Chris Cook.. NPC Nationals

[Bouncer]

Is the newest pro. He has just won the nationals. (even though most say he didnt deserve it) In any case, he worked his ass off and I wish him the best of luck.

[Stonecold54]

is that the one SHF was in? Too bad if he didn't win.

[Liftingchic]

Go Cook Go Cook... sorry bouncer :)

[Timma]

Yeah In the pics i saw Cook didn't look even close to top notch.

[Sugarbaby]

Oh man, that totally stinks - I need to check in on SHF and see how he is doing.

anyone have pics of Nationals?

[Bouncer]

Originally posted by Sugarbaby
Oh man, that totally stinks - I need to check in on SHF and see how he is doing.

anyone have pics of Nationals?

flexonline has a ton.

[Bouncer]

After looking at a few more pics and listeing to people who were there, I would have to say that Chris Cook deserved the win but it was very close.

[Sugarbaby]

why do you think he deserved it? (going to look at the pics now...)

[Bouncer]

Originally posted by Sugarbaby
why do you think he deserved it? (going to look at the pics now...)

why do i think he deserved it? well, like i said after listening to people who were there, (we all know that pics and being there in person are different). Also the more pics I see he seems to take it.

[Bouncer]

This is what Tom Prince thought. He was there at the show. This was taken from MM.



CHRIS COOK and BILL WILLMORE were very, very close. It was only a one-point decision (or so I was told by 3 different judges).

During prejudging, it was pose for pose, tit for tat. Chris Cook has better shoulders and arms. Billy Willmore has a better back and chest, and is thicker, because of that. Chris Cook's legs blew Billy's off the stage. The difference in their legs was dramatic, and truthfully, what really seperated the 2 of them. Billy did have more muscle maturity, but it wasn't enough of a difference to overcome the overall look that Chris presented.

Again, you have to judge the overall look, and take EVERYTHING into account. And doing so, Chris edged out Bill.

In Bill's defense, I'm sure he's looking in the mirror and asking himself "What more could I have done?" He nailed his condition dead nuts on the money. Bill has everything it takes to be a pro, FOR SURE. Just needs to bring his legs up a hair.

Remember.. this is the NATIONALS. You can be 100%, and still get beat. That's always a possibility when you're competing against the best amateurs in the world.


MARCUS HALEY actually pulled-off being a superheavyweight. At 242, he was in shape, had straited glutes, and was fuller than at the USA. Problem was, that is NOT Mr. Haley's best look.

Unfortuneately, Marcus has set an amazing standard of conditioning for himself. His conditioning at this year's USA was about as perfect as you can get. He was crazy crisp, sharp, dry, and shredded. If he had repeated that at this Nationals, no one would have scored a point against him in the heavyweights. Would have been an easy slam dunk for him.

I had about a 15 minute talk with Marcus, and he knows what he needs to do. Not a doubt in my mind that he'll get his pro card at the USA. BTW, Marcus was totally professional, even though you could tell he was dissapointed. Had the best routine of the night, and was classy in handling getting 3rd place.

JEROME FERGUSON... well.. what can I say. I was standing next to Bob Cicherillo and Quincy Taylor at the night show, and when Jerome came out to do his routine, Quincy said: "Damn, Jerome's shape is beautiful". And, it is.

Jerome's waist is teeny-tiny, and he has a very good chest, delts, arms, and quads. His lats could be better, but were improved from the North American. He lats are high, to be sure. BUT, overall, that tiny waist ties his whole physique together.. and because it's so small, it makes every other bodypart, appear bigger.

Structure-wise, Jerome has a medium-sized frame, which will always make him one of the smaller super heavy's. He really is a "tweener" (too big to be a heavy, to small to be a super). He weighed in at 236, and couldn't have been an ounce lighter. He nailed his conditioning, also. There was NO WAY to really make him a heavyweight, without flattening him out. We did that at the North American (on purpose), just to get him in the class. At Nationals, I wanted Jerome to go with his best look.. even though I knew he'd be too small as a super, compared to Chris Cook and Billy Willmore.

But, prior to this year, the best Jerome had ever done at a national show, was 12th at the 2001 USA. He then missed the cut, and wasn't in the top 15 in 2003. This year he got 2nd at the North America, and a 4th at Nationals, so.. he's obviously improved by leaps and bounds.. and I couldn't be more proud of him.

