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
program 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.
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