GONE TOO SOON:
DALLAS
REMEMBERED
THE ALL-TOO-SHORT LIFE AND CAREER
OF DALLAS McCARVER,
AND THE LEGACY HE LEAVES.
BY PETER MCGOUGH
FINAL PLANS
On Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, 26-year-
old Dallas McCarver in Boca Raton,
FL, and his coach, mentor, and best
friend, 28-year-old Matt Jansen in
Lexington, KY, started texting as
they did at the end of every day.
This particular to-and-fro revolved
around resetting their programme
for the assault on the 2018 Arnold
Classic being staged in Columbus,
OH, next March. The original
schedule deemed that they would be
in full off-season improvement mode
until the end of September, throttle
back a little for a few weeks, and
then start serious contest prep for
the Arnold in early December.
But now the plan was under
review. Dallas was feeling
compression in his lower vertebrae
that didn’t allow for full range of
movement for certain exercises.
Matt texted, “Let’s not be stubborn
about this, man. Let’s shut down all
the real heavy stuff now instead of
barreling on to late September, kick
back a little, and then start our
Arnold prep a little bit earlier.”
The duo agreed. Dallas signed
off with “talk tomorrow.”
Matt turned in that night with
thoughts of the Columbus prep fresh
in his mind. The goals for the 2018
Arnold were to streamline Dallas’
midsection, carve more detail into
his quads and hams, and come in
dry and hard at 280 pounds. Matt
drifted into sleep, satisfied they had
correctly revised their plan and that
Dallas would win the 2018 Arnold
Classic. Yes, all was right in the world
of Dallas McCarver and Matt Jansen.
DEATH IN THE FAMILY
As dawn broke the next day,
it seemed we were getting ready
to begin just another day on the
calendar. But this was not just
another day. The bodybuilding world
would suffer a seismic shock, and
it’s a good bet that in years to come
many will remember where they
were when they heard the news. In
this modern world of internet hoaxes
and fake news, there was a hope
that this was just another made-up
work of fiction.
FEBRUARY 2018 | FLEX
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