Aly Raisman & McKayla Maroney 2012 UB Olympic Champions?!

In the past 24 hours, I've read the following things from gymnastics fans or bloggers: 
-"Aly is great on bars and beam!"
-"[Kyla's] strongest events : Floor and Vault."
-"Maroney should be great on bars."
-A tweeter putting Nastia in her Olympic floor lineup

I'm starting to get frustrated, friends. So, instead of screaming and banging my head against the wall, I've decided I'll attempt to help clear up whatever confusion is going on.

Some of the following post is my opinion, but let's talk facts for a second. Aly is NOT great on bars, Kyla is NOT strongest on floor and Maroney will NOT be great on bars. Those are just facts! The US is looking for the 3 highest scorers on each event. I'm sharing with you the highest scores on each event for each Trials qualifiers, although that doesn't take consistency into account.

VAULT- 
To be honest, competing on vault for the US in team finals isn't much of an option unless you've got an Amanar or a Rudi.

Girls whose vaults are CERTAINLY team finals worthy: Maroney, Wieber & Raisman.

Girls whose vaults MAY be team finals worthy: Douglas, Price, Ross & Sacramone.

Below is a list of the HIGHEST scores posted in 2012 by Trials Qualifiers.
1. Maroney - 16.15  (Nationals Day 1)
2T. Wieber - 16.1 (American Cup)
2T. Raisman - 16.1 (American Cup)
4. Douglas - 15.866 (American Cup)
5. Price - 15.8 (Nationals Day 1)
6. Ross - 15.55 (Jesolo)
7. Sacramone - 15.5 (Nationals Day 2)
8. Finnegan - 15.0 (Nationals Day 1)
9. Baker - 14.8 (Nationals Day 2)
10. Dowell - 14.7 (Nationals Day 2)
11. Vega - 14.5 (Nationals Day 2)
12. Sloan - 14.15 (Nationals Day 2)
Liukin, Li, Bross no longer compete Vault.

BARS- 
Bars is trickier, because fewer of the team "locks" are super strong on bars.


Girls whose bars are CERTAINLY team finals worthy: Dougals, Li, Ross, Bross & Sloan.

Girls whose bars MAY be team finals worthy: Wieber, Price & Liukin (if Nastia can show what people are expecting her to). 

Below is a list of the HIGHEST scores posted in 2012 by Trials Qualifiers. 

1. Douglas - 15.85 (Nationals Day 2)
2. Li - 15.55 (Nationals Day 2)
3. Ross - 15.5 (Nationals Day 1)
4. Bross - 15.3 (US Classic)
5. Sloan - 15.1(Nationals Day 1)
6. Wieber - 15.05 (Nationals Day 1)
7. Price - 14.95 (Nationals Day 1)
8. Baker - 14.85 (Nationals Day 1)
9. Dowell - 14.6 (Jesolo)
10. Raisman - 14.45 (Jesolo)
11. Vega - 14.4 (Nationals Day 2)
12. Finnegan - 14.15 (Jesolo)
13. Maroney - 13.95 (Jesolo)
14. Liukin - 13.65 (Nationals Day 2)
Sacramone does not compete this event.

BEAM 
The US is looking stronger and stronger on beam and should have plenty of coverage on that event, regardless of who is on the team.

Girls whose beam sets are CERTAINLY team finals worthy: Ross, Raisman & Finnegan.

Girls whose beam sets MAY be team finals worthy: Wieber (her high is MUCH higher than her average), Sacramone, Liukin.

Below is a list of the HIGHEST scores posted in 2012 by Trials Qualifiers. 

