The Latest Gym Dog Show
Shannon Miller will undergo nine weeks of chemo therapy after having an ovary removed following the discovery of a tumor during her annual checkup.
Walter Toigo, an ISU judge from Italy, was suspended for two years following alleged misconduct.
Maxim Devyatovsky won the AA at Russian Nationals.
Jeff Buttle loves being a choreographer.
Alabama defeated Georgia tonight (197.675- 197.225.) The Gym Dogs looked like a mid-196 team. The truth is, Alabama is a much better team this season (and last.) Hoffman, Stack-Eaton, Sledge and Gutierrez are a strong quarter. The freshmen are getting it together somewhat and the team's potential will only increase when Priess is back on a few events. Alabama may have entered the meet ranked behind the Gym Dogs, but rankings are deceiving and not always accurate. Hoffman won the AA with a 39.675 and Stack-Eaton was second with a 39.650.
Kat Ding is back to her normal self: 9.925 VT, 9.950 UB and 8.550 on beam---get her off the beam. McComb earned a 9.9 on VT and a 9.95 on FX. Worley tallied a 9.9 on BB. I will not commend Noel Couch's 9.9 on FX as there is no way she ever deserves to score that high on any apparatus given her built-in deductions.
In other news, Jordan Moore (who rehabbed most of the pre-season) tore her ACL and is out for the year.
Florida lost at Arkansas tonight. If there is one place where good teams flub, it is always a meet at Arkansas. It is the only place one ever saw Kupets fall twice in one routine as a collegiate gymnast. The UF coaches had said that they were going to rest the AAers who were going every week for two weeks, but it appears they only meant two meets (both last weekend.) The top gymnasts still competed on a few events at each competition, so it is possible that they haven't been all that rested. Most of the top gymnasts were in the lineup tonight and the big four actually made a majority of the errors.
This could be a blessing is disguise, as the Gators were performing like Gator Teams past who dominated the regular season and last momentum after SECs. Following next week's meet at Utah, the Gators will have a week off before the SECs on March 19th. This could be the kind of kick in the ass the team needs to keep from coasting. An undefeated season is nice for bragging rights, but it doesn't win a National Title. Many teams need that final ass kicking. We've seen moments where several of the Gators have been wobbly on beam. Alaina Johnson and Ashanee Dickerson both fell tonight. Macko's 9.675 and King's 9.7 on floor were also costly. Even Alaina's 9.825 on floor is one of her lowest scores this season. The team finished with a 196.1.
A few standout routines from Bev's Big Girls in training. Scores in Ann Arbor are always much lower than usual, but Kylee Botterman remains the nation's top all-arounders.
Catching up with Bev:
Kylee Botterman
Jordan Sexton
Brittnee Martinez
Reema Zakharia
I don't know why, but the "get her off of the beam" in regards to Ding's 8.550 cracked me up, lol. Really though, they need a backup on beam in case one of the usual 6 goes down, but they need to find someone other than Ding! Moffat or Hires, who was decent bb worker in level 10 needs to step up.
ReplyDeleteBama looks good. If they can keep it up, I think they pose the greatest threat to UF. I'm still not sold on UCLA.
Please tell me that 9.9 was a joke.
ReplyDeleteJay comes across as incredibly arrogant by implying that his team's routines should be scoring higher. If I was the judge they would be lucky to receive the scores they did. All vaults lacked amplitude and form issues on bars.
ReplyDeleteI wonder about the equipment and the floor at Arkansas... there seems to be serious home gym advantage that others in the SEC just dont have and where's Lindsey Cheek savior of the gym dogs this week??? LOL
ReplyDeleteDoes any other team in the land do the wave when the opponent is on beam like UGA? Seems very dangerous for the girl on the beam.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anon at 10:56 pm. Did Jay even watch those routines? It's commentary like this that makes people harp on UGA's gift scores at home. They clearly think they deserve those scores bc they always complain when they're scored accurately/lower on the road.
ReplyDeleteYes, they may have stuck bar landings, but Couch has form issues, McComb has flexed feet throughout, and every routine had missed handstands. Nuccio is the only one who may have deserved higher, but Jay is smoking something good if he thinks those other bars routines deserved 9.9s. Don't even get me started on his comments about Cassidy not being rewarded.
Dontbknow about he wave.... Seems like something LSU might sink to though
ReplyDeleteThe Shannon Miller article really hit home for me. My mother-in-law was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer, meaning she was terminal upon diagnosis. She only went to the doctor because she experienced pain. By the time she experienced pain, the cancer had already progressed to the most advanced stage. In the past 3.5 years, she's undergone several rounds of chemo and survived long enough to see her daughter get married and give birth to two healthy grandchildren. Although she had panic attacks about facing her own mortality, she was active and independent and we were able to downplay her cancer for a while. In the past month, she took a dramatic turn for the worse and she was admitted to palliative care in the hospital this week. All that doctors can do now is control her pain. More chemo now would be futile. She's at the end of her life. As we've taken shift keeping her company, my husband randomly bursts into tears throughout the day.
ReplyDeleteMy mother-in-law had no family history of cancer. Everybody's always been healthy. Her parents each lived until they were 99 years old.
