My Observations:
- It didn't matter how Ronnie and Jay looked on Friday -- the judges gave Jay straight 1's all the way. Even if Ronnie got tighter and Jay got weaker on Saturday, the outcome would have been the same.
- How on earth does Jay achieve that low level of BF without a vein in sight? I know naturals with better vascularity. Definitely no Munzer.
- Ronnie absolutely crushes Jay in the front double biceps, the most muscular, the front lat spread, the side biceps, and the rear lat spread and rear double biceps are close. Could somebody please explain exactly which poses Jay crushes Ronnie on and how it adds up to dethroning the champ?
- People who are doubting that Ronnie was told prior to the finals that he was not going to win shouldn't be too surprised. The judges scorecards after the prejudging is not considered a closely guarded secret. All it takes is one of the 17 (or so) judges to tell a friend/spouse/hooker and the word is out. With Jay's Friday scores in the bag, Ronnie had no chance to win.
- Ronnie should hang it up, not because he is no longer an awesome bodybuilder, but because this is the typical IFBB writing on the wall for him. Once the powers-that-be make up their minds about someone, it's over for them. For reference, see Nasser. Or Gustavo. Or Mustafa. Or Arntz. Sure, sucking up can still do wonders (See Kamali. Or Victor. Or Cutler) but Ronnie has too much pride to suck kock at this stage of his career. If he had any dignity, he'd pull a Marvelous Marvin Hagler and never compete again.
- Ronnie and Jay is an apples-to-apples comparison. So we're still stuck with apples. If we're gonna pick apples, let's at least pick the biggest, freakiest apple (Ruhl) to win. Otherwise, let's just pick an orange (Melvin) and dictate the change back to a symmetrical, aesthetic Mr. Olympia. Oh yeah, I forgot. Markus lives in Germany and won't be able to guest pose for $500 every weekend for the judges' own promotions/contests.
That's it. My mouth to God's ears. Deal with the truth.
Special "Straight Shooter" Ed