1. Wieber -  15.7 (Pac Rim AA)

2. Ross - 15.5 (Jesolo)

3. Raisman - 15.45 (Nationals Day 2) 

4. Finnegan - 15.35 (Nationals Day 1) 

5. Sacramone - 15.2 (Nationals Day 1) 

6T. Liukin - 15.1 (Nationals Day 1)

6T. Douglas - 15.1 (American Cup)

8. Maroney - 14.55 (Nationals Day 1)

9. Vega - 14.4 (Nationals Day 2) 

10. Baker - 14.3 (US Classic) 

11. Price - 14.3 (Nationals Day 1) 

12. Bross - 14.15 (Jesolo) 

13. Li - 13.9 (US Classic) 

14. Dowell - 13.9 (Nationals Day 2) 

15. Sloan - 13.85 (Nationals Day 2)

FLOOR

Girls whose floor routines are CERTAINLY team finals worthy: Raisman, Douglas, Wieber & Finnegan.

Girls whose floor routines MAY be team finals worthy: Vega & Price. 

Below is a list of the HIGHEST scores posted in 2012 by Trials Qualifiers. 

1. Raisman - 15.8 (Nationals Day 2)
2. Douglas - 15.3 (Nationals Day 2)
3. Wieber - 15.25 (Nationals Day 1)
4. Finnegan - 15.2 (US Classic)
5. Vega - 14.85 (US Classic)
6. Price -14.8 (Nationals Day 2)
7T. Ross - 14.6 (Nationals Day 2)
7T. Maroney - 14.6 (Nationals Day 1)
9. Baker - 14.4 (Nationals Day 1)
10. Dowell - 14.35 (Nationals Day 2)
11. Sloan - 13.9 (Nationals Day 2)
Li, Bross & Liukin do NOT compete Floor anymore.

So dearest fellow fans, go back and look what you've written and then look at the facts. Are you making sense? 

Let's talk about ex(ecution), baby.

USA Gymnastics

Quick! Who do you think are the girls with the highest execution in the USA? I assumed that the "Chosen 4" would rank highly and then I thought that with only execution counting that Sarah Finnegan and Sabrina Vega would squeak into the top 5 or so. In fact, I thought that Sarah Finnegan would become a virtual lock for the team disregarding difficulty. I thought she had a good chance to place higher than Douglas. Well, I was wrong.

The Top 12 in execution only over the 2 days of competition were: (parentheses indicate place w/ D & E scores counting)

USA Gymnastics

1. Kyla Ross (4th)
2. Jordyn Wieber (1st)
3. Gabby Douglas (2nd)
4. Aly Raisman (3rd)
5. Elizabeth Price (5th)
6. McKayla Maroney (N/A)*
7. Sarah Finnegan (6th)
8. Sabrina Vega (7th Tie)
9. Brenna Dowell (9th)
10. Kennedy Baker (7th Tie)
11T. Bridget Sloan (10th)
11T.  Abigail Milliet (11th)

*I multiplied Maroney's day 1 E scores by 2 so we could see where she fits.

Places 13-18 fall in the same order that they did in competition.

Frankly, I was surprised. I started to question myself and other gymnastics fans. We love Sabrina Vega, we love Sarah Finnegan, We Well, I, love Kennedy Baker. We say that it's because they have clean gymnastics, but we're lying to ourselves. It's because they have pretty gymnastics. There's nothing wrong with liking gymnastics because it's pretty, we just need to be honest with ourselves about what's going on. It's worth mentioning that these girls fell, but even if they hadn't they wouldn't have been the leaders in execution. It's a myth that these girls would be the strongest if their difficulties were higher, as they're in the same positions or even lower. Pretty doesn't necessarily equal well executed, as much as sometimes I wish it did.

Inside Gymnastics

Other surprises included Raisman placing 12th amongst vaulters. (Maroney, not surprisingly, placed 1st), Jordyn Wieber placing higher than Anna Li on bars and Gabby placing 3rd on floor. You may not like her music, but you can't argue that she performs it well.

So difficulty aside, who would I name to my team? (Execution based ranks are in parentheses)

VT: Wieber (3), Ross (2), Maroney (1)
UB: Wieber (3), Ross (2), Douglas (1)
BB: Wieber (4), Raisman (3), Ross (1)
FX: Douglas (3), Raisman (2), Wieber (1)
Alt: Price, Sacramone, Finnegan

Bar routines I loved and hated from Nationals

FAVORITES

1. Gabby Douglas on Day 2

Score: 15.85 (6.6 D, 9.25 E)
Place: 1st
What I Loved: Her releases are sky high, she has such a natural swing and handled the pressure well.
What I Didn't: She seems a tiny bit too close to the bar on her Ray.


