Wednesday, January 19, 2011

This and That


Miss Val is PISSED about her team's meet last weekend.  The fact that she is still giving all of us the 'Miss Val eyes' says a lot about how those team meetings must've gone.  This is even scarier than when she talks about "life is a choice.  It's a choice to let the pressure affect you and it's a choice to let it not affect you."

Chellsie Memmel will be competing on vault, uneven bars and balance beam this weekend at the Circle of the Stars Invitational.  I have no doubt that Chellsie could be competitive again.  The only doubt is whether she can remain healthy if she does make a big comeback.

Yankowskas and Couglin have their sights set on gold.

Richard Dornbush Update.

Make It Or Break It returns Monday, March 28 at 9 PM.

Marlie adjust to change.


Volosozhar and Trankov update.  Tarasova and Morozov are shown working with the pair.

New information in the cast against Lance Armstrong.

Simpson and Miller withdrew from Nationals due to injury.  Both have looked out of shape recently, which could be a result of injuries or botrh of them drinking too much Guinness.  We've been monitoring their apparently love of Guinness since Liberty.


Sasha Cohen's Newport Beach Magazine Cover


Venus Williams wore one ''classy'' outfit during her sluggish second-round win at the Australian Open.


The Gym Dog Meet Intro video


The Japanese Skating Federation confirmed their team for Four Continents:

Mao Asada
Miki Ando
Akiko Suzuki
Daisuke Takahashi
Takahiko Kozuka
Yuzuru Hanyu
Takahashi and Tran
The Reeds


Kanako Murakami will be sent to the Asian Games as the prime attraction.


Shayla Worley and Christa Tanella are working with the Special Olympics this year.



Highlights from Alabama's first road meet:



USA Gymnastics announced the roster for the American Cup.  I cannot remember a single year when the original roster didn't change either due to injury, illness or VISA problems.


Men
  • USA: Jonathan Horton, Houston
  • China: Lu Bo
  • Germany: Philipp Boy
  • Great Britain: Daniel Purvis
  • Japan: Kohei Uchimura
  • Japan: Koji Uematsu
  • Russia: Sergey Khorokhordin
  • Ukraine: Mykola Kuksenkov
Women
  • USA: Alexandra Raisman, Needham, Mass.
  • Australia: Lauren Mitchell
  • China: Huang Quishuang
  • China: Jiang Yuyuan
  • Germany: Elisabeth Seitz
  • Russia: Aliya Mustafina
  • Switzerland: Ariella Kaeslin
  • Venezuela: Jessica Lopez



Eight gymnasts have already qualified to the Nastia Cup:

  • CGA Parents Club Coaches Spectacular, Covington, Ky., Jan. 14-16
    • Amelia Hundley - Cincinnati Gymnastics
    • Kayla Williams - Cincinnati Gymnastics
  • Folger's New Year Invitational, Wichita, Kan., Jan. 14-16
    • Brittney Sooksengdao - McCracken's Gymnastics
    • Kaitlyn Hall - Kansas Gymnastics and Cheer
  • Lady Luck Invitational, Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 14-16
    • Lauren Marinez - Orlando Metro
    • Mykayla Skinner - Desert Lights
  • Flip Fest Invitational, Knoxville, Tenn., Jan. 14-17
    • Katie Bailey - High Point Gymnastics
    • Georgia Dabritz - Ace Gymnastics


24 comments:

  1. Are Simpson and Miller injured? I doubt she's drinking, she's 14.

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  2. They're injured. I have had a joke about him drinking Guinness since the summer, which is pretty much at least half-true.

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  3. Gymdog meet intro reminds me of a bad cult recruitment video... at least Bama is showing us some CURRENT gymnastics and not their former glory...New Leos needed badly for Alabama maybe we should take up a collection?

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  4. Bama's videos are meet highlight videos they produce it week. Georgia's is an intro video, filmed before the start of the season.

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  5. Gem from the Volosozhar/Trankov video: the interviewer saying at the beginning that it is so difficult for a new pair to win because figure skating is such a conservative sport where judging is very logical/rule-driven.

    In other news, I love them and can't wait to see them competing internationally at Worlds.

