There are at least 3 good choices today of blogging platforms, … in my opinion.
Gymnastics Coaching is a WordPress.org site, hacked once or twice each year I’ve had it on BlueHost. I love it … aside from the terrible security. My host blames me every time something goes wrong.
I’m tempted to move the site to new-on-the-block, Squarespace.
What’s the difference?
WordPress is cheaper. Squarespace more secure.
Price
Squarespace – Squarespace services include both web design tools and hosting. Basic packages start at $8/month. To host your site on your own domain, accounts start at $14/month. Coupon codes can save you around 10%. Squarespace provides an excellent value for their slightly higher monthly price tag.
WordPress – Free-ish – WordPress is completely 100% GPL open source however you still need to pay for hosting and domain name. The price ranges from ~$3/mo (GoDaddy) to $100/mo (Rackspace)
Best would be if WordPress.com changed their name. (WordPress.com is the third good option: secure, but no ads allowed.)
Security
Squarespace – Being a completely hosted system means Squarespace is not prone to the same security holes as open source systems like WordPress and Drupal. I’ll never have to pay someone to cleanse my hacked blog because I bought my domain on GoDaddy. Daddy. My site is just plain safe.
WordPress – You need to maintain your own updates and be careful with plugins. Also – a good host helps. Remember in hosting – you get what you pay for. We prefer to host at Rackspace – but you can still have problems if you don’t keep your site updated to the latest version and security fixes. …
He was lying on the ground after peeling off on a dismount before he discovered what had happened.
The manufacturer is Reisport, as good as any of the competitors, I’d say.
Over the years I’ve seen many Reisport grips break in only a matter of days, but never Ring grips. Horizontal Bar grips normally get stretched and break sooner.
NOT unheard of. Our friend, Mario West, had the exact same thing happen at the Winter Cup a year and a half ago — High Bar was his first event, and it happened during warmups. It didn’t injure him badly, but it affected the whole meet.
Since then, he’s been going to a gentleman in Gaithersburg, MD named “Tien” (not sure of the spelling), who handcrafts his grips. Apparently, the Japanese and Chinese national teams both buy from this craftsman as well, and Mario seems to have more confidence in his grips.
Leave a comment if you have any advice on where to get gymnastics grips more durable than Reisport.
provenance
noun
the place of origin or earliest known history of something
On the internet that means trying to “source” where a video, photo or idea started. At minimum, you should link to where you first saw it. Best practice is to link to the original and where you happened to see it first.
On this blog I’d say I’m about 90% successful in crediting a source. Not perfect. But not bad.
Tara Sickmeier of International GymnastHot Headlines is the worst gymnastics blogger I know. If she ever credits where she finds a story it’s only by accident of linking to the originator. If she sees something on Gymnastics Coaching, there’s never a (via Gymnastics Coaching) link on IG.
I’ve several times sent messages to Tara on her unethical blogging behaviour. But have yet to get a response.
Forward a link to this post if you know her personally.
Girls Bars no longer break. Why can’t equipment companies invent a Ring that cannot be broken?
Inside Gymnastics has the sad details on exactly what went down after Illinois’ Tyler Williamson broke one of the rings during the Team Championships last night:
… “I’ve been doing NCAA meets for over 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Williams concluded. “Ultimately, I don’t want to take anything away from the winning team, yet I know we might have had a shot without that incident. Michigan was great two days in a row and maintained that momentum, even in the midst of all that. My hat is off to them for that.” …
Photo by Jessica Frankl
In the end, 6 gymnasts “peeled” off during the competition. All 6 were offered a chance to repeat their Rings routines, taking the new score (better or worse).
Tyler Williamson insisted on his redo. But it was MIDNIGHT before he got to start. Yeesh.
…
“That was one of the top 10 strangest things I’ve ever seen,” Olympic gold medalist Bart Conner, who was calling the meet for ESPN, told Inside. …
Magnesium carbonate is about as an inert substance as any.
Why add “five key essential oils and an additional natural drying agent“?
… Designed to inhibit bacteria, fungi and virus growth in the chalk and on weight lifting and gymnastics bars, PrimoChalk™ is the superior choice for health and safety conscious coaches and athletes. …
Click through if you want to check PrimoChalk™ for yourself.
I thought fast food outlets were tripping over themselves pretending to be “healthy”.
Otherwise Jamie Oliver will soon be featuring their worst products as bad examples. (I’m looking at you McNuggets.)
Yet the Colonel will soon sell you bacon and cheese sandwiched between two pieces of fried chicken. About 500 calories, 30g of fat and 1400mg of sodium … far fewer calories than I would have guessed, actually.
Congrats to Kristina and her coach Elena Davydova. Getting on that cover is a minor kind of gymnastics immortality.
My first reaction is to be cheered that International Gymnast is covering international gymnasts.
Gymtruthteller posted quite a compelling conspiracy theory about that cover, however:
… has decided to further its own agenda by putting the winner of the Nadia Comaneci International Invitational on the cover instead of either winner of the of the Scam Cup.
