2009 European Championships Begin

I have been gone quite some time from the gymnastics blogging.  I return.  I am still getting over the Olympics.  But I will get to that in a second.

No surprise to me at all that Ksenia Semenova leads the pack in the Qualifying round.  She also qualified to the event finals in 3 events (no vault).  She fell on a Pak salto in her UB routine.  She will win the All Around in my opinion.  I do believe that I blogged during Beijing, about her being one of the next superstars until this quad gets seriously underway.  Early to say, but I honestly believe she will be in the next Olympics.  Here are my random items from what I know so far about the 2009 European Championships:

• Youtube videos are already popping up here.
• Vanessa Ferrari looks completely different.  BTW- she went back to her 06′-07′ FX routine. (Not the tumbling!)
• I think scores here are LOW!  And I know the D-scores (formerly the A-score) are lower with the new code, but the E-scores (formerly the B-scores) are just insanely LOW to me.
• Semenova is definitely going to be one of my faves for the quad.
• Go Beth Tweddle, leading the pack on UB and qualifying into the FX final as well.

This is all I can say for now about the Europeans.  Now onto why I have been absent.   Yesssssss, I am a big dork and had to pull away from gymnastics for awhile.  The outcome of the Olympic Games was a bit much for me.  I don’t think there could ever, ever be another Shawn Johnson.  I can’t believe how much admiration I have for someone who is 10 years my junior.  I really wanted her to have the AA gold.  And I am hoping upon hope that she will return to the elite gymnastics scene.  But the sadness of the Olympics is also that I waited 4 years for it!  And since gymnastics has a different ’season’ than most sports, the tendency is for the sport to only be wild the year before and of the Olympics.

Here is an incomplete list of what broke my heart during the Games:

• The broken US team.  Notably Chellsie Memmel.  I really wanted to see her compete 4 events.  And i was so excited about her comeback.
• Alicia Sacramone’s TF performance.  She has gotten a lot of crap about it.  I was simply saddened for her.
• Cheng Fei’s EF performances.   Same way I felt bad for Alicia.  With every major title on vault for the whole quad, it sucks to see her fall on her two main events.  Cheng should have had 3 gold medals.
• Scoring aggravated me.  Too much detail to go into for now.

So for now, I will wrap this post up.  I have too much to do at the moment.

The Seminoles Get Slaughtered

Oh what a weekend.  I cried as I watched the Gators exit the field Saturday night.  The last game of the regular season, and possibly the last time I see the Gators on the field for another year.  Most likely the last time I see Percy Harvin and Brandon Spikes on the field, also could be the last I watch Tim Tebow play.  Of course there is always a possible National Title Game to attend, but I am focusing on next week’s SEC Championship Game against Alabama.

A few highlights about Saturday:

- From approximately 2pm to 9pm, I stood in freezing rain.  The weather was MISERABLE, but it accurately painted the picture of the Seminoles and Tallahassee for me.

-So with 51 seconds left in the first half, RIGHT after Aaron Hernandez’s touchdown, I decide to go to the bathroom.  Well, in the ABC broadcast, the final shot of fans right before halftime is the three people I attended the game with!  I came out JUST as the Gators were exiting the field, which was right there where I came out.  I saw them up close and was a bit starstruck, especially when I saw the commanding presence of Brandon Spikes.

-I was a bit scared that day.  The heavy rain, the fact that two of my friends lost tickets sometime before we arrived on the tailgating scene, made me nervous.  But all was well with a 30 point win.

-I loved how the player’s uniforms were stained red, and thus making it look like the Gators actually murdered FSU!  (Well they did, but only football-wise).  For instance, look at Tebow here:

I love it!  When we got back to the apartment with the friends we were staying with, they commented on how it looked as if Tebow was eating babies.  No guys, just Seminoles!  LOL, but this really isn’t as good as the shots ESPN had him with the red smeared around his mouth!

I also really like this picture of Janoris Jenkins and Joe Haden.  A special shout out to the awesome freshman Jenkins, who kept blocking FSU’s passes, and finally made an interception.  THIS GUY IS A FRESHMAN!  I know, the same could be said about Jeff Demps as well.  They are just so darn good.  It was just so beautiful.  I watched Sun Sports replay of the game last night (side note that it is a different broadcast than the ABC) and you know what?  It isn’t that this team is great.  They are, but what makes them deliver is the fact that they are a team.  Look at how everyone congratulates each other with every good move!  They play with their hearts and if you don’t think that accounts for anything, then you are wrong.  I think that puts them in so much sync with one another!  The same could be said about our 2006 and 2007 basketball starters.

