Ed Corney—Truly a Classic

Our destination was the annual Ed Corney Bodybuilding Classic, Chabot College Music Hall, front row center to be exact. The only way to fly. There we perched like vigilant eagles, the curious judges and scrambling photographers before us, the charged audience behind us and the glossy muscular contestants only a toss away under heavy lights, heavy music and heavy scrutiny. We were all pleased to be comfortably seated, fully clothed and ready to cheer.

Ed's show had everything. The zany M.C. Jack Long with shaved head, thick shoulders and the antics of a pro wrestling ringside announcer introduced everybody and everything loudly and frantically. Jack had you believing each participant was a well-toned skin covered grenade or a bombshell in a bikini and the dais a firepad for launching human muscular missiles. One explosion after another.

The competitors, in all shapes, sizes, ages and genders, moved across the stage in different levels of maturity and familiarity and composure. Sometimes you felt uneasy and wanted to help, if only you could. Other times the presence of power and beauty and achievement filled you with spirit. A rare appearance by Master Robbie Robinson in amazing shape established the Classic tone of the night and Flavio Bacciaini, a contending Mr. Olympia erupting from Italy added the International ingredient: a full dimension for the crowd and my mixed bag of budding bodybuilders. Cool.

Cheers went up for Tim Bagnasco and John Crites from World Gym in Scotts Valley for taking the overall Masters' Trophy and Most Muscular. Thanks, men at work, hard hat bodybuilders from our local World Gym. You're the greatest.

The winners of the men's and women's Classic looked like any of the top pros you see in today's popular muscle mags. They had it all; size, muscularity, symmetry, presence and the heart of the crowd. One last flurry of camera flashes, a final good night and the end of another Ed Corney Bodybuilding Classic. Funny thing about bodybuilding shows. They end suddenly. The overall first place trophy is handed to the winner, he waves and everybody is out the door. Unplugged.

Out front to greet the guests and backstage to review and encourage the contestants was Ed Corney, a smiling, fighting and hopeful man, a mentor and friend. 6 months ago Ed, Master's Mr. Olympia of the 90's admitted himself to the hospital for routine shoulder surgery, what one in the bodybuilding profession considers a major nuisance, a serious inconvenience. Shoulder operations performed by orthoscopy are not uncommon for athletes these days and recovery is relatively quick, painless and complete. This operation, however, began a sequence of monstrous events that imitated the theme of a Stephen King novel and took Ed Corney far way.

A heart valve failed soon after the completion of the shoulder procedure, necessitating emergency open-heart surgery. A post op medication administered upon completion of surgery #2 was not tolerated, hemorrhaging resulted and immediate brain surgery was required, leaving Ed in a coma. No lights, no music, only silence and stillness. Not one of us can imagine this cold barren place: struck down, held captive, alone.

Ed awoke after fiercely battling the flatline, unable to move, unable to speak, exhausted. Some of those around him felt the same way. Where am I, where am I going? How? Why? An interminable pause as Ed caught up with his existence, urged himself forward, begged movement and willed communication. A warrior bereft stripped of all weapons but his will to survive, Ed passed through the black valley and is on his way back home. Each day in therapy is like a season, but precious indeed. Time will pass and he will know life more fully - he and Kristen and James and Jan, those around him who hold him close. A big part of his journey was across the stage the night of the Classic, beaming and thankful, to welcome his friends and declare "let the show go on." Two years of therapy, reps and sets, and Ed will be fully recovered. Mark your calendar.

Ed Corney's a rugged, handsome guy, thickly muscled, streamlined like a race horse and about as strong. Pure Thoroughbred. An Original with the courage of an army. I see him on stage in my mind, dramatic overhead lighting, the score of a legendary film in the background and Ed's inimitable posing, his hands flowing like poetry, each a chorus of song and dance, expressing his love and joy as he gracefully sweeps from one powerful pose to another - sculptures, really, with warm bone and sinew and heartbeat. His competition spans thirty years from Mr. Fremont in '67 to the Master's Olympia in '97, during which time he only improved. And so it will be in 2000.