Well, I'm still sick but THIS was almost enough to bring me out of my feverish state:
2010 Pacific Rim Championships will be held in Melbourne!
What a boost for the sport! People will clamour to come and see the USA and China and Russia (among others) take on Australia, woohoo!
How have people gone with getting Nationals tickets? I'm heading to a Ticketek tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Y'Know Something?
...I could've gone to the MLC comp today. The Good News Week taping started a 1/2 hour late. Still, it was worth it. Ross Noble is a magnificent man.
So the Junior division of the European Championships is underway; team and all-around competitions took place with Russia sweeping the top spot in both.
Now, I got a leeetle bit concerned because looking at the scores, the top three juniors (from Russia, Russia and France respectively) all scored above 60.
Thus far, two Australian senior girls have struck 60 and/or above (Dasha Joura, Shona Morgan but if you ask me, with all due respect to Ms Morgan, that one seemed a fluke).
Two.
Seniors.
...
...
...
Two.
That's it.
It was fantastic when we won bronze at Worlds in 2003. Fan-freaking-tastic. The minds of the gymnastics-going public were verifiably blown. Hit routines and 'that' deduction-of-which-we-shall-never-speak certainly helped the team scrape a historic podium finish. It was so great for us.
Could they do it again?
Well, perhaps not.
I honestly hate to lament my team, truly I do. I'm a bit of a bipolar supporter, when I think about it. Some days, after a great comp result, I go "Yeah! Good scores! Total chance for Beijing!" and then other times, like in Stuttgart last year or at PacRim, when it all goes slightly pear-shaped I go, "Crap. They don't have the difficulty. And they don't seem to have the self-confidence and control. There's no way they'd be a medal finish".
You look at Nationals and there are girls doing whip-double twists on floor. Twice. Not as a follow up to anything impressive a la Lauren Mitchell. They're just there.There were girls competing Yurchenko fulls in our World Championships vault lineup. Girls with wibbly-wobbly execution acting as representatives in overseas competitions. If I see another front aerial-side somi combination on beam, I'll put a fist through my computer screen. European JUNIORS can hit 60. Hardly any of our seniors can. I just... I feel like our team isn't doing itself any justice sometimes. Or being allowed to do itself justice. Liddick goes on and on about the importance of "The Team" and putting in a good performance for "The Team" being more significant than sticking it and scoring your own Personal Best. Which is not altogether a good thing, because then the gymnast feels awful if they've made a mistake because they've jeopardised "The Team"s chances. As Dasha revealed in the IG article below, it's all about doing stuck routines, not particularly difficult ones. Now this is almost word-for-word the mantra of the coach Jeff Bridges played in Stick It.
We're a two-woman team right now. We've got two strong all-around athletes (ok ok, so Lauren needs a vault upgrade) but that's about it. The team shouldn't be resting just on them. We've got a bunch of event specialists who seem to only get an invite to compete on their specialties, or we have middle-of-the-road performers (to borrow a phrase from Australian Idol) who most likely won't get near the Olympic Squad let alone The Team, who keep getting competition experience ahead of girls who could truly benefit from it. We've got girls constantly watering down to play it safe, but then they never get the chance to do the skill when it really counts. No wonder the USA wipes the floor with almost any competition they go up against. All their girls are at a similar level of difficulty, it's not the same two athletes being whipped out every time.
Somehow, I think, the qualification criteria for the National Squad needs to be tweaked. We need to have several girls with high enough difficulty levels and refined execution to be representing us. Make it so that less work is done at the AIS itself; that the girls are prepared when they get there and thus just need a little push to get flying, not a hand-crank start of the propellor.
Aaaaaaaaanyway. This was me getting worked up because of germs and it really is quite late (but hurrah, Daylight Savings in a little while!)
I'd just got a bit surprised by the Euro results.
So the Junior division of the European Championships is underway; team and all-around competitions took place with Russia sweeping the top spot in both.
Now, I got a leeetle bit concerned because looking at the scores, the top three juniors (from Russia, Russia and France respectively) all scored above 60.
Thus far, two Australian senior girls have struck 60 and/or above (Dasha Joura, Shona Morgan but if you ask me, with all due respect to Ms Morgan, that one seemed a fluke).
