Basically If Jay was not competing, Branch was your Mr.O 2009

[Gorky88]

I love Branch. His attitude, discipline, conditioning and everything but I think Dexter was better. He doesn't have any calves but they are not that important anyway. His quads and hams are not as big as Branchs'. However, what happened to backs win Olympias? Kai Greene, Toney Freeman, Heath and Dexter have tons of better backs and they are not that bad at other body parts either.

Where did I have Branch? I had him 4 th on prejudging but 3 rd on saturday when Kai didn't show up crisper and sharper.

Dexter has better traps,arms and definitely better back. To me it was the best back the most complete in the lineup in both thickness, seperation and maturity. I don't wanna take anything from Branch and I know that there are tons of threads about Branch coming in second but if Jay was not competing he was gonna be Mr.O 2009. He is not better than Dexter, he just wasn't even though I am not a big fan of Dexter I must admit.

[PumpedPecs]

I love Branch. His attitude, discipline, conditioning and everything but I think Dexter was better. He doesn't have any calves but they are not that important anyway. His quads and hams are not as big as Branchs'. However, what happened to backs win Olympias? Kai Greene, Toney Freeman, Heath and Dexter have tons of better backs and they are not that bad at other body parts either.

Where did I have Branch? I had him 4 th on prejudging but 3 rd on saturday when Kai didn't show up crisper and sharper.

Dexter has better traps,arms and definitely better back. To me it was the best back the most complete in the lineup in both thickness, seperation and maturity. I don't wanna take anything from Branch and I know that there are tons of threads about Branch coming in second but if Jay was not competing he was gonna be Mr.O 2009. He is not better than Dexter, he just wasn't even though I am not a big fan of Dexter I must admit.

you're not a judge, you're an average person so you just look at a bodybuilder and you're like wow he's pleasing to my eye. but there is more to it than a first glance and your initial view. and if you knew that then you could see that branch was in fantastic shape and deserved his placing.

[C-DUBB]

I love Branch. His attitude, discipline, conditioning and everything but I think Dexter was better. He doesn't have any calves but they are not that important anyway. His quads and hams are not as big as Branchs'. However, what happened to backs win Olympias? Kai Greene, Toney Freeman, Heath and Dexter have tons of better backs and they are not that bad at other body parts either.

Where did I have Branch? I had him 4 th on prejudging but 3 rd on saturday when Kai didn't show up crisper and sharper.

Dexter has better traps,arms and definitely better back. To me it was the best back the most complete in the lineup in both thickness, seperation and maturity. I don't wanna take anything from Branch and I know that there are tons of threads about Branch coming in second but if Jay was not competing he was gonna be Mr.O 2009. He is not better than Dexter, he just wasn't even though I am not a big fan of Dexter I must admit.

noooo....really?

[StinkerX]

I think the decisions of the judges are in no way comprehensible for the normal person. They can do whatever they want and people just have to accept it. If Warren had gotten 7th place then it would also have been accepted.

[stealth_swimmer]

you're not a judge, you're an average person so you just look at a bodybuilder and you're like wow he's pleasing to my eye. but there is more to it than a first glance and your initial view. and if you knew that then you could see that branch was in fantastic shape and deserved his placing.

Conditioning - Branch but Dexter was the closest person after that and showed up with excellent conditioning

Proportion - Dexter EASILY. Smaller waist, great taper(Branch has improved his but still not up to snuff with Dexter's)

Symmetry - Dexter

Size - Branch, but Dexter was pretty close, and definitely wins from the back with his great taper

Not just that but Dexter had fuller, rounder muscle bellies. They just pop out at you, while still being shredded.

Yes Branch was in fantastic shape...but shouldn't have placed any higher than 3rd. Dexter looked better and wins out on the judging criteria.

[synapse]

Basically if none of the other guys that placed higher than Michael Kefalianos were not competing, Michael Kefalianos was your Mr O 2009.

[barbarian_ben]

I think the decisions of the judges are in no way comprehensible for the normal person. They can do whatever they want and people just have to accept it. If Warren had gotten 7th place then it would also have been accepted.

not true.

if he wound up in 4th, maybe even 5th, it would have been accepted....but 7th? people would not be happy

[Gorky88]

Basically if none of the other guys that placed higher than Michael Kefalianos were not competing, Michael Kefalianos was your Mr O 2009.

I know that. I didn't write so you guys can say Captain Obvious for my post. It had a decent argument. It is hard to satisfy some people in bb.com

Some of you guys can come up with some arguments just like stealth did but whatever

[barbarian_ben]

Basically if none of the other guys that placed higher than Michael Kefalianos were not competing, Michael Kefalianos was your Mr O 2009.

