rockygaz in a comment on this site:
… the points system the US is using at the moment is BS
He’s right, of course.
I was shocked to hear that gymnasts at the 2008 Men’s VISA Championships were ranked so simplistically.
rockygaz:
… I got my computer to test all the possible team combinations to find the highest scoring team in a team finals format.
Based on day 1, the highest possible team score is 280.15 (lower than China from 07) with Paul Hamm, Hagerty, Horton, Durante, Morgan Hamm and Kevin Tan.
Based on day 2 (+ Paul Hamm’s scores from day 1) the highest possible team score is 282.05 (higher than China from 07) with Paul Hamm, Horton, Hagerty, McNeill, Morgan Hamm and Kevin Tan.
Custom coded software like this will undoubtedly be used for final team selection.
You can argue that the simple point system used in Houston was “good enough” to choose 10 of the eventual 14 competitors for Olympic Trials in Philadelphia.
… NOW, McNeill in the best case scenario score. That’s interesting. He wasn’t at his best on parallel bars, even on day 2.
Here’s what he did to win both PBars and Pommels at NCAA Championships 2008. Click PLAY or watch Tim on YouTube.
Another point of interest: McNeill, Morgan Hamm and Tan all do not normally compete All-around. That’s half the team picked by the computer. Recall that Japan required that ALL athletes at their first trial to compete All-around. That was a mistake. It makes me wonder what else Japan is doing wrong in preparation for the Battle in Beijing.
McNeil’s coach at Berkeley, Barry Weiner, feels the USA could beat China at the Olympics, never mind Japan. He’s also told me that Cal has a bigger scholarship budget for the future. They’re on a recruiting binge and plan to challenge for the NCAA Team title over the coming years with a young, talented squad.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 