So it’s all sitting right there.  A win next weekend will put us in that title game.  I will be nervous this week.  But I can’t wait to see it.

A side note, my usual four-hour-drive took about 6 1/2 hours!  I am not surprised, my first year in Gainesville I learned the same ‘you don’t drive home the Sunday after Thanksgiving’ the hard way.  But I just couldn’t do anything else, I had to work today.  But boy am I glad we left Tallahassee on Saturday night!!!  While getting gas in Ft. Pierce I talked with a fellow gator fan I met at the pump and this poor kid had been on the road from Tally since 10:40am.  By the way, it was 6:30 at that time!  Poor guy!

I will never drive that horrendous drive again.  People, don’t drive that day.  EVER.  I can’t believe I don’t have pneumonia today from the hours of freezing, wet misery.

Gators are just so hardcore.

Go Gators!

Gator Domination Continues

I’m a little late with this post but Saturday’s Gator triumph over Vanderbilt deserves a few words as it has secured our spot in the SEC Championship on December 6th against Alabama.

Boy am I trying to take it one game at a time!

All seemed lost after the early season loss to Ole Miss at home September 27th. But since then, the Gators have showed pure domination upon the last 5 games.

I can barely believe that once again, a BCS National Championship is not only within reach, but simply sitting there waiting for us to reach out and take it. Forget all the things I mentioned last post. It almost doesn’t even matter what happens in the Big 12 now, as the winner of that conference plus the SEC Conference are widely speculated to be the two teams to vie for the National Title.

Again, one game at a time.

This Saturday at the swamp we will have our last conference game against South Carolina. And for those of you that don’t know or remember, the last time we battled this team in the swamp (2006) it was one of the most intense games ever known to so many Gator fans as the score went back and forth and ended with a blocked field goal for us to clinch the win. Working the day after that game, I got into a discussion with an elderly gentleman who said to me, “Honey, I have been watching Gator Football for 50 years, and that was the closest I have ever come to having a heart attack!”

The Gamecocks are now ranked #25 in the BCS, and lead the SEC in Defense. (Which I find hard to believe but honestly haven’t watched much of them playing this season). Furthermore, it is a rival game as they are lead by former Gator coach, Steve Spurrier.

The game the following weekend, against the Citadel, is the one game I haven’t and won’t worry about this season. My biggest concern is that we won’t put up the 80+ points I am just dying to see on the scoreboard. Honestly? I want the score to be 105-0. I know, I know. But that would be like, the largest shutout ever. And that would be the equivalent of 15 touchdowns, which I think would be a nice touch as it is the number of Tim Tebow.

The following week is FSU. Big rivalry game, and the first time I will ever attend an away game! I am so excited, but again, I won’t take that lightly. FSU is also ranked, and we can’t drop our guard on them either.

But simply put, if I keep seeing what I have been these last few weeks, I am not sure if anyone could beat us.

You know, at the beginning of this year, football was stressing me out. To those who know this blog, football has become my new gymnastics. A new sport for me which I constantly learn more about, not to mention something to put my heart and soul into, and something so great to love. The adrenaline that fills you is the greatest element of life, yet sometimes can be your enemy. I have become this raging groupie, as I travel so much to see Gator Football it is ridiculous, and a lot of money.

But I wouldn’t trade this for the world.

The phrase, “It’s Great to be a Florida Gator” is the truth. Right now in my life, there simply is nothing better.

Gators Chomp the Dawgs

Another great weekend. This was the first time I have ever gone to Jacksonville for the Florida Georgia game. Tailgating galore, it was beautiful. The Cocktail Party it was, I have a whole new collection of bruises.

I was all over the place in the stadium, lost my voice a bit again, and reveled in what was just so awesomely unbelievable to me.

Joe Haden and Tim Tebow were the players of the game to me. Not to take away from the other Gators who also played quite well.

UGA had 20% (maybe) of their fans left towards the end of the game. Comical. However, I will state that we had fun hanging out with some of their fans, and to date I actually found them the nicest.

