The return … a top eight countdown of stuff I missed
Posted on: June 3, 2009
Well, I have survived the MCAT (score pending) and my dissertation proposal (passed!). And I’m back!
A top ten of things I’ve missed, ’cause I’m not going back to talk about all of it. Looking forward now, folks! (And, no, I do not care that Shannon Miller is preggers.)
Oksana Chusovitina
8. Oksana Chusovitina retires: I’ve never been the biggest fan, but she’s pretty amazing. Sad to see her go.
7. Jordyn Wieber wins the American Cup: Honestly, I enjoy her, and I think that her gymnastics is maturing quite well. I thought the most ridiculous thing about the American Cup was listening to Tim Daggett go on and on about Wieber’s toe-on on bars, and how she doesn’t put both feet on at the same time, and how it’s an eyesore. News flash: people used to do this all the time.
6. Shawn Johnson wins DWTS, insults everyone in US Weekly: I was happy with Johnson’s win; I thought she was quite good. And I really do think she is an amazing gymnast. But I am disappointed that she appears to have left gymnastics behind …. And then she said that she was an outcast on the national team, which seems plausible and might explain her less-than-ferocious desire to return to gymnastics. Still, by contrast, it was nice to see that Nastia Liukin (not always my favorite) is, by contrast, sticking with it. UPDATE: Apparently Johnson’s mirrorball is broken.
5. The FIG sucks: A KISS AND CRY CORNER? What a mockery of any sport. On the other hand, the suggested revamping of judging that should have scores coming faster is good.
4. Semenova is a world-class gymnast, remember? Ksenia Semenova and Ksenia Afanasyeva went 1-2 at Europeans. Semenova was 4th in Beijing. She is a stupendous gymnast, and not just on bars. Her floor is much more mature (as is her body.) And Ariella Kaeslin in third!
Youna Dufournet
3. Youna Dufournet scares the crap out of everyone: At SCAM and Europeans, Dufournet totally falls apart on floor, scaring everyone. But then at French nationals this past week, she pulls out an awesome Def (apparently only French women are allowed to do that skill?)! (Interestingly, Dufournet still lost to Marine Petit and Rose Bellemare.)
2. Jade Barbosa wants to compete at Nationals: Somehow, Jade Barbosa, who has necrosis in her hand is training again. There are no words.
1. Nicolae Forminte has cancer: Skin cancer is very treatable, but if it is true that his wife noticed this spot a long time ago, well, that’s not so great. Prosport has the story. I like Forminte. A lot.
10 Responses to "The return … a top eight countdown of stuff I missed"
June 3, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Congrats on passing! and I will cross my fingers that the MCATS score high.
Glad to have you back…I missed the C Score!
June 4, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I just have to say that “A KISS AND CRY CORNER? What a mockery of any sport” this statement is completely and utter lacking in support. The Kiss and Cry area in Figure Skating isn’t that. There is no kissing. It is just a place to recieve scores. Nothing more. And Frankly they do this anyway in gymnastics, it’s just not a designated area. Especially at televised comps, the cameras follow the gymnasts while they wait for their score.
However, most athletes don’t care about their scores. In Figure Skating, the athelte looks at their score but most of the time they don’t really care. Yes they like to see if they get a personal best but most don’t care. It’s just a formality.
Welcome back and congrats for getting your dissortation approved.
June 4, 2009 at 6:29 pm
RE: Shawn’s “statement” if you mean this one:
““(On the 2008 Olympic team) I was an outcast…I was the youngest, led a normal life and, I hate to say it, I was good. It’s kind of a jealousy thing. Then when I got (‘Dancing With the Stars’), it was hard because it was (teammate) Alicia (Sacramone)’s dream to be on it.”
Then I wouldn’t put much into it. They couldn’t even their facts straight. Shawn wasn’t even the youngest member on the team. Not to mention, that even though it was Alicia’s dream, BBC/ABC asked Shawn because she was a media Darling at the Olympics. They ask people for ratings (which I don’t really like but I deal with it). So even Alicia wanted to be on it, BBC/ABC may not have even asked her.
Again, not to mention, Alicia was in the audience to support Shawn in the first couple of weeks.
So I wouldn’t put any weight in that “statement”
June 6, 2009 at 4:15 pm
The thing about the kiss and cry corner is that most athletes don’t actually kiss and cry in it. It works very well for the other disciplines. I really wonder if the FIG has thought through how it could work with the podium structure. It worked well at some of the AG world cup events, but those don’t have competition podiums, either.
June 16, 2009 at 3:16 pm
So happy to see your blog back!
I am also not putting a lot of stock into that Us Weekly thing. They would send their own mothers to prison to get a good headline. It was a very out-of-character sounding comment for Shawn, so I am dubious.
June 18, 2009 at 12:12 am
Shawn does not insult anyone. She told the truth. Stop making her the bad guy because she spoke up about being bullied.
And you shouldn’t write about not caring about someone being pregnant and then use their name in your tags to boost your blog counts
June 18, 2009 at 3:01 pm
lol b, firstly, I like Shawn. But if she said it, it was rather impolitic of her. On the other hand, I would not be surprised in the slightest if it were true. She seems less like a typical teenage girl (and I mean that in a very good way, though I think it’s less true these days) than the rest of the team.
And second, I don’t think that the tag “Shannon Miller” does a lot for blog counts these days. The tags are for completeness.
June 29, 2009 at 11:23 pm
I missed you. Shawn rawks and told the truth. All the other girls were jerks.
June 3, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Welcome back!