The Dispatch wrote
Pumped on Columbus
He can take his event anywhere. Here’s why he doesn’t
Monday, February 25, 2008
BY DEAN NARCISO
Jim Lorimer was relaxing at Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Santa Monica home when he felt compelled to suggest to his friend and business partner, who was in his late 30s, that it was time he marry his girlfriend of eight years. Weeks later Schwarzenegger proposed to Maria Shriver.
Many outsiders say it is the reason the Arnold Classic is coming to Columbus this week for the 20th time.
This weekend, the Arnold Sports Festival, the overarching event that includes the Arnold Classic, will bring 17,000 athletes in 30 sports and an expected 155,000 “visits” from fans to fill Columbus hotels, restaurants and businesses. City tourism folks say it will pump $39 million into the local economy.
Loyalty and success explain why the two men continue the venture. But why in Columbus, when warmer, bigger and more exotic locales have beckoned?
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