jimmy. He was always good to me and has always been there when I need him. I really regret the falling out we had and I've spent the last two years behind the scenes trying to make amens for my part of what drove us apart. I do want back in. I miss it.

Having said that, as a journalist, I am reporting on the Thompson issue by stating facts and assumptions based on fact, and yes, out of the loyalty I've had to the IFBB/NPC for three decades. And fact number one, no matter what side of the line your towing, is that the way in which Thompson is doing what he's dong is as repugnant as it is disingenuous. When Paul Dillett pulled away and started his WBFF I sung his praises. Paul is a good friend and I supported him as far as I could. When Wayne DeMilia came out the PDI I was the first journalist form a major magazine to attend the inaugural show and, despite the unanimous opinions against it, I still told the story how I saw it. I have supported any and all legitimate cottage industries that have spun off the IFBB/NPC alway as far as I could. What I'm saying right now is what I would have said if all of what transpired over the last 3 years hadn't. There is no denying that the IFBB/NPC is the home of the best bodybuilders on earth. People have tried to wrench that distinction away and all have failed. If Thompson really has a winning formula then he doesn't need to highjack the federation he just left. That's the bottom line.

[Sandpig]

It's starting to feel like the old RX again

[Poptart]

The thing I like best about John Romano is he doesn't back down. He has an opinion, it is well thought out and he effectively communicates it (whether you agree with him or not).

Sorry, John, but given the timeline of events and your return to Rx, everyone is going to perceive this article as just some more ass kissing on your part. Clearly some of that is true, however, a lot of what you wrote is also true.

I agree with you and in fact have said it in other posts, Lee may be a lot of things but I doubt stupid is one of them. He can say what he wants about trademarks, it's still unlikely he wins that battle. I agree if you want to start your own federation go ahead and do so but don't try to confuse people and besmirch the name of the NPC, it's uncalled for.

Now what I would really like to hear about is if Lee Thompson was this allegedly crooked judge, bad guy and the NPC/IFBB knew about it how come no one in "power" ever said or did anything about it and it only comes out now because he has left…. He left, they didn't terminate him. There's a lot more behind the scenes on this that hasn't come out. (Just my opinion)

[Joe Pietaro]

John - Not sure if you read my article with the Lee Thompson interview but Manion never registered the NPC initials and now Thompson has as NPC Global. So the KFC hypothetical situation doesn't pertain because they obviously have.

I am not well versed in copyright naming laws and the like but everyone but the NPC themselves has been saying that Thompson will be sued and have to give up the name. They haven't filed any papers on him (at least up until the time I interviewed him a few days ago). Wouldn't they have tried to at least get a TRO by now? I don't know but just taking a guess.

[John Romano]

According to my wife the IP lawyer:

Registered or not, the real NPC has common law rights on the mark. One of the keys to proving TM infringement is 'likelihood of confusion' which courts use The Polaroid Factors to determine (from famous 1961 case Polaroid Corp v. Polar ad Elecs. corp. )

1. Strength of senior user's mark.
2. Similarity of marks.
3. Similarity of products or services.
4. Likelihood that senior user will grow geographically into junior users product area.
5. Junior user's intent in adopting the mark.
6. Evidence of actual confusion.
7. Quality of junior user's product or service

The real NPC wins on all 7 of those factors!

There is no way, once the law suit is inevitably filed, that Thompson will prevail.

[Carolyn Bryant]

"Having said that, as a journalist, I am reporting on the Thompson issue by stating facts and assumptions based on fact"

Please share the facts about this rogue defector and all of the people involved in helping him with this attempted coup. Are the attorneys in Houston stupid, too?

[apickerill]

It's starting to feel like the old RX again

Agreed
I was almost totally done when the duck posted my name was Andrew ( shock and horror ) etc etc
Then John came back and Dave came to his senses and the duck is gone
The whole forum seems lifted
And of course the recent coverage and Johnny's stuff


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sandpig]

I had a foot out the door too