Whew. I have not spent so much time in front of the television as I did this weekend for a long time. Not only did I watch gymnastics, but I watched the Diving Trials as well.
So I watched Night One with my parents…this is how it went down:
- NBC’s broadcast started while my mother was yelling at me for failing to kill a fly in the kitchen. Then Shayla Worley went up on balance beam, and my mother stopped yelling long enough to watch her. In the meantime, I escaped from my mother and at the same time I looked away from the screen and missed the Worley.
- Speaking of Shayla, I though she looked all right…Day Two being a different story.
- The Alicia fluff was nice. My father said, “Isn’t she cool, driving with her foot up like that?” However, Alicia was indeed lackluster save for vault.
- My mother likes Nastia.
- Chellsie is awesome.
- Mattie Larson is glorious. She works that Mr. and Mrs. Smith music better than Dasha Joura!
- The only floor routine that I did not watch in full was Shawn’s. I think it was because I was in the kitchen killing that damn fly.
- My father on Shawn: “Wow, she really matured! Last year she was just a little girl!”
- My mother on Shawn: “She is so short and stocky.”
- I was impressed with Jana. That’s about all I can say.
- Elfi, Tim, and Al are useless. USELESS!! Oh, and my mother really dislikes Andrea Joyce. And Bela.
I just watched Night Two. Thoughts:
- OH MY STARS I loved loved loved the opening fluff. It got me in the mood right away.
- ZOMGWTF they showed Corrie Lothrop and Randy Stageberg! I didn’t expect that. Randy’s routine is quite NCAA-flavored.
- Alicia’s floor routine is boring me to tears…I never thought I’d say that, ever…but it’s true now.
- Sam P. obviously WORSHIPS Alicia. Her floor routine is evidence enough…
- Kathy Kelly is a b*tch. Excuse my French.
- Speaking of bad French, I cussed several times when 1. Nastia flew over the low bar on her Pak, 2. Shayla missed her catch on the high bar and belly-flopped onto the mat, 3. Chellsie badly squatted her vault, 4. Bridget flew out of bounds on floor, 5. Ivana landed on her back off beam, 6. Randy splatted her first tumbling pass on floor, 7. Alicia landed short on her double pike on floor, and 8. Shawn almost underrotated her Amânar.
- Oh, and Bela is going senile.
During Trials, the 2003 World Championships Team, five of whom went down in USA Gymnastics history as the “Five Left Standing”, was honored in a luncheon, as well as a teeny ceremony in the arena. That means Terin Humphrey (who was looking plenty gorgeous), Annia Hatch, Hollie Vise, Carly Patterson (AHAHA), Ashley Postell (one word: HAWT), and Tasha Schwikert were on hand; the only one not present was dear old Courtney Kupets, who couldn’t make it for some reason. Chellsie of course was there along with them, and of course she is the only one still competing internationally.
Anyway, back to the present. The team? It’s Johnson and Liukin…Sacramone, Memmel, and Peszek look to join them. One spot left; it’s between Jana, Bridget, Shayla, and Ivana. Jana has the upper hand now, but what she has shown at Trials is mostly all she has, sadly. Bridget has the potential to pull out more trump cards, not to mention she has the advantage of having already competed in the Beijing arena. And as for Shayla and Ivana…well…I don’t know what to say about them.
Bring on July.
i agree with your mother. Andrea Joyce is TERRIBLE.
The 2003 team was also honored at a luncheon earlier that day when they were inducted into the USAG hall of fame.
Kupets was at the luncheon, but had to leave after as her UGA team was being honored at the White House the following day.