Two.
Seniors.
...
...
...
Two.
That's it.
It was fantastic when we won bronze at Worlds in 2003. Fan-freaking-tastic. The minds of the gymnastics-going public were verifiably blown. Hit routines and 'that' deduction-of-which-we-shall-never-speak certainly helped the team scrape a historic podium finish. It was so great for us.
Could they do it again?
Well, perhaps not.
I honestly hate to lament my team, truly I do. I'm a bit of a bipolar supporter, when I think about it. Some days, after a great comp result, I go "Yeah! Good scores! Total chance for Beijing!" and then other times, like in Stuttgart last year or at PacRim, when it all goes slightly pear-shaped I go, "Crap. They don't have the difficulty. And they don't seem to have the self-confidence and control. There's no way they'd be a medal finish".
You look at Nationals and there are girls doing whip-double twists on floor. Twice. Not as a follow up to anything impressive a la Lauren Mitchell. They're just there.There were girls competing Yurchenko fulls in our World Championships vault lineup. Girls with wibbly-wobbly execution acting as representatives in overseas competitions. If I see another front aerial-side somi combination on beam, I'll put a fist through my computer screen. European JUNIORS can hit 60. Hardly any of our seniors can. I just... I feel like our team isn't doing itself any justice sometimes. Or being allowed to do itself justice. Liddick goes on and on about the importance of "The Team" and putting in a good performance for "The Team" being more significant than sticking it and scoring your own Personal Best. Which is not altogether a good thing, because then the gymnast feels awful if they've made a mistake because they've jeopardised "The Team"s chances. As Dasha revealed in the IG article below, it's all about doing stuck routines, not particularly difficult ones. Now this is almost word-for-word the mantra of the coach Jeff Bridges played in Stick It.
We're a two-woman team right now. We've got two strong all-around athletes (ok ok, so Lauren needs a vault upgrade) but that's about it. The team shouldn't be resting just on them. We've got a bunch of event specialists who seem to only get an invite to compete on their specialties, or we have middle-of-the-road performers (to borrow a phrase from Australian Idol) who most likely won't get near the Olympic Squad let alone The Team, who keep getting competition experience ahead of girls who could truly benefit from it. We've got girls constantly watering down to play it safe, but then they never get the chance to do the skill when it really counts. No wonder the USA wipes the floor with almost any competition they go up against. All their girls are at a similar level of difficulty, it's not the same two athletes being whipped out every time.
Somehow, I think, the qualification criteria for the National Squad needs to be tweaked. We need to have several girls with high enough difficulty levels and refined execution to be representing us. Make it so that less work is done at the AIS itself; that the girls are prepared when they get there and thus just need a little push to get flying, not a hand-crank start of the propellor.
Aaaaaaaaanyway. This was me getting worked up because of germs and it really is quite late (but hurrah, Daylight Savings in a little while!)
I'd just got a bit surprised by the Euro results.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Dasha the Go-To Girl
Ever the polite conversationalist, Dasha Joura got interviewed by International Gymnast.
She has high hopes for Team Oz, and also talks about the not-so-perfect Pacific Rim results. You can read the piece here. The good thing about Dash is that a shaky comp result makes her go back and work harder and do better the next time. Good on her. She's got real competitive spirit.
I just hope to the non-denomination-specific deity/ies that the girls aren't worked too hard and pretty much burn out by May. I hope "work, work, work" is her mantra, not Peggy's. I just really want Nationals to be a bit more encouraging this year; If I see another running punch front full on floor, I'll scream.
She has high hopes for Team Oz, and also talks about the not-so-perfect Pacific Rim results. You can read the piece here. The good thing about Dash is that a shaky comp result makes her go back and work harder and do better the next time. Good on her. She's got real competitive spirit.
I just hope to the non-denomination-specific deity/ies that the girls aren't worked too hard and pretty much burn out by May. I hope "work, work, work" is her mantra, not Peggy's. I just really want Nationals to be a bit more encouraging this year; If I see another running punch front full on floor, I'll scream.
The Road to Nationals
'lo everyone.
It's nice to see some comments rolling in.
