Mike,how many meets have you done? How many entry fees did you pay to be a spectator "before" it was ruined. Curious. Did you pay for a subscription to powerlifting usa before it went under? Ever spotted and loaded for the raw icons you were speaking of? Curious...if the answer is yes to at least two then your opinion may have merit. There are still raw records, lilliebidge just did 23something without wraps. Amazing. His incredibly developed upper body only accounted for 550 of it. Everybody who actually follows or competes knows the difference. If you don't like it, don't do it-much like most powerlifters raw or equipped would never wear a thong and oil up for other dudes to admire their striated asses. I actually "get it" it's just an extreme (and ye, addictive) personality that gets obsessed with size, strength or both. A more valid point to make would be lax judging. Not one fed-varies from meet to meet.
My opinion has merit regardless of your imposed qualifications, as many others who meet all these "pre-reqs" and more feel likewise, but I will indulge you anyway. Yes, I competed 3 times before I injured myself and was a spectator at about a dozen meets. I also read powerlifting USA regularly for years (not sure how that is relevant, though). I trained extensively with 2 world champions (198 lb and 165 lb weight class), who were current champions when I trained with them. They were originally from West side, but one of them went on to develop his own system. He has been plastered all over the cover of powerlifting USA.
In fact, there was a entire team who trained at my gym under this system--about 15-20 guys at any given time--many of them highly ranked. We would also occasionally have guys come up from Westside, since they were only about 2 hours away from us and knew several of the guys well. At least 4-5 world-elite lifters. Another one had the highest co-efficient in the nation.
I could go on. OK, I will. I have also been following powerlifting long before you, based on your comment that you didn't even begin following the sport until the Titan Fury came around (a shirt I happened to own and which helped me make up my mind how ridiculous equipped lifting is--after it put 150 lbs on my bench the first time I ever used it). I have been following the sport since Arcidi was king of the bench--a time before bench shirts were adding 400 lbs and equipped lifting was still very similar to raw lifting, at least compared to now.
From then until now the sport has taken a nose dive into destruction. It is a fucking joke. 100 different feds, no universal rules, different equipment for different federations, a 100 different current world records being held by a 100 different people at once (makes one wonder how that is possible when they are only 3 lifts). LOL.
Make no mistake--I realize full well that lifters in both raw and equipped lifting train brutally hard. My problem is with the equipment alone, which I and many others believe has ruined the sport--and there is sound reasoning behind this belief, which is why huge numbers of people feel likewise. Even if you overlook everything I mentioned above, the single fact that technology is determining the winners--NOT pure strength--makes the sport a farce and hypocritical. The sport was originally supposed to be about who was the strongest in the bench, squat, and deadlift...not who could combine the optimal combination of muscle and technology in order to achieve the highest possible total. The fact that people actually use equipment that ADDS weight to one's lifts is hilarious. Even worse is that some of this shit is adding 400+ lbs to people's lifts--400 fucking pounds!
Now, if this equipment was adding the same number of pounds to everyone's lifts, then at least it would be fair (although still moronic), but this is not the case at all. How anyone can defend a strength sport in which a weaker man can potentially beat a stronger man because of technological advantage alone, is dumbfounding to me.
20-25 years ago the pro-equipment advocates tried to bullshit their way into acceptance by claiming that equipment was only used to increase safety. Back then the guys didn't dare say they used equipment to achieve higher totals--because they knew damn well how it would be viewed by the majority. Of course, everyone knew better, but at least the equipment supporters didn't have the gall to publically claim that hitting higher numbers was the primary reason for using equipment.
Of course, as time went by and equipment started adding 100's of lbs to everyone's lifts, it was very clear that the ONLY reason for using equipment was to make the individual lift a weight they can't actually lift. However, because it was introduced slowly and gradually became more extreme, it didn't catch the backlash it would have had the first bench shirts added hundreds of pounds. These days the guys don't even try to hide it. Beating records is no longer about being stronger than the previous record holder--it is about technology--period. How can a sport that is supposed to be all about strength be run under a system that not only allows, but fosters an environment where a weaker lifter can beat stronger lifters for no other reason than technological prowess?
It's B.S--that's what it is, but to be honest, I don't feel like having this debate because there is nothing you can say (really) that I haven't heard before and in the end, it is all justifications and excuses for a sport that has crashed and burned.
If guys want to do equipped lifting, fine, but at least call it what it is and stop allowing them to earn a place in the record books. Leave that for the guys who can be fairly judged against the same standard--a test of real flesh & blood strength, in which everyone is on equal footing and the lifters are ranked according to their true strength.
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