i'm more talented than all of you. i see that clearly now.

I don't know who reads this blog.  By the wonder that is StatCounter, I can safely say that not a whole ton of people read it at all.  Although, I do have it on good authority that one MISS VAL said she liked my UCLA video.  Even so, I have no delusions about how far my internet voice reaches. 

But I just wanted to put this out there.  Who knows, maybe one positive voice will cut through the mountain of negativity.

An open letter to Mattie Larson.

*************************

Dear Mattie,

Chin up.

Your fans will always be your fans, no matter what.  We will always root for you, we will always support you.  You are a GOOD gymnast.  You are beautiful, and your gymnastics INSPIRES other gymnasts.  Little girls will want to join this sport because of athletes like you.  Even with bitter old curmudgeons like myself, you remind us of why we love gymnastics. 

Nothing will ever take that away from you. 

So be happy.  You have impressed, you have inspired.  I know beyond a doubt that you will continue to do so, no matter where life takes you. 

We are your fans, no matter what. 

Always,

Spanny F. Tampson

you wear more vests than the cast of blossom.

Dear gymnastics gods, who art in Rotterdam
6-3-3 by thy game.
Bring lots of luck,
and please no chucks,
and 180 leaps for us all. 

Amen. 

i've been practicing nudging the meatball across the table with my nose.

Is anyone else going BATSHIT CRAZY waiting to actually see some stuff come out of worlds? 

 Buttshelf

You know what would suck, is if Universal made people pay to watch their coverage, but then didn't offer anything in the way of prelims.  Or, if, let's say the world's host site boasted about this unprecedented coverage of ALL sessions,  including prelims.  But only for Dutch citizens.  So you go out of your way to procure a Dutch IP, but then they drop the bomb that ONLY the last few sessions are being aired at all.  Wouldn't that just blow?

So, while I wait another 4 1/2 hours for prelim video quickhits, I caught up on some user vids from the day one. 

Can I just throw out a YIKES YIKES for the E-scores on vault?  Like, if I see a 8.9-9.1 E-score, then I really don't expect to see something so Nistor-ish.

The classic case of an obviously frightening vault getting a mysteriously high execution score.  Never to be seen again, right?


Wrong. 

Enter Nabieva. 

And it's not like she cleans up, and nails the rest of the vault.  It remains beastly throughout the entire thing. 

It's upsetting to me, in that I remember a time when the Russians were known for clean, remarkable gymnastics.  They were NOT chuckers.  No sir.  And I'm not even talking about the Soviets, for those who assume that Russians = Soviets.  Sure, they weren't exactly winning team titles.  But they wouldn't be caught dead sacrificing prettiness for difficulty. 

This is no longer the case. 

This is an artist's representation of the offending vault.

I'm really trying not to be biased toward my home country here, but if Nabs and Musty scored 8.9-9.1, then I fully expect Alicia to score a 9.8. 

no straight boy does his hair to look like linda evangelista circa 1983.

This explains so much.

T-5 hours until this shit STARTS. 

i'm like a lizard. i need something warm beneath me or else i can't digest my food.

Worlds need to happen like, NOW.  Or else I'm going to keep plugging out Bring It On themed montages. 

You've been warned. 

i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, and i guess i don't have to. mary lou retton is an orphan or something.

Is anyone else just exploding with anticipation for Worlds?  Bless good ol' Couchie for providing some training tibits and pictures.  That's ALMOST enough to satisfy my craving.  But not quite.  So I made this instead.

i realize you're only half orangutan, but i'm still allergic to your lustrous, ginger mane.

I'm cutting it close here, but for at least the next hour, this video is a good depiction of who COULD be named to the US worlds team.  Yeah, I know Sami is out, and some girls have WAY better chances than others, but I don't care. 

A little preview of what the Americans have to offer.  Even Sami, bless her busted little foot. 

well, congratulations. normally you dress like a fantasy of a perverted japanese business man with a very dark specific fetish but i actually dig this look. yay.

So, I don't even know what these are.  I've just been embracing the snipping tool in my boredom, I suppose.  I blame it on my work schedule.  I go early enough that I can't really plan much for the beginning of my day, but late enough that I have plenty of time to sit around and photoshop stupid pictures.

I also blame 80sgymfan, over at IG.  Posting these sites so that no one has any choice but to spend all day watching HV of old meets.  For SHAME.

Seriously.  Don't check out http://www.youtubegymnasticsarchive.site40.net unless you have ALL DAY to spend watching videos.