My personal Mr.Olympia top ten

I'll be honest and say that I don't like writing these like I use to when I was in my twenties. Reason being is that you end up arguing your point with people who never listen anyway. And on top of that, you usually end up with a couple of expletives thrown around by various fan boys. I know, I use to be one (whatever happened to Melvin Anthony by the way?).

With that being said, since every other pundit is putting their two cents in, I may as well add mine. Is it a run down? No. I consider these more Op-Ed than anything. But it's mine and I'll stand by it. Besides. Nothing really matters until after the night show next Saturday.

1: Phil Heath: He has all the tools to repeat as champion this year. The question is can he be more improved this year. What can he improve on? I think he can be sharper and more conditioned. More mass on his back won't ever hurt. His legs are just bananas so I don't really see how he can improve there. Honestly, I just want to see him in such sick and disgusting condition he will be separated form the pack. I don't care if he has to lose a little bit in the muscle department to bring it also.

2: Kai Greene: The only man, in my estimation, that can beat Phil in the mass department. Im not so convinced in the conditioning however. Shape can go either way. Kai poses in a way where he can hide his shortcoming shape wise. Kai has to be shredded to even be considered a possible winner.

3: Dennis Wolf: I'm not convinced he has made the improvements he needed to make between the Arnold and the Olympia. He still needs a thicker back and from the side he is a bit too "shallow" to me. He has phenomenal shape and thats always a good thing.

4:Branch Warren: He won the Arnold out of sheer will and fortitude. The Olympia is coined as a big mans show, but I don't think he will nail it enough to break the top three. It's hard to peak twice in a year at the pro level. Kai didn't do it last year and I don't think branch will do it this year. I could be wrong however. He is training with Johnny Jackson and they both have enlisted the help of Josh Bryant (www.joshstrength.com) to make improvements for the show.

5: Dexter Jackson: Like it or not, he is a former Mr. Olympia, been in the top six for years now, and has never really been out of shape. He is a big guy now, so he has to be even more shredded than he's ever been. Is it hard to do at his age? I don't think so judging by what all these other over-40 bodybuilders are coming up with (Johnny Jackson, Toney Freeman). Jackson can be in the top six but he has to show something REALLY special to go higher.

6: Ben Pakulski: He's a thinking mans bodybuilder and that will work in his favor. His quads are excellent and he has an awesome front lat spread. But his back could stand a bit more beef and his arms could use a bit more muscle. He could be the guy that could win an Olympia in the future.

Other Factors:

I'm not dissing Evan Centopani is any way, shape or form. I just don't see him breaking top six this go round. He has to find a way to keep it all together during prejudging. I actually had him winning the Arnold after seeing him being compared to Wolf and Warren in the initial comparison, but as time went on, he started to look like two different bodybuilders. His shape is not the best and he loses that battle when put next to Heath, Greene and Wolf. His mas is great, but he is a couple years from breaking up there.

Shawn Rhoden can just blow everything I said up. He won the Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships and Dallas Europa in spectacular fashion. But those were late season shows. If it's hard to peak between early season and spring shows, then it may be near impossible to regroup after competing in August. But he doe's have Chris Aceto in his corner, so I could be wrong.

Toney Freeman is another guy who can blow my prediction up. When he nails it, he is one of the very best. When he doesn't, it's very apparent.It will be hard to get back to winning form after two late summer shows.

Roelly Winklaar is fighting a very uphill battle. He won the Nordic Pro, but that was after missing the mark two shows prior to that.

Could Hide be higher than 10th this year?

Where would Flex Lewis place in this lineup? Or Jose Raymond for that matter? With Brandon Curry not in the show, he could place top ten. I say jump in.

Will the 212 division hold a closer battle for first than the open?

Thats it for my opinion? You have one? Let me know! Onward to Vegas!

You have power.

I had a chance to sit back and watch a couple of YouTube videos for about an hour a couple days ago. I don't know what drove me to as I usually just look at videos to reminisce about the days of yore when everything didn't hurt in the morning, I had a steady paycheck(even if it was shit pay) and the gym is what kept me moving.

I happened to just click on a couple of videos, but on that stood out to me the most was a Kai Greene video from last years prep for the Mr. Olympia.



Why can't we create something beautiful as people sometimes? We are our own worst enemy. WE let people tell us what we should and shouldn't do. WE let situations get the best of us and we hold our heads down.

You have a family? Create a beautiful family. You in school? Make your report card beautiful by fostering effective habits. Chasing God (or a more meaningful spiritual relationship)...do the things you need to do to make God first.

The point is that you have power in your hands to do better. Don't fall into the trap that you don't have any type of power. You have it. Use it.

To do list.

It's  2:25 in the morning working on things

Why?

Well one I was hungry and had some Musclegg to drink (shout out to Lamar Byrd) but that didn't do the trick. But some grass fed beef and rice hit the spot and I'm about to crash it up soon.

But the second reason I'm awake is because I was able to complete an article that I have been trying to finish for awhile. The article led to working on a "to do" list for the subsequent day. I have a full plate ahead of me.

1: La clase de espanol

2: Call Lancaster County GOP and Democratic Parties for possible interviews (I may just go by there)

3: Call or email people that were involved in a story last year that I penned for the Daily Nebraskan. Reason being is because it relates to a story I'm doing for Star City News.

4: Do some additional photography work.

4: Study spanish. (test next week)

5: Read and review psychology (test in a couple weeks)

6: Tie up loose ends.

I'll be eating somewhere in between all that somewhere. No napping. Day is just entirely too full to be bullshitting. Seems that caffeine will be my blood in a couple hours. Thank God the union has blode roast. It's the truth!

Well that and Gatorade.

I refuse to let this semester be disastrous. So a bit of pain and possibly some sleep deprivation will happen.