i'm about to projectile express myself all over your hush puppies.

So, in light of my rant regarding internet bulldogs, I thought it would be beneficial to figure out if this was a recent development in gymnastics, or if this has, in fact, been a part of the sport all along.

I decided to travel back in time to October of 1996.  I brought the internet with me.

And what I found was a world not unlike today's.  People still had beef, fans still had their faves, and there was plenty of healthy speculation.

Let's have a look, shall we?

*So, the pics are super small.  Crud.  Just click on them, and you should be able to see them up close. 

Wow.  I had no idea how many people cared about Peggy Liddick leaving.  Perhaps it was the scandal of its time. 

Seems like no one gave a crap about those tours... that can't be right.  I LOVED the "real" tour starring the "Super Six."  Oh, and these two nameless extras... who were they again?  Oh.  That's right.  Kim Zmeskal and Lilia Podkopayeva.  Just them.  

Seems like the Shannon thread had a lot of looky loos, but not a lot of posters.  I imagine people were weary of igniting yet another Shannon vs. Gutsu/Moceanu/Dawes/More Gutsu debate. 

Hmm.  This one looks familiar...

And I swear I've seen this before.

Yup.  Fourteen years later, and Khorkina fans haven't changed one bit. 

I'd love to go even further back, and see what effect Barcelona would have had on the ol' message boards.  I'm pretty sure the whole internet would have just exploded. 

So, turns out that gym fans have been psychotic all along.  Now I know.