That really was unnecessary. 2nd place is a big deal, nothing wrong with speculating what it would be like without jay

[caleb56]

Conditioning - Branch but Dexter was the closest person after that and showed up with excellent conditioning

Proportion - Dexter EASILY. Smaller waist, great taper(Branch has improved his but still not up to snuff with Dexter's)

Symmetry - Dexter

Size - Branch, but Dexter was pretty close, and definitely wins from the back with his great taper

Not just that but Dexter had fuller, rounder muscle bellies. They just pop out at you, while still being shredded.

Yes Branch was in fantastic shape...but shouldn't have placed any higher than 3rd. Dexter looked better and wins out on the judging criteria.

Dex has no calves, he was not as conditioned. He also couldnt touch Branch on his size. He had proportions, but symmetry he didnt have, just look at his biceps. One is clearly bigger than the other.

[d16daily]

I still don't see how ppl can say DEX wasnot conditioned

[synapse]

The what if's don't count for much, only what happened. Dennis could have come in sharper, would he have gotten into the mix? Who knows. Jay was there and the judges put him in 1st. Anyone "could" have one if they made minor adjustments. Anyone could have won. But it happened the way it did.

And if Jay wasn't there and you subtracted 1 placing from everyone, well, then yes, Branch would have been 1st.

[caleb56]

The what if's don't count for much, only what happened. Dennis could have come in sharper, would he have gotten into the mix? Who knows. Jay was there and the judges put him in 1st. Anyone "could" have one if they made minor adjustments. Anyone could have won. But it happened the way it did.

And if Jay wasn't there and you subtracted 1 placing from everyone, well, then yes, Branch would have been 1st.

I agree, THis was not the most competitive Mr olympia as everyone stated it would be.

[ZBlacktt]

[the-craig]

I think if Branch had competed in the same shape last year they wouldn't have let him win the O or if Jay had showed up the same as last year this year for some reason.

[Gosu]

Basically if none of the other guys that placed higher than Michael Kefalianos were not competing, Michael Kefalianos was your Mr O 2009.

lmao

[Big B Bro]

you're not a judge, you're an average person so you just look at a bodybuilder and you're like wow he's pleasing to my eye. but there is more to it than a first glance and your initial view. and if you knew that then you could see that branch was in fantastic shape and deserved his placing.

Agreed

[Blue Blazer]

lmao

[lsk]

Congrats to Branch, i believe Dexter was looking better but kudos to Branch, and im not a judge so what would i know :P.

[mriches]

If Jay didn't compete this year I think Dex would have repeated. There is no way they dethrone Dex unless Jay comes in to reclaim it. I agree that Branch deserved 2nd and looked amazing but I think they would have gifted Dex.

[ironhead184]

I love Branch. His attitude, discipline, conditioning and everything but I think Dexter was better. He doesn't have any calves but they are not that important anyway. His quads and hams are not as big as Branchs'. However, what happened to backs win Olympias? Kai Greene, Toney Freeman, Heath and Dexter have tons of better backs and they are not that bad at other body parts either.

Where did I have Branch? I had him 4 th on prejudging but 3 rd on saturday when Kai didn't show up crisper and sharper.

Dexter has better traps,arms and definitely better back. To me it was the best back the most complete in the lineup in both thickness, seperation and maturity. I don't wanna take anything from Branch and I know that there are tons of threads about Branch coming in second but if Jay was not competing he was gonna be Mr.O 2009. He is not better than Dexter, he just wasn't even though I am not a big fan of Dexter I must admit.

Look closely and you will see that Branch's upper back is thicker than dexter's. Dex barely had any striations in his quads. An olympia isn't all about the back. This is a misconception that people created when they heard ronnie's quote about "light's out" when he turns around.

Branch looked better from the front and better from the back. Dex's lower back may be better than branch's but that's it. Just look at branch's traps and see how much bigger they are. Just bc branch doesn't have those"ninja turtle" abs, it doesn't mean anything. Where was dex's vascularity? Where were his calves? They were like tiny lumps. Ronnie's calves were alot better than those, and yes the judges do pay attention to calves.

Look at victor's back. It was a lot better than dex's.

[BiggerTommorow]

branch wouldn't have gotten first, he looked awesome so it was easy to stick dex back a placing and give it to him, but first? no way.

[bransthaman]

When was the Mr o all about arms? what about phils chest and dex's calves i am not dogging nobody but stop hateing hope ya see the point

[I_hate_Training]

Conditioning - Branch but Dexter was the closest person after that and showed up with excellent conditioning

Proportion - Dexter EASILY. Smaller waist, great taper(Branch has improved his but still not up to snuff with Dexter's)

Symmetry - Dexter

Size - Branch, but Dexter was pretty close, and definitely wins from the back with his great taper

Not just that but Dexter had fuller, rounder muscle bellies. They just pop out at you, while still being shredded.

