Author: Rick Mc

The Balance Beam Situation on NCAA 2012:

… Overall, I’m pleased. The level of gymnastics, especially among the top teams, has been noticeably stronger than it was last year. Certainly, the scores have been much higher than they were in 2011 …, but more importantly the routine quality and difficulty has been stronger across the board. Utah is a prime exemplar …

We have enough parity at the top this year that I honestly think we won’t see a team making Super Six while counting a fall in Semifinals, which is always the ideal. …

19 March 2012 – by Regional Qualifying Average

1. Florida
2. Oklahoma
3. Alabama
4. UCLA
5. Georgia
6. Nebraska
7. Utah
8. L.S.U.
– Oregon State
10. Arkansas
11. Stanford
12. Penn State

see the full list on GymInfo

… First, our #2 Oklahoma

I give K.J. Kindler a lot of credit on that front. Over the last few years, her teams’ performances have been incredibly consistent regardless of the changing rosters. One gets the sense that she could take a group of Level 9s and have them competing for the NCAA title after a year with her. …

… In Georgia’s third year under Jay Clark, we have seen by far the most cohesive team of his tenure. … Georgia was the preseason #9, the lowest preseason ranking ever for a Georgia team, but they have proved an ability far beyond that ranking, led by Kat Ding’s emergence as one of the country’s top all-arounders. …

… Likewise, Nebraska was a bit of a surprise entrant in Super Six last year, and it seemed completely unlikely that it would happen again. Yet, this team has ridden it’s two and a half gymnasts all the way to #6. I mentioned at the beginning of the year that the lack of depth was unsustainable, but this team has sustained it. …

read more on Balance Beam Situation – Thoughts on a Regular Season

The “disappointments” of this College season are laid out, too. 😦

Balance Beam Situation has been easily my favourite NCAA blog this season:

Proudly inventing deductions, resenting wonky legs, and reviling sheep jumps since . . . well, recently.

Aunt Joyce, busy with figure skating training, took the season off. So far.

I’ll be attending Championships in Georgia.

I got a fair bit of well-informed disabuse for suggesting that Chris might be the #3 guy on the USA OLympic Team.

Read those comments here.

Brooks is in the mix, without question. I’m liking his consistency. This “Chinese-style construction” Horizontal Bar routine, for example. These are scoring well this quad. It’s a safe routine to put up in the Team final.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

This technology is here.

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network, an Allentown, Pennsylvania-based innovator in the rehabilitation of physical and cognitive disabilities, today received the third Ekso bionic exoskeleton in the United States. …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

That was his first attempt at “walking” by himself.

Another test case, Mr Follett, reports after 10 sessions using the device:

“I really enjoy using it and I seem to improve after every use and walk.”

… Dr Suad Trebinjac, a consultant and head of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Rashid Hospital, said the main question was how often it needed to be charged.

Bionics put him back on his feet

Every coach can relate to this.

… a fourth grader trying a bigger ski jump for the first time.

… the audio is essential.

Kottke – Nine-year-old ski jumper screws up courage

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Graham Michael James (born 7 February 1952), is a former Canadian ice hockey coach for the Western Hockey League and convicted pedophile, and was named Man of the Year by The Hockey News in 1989 after coaching the Swift Current Broncos league championship win, and became the General Manager and coach of the Calgary Hitmen in 1994.

James attracted national attention two years later when Sheldon Kennedy and an unnamed colleague came forward to accuse him of sexually abusing them over a period of years as their junior league coach. James pled guilty and was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.

After completing his sentence, James obtained a federal pardon and left the country, settling in Spain and Mexico. However in 2009, Theoren Fleury published a book alleging he too had been abused by James in the 1980s, which James again acknowledged as true. In March of 2012, he was sentenced to another two years in prison.

James was given a lifetime ban from coaching by the Canadian Hockey Association. When the CHA learned that James was coaching in Spain, it complained to European ice hockey officials, and he was fired …

Twitter erupted in anger following the news of disgraced hockey coach Graham James’ two-year prison sentence.