After the game we went to this bar in Jacksonville called Sneakers. This is by far and away the best sports bar I have ever been to. It was like a giant warehouse, complete with movie screen TV’s and definitely some great food. I highly recommend it. At this lovely bar we watched the very dramatic Texas vs, Texas Tech game which went in the Gators favor by TT winning.

Road is not as long, but still there. Winning against EITHER Vanderbilt or South Carolina will solidify our spot in the SEC Championship Game. Here are the following things in my opinion that need to happen to get us into the National Championship Game:

• Alabama needs to maintain the number one ranking and win out until the SEC Championship.
• Texas Tech or Penn State needs to get a loss in. This is far more likely to happen to Texas Tech as they have only one down in their three straight weeks of playing top ten games. I am hoping for a Penn State stumble against Michigan State. That will take them out, and push us up.
• Texas and Texas Tech are in the same conference and you aren’t going to a National Championship without a Conference Championship. One of them has to get eliminated. Assuming we win out, that would put us, the Big 12 champ, and Penn State in the definite.

Okay, enough thinking. Numbers 2 and 9 (TT and Oklahoma State) play each other while our game is going on this weekend. Also USC is playing California at that time as well. Oh how I would loooooooooove to see USC go down.

Go Gators. Go Gators. Go Gators.

On a side note, I would like to note that as of today, this blog has reached 100,000 hits. That makes me happy and proud. Thanks everyone!

An Awesome Gator Weekend

My gosh, my gosh I don’t know where to start. This weekend’s Gator game against LSU was beyond anything I thought possible. Besides the win, I simply don’t know what I loved the most. Was it the fact that we won by so much, or the fact that no one has put up that many points against LSU since us in 96′? Or the fact that THAT was the game I have been waiting for all season. The Offensive Line came through like they are capable of. The Defense was amazing too, of course. And it all came together so beautifully.

I awoke Saturday morning with a wave of anxiety I haven’t felt in so long. But the day was spectacular as it always is on a night game. Tailgating was wonderful. Arriving at 11am, I ate my breakfast and cracked open the first beer of the day. By one, we were huddled under one of the tents eating and watching the very close Oklahoma and Texas game. After that game was over, I hung out playing drinking games in the 3rd tent of our tailgating site. Playing a game called f*** the dealer, guess who ended up being the dealer for way too long? So I went with a friend to return his dog and another’s to his house. These dogs were great. One of them has been trained to bark when you say “Go Gators.” He also would go greet everyone who walked by in the morning. Funny thing, there are three LSU fans on the other side of the street walking that morning. The boys said, “Who’s there?” which made both dogs bark. This caught their attention and one of the dogs raced across the street to them (though not aggressively). The fans were good about it, and it made them laugh just like it did us.

The LSU fans were in my opinion pretty nice. And I totally respect LSU as a team. There were four or so LSU fans right in front of us at the game (how did they get student tickets?) and they were pretty funny. One of them finished his flask of alcohol pretty fast. Another pretty much sat down the whole time. They were pretty upset.

My voice was gone probably ten minutes into the clock. It was just too amazing. Cheers to Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey who impress me more and more each week. And they are just freshman! And Demps is a true freshman! Brandon James and Brandon Spikes amazed me as always of course. (I have been feeling about James the same way I have felt about Percy Harvin last year, plus Rainey and Demps are really starting to rise to that level for me as well.) Percy was really great too even though I saw him limping on the field and man was I terrified all week reading articles thinking he might not play. But as always, he does his job and then some. Tim Tebow was all kinds of fired up and I loved it! One of the good omens we all felt was the fact that Ricky Jean-Francois was talking a lot of s*** this week about taking Tebow out of the game. Yeah, FSU did that one last year and how did that work out for them?

After the game we all met up at the tailgate site and had a euphoric little powwow, checking messages and texts from friends of our group and laughing. Everyone was just so happy. And I can’t even remember how many times during the game I would scream up to the sky various phrases such as, “Is this really happening?” Because none of us could. We all knew we had a chance to beat them, but none of us thought it would be like that. We anticipated a (hopefully) close game, but not this insane blowout! The game was close for all of maybe a couple of minutes.

51-21. Damn. It is great to be a Florida Gator!

Now all I can hope is that I score this Georgia ticket I am entering to get tonight! We decided hands down, after this weekend, there is no way we AREN’T going to Jacksonville to watch that game on November 1st!