2. Anna Li on Day 2

Score: 15.55 (6.9 D, 8.65 E)

Place: 3rd

What I Loved: Those combos were CRAZY amazing and it's unique!

What I Didn't: A couple of awkward leg positions throughout.

3. McKenzie Wofford on Day 2

Score: 14.7 (6.3 D, 8.4 E) 

Place: 9th

What I Loved: Did you see that combination? Try to tell me that wasn't cool! She also stuck that dismount! I cannot WAIT to see this girl at OU! 

What I Didn't: She's got a few short handstands 

LEAST FAVORITES

1. Nastia Liukin on Day 1

Score: 13.15 (5.8 D, 7.35 E)

Place: 19th 

What I Loved: That layed out Gienger is still FIERRRRCE. 

What I Didn't: The "dismount", obviously as well as the wonky pak and weird leg separations. 

2. Jessica Wang Day 1 

Score: 9.8 (4.3 D, 5.5 E) 

Place: 22nd

What I Loved: She pulls off her Jaeger.

What I Didn't: Honey child has a really hard time with that handstand.

3. Megan Skaggs Day 2

Score: 11.45 (4.9 D, 6.55 E)

Place: 21st 

What I Loved: A fairly strong dismount.

What I Didn't: Those are some icky handstands, also, the tkachev fall.

Quick Nationals Wrap Up

Annnnd, it's over. Dozens of athletes have competed, National Champions have been named and 15 girls have been sent to Trials.

To be brief, here were my thoughts on the seniors:

To be not as brief, I would say that the biggest surprise amongst the competitors was most likely Gabby, who only missed the title by .2. That's pretty impressive for someone who "ended her career" at last year's Nationals. Had she not fallen on beam, she undoubtedly would have won.

The top 4 were in the order I predicted, but I was surprised at how close they came. I'm keeping my team the same as I had them after Classics (they're the girls circled in Purple), with the same alternates I picked then as well (underlined in Yellow). I'd like to see Alicia & Bridget make the team, but I'm not sure how feasible that really is.

I'm doubting the chances of Brenna Dowell at this point because she still has a broken hand. To be honest, I feel like all that making trials really means for her is that she'll spend two more weeks training and competing with an injury.

Anna Li's a fabulous gymnast but I personally feel like she performed more successfully in NCAA... but this is gymnastics. Anything can happen.

And I'm pretty sure I've said my peace on Nastia, but I'll leave you with this...

I'll post later with my thoughts on specific routines/juniors.

Internationally Inexperienced doesn't equal Untalented.

Heather Maynez

"It's not a good idea to put a very inexperienced gymnast on the team. That's begging for trouble. Her upgrades won't even help her get an alternate spot."

I read this in a forum after Day 1 of Nationals about Corrie Lothrop in 2008. Corrie was later placed on the 9 person Olympic Squad. And I was like... "Wow, we sure should respect these girls' chances more. You never know who can make the team."

And here we are in 2012... and I read this:
"I can't picture Marta taking a chance on an athlete with such little experience. Also compared to the rest of the field she's pretty weak."  


This was in reference to Kennedy Baker.


I was a little bit taken back. Kennedy's talented. Like, really talented. If you missed the fact that she medaled at the US Classics, she was also the 2009 Bars champion and has been a National Team Member since 2010.

Oh, and then there's this.

(Video by USAG)

She opens with a 1.5 to Double Arabian and then completes a DOS SANTOS for her second pass. 

She also has a host of other big skills that she completes cleanly such as a Patterson which she almost stuck on Day 1 of competition.

Kennedy's AA Start Value is only 3 tenths lower than McKayla Maroney. Kennedy hit 58.05 yesterday. That's a really big score. Bridget Sloan's only hit that once in this scoring system; Sabrina Vega never has. Kennedy could fill in due to injury on literally any event. 