I'm still quite sick (got another night off work because my voice has dissipated almost entirely) so please take heed and view the blog from a plexiglass-secured distance, lest you get infected too. It ain't SARS, but it's close enough to be invited to the SARS family picnic.
Anyway.
Very big thanks to the people who let me know about the comp on this weekend. I read the comments wrong and thought it was the Victorian Championships but they've already been on! Apparently this is the MLC International & Senior Classic (involving National Levels 6-10, International Level 5 and Senior International). Unfortunately (well, not entirely unfortunately but I use it for lack of a better word) I've been shouted tickets to the live Comedy Festival edition of Good News Week at the Melbourne Town Hall on Saturday so that counts me out. Potentially I *could* go but
a) I don't have anyone to drag along with me
b) I've got no way of getting there
c) I'd be pushing it to get from the comp to the Town Hall on time
Please understand that I would go if I had the ways and means!
Far be it from me to dissuade anybody from taking notes/photos at the comp. I'm most happy to post up [or link to] your observations and media from the meet, provided no hurtful or overtly discriminatory comments about the gymnasts/teams are contained within them. Nobody likes a sentence that begins, "my friend's in her class at school and reckons that she..."
Personally, I'm most interested in the progress of the Senior Internationals, but as a faux-journalist I'll take anything I can get :P
Let me know if you're thinking of going to Nationals, too, and who you'll be cheering for. I'll hopefully be filming again, with a few others in tow.
Have a nice weekend, everyone.
If you're at the Comedy Festival, look out for a short freckly girl in a thick scarf, carrying an industrial-sized tub of Vicks Vaporub in her handbag...
PS: Ticketek- you're off the Christmas card list. This is not a happy face.
It's nice to see some comments rolling in.
I'm still quite sick (got another night off work because my voice has dissipated almost entirely) so please take heed and view the blog from a plexiglass-secured distance, lest you get infected too. It ain't SARS, but it's close enough to be invited to the SARS family picnic.
Anyway.
Very big thanks to the people who let me know about the comp on this weekend. I read the comments wrong and thought it was the Victorian Championships but they've already been on! Apparently this is the MLC International & Senior Classic (involving National Levels 6-10, International Level 5 and Senior International). Unfortunately (well, not entirely unfortunately but I use it for lack of a better word) I've been shouted tickets to the live Comedy Festival edition of Good News Week at the Melbourne Town Hall on Saturday so that counts me out. Potentially I *could* go but
a) I don't have anyone to drag along with me
b) I've got no way of getting there
c) I'd be pushing it to get from the comp to the Town Hall on time
Please understand that I would go if I had the ways and means!
Far be it from me to dissuade anybody from taking notes/photos at the comp. I'm most happy to post up [or link to] your observations and media from the meet, provided no hurtful or overtly discriminatory comments about the gymnasts/teams are contained within them. Nobody likes a sentence that begins, "my friend's in her class at school and reckons that she..."
Personally, I'm most interested in the progress of the Senior Internationals, but as a faux-journalist I'll take anything I can get :P
Let me know if you're thinking of going to Nationals, too, and who you'll be cheering for. I'll hopefully be filming again, with a few others in tow.
Have a nice weekend, everyone.
If you're at the Comedy Festival, look out for a short freckly girl in a thick scarf, carrying an industrial-sized tub of Vicks Vaporub in her handbag...
PS: Ticketek- you're off the Christmas card list. This is not a happy face.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Stack It
Fuuuu-----------!!!No, it's not the latest gymnastics-related big screen comedy. And it's got nothing to do with pancakes. It's Olivia Vivian's cute blog entry, her latest to be posted at the WAIS site.
Stomping your feet, crying and hitting the apparatus isn't exactly the right way to respond. Plus, I've learnt that the beam is much harder than my fist!
I'll be the first to admit I don't LOVE her execution (particularly her laboured style on bars, though her handstand planche mount on beam leaves a lot to be desired as well, as it often turns out quite sloppily like Jana Bieger's); I wouldn't go so far as saying she's Tonya Harding to Dasha Joura's Nancy Kerrigan, gosh no. She does have a different style to to the other girls out there, but if anything she seems to exude that happy, goofy, good-humoured and sports[wo]manlike outlook that the WAIS girls are getting a reputation for, and kudos to her for that. Whatever's in their drinking water needs to be shipped over in vats to the AIS to cheer those perpetually shy-looking ballerinas up a bit.
