I had a lot going on in New Orleans throughout the 1980s and early 90s. I had one of the most popular fitness classes in town. I was the fitness coordinator for a prestigious private school. I had a popular radio talk show called Talking Fitness. And I had more private clients than I knew what to do with. I guess you could say I was hitting on all cylinders back then. At the height of it all, I decided to move to Los Angeles. The main reason I moved out West was because of the weather. But equally as important, I felt like I had a few tricks up my sleeve when it came to fitness. I figured Hollywood could use it. My biggest idea was to promote child fitness. In 1991, I was taking some big meetings with the likes of Disney and Nickelodeon. You know what? They listened. They all liked my ideas. They had me write proposals. Once they saw what I was proposing, I was laughed out of the building. They didn’t want anyone to tell their audience to go outside. They wanted kids sitting in front of a television. They also didn’t like the idea of telling kids not to eat sugar. The products they sold on Saturday morning cartoons were heavy in sugar. I tried my best to push these ideas. Nobody seemed to care about children and obesity at the time. I saw what was coming. I was in southern Louisiana before, and those kids were fat. We weren’t calling it an “epidemic” yet. I told you that to tell you this. If you read the previous blog, Pussification of a Nation 3 (Am I the only one who loves that title? I guess you’d have to know me to understand) you know I was pretty pissed off about Calabasas High School. I saw two P.E. teachers not exactly earning their pay. It was as if they could care less about these kids. My nephew Mike read the blog. He’s a contributor to this site. He told me about kids he heard about doing the same thing in Louisiana. We always hear about how there’s not enough money for schools. Does anyone even administer the President’s Challenge anymore? When I was in school you had P.E. every day. And you needed a damn good excuse from a doctor to miss any of the days. It wasn’t easy. Sweat was always involved. You got a good workout. Once a year we took the President’s Challenge. And we practiced for it weeks in advance. What happened to those days? It seems like the President always had a council on physical fitness. But is it taken seriously? In the early 1990s, Arnold Schwartzenegger was the chairman. Was that just a springboard for his political career? His governorship ended recently, leaving California in worse shape than he found it. Wasn’t he supposed to be the savior? Now I’m learning that Drew Brees, the NFL quarterback, is a chair on the President’s Council. He’s a great football player. He took a city that was hurting and won a Super Bowl. Great job. But does he really have time? You know who would be great for this position? Me. But you know, they’re not asking someone who’s a trainer, the one guy who cares. Maybe I use the word “fuck” too much. But you know what? It’s just a word. Get over it. I think we should start a campaign to get me, America’s Trainer, to get kids sweating in schools again.
