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October 23rd, 2011 | NCAA
Head Coach Sarah Patterson:
“To be able to stand in front of 101,000 fans as national champions is what you strive for every day as both an athlete and a coach,” Sarah Patterson said. “For David and I, this was the 10th time we have received championship rings during an Alabama Football halftime, and I can tell you the feeling never gets old and that we were as excited to share this moment with this team as we were with our very first championship team in 1988.” …
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9 comments ↓
I don’t see the honor in receiving gymnastics championship rings during a football game.
@shergymrag – it’s how most gymnastics teams do it (UGA did it that way for their 5 most recent wins)
It gets the team a lot of publicity. At certain Big 10 schools and I believe at BAMA a football stadium holds 100,000 people; so you can imagine how many people saw them receive their rings. Maybe knowing they won the national championship (if they didn’t know already) could persuade them to check out a meet this year. Not to mention for the athlete, it makes it more fun. Sure, they could just hand them out at practice, but to be able to receive your ring that celebrates the accomplishment in front of 100,000 fans, including family and friends, seems like a much better option. I’m sure the girls would prefer to get them at halftime rather than during practice.
Remember this is college and for a lot of students football games are the ultimate party and an awesome time with friends and sometimes family, so to me it sounds like a good plan.
I hope there’s diamonds in those rings!
since when has bama won 10 national titles ?
Sarah Patterson makes everyone here at her alma mater of Slippery Rock University proud!
Yeah, Yeah. I’m sure they have their reasons. To me, 100,000 hollow cheers absolutely cannot compare to the cheers of people who might be much fewer in number but who actually care about the sport and care about the team they are supporting.
And nobody said they had to get their rings at a gymnastics practice.
@shergymrag
BAMA does actually care about gymnastics. In fact, gymnastics is probably the second most popular sport on campus, outside of football. They routinely sell out the arena and bring in more fans than many elite meets. I don’t think it’s fair (and actually ignorant of NCAA gymnastics) to say they were hollow cheers. As someone who knows SEC gym, those fans were ecstatic for the gym tide and in fact, most NCAA fans are more devoted and loyal than elite fans.
I get what the previous poster said, because it sounds like maybe you haven’t experienced NCAA gym or NCAA athletics. It’s an amazing experience and NCAA athletes are a tight knit group, I’m sure the girls are were happy to get their rings at the game. Maybe people who don’t enjoy football or NCAA sports won’t understand, but as a past NCAA athlete (not in gym, but a gym fan) I can confidently say those girls were thrilled to be recognized at the game and the fans were thrilled to be able to see them get honored at the game.
I’m sure a lot of people at Bama do care about gymnastics. I’m also sure that most of those people in that crowd at the football game actually don’t care about gymnastics and only cared that some Bama team had won something. It doesn’t take having familiarity with NCAA to understand the bandwagon effect. Plenty of people are happy to say, “Attaboy, you won the big game!” but don’t expect to see them when the next season begins. That’s what I mean by hollow cheers. Yeah, I’m sure they were hearty and loud but when it comes down to it they are hollow because the majority of those folks are not going to go cheer at an actual Bama gymnastics meet or any gymnastics meet, ever. The gymnasts will always have to go to them and be the sideshow while they are waiting to see what they paid to see. Football.
You’re right you won’t see all 100,000 fans at the gymnastics meets come January. The arena holds far less. But as a BAMA alum and SEC fanatic, I can assure you that your comments and understanding of SEC gymnastics is way off base. I would say almost all if the students section cheering for the team actually do support the gym tide and many of them will go to at least one meet, if they can actually get a ticket — which are hard to get, because they sell out. The alums and casuals BAMA fans are also proud of the gym tide and all they have accomplished. The gymnasts on campus are like celebrities. People know them and this may be a surprise to you, but they do follow gymnastics and support the team. The people you may least expect to be a gymnastics fan are huge fans in NCAA. Sure when they graduate, they won’t be following gymnastics and most of them have never watched a worlds or nationals, but they follow NCAA.
The fact is we support our gymnasts. It’s possible in another conference there would be “hollow” cheers, but not at an SEC school. In the SEC gymnastics rules. The Pattersons are just as popular as Coach Saban (football coach, in case you didn’t know).
So before you make such a blanket statement, maybe learn a little about NCAA gymnastics. The previous poster was completely right. WE ARE PROUD of our gymnasts and those weren’t hollow cheers. ROLL TIDE!
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