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  6. "Just because we have bodies doesn't mean we have depth." BURN

    Love how the UCLA interviewer was sweating by the end of the interview! Something tells me you don't want to face the Wrath of Val

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  7. I don't think Simpson and Miller are from Delaware. Why were they at the UDel send off?

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  8. How did Kayla Williams qualify for the Nastia Supergirl Cup? She and Amelia Hundley finished 3rd and 4th AA at the CGA Coaches Spectacular. Priessman and Whitcomb finished 1st and 2nd.

    I get that Kayla wants/needs to continue to keep the competitive fires burning and not sit out until she goes NCAA, but I think it is a little embarassing that the former world champ on vault is going to compete with all the pixie juniors at the Nastia Cup. Not bashing her, I just find it odd.

    Maybe Memmel will qualify this weekend too. :)

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  9. Oy! My skater crush on Trankov continues to balloon!

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  10. Current National Team members are ineligible for Nastia Cup. Hence Priessman can't go. Whitcomb apparently didn't "retire" in time or didn't want the spot.

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  11. Still cringing at the Georgia intro vid.

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  12. As bizarre as her story is, Kayla is still young and has called Nastia her idol or something like that. Hence, why I could see her wanting to compete in the Nastia Cup.

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  13. CHELLSIE COMEBACK! I love all these comebacks, so inspiring. Hope Chellsie has a blast in her competition this weekend.

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  14. Things we learn from the V/T fluff:

    Trankov "loves, hip-hop, rap, and designing clothing".... hmm.... also he bought V her dog when they started skating together

    Slava Morozov says he decided to retire after Vancouver at the 09 world championships and began looking for a partner for V then, settling on Trankov as the best choice that summer, and finally asking him after the Olympics

    Trankov says he was looking for someone to essentially go pro with until the Volosozhar offer came along.

    They're coach Nina Mozer's first pair at this level (she more or less broke on to even the Russian national scene with Iliushechkina/Maisuradze at the 2008 national championships). When she agreed to coach them, she warned them in advance she would leave if she felt she wasn't cutting it. Tarasova advises, N. Morozov choreographs.

    Both of are well spoken, particularly Volosozhar.

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  15. Yankowskas & Coughlin should win Nationals this year, but they aren't going to if they keep talking about winning. They need to just relax and think about the skating, not the placements.

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  16. Wow, I would not mess with Val, Georgia special Olympic video is very cute!

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  17. I feel sad for Simpson & Miller if one or both of them is indeed injured. He has one of the only beer guts I've ever seen on a skater though. Nevertheless, they have some lovely elements and I really wanted to see them get their chance at Sr Nationals since I figure their time as a pair may be limited by what will probably end up being a significant lack of height difference. I liked their programs this season and hope this isn't the end for them.

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  18. I love how annoyed Miss Val is in regards to facing OSU and Stanford 4 times this season (potentially even 5 or six if they all make nationals which is quite a possibility). Pretty hysterical IMHO

    I too noticed the sweatyness of the interviewer, also hysterical!

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  19. How is not having a former World Champion good press for the Nastia Cup?
    Naturally it will look good in advertisements for USAG and the Nastia Cup.

    Whitcomb is technically still on the national team, though she announced she was done with elite. She will be on the national team until the new team is released following nationals.

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  20. Even before the first question is out of the guy's mouth, you see the lips and tongue purse and the upward eye roll!!!! Death stare....

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  21. That would be funny if the former world vault champion and the former world AA and Olympic silver medalist competed at Nastia Cup alongside a cadre of 12 and 13-year-olds...too funny.

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  22. I agree with anonymous @10:27. I want Y/C to win but if the gold is too much on their mind then it will backfire. I hope their coach will set their mind straight. Hopefully she's not thinking the same way. Thinking this way is a path to self destruction. It happens to Jeremy all the time at worlds and Olympics. It happened to Ashley at Nationals last season.

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  23. Some teams need to think about the ability to win to be motivated to give a great performance. That whole ''just do my best'' bullshit doesn't work for everyone. Ask Katarina Witt if she just wanted to do her best.

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  24. Headcases need to think about just doing their best. Competitors see a title in their reach and go after it.

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