Ode to Tailgating

So football season has started.  I have vowed to go up every home game and cheer on the Gators.  This weekend was particularly spectacular as it had all the makings that ensure the day will be perfect bliss; night time game, more visitors, and a noon to seven-thirty drinking extravaganza.

There is nothing like tailgating.  First off, my site run by friends is staked off to make sure we have enough room for the large tractor grill, tents, a TV, chairs, and room to both park and run around.  I got to see people I haven’t seen in a couple of years, and everyone just comes together in Gator glory.

You sit around watching other games on the TV and talking amongst others.  Those beers go fast out in the sun, and you are in such euphoria because you realize how lucky you are to be a gator.  Everyone loves each other, everyone is there for the same reason.

The game of course was wonderful!  I experienced my first game from the student section (I know, I know) and I can’t get over how crazy it is!  I would have been a little happier if he had scored a touchdown or two more, but it was damn good to see the defense play as well as they did.  If our offense just wakes up a bit more and realizes it is football season, we are going to be freaking awesome!  My new favorite player has become Brandon James, because he simply is just badass.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin tons, but wow has James been amazing me.  His 70 yard or so punt return during last week’s game against Hawaii was incredible.

Oh and did I forget to mention that yesterday was the first time since 1985 that we beat the Hurricanes?  Yes, that felt damn good too.

Oh yeah, and stupid Ohio State fell below us in the rankings, BECAUSE THEY SUCK.  Don’t get me started on USC…..

I love getting wasted, eating great food, great conversations, and of course, the adrenaline that comes with football!

GO GATORS!

Best and Worst of the Olympics

They’re over. I’m sad. But I thought I would write a little about the things that were impressing versus that which made me cringe.

The Chinese Audience hosted a FANTASTIC OLYMPICS in my opinion. First off, the designs were astounding. From the Bird’s Nest to the Water Cube, the architecture was fabulous. The gymnastics venue was also wonderfully decorated inside. I am specifically talking about the colorful borders that ran through the arena; it looked GREAT on high definition TV!

On that note, the Chinese were a truly fabulous audience. They packed the arena and cheered so loudly for everyone! I was very impressed when the booed Jonathan Horton’s high bar score during finals; they thought he should have beat their own countryman, Zou Kai! Great audience!

My personal pick for the team with the overall best leotards went to Russia. Hands down.

The above leo is what I would have loved to see on the USA. But EVERY Russian leotard I saw throughout the entire Olympic Games was GREAT.

Awesome that we saw astounding history in Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt! I am awating Phelps’ blood test because I think it will come back stating that he has part dolphin genes!

For gymnastics, the most beautiful display of sportsmanship winners were Shawn Johnson and Fabian Hambuechen. Fabian was SO upset with his personal performance during the high bar final! But of course that didn’t stop him from warmly congratulating the winners. Same thing with Shawn. Love them.

Who I already predict to be on the 2012 Olympic Teams: Fabian Hambuechen, Zou Kai, Kohei Uchimura, Ksenia Semenova.

There were some diappointing moments with the scoring. I won’t comment on a lot of it because it makes me angry.

The two athletes that that made me the saddest were definitely Cheng Fei and Anna Pavlova. Cheng Fei’s disappointing EF showings on VT and FX. Pavlova for not receiving a medal, and she should have had Cheng’s beam bronze. Now that I think about it, Alicia Sacramone made me quite sad as well. I am so sad she didn’t come away with an individual medal! That vault bronze I thought should have been hers. The rest of the judging that really angered me I won’t go into.

I disliked the way NBC presented some of the gymnastics. First off, starting it at 10 or 11 (Eastern time) at night was not good. I hate that it just HAD to be live to get those ratings in. I also did not like that we saw ONE routine from the bronze winning Romanian team.

A couple of posts ago we went into what REALLY aggrivated me the most. There is no reason to reiterate. Let’s just say there are a few people who I no longer have any respect for anymore.

I am trying to get the “what could have been” thoughts out of my head had Chellsie Memmel competed all four events. Sigh. I heard she is planning to continue though! Good deal. At least she has an Olympic Medal.

Dasha Joura not competing at her best also makes my heart break. Maybe 2012???

One more note about the hosting of the Chinese: Opening and Closing Ceremonies were AWESOME! Way to go China for putting on a truly spectacular show.

