GNC OBSERVATIONS...

LATS · Oct 10, 2004

i received a call this evening from my buddy dave..(i have talked about him in the past.. he owns a weightlifting equipment company in cali and once roomed with lee haney.. he also has judged his share fare of contests) here is his observations.. not mine since i am not there.. he said that victor and darrem are the ones to beat.. he stated that victor has a great amount of mass and awesome shape.. but, he could be harder.. he said that he overpowers darrem in most poses because of his size and great muscle shape but, he is a tad bit smooth.. darrem is sliced and looks to be a little bigger.. he said that he looks great but, needs more size and has got to do something to get his calves in line.. from the back, victor overpowers him and he said a lot of it is because of the noticeable lack of calves.. but, again, darrem is sliced.. he said that gustov b. looks decent and will crack the top 5 he belives.. he said the most awe inspiring physique is branch warren.. he said he does not have the best structure in the world but, he has freaky mass and the best conditioning in the show.. he believes he will crack top 5.. he said that titus might crack top 6.. depends on what he can do tonight.. but, he stated he looked off.. nasser looks bad.. again.. from the back he said that he literally does not look like a top contender at all.. he looks "ok" from the front but, not the nasser of old at all.. he said that jason arntz looks great and could edge out titus for top 6.. he said that he has added size and is rock hard.. again, it depends on how he looks tonight.. overall he stated that the competition is overall very weak.. most of the guys should not have been on that stage and many looked like they did not prepare at all.. he said only 6 or 7 are looking very good at all.. there is a lot of "grumpiness" in the inner circle about how weak the show is becoming.. he said one offical told him that the show is not worth "a hill of beans" of far as who is showing up in shape.. that is too bad.. anyway, if i hear anything else before the end of the show ill let ya know..

PHIL HERNON · Oct 10, 2004

You know I love ya LATS, but

LATS said:
i received a call this evening from my buddy dave..(i have talked about him in the past.. he owns a weightlifting equipment company in cali and once roomed with lee haney.. he also has judged his share fare of contests) here is his observations.. not mine since i am not there.. he said that victor and darrem are the ones to beat.. he stated that victor has a great amount of mass and awesome shape.. but, he could be harder.. he said that he overpowers darrem in most poses because of his size and great muscle shape but, he is a tad bit smooth.. darrem is sliced and looks to be a little bigger.. he said that he looks great but, needs more size and has got to do something to get his calves in line.. from the back, victor overpowers him and he said a lot of it is because of the noticeable lack of calves.. but, again, darrem is sliced.. he said that gustov b. looks decent and will crack the top 5 he belives.. he said the most awe inspiring physique is branch warren.. he said he does not have the best structure in the world but, he has freaky mass and the best conditioning in the show.. he believes he will crack top 5.. he said that titus might crack top 6.. depends on what he can do tonight.. but, he stated he looked off.. nasser looks bad.. again.. from the back he said that he literally does not look like a top contender at all.. he looks "ok" from the front but, not the nasser of old at all.. he said that jason arntz looks great and could edge out titus for top 6.. he said that he has added size and is rock hard.. again, it depends on how he looks tonight.. overall he stated that the competition is overall very weak.. most of the guys should not have been on that stage and many looked like they did not prepare at all.. he said only 6 or 7 are looking very good at all.. there is a lot of "grumpiness" in the inner circle about how weak the show is becoming.. he said one offical told him that the show is not worth "a hill of beans" of far as who is showing up in shape.. that is too bad.. anyway, if i hear anything else before the end of the show ill let ya know..

Lats. Has anyone of these "officials in the inner circle" ever done a show? Bettter yet, has any one of them ever dieted? Lifted a weight? Do they have any idea how hard it is to come in shape? The judges I know all were either out of shape, drug addicts, actresses, or business men out to make millions off of us. These guys bust their asses, tip toe around the law just to be at that level, maintain hectic schedules, do interviews for free, take pictures all day for free, deal with health issues every 2 months, practically prostitute themselves for a dime, and a fat actor is grumpy because they are not at their all time best? What was the prize money for this show? Maybe the BBers are telling these inner circle guys that you get what you pay for.

LATS · Oct 10, 2004

WELL HE JUST CALLED AND WAS PRETTY MUCH ON THE MONEY..1) victor martinez..2) darrem charles..3) gustov badell...4) branch warren (said if he would have won no one would have complained at all) 5) troy alves... 6) craig titus.. 7) johnny jackson (said that he looked very good and had great mass and sepataion.. should have beat titus but, does not matter for no one qualifies at this point).. said he was very suprised that jason arntz did not do better.. said that victor was very massive and he carried the size well.. just needed to be tighter.. said darrem was sliced but, he was overpowered.. said the most impressive, as i stated in the previous post was branch warren.. he felt that he will due serious damage in the future.. he talked to him and said he was very pumped and was looking forward to adding even more mass in the next year and keeping his conditioning.. look for him.. said that nasser got 13th or so.. the rest of the comp was pretty mediocre.. not worth getting into... phil as for the officals... can not help ya there.. but, i do agree that if you are going to do a show and sign the contract at least look like you tried.. he said some looked very poor.. i was not there so can not say for certain.. the problem i think stems from the officals hearing complaints from the audience.. as for the pay.. that is something a athlete needs to consider before he entes.. they dropped the prize money pretty low in the gnc.. i personally would not have competed for that kind of money but, i belive that msot of the athletes are trying to qualify.. the ones in shape qualified.. again..if it is about health and money i would not compete.. but, they obviously thought they could do well..

Queefer · Oct 10, 2004

Thanks Lats, good post, very informative. Phil, I understand what you are saying. I guess there are just two sides with two very different motivations.

Trulyhuge · Oct 10, 2004

From the pictures I have seen I am dumb-founded as to why Johnnie Jackson wasn't in the top 5 or even 3? That boy packs some serious mass. It seems to me he is very overlooked! Gustavo once he improves his lat spread will start doing better IMO.

TH