If sharing my story can convince even one person to get their routine check-ups, then taking the time to type out this comment was worth it. Preventative care is key -- not just for ovarian cancer, but for any disease. (The cause I champion is actually heart health because heart disease is the #1 killer of men & women in the U.S.) Prioritize your health, folks. Nothing else in this world is worth anything (*ahem, money*) if you don't have your health.
[steps down off soapbox]
Anonymous @ 7:35 AM, I am so sorry about what your mother-in-law is going through. I am seeing a lifelong family friend lose a long and painful battle to breast cancer and words just don't describe how awful the whole thing is.
ReplyDeleteThe Shannon Miller story really affected me too; I'm only 24 but have been getting yearly checkups since I was 20. My mom and dad, however, haven't had a checkup for many years, even though I nag them about it. I am worried that if there is a problem, it will be found at a much more progressed stage than if they have an early intervention. I'm definitely forwarding the story to them with the hope that they might get a checkup this year, at least.
Anon @ 7:35,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately Ovarian Cancer is one of the hardest Cancers to "prevent" or catch until late stages, along with Pancreatic Cancer. Shannon's tumor must have been an aggressive type of Ovarian Cancer for her to be undergoing Chemo, hopefully it's a targeted form of Chemo as opposed to systemic. Speaking as a RN currently pursuing doctorate in pharmacology, the reasons why Ovarian CA is hard to diagnose is because 1) most asymptomatic until late stages 2) if symptomatic at all, they're usually vague so people & physicians tend to dismiss them.
I think being in tune with your body and advocating for yourself when you believe something is wrong, is the way to go. Physicians aren't Gods yet most people just accept their words as gospel. Diet is another variable that we have the power to control. The Standard American Diet (SAD) is atrocious and is responsible for many preventable diseases and conditions like Diabetes, certain types of Cancer, and Heart Disease.
Most Americans eat too much carbohydrates by blindly following outdated advice of low fat/ high carb dietary pyramid. Studies after studies have now proven the link between high carb/ sugar diets (over 150 grams/ day) to silent inflammation inside the body---precursors to Cancer progression. The fact is that we ALL have Cancer cells floating around in our bodies at any moment. Biochemically, a genetic "switch" has to be turned on in order for those cells to progress to actual tumors etc...
In layperson's language, abnormal Cancer cells can only "feed" on sugar in your body. Thus if you are eating a high carb diet where your body is pumping out Insulin (also bad for your body in long run) to keep your sugar level constant, you are setting yourself up for conditions like Cancer and Diabetes or Heart Disease in the future. It doesn't matter that your carb intake consists of multigrain so-called "healthy" carbs---doesn't matter. All carbs break down into simple sugars in your body and your body reacts in same way.
Cancer prevention and diet is an issue which interests me a lot, as the more I learn about the connection between the two, the more I believe more should be done to educate the public about the topic.
Awkward.
ReplyDeleteI think the post above is extremely misleading. Yes, food can be a factor, but so are genetics. Ironically, in my family, the people who lived on ham hocks and bacon grease lived the longest. Meanwhile, my friends who lived healthy lives, exercised and did all they could died young or had serious health problems. I'm not saying we should throw caution to the wind, but to believe that cancer is entirely preventable based on diet is naive, at best. Do you what you can to eat healthy, but get exams as well. No, doctors aren't God, but they can find cancer. I can't believe the poster above discounted the valuable work that doctors perform. Disturbing.
ReplyDeleteI think the negative opinion poster @1:22PM has a very naive and remarkably uninformed outlook on cancer in general. There are both genetic and environmental factors which elicit uncontrolled cell growth and division (the hallmarks of cancer). Further, reproductive cancers are often induced by hormonal imbalance and pathogen loads. And, as someone that is getting their Ph.D. in Pharmacology, that poster should know that ecotoxicological effects contribute substantially as well.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to point out that type I diabetes mellitus is inherited whereas type II is diet-induced. However, BOTH types of diabetes have genetic components that have been established in the literature.
And, as a physiologist and educator, I would like to request that you get your facts straight before spewing ignorance to the masses like this. It makes a huge mess that we constantly have to correct in the research and teaching environments. Thanks.
"And, as a physiologist and educator, I would like to request that you get your facts straight before spewing ignorance to the masses like this."
ReplyDeleteUm, didn't you both say the same thing?? There are both genetic and environmental factors to disease. Except you seem to be trying to use a lot of big words and the other person seemed concerned, not like they were trying to hurt anyone.
haha, and Aunt Joyce's Ice Cream Stand is hardly "the masses" (no offense, Dave, hehe)
I agree that people need to do more research and not rely on doctors.
"I agree that people need to do more research and not rely on doctors."
ReplyDeleteMost people aren't equipped to do this, sorry to say.
I agree that more research is always a good idea, just remember that the University of Google is not a research institute.
ReplyDeleteNo, 4:55, they didn't say the same thing. And, furthermore, the person at 1:22 was clearly not informed. I agree about this blog not being "the masses," but for shit's sake say something meaningful if you're going to get up on an academic high horse.
ReplyDeleteYes, relying on doctors is SO last century! Seriously, have we reached a level of arrogant stupidity so high that we now believe that doctors are unnecessary or unimportant? I didn't realize people were self-diagnosing their own cancers or writing their own prescriptions these days.
ReplyDelete