At first glance from the front I really thought that Ronnie had it again this year. He certainly had a different look about him. Very vascular and somewhat grainy from the front. Certainly huge, but somehow smaller in some areas. Whether this is due to age or conditioning I don't know. From the rear he looked soft in the upper body. That fact that there was little to no oil on his lats certainly did not help. The striated glutes where still there, but not as sharp as usual. Still from the waist down (excluding calves of course) no one touches him. Many have brought up the issues of Ronnie's "injuries" but no one seems to have a definitive answer as to what exactly they are. So IMO here goes. His tricep does look smaller, but it is NOT tore. My guess would be nerve damage. This takes many months to rehab. It does appear that Ronnie tore his right lat slightly right under the armpit. Nother major so it might end up healing pretty good. Ronnie left leg is also noticeably smaller. He has always had a higher out quad insertion on this leg, but it seems to be more apparent this year. I am going to put that down to nerve damage also, especially since it is on the same side as the tricep. Some have pointed out his lower back and the possibility that he tore something there. If you look at older pics of him it has always looked like this. Most people's backs are not perfectly symmetrical to either side.
IMO Ronnie can come back better next year. He can even come back much improved in a week or two if he makes the right corrections to his diet. Ronnie would look his best at around 268 - 270. Word had it that he weighed around 293? No one can play the size game like Ronnie, but even he went too far this year. I can speculate as to what he did wrong concerning carb up etc., but the bottom line is that he is just too heavy!!!! I just hope he does not rely on diuretics to try and make the corrections if he decides to compete in the Grad Prix shows. He did not look to be as dehydrated this year compared to last year. Ronnie knew he had lost before the night show. I got two phone calls after the prejudging about how far ahead Jay was on the score cards. My point is that if I knew then Ronnie certainly did, This would explain the way he seemed to act right before the announcement.