Stat.
(Although it could be worse. I watched an NCAA gymnastics montage where a girl as doing a Pak salto from high bar down to low but completely misjudged it. Instead of reaching her arms out in front of her before she approached the low bar so she could catch it and swing under, she overshot the bar and in reaching her arms out, caught the bar right under her armpits at full force. Bang, down to the mat. Now THAT'S a stack!)
Chucking a Sickie
Hi everyone.
*cough splutter*
I'm off work tonight because I'm quite sick. It's that time of the year when everyone sporadically gets 'the bug' for a week then feel relieved that it's over, not realising that they've no doubt passed it on to hundreds of people. It's a vicious, germ-y cycle.
*a-sneeze*
So anyway. There was crazy weather across Melbourne yesterday, well into the evening, it was one of the worst days we've ever seen. Gale force winds and pounding rain, major bridges were closed and train lines cancelled, blackouts here there and everywhere... we had blackouts at work last night, which is never fun when you're in charge. I hope everyone got home ok and didn't end up getting too cold or wet. Apparently Camberwell station was a nightmare last night.
...aaaand this has nothing to do with gymnastics. At all. Um... *shuffles from foot to foot*
Uuuummm...
...
...
...
...Well, check out YouTube because more PacRim videos are up (can't wait for the NBC broadcast ones, except I'll probably be watching them on mute. Draw your own conclusions about who out of Joura or Bieger should have scored higher on bars) and have a squizz around the interweb for news from the European Championships which have kicked off. Some great photos of teams in training have surfaced. I have a soft spot for Gaelle Mys from Belgium. But I also give my votes to Great Britain, France, Russia and the Ukraine.
Tickets for Nationals/Olympic trials go onsale from Ticketek on the 8th, people. That's next week. To paraphrase a Comedy Festival show review in The Age this week: Sell your house, hock your grandmother, do whatever is necessary to get tickets!
*cough splutter*
I'm off work tonight because I'm quite sick. It's that time of the year when everyone sporadically gets 'the bug' for a week then feel relieved that it's over, not realising that they've no doubt passed it on to hundreds of people. It's a vicious, germ-y cycle.
*a-sneeze*
So anyway. There was crazy weather across Melbourne yesterday, well into the evening, it was one of the worst days we've ever seen. Gale force winds and pounding rain, major bridges were closed and train lines cancelled, blackouts here there and everywhere... we had blackouts at work last night, which is never fun when you're in charge. I hope everyone got home ok and didn't end up getting too cold or wet. Apparently Camberwell station was a nightmare last night.
...aaaand this has nothing to do with gymnastics. At all. Um... *shuffles from foot to foot*
Uuuummm...
...
...
...
...Well, check out YouTube because more PacRim videos are up (can't wait for the NBC broadcast ones, except I'll probably be watching them on mute. Draw your own conclusions about who out of Joura or Bieger should have scored higher on bars) and have a squizz around the interweb for news from the European Championships which have kicked off. Some great photos of teams in training have surfaced. I have a soft spot for Gaelle Mys from Belgium. But I also give my votes to Great Britain, France, Russia and the Ukraine.
Tickets for Nationals/Olympic trials go onsale from Ticketek on the 8th, people. That's next week. To paraphrase a Comedy Festival show review in The Age this week: Sell your house, hock your grandmother, do whatever is necessary to get tickets!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
I Suppose Ikin See Myself Out...
Anthony Ikin has been evicted/rejected/eliminated/voted out of the tribe on So You Think You Can Dance?. Good on him for making the Top 10 and being the trendiest guy since Aladdin to wear vests over a buff, bare chesticle.
He made a very nice, very humble speech and, without pomp and "If I inspired just one person then my work here is done" circumstance, implored Australians everywhere to get out there and get dancing and have a bit of fun with it.
Awwwww. Bless his li'l cotton dancepants.
He made a very nice, very humble speech and, without pomp and "If I inspired just one person then my work here is done" circumstance, implored Australians everywhere to get out there and get dancing and have a bit of fun with it.
Awwwww. Bless his li'l cotton dancepants.
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