OMAR DECKARD: Man, oh man.. just bangs you over the head with the word "potential". In shape, he'd be amazing. But, he needs to be in shape. Upper body is ridiculous huge. Legs could use more seperation. Hams and calves need to come up. A pro waiting to happen.

[Timma]

See by the pics, i thought willmore's legs looked larger and fuller and not washed out like cook's did.

[trip]

Originally posted by THE BOUNCER
This is what Tom Prince thought. He was there at the show. This was taken from MM.



CHRIS COOK and BILL WILLMORE were very, very close. It was only a one-point decision (or so I was told by 3 different judges).

During prejudging, it was pose for pose, tit for tat. Chris Cook has better shoulders and arms. Billy Willmore has a better back and chest, and is thicker, because of that. Chris Cook's legs blew Billy's off the stage. The difference in their legs was dramatic, and truthfully, what really seperated the 2 of them. Billy did have more muscle maturity, but it wasn't enough of a difference to overcome the overall look that Chris presented.

Again, you have to judge the overall look, and take EVERYTHING into account. And doing so, Chris edged out Bill.

In Bill's defense, I'm sure he's looking in the mirror and asking himself "What more could I have done?" He nailed his condition dead nuts on the money. Bill has everything it takes to be a pro, FOR SURE. Just needs to bring his legs up a hair.

Remember.. this is the NATIONALS. You can be 100%, and still get beat. That's always a possibility when you're competing against the best amateurs in the world.


MARCUS HALEY actually pulled-off being a superheavyweight. At 242, he was in shape, had straited glutes, and was fuller than at the USA. Problem was, that is NOT Mr. Haley's best look.

Unfortuneately, Marcus has set an amazing standard of conditioning for himself. His conditioning at this year's USA was about as perfect as you can get. He was crazy crisp, sharp, dry, and shredded. If he had repeated that at this Nationals, no one would have scored a point against him in the heavyweights. Would have been an easy slam dunk for him.

I had about a 15 minute talk with Marcus, and he knows what he needs to do. Not a doubt in my mind that he'll get his pro card at the USA. BTW, Marcus was totally professional, even though you could tell he was dissapointed. Had the best routine of the night, and was classy in handling getting 3rd place.

JEROME FERGUSON... well.. what can I say. I was standing next to Bob Cicherillo and Quincy Taylor at the night show, and when Jerome came out to do his routine, Quincy said: "Damn, Jerome's shape is beautiful". And, it is.

Jerome's waist is teeny-tiny, and he has a very good chest, delts, arms, and quads. His lats could be better, but were improved from the North American. He lats are high, to be sure. BUT, overall, that tiny waist ties his whole physique together.. and because it's so small, it makes every other bodypart, appear bigger.

Structure-wise, Jerome has a medium-sized frame, which will always make him one of the smaller super heavy's. He really is a "tweener" (too big to be a heavy, to small to be a super). He weighed in at 236, and couldn't have been an ounce lighter. He nailed his conditioning, also. There was NO WAY to really make him a heavyweight, without flattening him out. We did that at the North American (on purpose), just to get him in the class. At Nationals, I wanted Jerome to go with his best look.. even though I knew he'd be too small as a super, compared to Chris Cook and Billy Willmore.

But, prior to this year, the best Jerome had ever done at a national show, was 12th at the 2001 USA. He then missed the cut, and wasn't in the top 15 in 2003. This year he got 2nd at the North America, and a 4th at Nationals, so.. he's obviously improved by leaps and bounds.. and I couldn't be more proud of him.

OMAR DECKARD: Man, oh man.. just bangs you over the head with the word "potential". In shape, he'd be amazing. But, he needs to be in shape. Upper body is ridiculous huge. Legs could use more seperation. Hams and calves need to come up. A pro waiting to happen.

Well, I was there, actually stood about 10-15 ft. from Prince waiting for doors to open for about an hour. He talked to some big black dude the whole time.

Would agree of his assessment of Wilmore vs. Cook. Like he said, Wilmore's cuts and back and hams were better, yet from an overall symetrical standpoint Cook took it. I wish we could have viewed them side by side for more time cause I couldn't decide on the two. Whereas it was obvious what Cook did and din't have, it wasn't with Wilmore so you had to look more, and the more I looked the more I liked, yet, it didn't give me time to compare it to Cook. So, in the end, agree with Prince.

Caprice Murray IMHO should have taken the overall, he looked freaky and during pose down Cook kept on running from him, it was funny. Caprice is 4-5 inches shorter, yet he was grainy, hard striated, and huge. All cook had was huge and hard.