Yes Branch was in fantastic shape...but shouldn't have placed any higher than 3rd. Dexter looked better and wins out on the judging criteria.

I agree...but look at Dorian. He wasn't the prettiest on stage, but size, and condition won him 6 in a row. Branch is starting to become another version of Dorian.

[stealth_swimmer]

Dex has no calves, he was not as conditioned. He also couldnt touch Branch on his size. He had proportions, but symmetry he didnt have, just look at his biceps. One is clearly bigger than the other.

Dexter's calves aren't as good as Branch's, and Branch's lat taper ain't as good as Dexter's. Back is a larger muscle group so your point about calves is moot.

If you wanna talk symmetry, Branch has one lat bigger than the other, again, a larger muscle. Dex had enough size to be competitive and same with conditioning, but with better symmetry and proportions. You're grasping at straws here.

I agree...but look at Dorian. He wasn't the prettiest on stage, but size, and condition won him 6 in a row. Branch is starting to become another version of Dorian.

Yeah but Dorian also shouldn't have won at least one of his Olympias. He went in with a torn quad in one, for example...

[Gorky88]

Dexter's calves aren't as good as Branch's, and Branch's lat taper ain't as good as Dexter's. Back is a larger muscle group so your point about calves is moot.

If you wanna talk symmetry, Branch has one lat bigger than the other, again, a larger muscle. Dex had enough size to be competitive and same with conditioning, but with better symmetry and proportions. You're grasping at straws here.

Exactly. Back has many muscles in it. Rhomboid, lower lats, trapezius, teres major. Dex had the most complete back imo. He has to have an edge for it. He is also a Mr.Olympia which is known to give an edge. I am not saying it should be that way but thats the way it is. Dexter doesnt have a missing bodypart and he looks amazing in front double bi, side tri, side chest, back double biceps, rear lat spread, most muscular crab-hands clapsed, front lat spread. He doesnt have a shot where he is lagging. He is so damn complete.

Another thing is, a lot of people in here wouldn't even argue if Dex became 2nd but Branch came in third. Also, people calling Dexter's condition ok is just retarded. He had one of the best conditions. He brought his AC 2008 package. He looked phenomenal. Whatever in the end I m happy for a guy like Branch who is a hard worker guy in and out of the gym.

[Tyjim]

Dex has no calves, he was not as conditioned. He also couldnt touch Branch on his size. He had proportions, but symmetry he didnt have, just look at his biceps. One is clearly bigger than the other.

i second this. sort of.

First callouts last night.. They moved Branch next to Dex and I about fell over.

He looked more conditioned, bigger, and beat him on more than several poses.

Branch did one hell of a good job. Dexter wasn't at his best, Branch was.

Branch next to Dexter, it was clear. Branch was better.

[d16daily]

all things said, i thik Dex's back is better than branch's

[stealth_swimmer]

i second this. sort of.

First callouts last night.. They moved Branch next to Dex and I about fell over.

He looked more conditioned, bigger, and beat him on more than several poses.

Branch did one hell of a good job. Dexter wasn't at his best, Branch was.

Branch next to Dexter, it was clear. Branch was better.

Branch next to Dexter, it was clear. Dexter was better.

Branch has improved his weak points but still isn't put together the same way Dex is. Branch has pretty much always been more conditioned than Dexter but Dexter isn't that far off of Branch's conditioning, while being FAR more proportionate. And for people ragging on Dex cus of his calves, which is a small muscle group, then you should acknowledge that Dexter has better forearms than Branch, especially when in comparison to the upper arms, and proportion is what it's all about in bodybuilding...not just who has freaky bodyparts that don't match up.

The only pose I might have Branch beating Dexter on would be the side tricep.

[FullROM]

Branch next to Dexter, it was clear. Dexter was better.

Branch has improved his weak points but still isn't put together the same way Dex is. Branch has pretty much always been more conditioned than Dexter but Dexter isn't that far off of Branch's conditioning, while being FAR more proportionate. And for people ragging on Dex cus of his calves, which is a small muscle group, then you should acknowledge that Dexter has better forearms than Branch, especially when in comparison to the upper arms, and proportion is what it's all about in bodybuilding...not just who has freaky bodyparts that don't match up.

The only pose I might have Branch beating Dexter on would be the side tricep.

Branch was not as good as Cutler, but he crushed Heath, and edged ahead of Dex and just beat Kai. Respect to Branch. This years O was suprisingly really one for the white boys lol