Am I saying that Kennedy's spot is a done deal? To be honest, after last night, I'm starting to wonder if Jordyn's spot is a done deal! (Not really, but you get my point.) Of course it's not a done deal. 

But I will say, a gymnast not having international experience doesn't mean she's untalented. Just because you didn't pay attention to her before this year doesn't mean she hasn't been around. And don't hate on Kennedy (or Elizabeth or Brenna or whoever else), until you've seen them perform.  

For what it's worth, it was less than a year ago when I read this quote about Gabrielle Douglas: 

"A career ended last night."

Anything can happen kids; This is gymnastics. 

After watching Podium Training Vids...

Do you remember that episode of Glee where Sue gets bored and wants to shoot Brittany out of a cannon? That's kinda where I'm at right now. All of the gymnastics is nice, but very little of it is WOWing me... Here's what did...

Top 5 Things that WOWED me: 

And Gabby's thrilled too.

1. Bridget Sloan's combo on beam. If she could connect that a little bit better I would squeal like a Justin Bieber fan.

2. A. Few. Amazing. Fucking. Vaults.

3. Brenna Dowell's front tumbling. Even more so b/c she's injured. Stay safe though, girl.

4. Dougie's amazing Tkachev to Pak Salto.

5. Sabrina Vega's artistry. That NEVER gets old.

Top 5 Things I'm SO bored with: 

Utterly bored. 

1. The connecting turns on beam. Casey Jo can do it; it doesn't look good on everyone though.

2. The Shaposh-Halfs... Ugh... like... we get it.

3. The Hot Pink. Yes, yes, #teamhotpink is the best, but when GAGE has the most impressive leotards, you need to step up your game.

4.  "I just want to hit 4 for 4."

5. Piked Tkachevs.


Top 5 Things that bummed me out:

1. The amount of spotting going on, particularly on the Nastia front. Her skills are great, but I'll be interested to see her without all of the spotting.

Sarah replicates my face when I see an idiotic fan

2. You all know that  I love Texas Dreams, but I wish that Nica & Peyton would point their toes on those ring leaps.

3. Apparently Brenna Dowell spent a good portion of training looking like she was going to cry. I hope this isn't Ivana Round 2. 

4. Fans who think that one training video makes or breaks someone's shot at the Olympic team.

5. These girls who can hit in training but miss it in competition. I hope that everyone can just hit.

Top 5 Predictions:

1. My gut tells me that Aly will drop bars after the Olympics.

2. I worry that Katelyn is going to fall on beam. I think that she might be stressed at how amazing everyone thinks that she is.

3. 2013 World Vault Champ will be an American with a Triple... Whether it will be McKayla, Lexie or Simone, I'm not sure.

4. I'm waiting for Simone Biles, Nia Dennis and Laurie Hernandez to switch gyms.

5. If any of the veterans don't make Trials, there will be a "sudden injury" excuse.

Top 5 more random thoughts :

1. I don't care if A Sac competes a handspring on vault and a beam routine that I could execute. Props to the girl for coming back so quickly. :)

2. I hope to god that Amelia Hundley doesn't end up 5'8... And if she does that she can gracefully handle being 5'8.

3. I want to write new floor music for Bailie Key. ... I think I will.

4. Ariana Guerra reminds me of Jana Bieger... but like... 2006, "I don't hate you and your gymnastics is good" Jana Bieger, not 2009 Jana.

5. I have a hard time picturing these girls at the Olympics... All of them, with the exception of the vets. Even when I close my eyes and try to think of Jordyn at the Olympics, it's hard. I'm still picturing them all as 12 & 13 year olds.


*All pics are from USA Gymnastics

Visas Bingo!

So it was suggested to me a while back that I do BINGO on Twitter... I thought that was a great idea... 

It's a completely irrelevant gorgeous pic of Mattie Larson!*

Here's how you play: 

1. CONTACT ME by email with your Twitter name and I will send you a picture of a bingo card. You must be following Get a Grip on Twitter to a receive a card. There are a limited number of cards made up, so email as soon as you can. 

