Why would Phil heath skip the 2007 Mr Olympia?

[adipo8]

I think that as a competitor, Phil should compete at the Olympia...its what shawn did...and its what Phil should do...he can make a lot of changes in 6-7 months.

Phil is not and never will be shawn -EVER ... I stated this before. Shawn compared too anyone , any size , any shape and he had Flex , Kevin and Dorian and Lee and LEE L and Andre and Nasser - TOP notch competition and was always in the thick of things but he learned on stage and is passing this information to someone who has 50% of the "It " shawn had....

PHill should scoot over to Shawn for mentoring and not Jay Cutler - He needs too worry about XMAN and Victor  and not be raising Heath!

You may not alwasy agree or like what he says - BUT HE IS 95% RIGHT AND THE OTHER 5% IS JUST TO MOTIVATE YOU !

TRUE STORY

[ThaRealist]

Phil is not and never will be shawn -EVER ... I stated this before. Shawn compared too anyone , any size , any shape and he had Flex , Kevin and Dorian and Lee and LEE L and Andre and Nasser - TOP notch competition and was always in the thick of things but he learned on stage and is passing this information to someone who has 50% of the "It " shawn had....

PHill should scoot over to Shawn for mentoring and not Jay Cutler - He needs too worry about XMAN and Victor  and not be raising Heath!

You may not alwasy agree or like what he says - BUT HE IS 95% RIGHT AND THE OTHER 5% IS JUST TO MOTIVATE YOU !

TRUE STORY

Heath is getting mentored by Cutler??? What is Cutler going to teach him to do, keep at it; coming in runner up until you finally win the Mr. O because of basic default just to keep the seat warm for a true champion??? Nothing against Cutler he is Mr. O for a reason, but Heath has tons of more potential than Cutler ever did or does.....

[adipo8]

Heath is getting mentored by Cutler??? What is Cutler going to teach him to do, keep at it; coming in runner up until you finally win the Mr. O because of basic default just to keep the seat warm for a true champion??? Nothing against Cutler he is Mr. O for a reason, but Heath has tons of more potential than Cutler ever did or does.....

For once we agree 

[Royalty]

Nothing against Cutler he is Mr. O for a reason, but Heath has tons of more potential than Cutler ever did or does.....

Jay turned pro at age 23.

At age 25, Jay Cutler took 4th place at the 1999 ASC. He placed behind Nasser, Levrone, and Cormier.

At age 27, Jay won The NOC.

Since then he won the Pro Ironman, 3 Arnold Classic's, and The Mr Olympia.

I'd say that Jay had tremedous potential. I dont think that he made any horrible decisions during his career.

BUT.....

I do think that Shwan Ray did make some mistakes in his career by not competing more often. There were Arnold Classic titles that he could have won IMO.

[Shawn Ray]

Unfortunately I competed because I wanted to win the Big One after I already won the Arnold.
That said, I was focused on the Business of Bodybuilding, which to this day is STILL the only Job I have ever held because I did not spend my time chasing Contest Titles but rather when it was time to compete I did it against the Best in the World at a time I felt I had ample preparation for and time to conduct Business which is WORLD Wide. Very hard to both but once you've tasted the Business End, you realize there is more Longevity to your health and career by strategically picking your shows not just going on the Paper Chase for Titles.
Phil again, is in a great place to be choosey and make money while waiting for the Muscle Maturity to catch up to his POTENTIAL, as the other Cats duke it out and finally in 3 yrs time will be gone including: Dexter 40, Jay(Retired), Freeman (43), Melvin(41) possibly Victor (36) and definitely Ronnie(90)!
Now do the math: Phil will be 30 with the playing field as his Oyster.
I may be getting old but trust me I feel like a Wise Old Swammi here kid!
Peace,
S. Ray

[swoody]

I think that as a competitor, Phil should compete at the Olympia...its what shawn did...and its what Phil should do...he can make a lot of changes in 6-7 months.

No... he should wait.  The arguement shawn brought to the table was business oriented... and he was completely dead on.  From a physique sandpoint, what kind of improvements can he make in 6-7 months?  Add more mass too quickly?  It would ruin his physique if he tries to "improve" by adding enough mass to be competitive and earn a top 3 spot at the O...  he is very young, and I am sure he is in no rush to put on the size needed to be competitive for a top 3 spot at the O.  He should market himself, add size gradually, and take his time.  That is exactly how Tony Freeman got to where he is now... he did not add size to quickly to be competitive at the O... he took his time and marketed himself wisely.  That is why he is a success today. 

[ThaRealist]

No... he should wait.  The arguement shawn brought to the table was business oriented... and he was completely dead on.  From a physique sandpoint, what kind of improvements can he make in 6-7 months?  Add more mass too quickly?  It would ruin his physique if he tries to "improve" by adding enough mass to be competitive and earn a top 3 spot at the O...  he is very young, and I am sure he is in no rush to put on the size needed to be competitive for a top 3 spot at the O.  He should market himself, add size gradually, and take his time.  That is exactly how Tony Freeman got to where he is now... he did not add size to quickly to be competitive at the O... he took his time and marketed himself wisely.  That is why he is a success today. 

That is very true...How else do you think Freeman is pulling off all this success of late at his age.....Big Ron only has a few years on Tony and Ronnie is on his way out while Tony is on his way up...Strange how things work out like that....

[mesmorph78]

He's skipping the olympia because he just lost his first show and he got knocked down to reality...The gift was "gift wrapped"...

