PRESIDENT's BULLETIN

It was late afternoon when I eventually got to the 3rd edition of Triple Crown & the 75 & 85 right arms were already underway. Within  minutes of arrival I was delighted to take £10 off Tom Holland in a bet but soon lost it to Craig Sanders, won it back, lost it again & then lost another to Dylan Gosling. Gripping stuff, some great matches especially between people who haven't pulled before. I think there were a few dream matches that I'd looked forward to having talked with Paul about the start list. Certainly I noticed a lot of progression going on - Putter, Papp, Gosling, Finnerty, Hanlon (Maria) & Pantelic are ones that immediately spring to mind. Afterwards some Ultimate Armwrestler ideas were bounced about & Paul made some matches for the future. The road never ends, it's just stretches off into the distance with more to do if you want to do it. 

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Dean Bolt was on gold standard commentary. Oto Fogelmanis is something of a trend setting fashion icon to many of us & his attire this weekend was a throwback not lost on Dean: "80's 'tache... acid washed jeans, neon...he's obviously a fan of Bon Jovi, REO Speedwagon & probably Roxette looking at the T shirt.."

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I will add that if you throw on the bumbag - (all cool people like Alan Greaves, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin & Me wear bumbags) then Oto has it going on. On the different temperaments of James Beech & Nathan Davey, Dean noted: "Nathan seething to get away...polar opposites..you'd have to shake James to see if he was awake.." You get the idea. Dean Bolt & Martin Lennox commentating anything together would be a dream team - maybe one day we'll get to hear that.  

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I was the first person to notice that Jim Beech looks like Judge Dredd & I should know as I started reading the comics when Dredd was crossing the cursed earth in a killdozer battling the Angel Gang in the early 80's. The Karl Urban film is one of my favourites & Jim should be in the next remake. Dozens of you could be members of the Angel gang, we'd need an audition.  The pre match cartoon that ARMGODS made of Judge Dredd vs Chocolate thunder was in my opinion the best of the ones made for Winterblast wtih Super Stoica & Cruz Control being a close second. The world needs more cartoons & comic books. Anyway, that's why the picture above is there this week.  

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Today's action can be viewed via armgods.com & it's worth for once giving a few spoilers: Congratulations to PAA Vice President Tom Atherton who went unbeaten to win the 95kg class against a very sharp moving Stephen Kirlew. I figured Steve might be rattled by that so my bet with Tom Holland that he would win against Arthur Dorohof right ended up being a sound one. Stephen later confirmed he hadn't travelled to go home without a gold. 

The big news was that Paul Maiden did indeed give away £10,000 in prizes - I know that because I got the job of counting the cash into three piles of £5,000, £2500 & £1500. Random audience members & trusted witnesses oversaw the draw - Nathan Davey got the £5K. He didn't believe it & it was Pro Nationals all over again with me giving him the W symbol to inform him that he had actually won. He was speechless on stage & seemed open to suggestion, repeating "I don't believe it." I suggested he throw the bundle of twenties into the crowd, but he wasn't that far gone. Still, it could have been a fun few minutes if he had. James Wall & Barry Knowles were drawn for the other bundles of cash whilst Vasile Romanasque, Dylan Gosling, Agy Gorzynska & someone else who I have momentarily forgotten won the Gods of Grip armwrestling tables. You could buy one from them if you wanted off their website which has all sorts of armwrestling & grip toys for sale.  

I stuck around afterwards to talk about nothing in particular & enjoy not being the one doing all the organising for a change, going home with an empty vehicle at a reasonable hour without the need to unload it. 

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What's next Dan? I hear you ask. The lure of the seaside barbecue & the entertainment provided by the Tutts is listed on the events calendar as Summerslam. Other stuff is going on too, not all of it listed. Some of it is secret, underground, invite only. Far too much for me to keep up with. I'm sure you'll find your way to the best stuff in your locality & beyond if you look hard enough. 

Next PAA event is October 4th - 3rd edition of the Yorkshire cup warzone in Leeds. Someone will get their name added onto the annual trophy. Is that something you could win? A lot can happen before the winning 17th pin is made. 

See you down the road.