Canada’s Kristina Vaculik won Nadia fluff competition. I have nothing against Kristina I was as mad as everyone else when Canada cheated her out of her Olympic experience in 2008 and I would have no problem if Kristina being on the cover at any other time but the bias going on at IG Magazine needs to be called out.
Do you ever wonder why certain gymnasts are loved at IG but others are not? Well it isn’t to hard to figure out you have to be connected to one of the owners.
The reason Nadia gets so much play at IG Magazine is because she is married to co-owner Bart Conner. The reason Dominique Moceanu was plastered on the cover more then any other gymnast in history is because Paul Ziert is her publicist. At least that is what he was listed as on usa-gymnastics.com a month or so ago. Ever wonder why Nastia has always been a saint? well Valeri Liukin has been best friends with the owners since he came to the United States. …
I think that’s overstating it … a bit. (Though their offices are located at 3214 Bart Conner Dr., Norman, OK 73072. Some inbreeding is inevitable.)
One contradiction in the Gymtruthteller post: If Valeri Liukin is part of the conspiracy, why wouldn’t his gymnast Rebecca Bross be on the cover?
The more Publisher Paul Ziert stays away from his magazine, the better, it’s true. Let Editor Dwight Normile take the lead.
Still, overall, since Ziert acquired the original I.G., I’d say it’s improved. If you disagree, do not subscribe to the mag. Don’t visit their website. Simple.
Or … you can only follow the (free) website, boycotting the dead tree version. Amanda Turner posts some great web only stories.
… Kristina has verbally committed to Stanford University, by the way. A superb recruit. Perhaps she’s on the cover because she’s a charming gymnast, a reader favourite, and they happened to get a good photo of that release.
Is anyone still living the pretense of Nastia Liukin returning to training?
An outside observer would not easily conclude she was a gymnast by checking her Twitter page.
I’m thrilled for the financial success of both Nastia and Shawn Johnson, but they both are guilty of SPAMMING their fans with too much marketing, not enough content on websites, twitter and Facebook.
Expect increasingly a backlash against both “brands” from their core fan base, gymnastics people.
And at what point in living the lie of a “possible comeback” will their agents relent, letting each tearfully, reluctantly retire. … Perhaps on Oprah. Think of the ratings!
… If you’re still a diehard Nastia supporter, be sure to become a fan of her new Supergirl Facebook page.
This week’s episode was the lamest, yet, IMHO. A “dramarama“.
The only redeeming moment was seeing a Ponds twist belt used in a tumbling harness. Nostalgia. The last time I saw that set-up was in the 1970s.
Sasha looks terrified of spotting. He needs the belt. Or to let the gymnasts coach each other on new tricks.
If you’re hooked like me, Episode 16, Save the Last Dance, is online free if you live in the USA at ABCfamily.com. And online here if you live outside the States.
On the Men’s side I really shouldn’t refer to this meet as most bloggers do: The Scam Cup.
It’s a bloody impressive field, assuming all these great gymnasts make it:
Colombia, Jorge Hugo Giraldo Lopez
France, Benoit Caranobe
Germany, Fabian Hambuechen
Great Britain, Daniel Keatings
Japan, Koji Yamamuro
Romania, Flavius Koczi
Russia, Maxim Devyatovskiy
United States, Jonathan Horton
United States, Tim McNeill
I’d happily pay $35 for entry. That’s a bargain.
Reigning Tyson American Cup champion and 2008 Olympic horizontal bar bronze-medalist Fabian Hambuechen of Germany highlights the international list of participants that includes seven 2008 Olympians and four 2009 World medalists for the 2010 Tyson American Cup on March 6 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. …
One reason this meet is oft ridiculed, however, is that the number of competitors is so small. It’s near certain that medals will be awarded to gymnasts with falls. And that’s a shame.
Another reason it’s called a “Scam” is that the U.S.A. can enter two gymnasts, all other invited nations only one. The results tend to look good for the host, though that’s far from guaranteed on the Men’s results sheet.
Yet, on the women’s side, there’s one thing I’m really looking forward to … the Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup, a new competition held the day prior to American Cup. It’s intended to be a a competitive opportunity for the country’s top Junior Olympic gymnasts, though some Elites will be in the field too.
That’s going to be a fantastic event.
Women’s American Cup?
As usual, I’m personally disinterested. Everyone knows the American girls are supposed to win. That will boost TV ratings.
No use listing the female competitors either as the list always changes in the weeks and days leading up to the meet.
It is a great experience for a young up-and-coming gymnast. Canadian Dominique Pegg, for example, is a good choice for this event.
Leave a comment if you disagree. Many enjoyed the Scam Cup last year.
Actually, the stuff the guys do at these Spectaculars is quite good. Reasonable difficulty with panache and humour. I’d watch an edit of the Men’s gymnastics.
But a backspring on beam in a short skirt? Most 7yr-old gymnasts would be disappointed with that level of “difficulty”.