Star – Theo Fleury and Todd Holt call Graham James sentence ‘a national travesty’

People are enraged with Manitoba provincial court Judge Catherine Carlson. But her sentence is normal for this kind of criminal.

Strange legal system we’ve got in Canada: Tough on marijuana. Easy on pedophiles.

No wonder victims, male and female, are so reluctant to accuse their coach.

Canadian Carol-Angela Orchard has been working in the U.K. with the National Women’s Team.

Orchard’s recent assignment involves consulting for the British junior men’s team that is being groomed for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. …

Orchard said she first gave a multimedia demonstration to the gymnasts, emphasizing the importance of presentation and artistry as demonstrated in videos of former stars including 1992 Olympic all-around champion Vitaly Scherbo of Belarus, 2000 Olympic all-around champion Alexei Nemov of Russia and 2004 Olympic floor exercise champion Kyle Shewfelt of Canada. Also featured in was British gymnast Neil Thomas, who won the country’s first world championships medal when he placed second on floor exercise at the 1993 Worlds.

For a direct comparison, Orchard then showed each gymnast a video that she took of them at their last competition.

“It was an-eye opening experience, and then they really applied themselves when we did the one-on-one sessions going through their complete routines …

IG – Orchard Optimistic for Canada, Britain in 2012

Great idea. The men from Great Britain are already perhaps the most artistic in the world. This can only help.

CA was the primary developing coach of Christine Lee.

… Orchard said she looks forward to watching Lee compete at her best – in person – in London.

“I won’t be at all surprised to see Peng standing on the podium,” Orchard told IG. “My heart will be bursting, and it will be an amazing moment. I think she’s ready.”

Christine’s now coached by Kelly and Sue Manjak. And Lorne Bobkin.

Debbie Broderick Rodriguez of Byer’s Gymnastics, California:

Rachel Holman, one of my gymnasts, wrote this poem…it is awesome!

With so many great coaches
Who are a joy to work with 😉
Our reputation is legendary
Definitely no myth

Here’s a breakthrough for equality in sport.

… Nayef, who is heir to the aging king, has approved the participation of women at the London Olympics in sports that “meet the standards of women’s decency and don’t contradict Islamic laws.”

Saudi sports officials could not be reached to confirm Tuesday’s report in the Arabic-language newspaper.

The IOC said Monday that progress has been made in talks with Saudi Olympic officials on sending female athletes and officials to the games.

espnW

Beach Volleyball is OUT.

Mohini agreed this is the best Bhardawaj she’s ever seen. 🙂

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

What’s unique about Christine is the joy she brings to every routine. She seems more interested in the performance than the score.

related – Examiner – Five things to know about…Peng Peng Lee

One of the Russian WAG National Championships goes March 21-25 in Penza.

Andrey Rodionenko on russiangymnasts.net:

This Russian championships is direct preparation for European Championships, and it’s schedule is very close to that of the European Championships, both in terms of the number of athletes competing and in terms of time. The organizers are striving to do everything so that the technical schedule matches the way the competitions are held at European and world championships. Penza is the only place in Russia with a modern gymnastics podium in both the training and competition halls. And we are trying to organize the Russian tournament on the highest world level. …

Q — Looking at the national team members, can we expect them all to be in shape at the beginning of the season? After all, some get into shape faster than others…

They all get in shape differently and feel different. We have a lot of gymnasts who are hitting puberty and that means a lot of problems with weight and height. The girls are getting stronger, but they are changing physiologically and that requires some corrections. It’s very hard to stay competition-ready. Some are ready right now, some are worse off and some will miss the meet altogether, like Viktoria Komova. She had a small problem with her leg and that required two-three weeks of therapy, so she is not able to participate in the championships. …

Andrey Rodionenko: the championships will show who the leader is

I’m hoping Nabieva is in the mix. We need to see her release back for the Olympics.

That photo linked by Rewriting Russian Gymnastics.