He wants everyone to think he is not doing the show so everyone on every board will talk about him and email him asking him to please do the olympia...Now After his third pro show he has qualified three times now...And he talking about not competing once again..

He should compete in the olympia this year just like he should have competed last year...In this "sport" anything can happen (health wise)...To blow off an olympia invite because you only want to compete when you think you have a chance in winning it all is bogus...Phil get over yourself and step up and hop on stage with the best of the best...Respect the guys you beat to get there and do the show that some of them would give their left nut to compete in...

Come back to reality and realise that you are not the best in the world(never was)...You won't win next year or the year after that...

..i agree..

[gh15]

he should take ray's advice seriously,,ray likes that kid
infact there are many similarities between the 2,,i dont think heath can bring him self to perfection like ray did,,because ray physiqe was uniqe in the fact that everything developed together and was very proportional and symetrical which is why he is top 10 in bodybuilding history and its a shame that zane got 3 o and ray got none,,

never the less,, as we all know bodybuilding is not always whos the justified winner taking everything into consideration,,,it is more of individual best in specific time and place among other competitors of that same time period with the demands of that time period,, ray had a field of competitors out of this world,,,the strongest in bodybuilding history,,with physiqes that are rare to be found even today!

phil heath WILL most likley hold the title mr o eventually,,his field of competitors will be weaker and he got a lot of the ray thing going in him + couple more inches of height!,,he will never be jason cutler,,he will never have a huge prego gut,,his physiqe/genetics wont allow it,,you will see,,he is also a nice smart guy and far from show off and act and ifbb likes it,,he just need more time,,simply more time,,and ofcourse gotta stay healthy but thats up to god

judges will see past his genetic structural problems the moment he add little more size and muscle maturity

[EL Mariachi]

damn a bunch of phil-lovers, this thread makes me sick, all the hype

[Wombat]

he should take ray's advice seriously,,ray likes that kid
infact there are many similarities between the 2,,i dont think heath can bring him self to perfection like ray did,,because ray physiqe was uniqe in the fact that everything developed together and was very proportional and symetrical which is why he is top 10 in bodybuilding history and its a shame that zane got 3 o and ray got none,,

never the less,, as we all know bodybuilding is not always whos the justified winner taking everything into consideration,,,it is more of individual best in specific time and place among other competitors of that same time period with the demands of that time period,, ray had a field of competitors out of this world,,,the strongest in bodybuilding history,,with physiqes that are rare to be found even today!

phil heath WILL most likley hold the title mr o eventually,,his field of competitors will be weaker and he got a lot of the ray thing going in him + couple more inches of height!,,he will never be jason cutler,,he will never have a huge prego gut,,his physiqe/genetics wont allow it,,you will see,,he is also a nice smart guy and far from show off and act and ifbb likes it,,he just need more time,,simply more time,,and ofcourse gotta stay healthy but thats up to god

judges will see past his genetic structural problems the moment he add little more size and muscle maturity

He'll never have the prego gut?  Ok..People were saying that about Dexter...He is well on his way to that very thing...And in losing the arnold, what do you think he is going to do now that Victor has steam rolled him with next to zero gut...The Flex Wheelers and the Rays of the world want Phil to be Mr. Olympia one day for what I believe is a selfish reason....And that reason is they want to be compared to him...Wheeler knows that because of the narrowness of phil that Wheeler will always match up with him...Heath will probably never look as good as Wheeler...To bring his width way out(like he needs to) he will have to do what Wheeler did...And as far as Ray...Heath will never be in his league...Ray is as close to perfection as humanly possible...But guys like cutler-hates and Coleman make Ray look small..So he is never compared to these guys and get lost in the shuffle....But if Heath was ever to become mr. O like you say, then comparison's of Wheeler and Ray will be all over the boards....And everyone will say the same thing...Too bad Wheeler and Ray didn't compete in the same time period as Heath because they would blow him away...All just my opinion...Phil heath has a very good build but tell me something GH15...Just how is he ever going to add the width that he needs to compete against the likes of a Victor and company...Heath like Wheeler are heavy weights in a middle weight frame...Dexter also...Thats why he hasn't blow up...Heath should compete in the olympia this year for one simple reason...He will place in the top 8...And in doing so he will qualify for next year...That gives him a full year to do what he has to do...If he doesn't compete in the O this year, he will have to qualify next year...Heath took almost a full year before entering the Arnold and to me looks just about the same as last year...I didn't see really any improvements...Nothing that blow you away anyway...This guy should get some Olympia experience under his belt...Again who the hell knows in this game just how many times he could be back...(se/King Kamali-Tom Prince ect)..

GH15 --you state that you are a top 10 olympia comp/ My guess is you understand that you will never win the thing ...So Why do it? Why not just do all the small shows?

Phil do the Olympia...You have an awesome body...Show it to everyone up against the best in the world...

[gh15]

you got a point there,, but i dont think ray has anything to gain by heath winning anything,,,it is simply business aspect and ray is older and wizer,,and most importantly been there!! getting an advice from him is as equal as getting advice from arnold or haney,,,it should be taken seriously simply because he knows this industry to the t

[Shawn Ray]

Like I said in previous posts, I like to Monday Morning Quarterback but trust me when I say, I have nothing to gain.
Paying it Forward is better than taking it with me.
Phil is his own man, what he Sows he will Reap.
Either way, this is great fodder for Phil and others like him one day.
Peace,
S. Ray