Monday, January 10, 2011

This and That


An interview with Alicia Sacramone from the UGA-Denvel-BYU-Air Force meet.  It is interesting that she is injured yet again, which may put her upgrades and floor tumbling in question.  She hasn't upgraded in years and it is time to be realistic.  She will head back to Boston to train within the week.


Canadian Nationals streaming schedule.  In case we need to be Canadian to use the site, it would be a great help if someone could offer a brief tutorial on how to get around this and block our IP addresses.


A video interview with a few Bruins after their loss to Stanford at the Pac 10 Showcase.  It is interesting that Miss Val is realistic after the meet, while the other girls interviewed are still living and breathing the cultish nature of NCAA gym.  One would think they'd won the meet after listening to Elyse.  While Elyse had a great meet for herself, the team lost.  I guess it really is all about team now, isn't it?   ;)  It would be a dream to hear one NCAA gymnast be real and drop the cult act for five seconds.  "We really need to get in shape and get it together.  I think some extra cardio is in order."

Johnny Weir's appearance schedule.  His book hits shelves tomorrow.

Ksenia Makarova is living with her grandparents in Moscow and is now training with Evgeni Rukavitsyn.  If he can help her jumps and her stroking, the move will have been well worth it.

An entertaining interview with Matthew Mitcham.  He talks about everything from diving, to being an A-List gay, to her admiration for Johnny Weir.

15 comments:

  1. She had TWO FRACTURES IN HER FOOT!! Seriously, that's crazy!! And the matter of fact tone she uses when talking about it too...You know no biggie, I still won gold on vault... yeah
    These girls are so tough, it's unbelievable, wow.

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  2. She brings up the two fractures so casually as if it didn't really matter and didn't affect her performance whatsoever. Ahhh, it's crazy how we hear about these injuries months after the fact, first with Bross and now with Alicia.

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  3. Wow, that's interesting about Makarova. I wonder if it's just for a quick fix before Euros/Worlds or if she's permanently moving to Russia. That will be a bit of a culture shock after being in the US for a very long time. A new perspective for her jumps can't hurt though! I wonder if she's been offered a substantial amount of money to fund her training in Russia. Also, wasn't she coached by her parents mostly? That's interesting that they would just step down and let her go off to Russia permanently. Hope it helps her!

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  4. Who does Evgeni Rukavitsyn coach?

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  5. I know she was in a boot and couldn't really train, but I love how Alicia is so talented and knows exactly how to condition herself that she is able to be away from Boston and Mihai for nearly four months. Impressive. I think she might be able to upgrade on beam, but it's a lot to expect her to upgrade vault. She's already doing one vault that most gymnasts cannot attempt, so to expect upgrades might be a little much. I'd also wonder how she's handle a forward landing vault.

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  6. Ksenia is staying in Russia permanently. It's because of funding from the Russian fed mainly. She was mostly coached by Viktor. It's a big change but her family thinks it's the right choice. And she likes Evgeni (her new coach).

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  7. That's awesome, good for her!

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  8. In response to a question above - Evgeni Rukavitsyn also coaches Menshow. Not sure who else.

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  9. I'm mostly interested in seeing if Alicia will be able to complete floor next year. I don't necessarily think she needs to upgrade the other two events to make Worlds.

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  10. I think UCLA has run into a little bad luck this first week. I mean, their best beamer Elyse fell on a leap against Utah. Just bad luck there.

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  11. I've been looking for videos from the Pac 10 Preview all day. Some bar routines are beginning to emerge on this YouTube site:

    http://www.youtube.com/user/MoreGymVideos

    Just thought I would share.

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  12. My heart breaks just a little for Alicia and he need to erase what happened in Beijing. She has gotten so many injuries through the years and she just seems to be killing her body just to keep going. I'm really glad she finally got her world title on vault and that if she doesn't make it to London she can at least feel like she made a really successful comeback. She even tied Nastia for most world medals won.

    t just seems so unfair at times that in the world of skatenastics you're nothing if you haven't won a gold medal at the Olympics.

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  13. I think ASac is so blase because she's realistic about the future. She's obviously loving life - she has a life outside the gym, a boyfriend, friends, and wisdom. I wouldn't be surprised if she opted against going forward sooner rather than later. Serious 2012 training requires distance away from the life she now cherishes and she's redeemed herself at the 2010 World. I can't help but feel that perhaps she's not so committed - she's already proven that she's a legend in her own right. She just needs time away from fun, her man, etc., to realize it.

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  14. It's not that she needs a gold medal at the Olympics to redeem herself, it's just that she wants a better performance there to redeem herself. I think Alicia is a lot more into gymnastics than we think. She has said that it's a lot better than getting a real job, and I can't disagree with her there. I don't think she will let a boyfriend distract her to the point where she can't prepare for competition.

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