2. Tune into Universal Sports at 8pm ET or turn on the Webcast to watch the Visa National Championships on 6/8, same goes for Sunday on NBC at 4pm ET. 

3. Fill in the spaces as you go. All things must either be seen ON the Universal Sports airing or on Twitter. I'll be trying to tweet some of the less obvious ones. 

4. When you get a "BINGO" tweet me with your card number and how you got a Bingo (e.g. "Four Corners", the "I" column or "the 3rd row across".) Make sure to #VisasBingo when you do it too! 

5. If you're the first one to get a Bingo (on each day) will have the opportunity to guest blog for me (if you want.). Anyone who gets a Bingo will be retweeted.

6. Cards will be cleared after Day 1, but you will keep the same card. 2nd chances are the bomb.  

NBC is totally interchangeable with "Universal Sports" for the purposes of this Bingo. Also, don't judge the formatting, I did it all through a program. 

Happy Bingo-ing! :D 

*Mattie Larson pic is from "fuckyeahsubjectivesports.tumblr.com" 

7 Things to do while in St. Louis for Championships

As you may know, St. Louis is my hometown and the place where I lived until about 6 months ago. I'm super bummed that unfortunate circumstances have hindered me from attending National Championships, I wanted to give you my insight on some fun things to do while in town.

I'll start by saying that the Chaifetz Arena is gorgeous and HUGE. This is where I graduated high school, went to basketball games and saw numerous concerts. It's at least twice the size of UIC (where Classics is held), so just prepare yourself for that.

If you're not bringing a car, make sure you take the Metrolink. Chaifetz is closest to the Grand stop.

Here are the top must-sees while in St. Louis for a week or so...

The U-City Loop

This is the best place to shop in St. Louis. Don't listen to anyone who tries to tell you that you should go somewhere like Plaza Frontenac (where people will judge you for carrying Coach instead of Louis Vuitton), when you can head to the loop and find charming local boutiques and unique restaurants like Blueberry Hill, Fitz's or even Cheesology, a restaurant devoted to different variations of Mac & Cheese. The stores range from the free trade based Plowsharing Crafts to Vintage Vinyl where you can buy just about any piece of music you could imagine. 

The City Museum

One of St. Louis's more unique attractions, the City Museum is literally the most ideal place to visit if you're a gymnast. It's essentially a giant indoor grown up sized playground. It sits in the city with a giant school bus on top, the 3 story slide is the one of the most enchanting attractions. 

The St. Louis Zoo

St. Louis has one of the best Zoos, and it's FREE! No catch, it really is free! It's pretty much what you'd expect from a zoo, in addition to a really cool penguin exhibit you should go see, especially if it's hot. 

The St. Louis Cardinals
I know, I know, you're in town for gymnastics, but did you opt out of getting men's tickets on Saturday night? Go to a Cardinals' game. It's really unlike any other ballpark in the country. The stadium's reminiscent of Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, but the fans are so excited that they're referred to as "Cardinal Nation". It's an amazing experience that you should really try to check out if you can

Lindenwood University
Are you a gymnast hoping to pursue college gymnastics? This would be a good time to make an unofficial visit to Lindenwood University! Next year will be their first year as an NCAA Gymnastics Team, so you should go see how beautiful the campus is... (REALLY beautiful is the answer.)



Local Delicacies
St. Louis has a few local foods that your can't really find anywhere else. They're not foods that are part of a typical gymnast's diet, but they're still worth trying. They include Ted Drewes (frozen custard), Imo's (St. Louis Style Pizza), Pappy's (St. Louis Style Barbecue) and Toasted Ravioli (Which you can find at Imo's.)
Check them out!

The Gateway Arch... 

is lame as hell. If it's on your bucket list, then I guess go ahead and go, but in my opinion, it's honestly not worth the time or the money. 

This seems like a pretty comprehensive list... St. Louis Natives, am I missing something? :)