FanHouse ArnoldSchwarzenegger

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was discovered because of it, and millions around the world are into it big-time: Bodybuilding. It's one of the most popular sports around the world, but what's the point of working out if you can't show it off? In this video we visit a bodybuilding (and bikini) contest and try to find out if the bodybuilders are really strong, or if their muscles are just for flossing. (After all, MMA stars such as Fedor and Rampage are far from being cut.)

Check out the video after the jump.

Scott Jackson is a backup offensive lineman who runs 6'5" and 300 lbs. Certainly, those aren't unusual numbers for a NFL offensive lineman, but they are for the clothiers of the world. Jackson is sick and tired of not finding clothes that fit a man of his frame and is leading a revolution of the impressively dimensioned against the tyranny of the off the rack sorts.

So he started a blog. A hilarious one. It's called "Triple F - The King of Big and Tall." If you are here goofing off and reading this blog, you should take a few more moments goofing off and read his.

I think this is the best blog by an NFL player I've read since Redskin TE Chris Cooley's. And like Cooley's blog, Jackson's blog contains a junk picture, but not inadvertently, not his own and only to make a cogent point. You can check out my interview with Jackson talking about his mission for the massive mens here. (The Arnold is on his list of men of size, of both past and present, that he would invite for dinner).

Scott Jackson is a backup offensive lineman who runs 6'5" and 300 lbs. Certainly, those aren't unusual numbers for a NFL offensive lineman, but they are for the clothiers of the world. Jackson is sick and tired of not finding clothes that fit a man of his frame and is leading a revolution of the impressively dimensioned against the tyranny of the off the rack sorts.

So he started a blog. A hilarious one. It's called "Triple F - The King of Big and Tall." If you are here goofing off and reading this blog, you should take a few more moments goofing off and read his.

I think this is the best blog by an NFL player I've read since Redskin TE Chris Cooley's. And like Cooley's blog, Jackson's blog contains a junk picture, but not inadvertently, not his own and only to make a cogent point. You can check out my interview with Jackson talking about his mission for the massive mens here. (The Arnold is on his list of men of size, of both past and present, that he would invite for dinner).

Lance Armstrong is an American superhero, at least worthy of the same status as Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger, so, really, it should come as no surprise that when he gets finished slaughtering the competition riding in the 2009 Tour de France, he may consider a career in politics.

And although 2010 may be too soon to see Lance run (I can't wait for the political "ride" puns), he's at least interested/concerned, based on a recent interview with Mark McKinnon in The Daily Beast.

Is there a future for Lance Armstrong in politics?

If you feel like you can do the job better than people who are doing it now, and you can really make a difference, then that's a real calling to serve, and I think you have to do that. I felt a strong desire to come back and race right now because I felt we had a place and I could have a real impact and that's why I'm doing it. I don't think you want to enter political life unless you really think you can really have an impact. Don't do it for a bet, or a dare or for your ego. Or for any other competitive desire you have. Do it because you can get in there and change people's lives. That's why you do it. So, there will come a time, or not, that I say to myself, "You know what, I can help affect change." And if that day comes, then absolutely.

Okay, so that's not absolutely set in stone, but still, he's interested. Here's the thing about famous people and politics: it's a fantastic mix if the rational for entering the political realm is what Lance refers to above: AFFECTING POSITIVE CHANGE.

You decide that you want to help children and better the world in these trying times filled with economic strife, global warming, and too many bowl games. So you decide to serve the public interest and run for office.

You invent a new party and are now a "Mannycan," because mere parties do not define you. And you do some good things. While holding various offices in Southern California, you solve the traffic problem, eliminate smog, and rally Californians on a platform of "In-n-Out Burgers for everyone, not just the rich."

You've taken your success all the way to the Governor's office, where you defeat Arnold Schwarzenegger in one of California's closest elections in history.

You do such a good job as Governor of California that, in August of 2012, you get the call: Sarah Palin is running for President and she wants you, Manny Ramirez, to be her running mate. After thinking about it, you figure: "What better place to help people than as the Vice President of the United States?"

But the media is brutal during the campaign, especially when Anderson Cooper uncovers your secret past playing spies with Jonathan Papelbon.

The Palin/Ramirez ticket is trounced by the Barack Obama re-election bid. You're distraught.

"I just wanted to help people," you think to yourself. "I never meant to cause any harm to no one. You know, I could have made a lot of money playing baseball these last four years."

In the spring of 2013, at the age of 40, you latch on with the Independent League's Long Island Ducks, where you finish your baseball career in the shadows of strip malls.

THE END.

(Not sure how you got here? Start Choose Your Own Adventure: Manny Being Choosey in Free Agency from the beginning.)

After being admonished last week by the Rose Bowl Operating Company to grow up and negotiate with the University of Southern California, the Coliseum Commission, which oversees the storied stadium where the Men of Troy play football came back with a counter-proposal of half-measures.

According to WeAreSC, the Coliseum Commission is offering a plan which would give USC a shorter-term contract to play at the Coliseum than the University is asking for, with no structural improvements to the Stadium. Their only real concession is to guarantee that no NFL team will be playing in the Coliseum. While they're at it, why not guarantee no NBA, Major League Baseball or Bundesliga team will play there, because those scenarios are just as likely to happen!

Although the Los Angeles Times is reporting that L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are working to forge a deal, it seems apparent to observers of the negotiation that is Schwarzenegger wanted a deal to happen, he could use his leverage with his three commission appointees to vote with Villaraigosa's two voters and strike a deal. Hopefully the Mayor will get a chance to bend the action-hero Governor's ear and prompt the Governor to terminate these drawn-out talks!

If the Los Angeles City Council is taking USC's threat to move to the Rose Bowl seriously, they certainly are not showing it. Last week, Councilmmbers Jack Weiss--who represents UCLA territory--and Greig Smith, who attended USC, introduced an emergency non-binding resolution to encourage the University and Coliseum Commission to come to a deal, and asking for the State to restructure the historically inept body which oversees the venue.

Under the so-called "Rule 16", the Council shall hear emergency motions at their next meeting, whch would have been last Friday--as was suggested in a press release from Weiss' office. But only the Council President can decide what falls under that rule. City Hall insiders tell FanHouse that City Council President Eric Garcetti refused to agendize the motion, sending it to committee where it will die a slow death, for fear of alienating Councilman Bernard Parks, whom FanHouse has identified as the biggest obstacle to reaching a deal between USC and the Coliseum Commission.

Yesterday, FanHouse pointed out how Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa could forge a coalition to keep the USC Trojans in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum by bringing together his two votes with the three members appointed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Based on comments from the Mayor's office, it looks like he is amenable to working with Villaraigsoa to terminate a USC move to the Rose Bowl. Sean Clegg, deputy mayor to Villaraigosa told the Los Angeles Times that the Mayor has contacted Schwarzenegger and discussed working together to forge a compromise with USC. Their five votes alone would be enough to seal a deal between the warring university and Coliseum Commission.

Meanwhile, USC students have started their own protests over the proposed move to the Rose Bowl. They promise not to use any concessions at the stadium when the Trojans host the UCLA Bruins on Saturday, a practice I thought had been in place since beer and wine sales were cut off at the Coliseum three seasons ago!