Comments on: VISA Championships lack drama and energy

By: Bridget Sloan and Kyla Ross Crowned USA Gymnastics National Champions

Bridget Sloan and Kyla Ross Crowned USA Gymnastics National Champions — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:49:56 +0000

[...] Will a new star emerge? Will someone who was in the shadows of previous stars claim the spotlight? Or will the whole event be, well, uneventful? When it comes to the 2009 Visa National Championships and the state of USA gymnastics, one would [...]

By: Hatsumomo

Hatsumomo — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:28:07 +0000

I think there wasn’t much of an audience because the Dallas Cowboys had a pregame at home and it being Texas, guess where the people are going to be?

By: shergymrag

shergymrag — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 07:04:32 +0000

Yeah, I don’t do cable. Every time I get pay tv I end up watching the same crap over and over again. Seems like half the channels are showing reruns of network shows.

By: Coach M

Coach M — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:22:29 +0000

Sher, not sure which cable network you have, but Time Warner offers Universal Sports network as part of our basic cable package. I actually watched it on television. It was channel 226 (US) in my area. I’m sure they will replay both the men’s and women’s prelims.

By: shergymrag

shergymrag — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:53:03 +0000

Shawn is taking herself out of the game, for now. USAG would like nothing better than to be able to tout the gold AND silver AA medalists from Beijing but since the silver medalist isn’t there, it makes no sense for them to play her up.

I hadn’t even heard Shawn was on Millionaire. I guess I was too busy trying to figure out what was going on at Nationals but since I couldn’t get the online coverage to work last night, I would’ve watched Shawn instead.

By: Coach M

Coach M — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:48:44 +0000

good point Josh. speaking of explosive power, Jana Bieger’s tumbling still impresses the hell out of me. I didn’t think she looked good at all yesterday in terms of her overall gymnastics aptitude and the look of her performances, but DAMN that girl can tumble big.

By: josh

josh — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:44:46 +0000

“Artistry” does not equal “lack of explosive power and balletic body type”…;-).

By: Coach M

Coach M — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:27:25 +0000

I watched the championships, and was definitely dissapointed in the lack of energy and fight in the competitors. Elfi & tim both noted that Marta Karolyi has been concerned about her US gymnastics team peaking too early for nationals and then being overworked and burnt out by the time they get to either world’s or the olympics, which makes nationals seem more like one of the training camps or a rehearsal. It definitely takes the steam out of the competition though. The team seems already picked in many ways, and the athletes don’t even seem nervous about competing. I think that leads to less adrenaline and lackluster performances. Bridget Sloan was definitely not as sharp as she looked when she competed at the American Cup or the German or French meets.

p.s. The new code is supposed to be more about artistry, and supposedly that’s why they are hacking away and brutally scoring Kayla Williams, but to me she shows just as much artistry as Sam Peszek or Rebecca Bross. The gymnasts that showed artistry yesterday were Ivana Hong, Cassandra Whitcomb, and Rebecca Clark, but were not necessarily rewarded for their talent.

By: haha

haha — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:34:45 +0000

I agree with both of you. I agree this Nastia promotion when she looks so bad is biased but Shawn isn’t training so they can’t promote her.

By: Amber

Amber — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:23:22 +0000

they’re not trying to push shawn out of the way dear. why in the world would usag focus on shawn, someone who has not yet returned to competiton or training in favor of nastia who is back in training and competiton esp. considering nastia is the current olympic AA champ. Its silly to think that they would mention shawn at all given that info. simple as that.