idea – loot bags for birthday parties

The Executive Director of my gym — TC Edwards — has a great idea.

Rather than handing out a brochure to all the kids who attend a birthday party — she’s going to hand out a loot bag to each child which includes a brochure and other promotional material on the club.

Brilliant.

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photo source

video – Me? Do A Triple Pike?

Not sure who put this wild montage together, but it includes some of the great tricks of Artistic gymnastics history. And even the time the bars collapsed on Ludmilla Tourischeva after her dismount.

Some of the biggest, stupidest tricks, with guest appearances from Sarah and Chris of RISING DESCENT, Marta Karoly, Carly Patterson and Vanessa Atler can be found in this wonderful more… tribute to all the best things happening. A big special thanks to Siobhan Bonisteel-Topping for supplying the sick tuneage!

Click PLAY or watch it on MetaCafe. http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/477379/me_do_a_triple_pike.swf
Me? Do A Triple Pike?Click here for more free videos

confirmed – Cirque teams with Criss Angel

Criss Angel has won the Academy of Magical Arts’ Magician of the Year award a record three times: 2001, 2004, 2005.

This show will rock.

Cirque du Soleil is set to extend its reach in Sin City even further, with officials announcing Thursday a partnership with popular magician Criss Angel for another permanent Las Vegas show.

Criss.jpgsummer 2008 at the Luxor Resort and Casino, where the magician and illusionist has already been filming upcoming new episodes of his A&E TV series Mindfreak, officials said. …

“I’ve spent 15 years creating and evolving a concept that the world of entertainment has never seen,” Angel said in a statement.

“I am confident that this collaboration will culminate in what is destined to become one of the most exciting shows Las Vegas has ever seen and redefine magic in the same way Cirque du Soleil has redefined the circus.” …

A seventh Cirque show, inspired by rock ‘n’ roll icon Elvis Presley, is also set to open in the city in 2009.

CBC.ca Arts – Not an illusion: Cirque du Soleil teams with Criss Angel for new show

Criss Angel – official website

skateboarder Burnquist’s Grand Canyon jump

Do you know name?

From his 12 XGames medals?

From his Mega Ramp in California?

Or did you see his jump into the Grand Canyon on the Discovery Channel’s Stunt Junkies TV show?

“I’m not afraid of dying. But I love living.”

He built a 40’ mega-ramp to put himself onto a 40’ rail that extended OVER the Grand Canyon. He then did a Skydive/BASE jump 1,600 feet.

Click PLAY or watch the video on YouTube.

This kind of death defying stunting is being criticized by some. Outside Magazine calls them “Cheap Tricks“.

Actually, Burnquist is getting even better known for his leadership in the environmental cause.

Check that out too at BobBurnquist.com – official website.

allegations of gymnast abuse in Romania

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The Secrets of a Gymnast
by Andrei Nourescu is a book I want to read.

It was voted Book of The Year by the Romanian Sport Press Association (2003); 1st English edition released Jan 2006.

… “Fraud, violence, abuses with penal implications, here are some allegations about the secret methods used in Romanian gymnastics.” …

The Secrets of a Gymnast > The Secrets of a Gymnast | CafePress

I just learned about it on the extensive Romanian-Gymnastics.com site.

They also pointed me to their page called “The Wall of Shame” which names athletes who suffered abuse and coaches implicated.

This is far from the first time I’ve been told of horror stories in Romania. But people are innocent until proven guilty. Be clear that you cannot believe everything you read on the internet — not even on this site.

If you want to understand the allegations better yourself, you can purchase
The Secrets of a Gymnast
: CafePress.com

movie – free tickets to The Peaceful Warrier

Hey, nice move by Best Buy.

If you live in the USA you can apply for FREE movie tickets for the weekend of March 30-April 1.

Peaceful Warrior is based on Dan Millman’s perennially best-selling autobiographical novel, Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives.

In the film, Scott Mechlowicz plays Dan, a talented-yet-arrogant college gymnast with Olympic dreams and a golden future. The athlete thinks he has it all: bookcases of trophies, endless friends, fast rides and disposable relationships.

But all that is about to change.

See the trailer for Peaceful Warrior.

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who reads this blog?

Here are statistics from Google showing the people who check this blog on any given day.

About 400 visit, checking on average 2.5 pages.

I’m quite sure they are the 400 most intelligent, influential, good looking people out there.

Most start on the home page to see what’s new. Then click on something else of interest in the navigation on the right hand side of the page.

Not counted are those who subscribe by email or RSS feed. (Both much better ways to see it.) That would add another couple of hundred visitors.

If you like the content, recommend it to your friends. (using the SHARE THIS button at the bottom.) It’s all free.

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If you have any content requests, leave a comment below.

recommended cheerleading books or DVDs?

We know cheer is the fastest growing acrobatic sport.

And EVERY YEAR Cheer athletes get FAR better and fitter.

Many, many coaches right now need advice on how best to develop the sport.

This is the top selling book on Amazon. Leave a COMMENT below if you have any opinion on it. Especially if you prefer any of the dozens of other new books or DVDs.

The Ultimate Guide to Cheerleading: For Cheerleaders and Coaches

The Ultimate Guide to Cheerleading: For Cheerleaders and Coaches

Russian Championships 2007

I love the Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious translation of this post:

From today on (March 21) to Sunday (25) take place the Russian Championships 2007 of men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics in the Sports Palace of Lobnya, near Moscow.

At the today’s opening ceremony with a full house – more tha 1,500 visitors (!) – the Olympic champion Alexei Nemov was honored with the high Russian “Order of Peter the Great”, handed over bei Vjacheslav Fetisov, chief of the Russian State Agency for Physical Culture.

GYMmedia.com

We’ll post the results when available. Russian gymnastics is in resurgence.

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