Oh No He Di'int!

*dusts off diatribe hat and squeezes into into cranky pants*

Seriously, John Roethlisberger: What. The. Crap.

I wasn't going to post anything today ("suuuuure!" I hear you chorus) but I found myself a tad incensed by a blog entry posted at IG2 about the recent Good Luck Beijing Olympic Test Event. I was frustrated by it for a number of reasons, chief among them being that I was pretty sure "prideful" isn't a word (or at the very least, the correct one in the given context).

"...anyone who thought the test event was supposed to be a preview of the gymnastics we are going to see next summer at the Olympics, well, you were sorely disappointed. It looked like the World Championships hang-over was in full effect... It may have been the worst gymnastics meet I have had the opportunity to attend. "

Yes, it was a post-Worlds competition and many of the world's best were excused at the discretion of their coaches. But the 'worst' meet? I don't know, buddy, some pretty unkempt stuff was going on here in the eastern suburbs in the early 90's when I was a young and inexperienced competitor. But way to stomp all over the achievements of the athletes who medalled in Beijing! And the test events are intended less as previews for the audience, more for the athletes themselves as a 'dress rehearsal'. Heck, they don't really have to have an audience there at all but for the efforts of corporate sponsors and tourism boards. It's the equipment the athletes need to adapt to for the event more than anything.


He then detailed just 3 teams on the men's side: Japan, China, USA. Apparently the ONLY standouts were Lu Bin and Fabian Hambuchen of Germany. Thank heavens I subscribe to the
real IG, whose reports from the event were far more comprehensive, and not this narrow-minded dribble (I might stoke the fire by saying that said narrow-minded dribble website provides the most unflattering competition pictures for the public. All crotch-shots taken during uneven bars skills or horrid grimaces made during flight elements; their January magazine cover features a rather unsightly photo of Shawn Johnson in mid-air). You'd think he'd only watched web highlights of the comp.

With regards to the women, he mentions only 3 athletes: Cheng Fei, Chellsie Memmel and Bridget Sloan. Funnily enough only one of these three (Sloan) actually medalled in the all-around. Great Britain/Canada/Ukraine/Australia did send national apparatus champions and girls who'd also medalled in World Cups so in that respect they're certainly nothing to sniff at. You *did* see host-country-girl Jiang YuYuan win the all-around, didn't you, John, and the up-and-coming Aussie bright spark who came second? Not to mention the striking Ukrainian winning bars? Furthermore, how was seeing Chellsie Memmel back on the floor a highlight? THE highlight, for that matter? She was practically snickered into the next quadrennium once her floor routine was finished. She lacked the polish of several other competitors (including team-mate Sloan) and I don't think it was particularly wise to send her to this competition. I mean, by virtue of your own previous comments, she actually contributed to this 'worst meet ever'. I'm glad you're in Camp Cheng Fei like the rest of us, but there was a whole field of athletes there and I was quite suprised you sought to only highlight 3.

Another grammatical grumble:

"To be frank, Beijing is by far the dirtiest and smoggiest city I have ever been."

...Preposition, anyone? Of course not everything is completed, but look at the finished result in Athens. We all had negative expectations there when we saw the diggers and dustpiles still working with mere weeks to go, and Sydney hastily signed Nikki Webster out of rehab just in case (with Human Nature on call to do the anthem again; sadly the parade of Victa lawnmowers had been put out to pasture but Kevan Gosper assured us all we'd make do somehow) but they pulled it together on their own and exceeded all our expectations.

Let me be frank, John: Please count yourself lucky. You are a journalist in a very privileged position to get to go to competitions like this and get paid for writing about them. Many of us (myself included) wish we could have attended this competition as an affordable precursor to the Olympics. You don't have to love every competitor but at least be fair in your assessment of the roster in its entirety. After reading up on the event during the competition proper, and hearing the positive reactions from its participants, it seems like you're the only one around here that I see holding a half-empty glass in Café Beijing. If this is what we can expect from Inside Gymnastics staff reporting from the Games when they roll around, I'd be only too happy to terminate their Event Press accreditation passes and advise them to direct their funds toward activities upon which they would be better spent (cf. Freshman Composition and Photography classes). Of that act, I shall be very prideful.

"Wahey! Apparently, we're mediocre!"