Category: Uncategorized

Anne Josephson:

James Harrison returned his children’s participation trophies and my Facebook newsfeed blew up with news of the story as well as numerous op ed pieces, most all crediting Harrison for a parenting job well done. …

I want to be clear: I have no problem with the parenting choice Harrison made. In fact, I have huge admiration for his Instagram post.

Not so much for the act of returning the trophies as for these lines “I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die…” and “I’m not about to raise two boys to be men by making them believe that they are entitled to something just because they tried their best…cause sometimes your best is not enough, and that should drive you to want to do better.”

But I am not convinced that jumping on the “no participation trophy” bandwagon is the way to go. At least without considering the unintended consequences of doing so. …

SHOULD EVERYONE GET A TROPHY?

I tend to agree with Anne. Extrinsic rewards are neither good nor bad. It depends on how they are used.

related – mothering.com – Trophy Kids and the Cycle of Artificial Self-Esteem

… The NACGC/W announced in the summer of 2015 a partnership with RoadToNationals.com (RTN) for the upcoming season. Going forward, RoadToNationals.com will serve as the primary statistical and rankings site for NCAA Women’s Gymnastics and this site is one of the first products of that partnership. …

Road to Nationals

I assume the old Troester GymInfo site will not be updated next season. I much prefer the layout of Road to Nationals. GymInfo still looks like a site from the 1990s.

(via College Gymnastics Board)

Island Gymnastics Academy in PEI brings in a headliner guest coach each summer. This year it’s Kelly Manjak, coach of Olympic Floor Gold medalist 2004 Kyle Shewfelt.

Kelly has coached both WAG and MAG international competitors. At Camp he works with both boys and girls.

Thanks Sharon.

The NFL’s concussion crisis is about to hit the big screen. …

It stars Will Smith as Bennet Omalu, the real Pittsburgh forensic pathologist who first discovered a neurodegenerative disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the brains of football players. CTE is the result of repeated brain trauma over time and causes depression, dementia, and other behavioral changes.

Omalu’s 2002 finding — and the subsequent discovery of CTE in dozens of deceased football players — has transformed the football world, leading many to question whether football can ever be a truly safe sport. …

Will Smith’s new movie “Concussion” terrifies the NFL.

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

Artistic gymnasts land on soft mats and pits. I’ve always assumed our flat back landings and “candle” timers put them at zero risk of brain damage.

But I know of elite coaches who are not so sure.

We need more research.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Donnell already has the most impressive Ring dismount in the world. But he’s still working to upgrade it.

Click PLAY or watch it on Instagram.

 
Someone has competed triple twisting double tuck. Leave a comment if you can recall who that was.

From Instagram.

 
Get well soon.

piibunina traveled to China – once again – to video Chinese Nationals in Shandong province.

The Chinese WAG program is really pushing twisting. They are testing Juniors on-bed. (Off-bed would have been easier and safer. So they must like training the control needed to land on the same spot.)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

For basic D-score 5.0, a gymnast needed to perform a triple twist back and a 1.5 twist forward. Each extra half turn is 0.3 bonus, each half turn less is minus 0.5. There was a heavy deduction for insufficient difficulty as well.

Trampoline scores counted for all phases of competition. The final score was 80% of gymnastics plus 20% of trampoline score, also for teams and AA.

via Grace Chiu

Repost. One later upload of this video has over 700,000 views on Facebook. Viral beam. 🙂

Born 2002.

Click PLAY or see it on Tumblr.

https://secure.assets.tumblr.com/post.js

Here’s the routine in Team Finals (VIDEO). Not nearly as solid. But with a better dismount.

via GymFever2012

… to overgrip regrasp.

Click PLAY or watch it on Instagram.

The skill is named for 1991 World Bars Champion Kim Gwang-suk who was even more famous for submitting different birth years at least three different international competitions.