Also, my hat goes off to trck star Bernard Lagat, whom I have blogged about before. Lagat was the 2007 World Champion on both the 1500 and 5000 meter runs. A bronze in Sydney, a silver in Athens, I really wanted that gold for him!!!! I heard he had a foot injury. That is really sad. I don’t know the time span and age ranges for runners. Will he be able to compete realistically in 2012? If anyone knows the answer to that please comment and let me know!

That is it for now, if I think of more things I will add them to this post.

Someone Hacked Into This Blog

On the most recent post “The IOC Will Investigate He Kexin’s Actual Age”  someone, somehow wrote words on the post:

“All the good work China did to put on these Olympics could be forgotten because of an unnecessary, arrogant move by the government. Why risk everything to put a 14-year old in the competition when they could have replaced her with an of-age 16-year old gymnast? Sure, He is a better gymnast than the Chinese gymnasts who were eligible to compete, but with the judges they had at the Olympics, would it really have mattered?”

Thank you to reader ISIS for pointing out a sentence from that and questioning it BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE NEVER REALIZED THIS.  The paragraph above I DID NOT WRITE.

Ummmmm, who would do something like this?  AND HOW?  NO ONE would be able to figure out my password, and I don’t know how hackers hack.

Real question, whose life has that little in it that they take someone’s blog (that no offense to us die hard fans and my writing) of some simple subject like gymnasts and hack into it to include their opinion?

THAT IS WEIRD!  And sad.

So as soon as this post is published, I am deleting what happened on the previous post.

Sorry.   That is so weird!  I hope changing my password will fix this problem.

The IOC Will Investigate He Kexin’s Actual Age

Did I call this or what?

IOC orders investigation into He Kexin’s age

By Chris Chase

The International Olympic Committee has ordered an investigation into the age of Chinese gymnast He Kexin, The Times of London reports. Faced with almost insurmountable evidence which suggests that He is two years younger than the birth date listed on her Chinese passport, the IOC has launched an inquiry that could result in the stripping of He’s gold medals.

This news comes on the heels of another Times report that details the findings of a New York computer security expert who found official Chinese documents that list He’s age as 14 years and 220 days. Mike Walker used a Chinese search engine’s cache feature to find He’s actual date of birth on spreadsheets from a Chinese government website. The spreadsheets were taken down off the site recently and He’s name had been removed.

Assuming the IOC is committed to a real investigation and not some dog and pony show, the revelation that the Chinese government covered up the ages of gymnasts could end up being the defining moment of these Games for the host country. Officials wanted the Olympics to be a coming out party for a new China. But while the Games have been a huge success, there is a legitimate possibility that China’s legacy from Beijing ‘08 will be that of a massive government cover-up, not the magical Opening Ceremony or the transformation of Beijing or anything else positive.

2008 Olympics: SHAWN GETS HER GOLD!

Ahhhhh, finally!  I am so happy for Shawn Johnson winning a gold medal on what I think is her best event: beam.  Truly a great moment.  I love that kid.

I love Cheng Fei so much, but I believe the bronze medal rightfully belonged to Anna Pavlova.  I am very disappointed for Pavlova; along with Nastia Liukin she had qualified to the most individual finals.

Also, another big shout out to Jonathan Horton!!!!  What an AMAZING routine to win a silver medal.  I actually thought he should have won the gold!  I admit that I know less about MAG though.  I am curious to see what everyone else thinks because it seemed that even the Chinese thought that he should have won!

Poor Fabian Hambuechen.  I am so sad for him!  But I am glad he still got a medal.  And what a great sport he is!  Truly the best in the field of those who are gracious.  But I am thinking that Fabian is going to be one of the front runners this next quad.  You will get your moment with hard work Fabian!  Look how long Yang Wei waited, and what a payoff he got these Games!

Kai Zou ends up being the most sucessful of the Chinese Men.  Without injury, I would already call him being on the team in 2012.  He is so powerful on China’s weakest events, he’s got gold medals for both of them too.

Wow do I hope Horton continues.  He and Sasha Artemev both.  They have plenty of years left in my opinion.  And I hope beyond hope they continue in the sport.

Also congratulations to Li Xiaopeng!  He is such a wonderful competitor.  If he had his second vault….China might have swept every gold medal!  Not that 7 out of 8 is bad…

Anyhow, it has been a wonderful Games.  I will soon do a post talking about the various things that were awesome in my opinion, for instance, how awesome I believed the Chinese crowd was!

Sniff, sniff.  It’s over.  Sadness.  I can’t believe I have to wait another four years….