Archives for April 2015

April 23, 2015 by GymCasticCrew 6 Comments

146: Taylor Rice and The 2015 NCAA Championships

Taylor Rice (Stanford) makin' it rain during event finals at the 2015 NCAA Championships. — Taylor Rice (Stanford) makin’ it rain during event finals at the 2015 NCAA Championships. Photo by Christy Linder.

Who: Shannon freaking Miller!!!! will be our Book Club guest in May.
Deadline: Send in questions by May 6th.
How: Order the book here, read it, treasure it forever, then send your questions for Shannon to us at gymcastic@gmail.com or by voicemail at (415) 800-3191/Skype “GymCastic Podcast”

Stanford junior, Taylor Rice, joins us to discuss the 2015 NCAA Championships. Taylor is known for having a different hair color at every meet, being more trouble than Tasha Schwikert for her coach/mother Cassie Rice during her youth at GymCasts and having been the first woman in NCAA history to compete a man wipe. We discuss:

Where did the inspiration for her back-dat-twerk-tastic floor choreography come from? That’s So Raven.
How early is too early to commit to a college?
What did Stanford do to change their results so drastically from the last few years.
Why didn’t she ever go the elite route and what she learned from Tasha Schwikert
Will Stanford be able to work a tree pose into their floor routines next year?
The changes would she like to see to the NCAA.

In the news, Uncle Tim, Evan Heiter, Spencer, Spanny Tampson, and Jessica chat about everything that happened at the NCAA Championships in Ft. Worth, Texas:

The heartbreak:
- What does UCLA need to do differently in order to gain their former team glory?
- The Beam-tastrophy that was the LSU prelim session and how many times are hearts broke.
- Was Lindsay “Precision” Mabel Khorkina’d after starting on vault and getting a lowely 9.85.
Gym-Myth Busters: It was true that the fiberglass was falling off of the bars?!
We revel in the joy of two fantastic all-around champions, Kytra Hunter and Sam Peszek; fair and well deserved!
The haters, the disadvantage of being the defending champions.
Are judges afraid to be the first to give a 10?
The floor curse. Beam isn’t the difficult event to start on anymore–floor took Oklahoma out of the Super Six finals.
The exciting finish between Utah and Floirda coming down to the very last routine and half a tenth.
Our favorite moments from Championships:
- Ivana Hong getting her gymnastics on and scoring well!
- Gymnasts who have improved in college.
- Auburn qualifying for Super Six for the first time in 22 years.
- Taylor Rice’s all-comedy floor routine.
- Sam Peszek’s standing full on beam!
Rules changes we need for 2016:
- Allow judges to take the quarter tenth deduction.
- Make the regular season matter more.
- Top 5 finishers receive All-American honors. It’s not enough to just qualify.
- Required single bar release.
- Teams must perform at least one vault from each of the three vault entries: tsukahara/kazamatsu, front handspring and yurchenko.
- Make the post-season matter: you should have to win something before Super Six.
- Four on the floor final, get rid of the Super Six.
Event Finals:
- No upgrades in vault finals that we hadn’t seen during season.
- We overwhelmingly agree on the floor finals.
- NINA McGEE!

Read the official blog of Taylor Rice here or follow her on the twitters.

stanford taylor rice — Taylor Rice (Stanford) makes it rain on beam.

UCLA gymnastics team does Taylor Rice's making it rain choreography as they watch from the stands during floor finals at the 2015 NCAA championships Danusia Francis — UCLA gymnastics team does Taylor Rice’s making it rain choreography as they watch from the stands during floor finals at the 2015 NCAA championships

Nina McGee killing it on floor at the 2015 ncaa championships — Nina McGee won the crowd during event finals when she tied, Brenna Dowell.

ivana hong handstand during beam finals at the 2015 ncaa championships — Ivana Hong of Stanford shows gorgeous form and even more gorgeous dinosaur hawk.

2015 NCAA championships Taylor Rice dances during floor finals — Taylor Rice going for comedy gold at NCAAs.

Tbh this also kinda kills me hahaha @uncletimmensgym pic.twitter.com/SbIP5w3xkK

— SILVER FOX (@tayloraterice) April 19, 2015

That one time when the Bruins crashed @StanfordWGym‘s #Super6 party and started a conga line. #BackThePac pic.twitter.com/y8NLUDwJNj — UCLA Gymnastics (@uclagymnastics) April 19, 2015

So happy for @samanthapeszek NATIONAL CHAMPION pic.twitter.com/2jRZzX2glB

— Jennifer Pinches (@jempin515) April 18, 2015

Watch this week’s playlist on YouTube here.

April 15, 2015 by GymCasticCrew 2 Comments

145: Rheagan Courville

Rheagan Courville thows shade at the judges — LSU’s Rheagan Courville, The Tigress of the Bayou.

Rheagan Courville, The Tigress of the Bayou joins us this week. The former US Classic champion, Patterson beam-dismounter, two-time NCAA vault champion, fashion icon and owner of the highest standing Arabian in the game is here! We discuss:

The secret to the height and consistency of her standing Arabian on beam.
How University of Georgia emigre, coach Jay Clark, has improve her bars about a billion percent from her elite days.
Cardio secrets of the indefatigable LSU floor lineup.
How her positive and negative experiences in the sport fuel her gymnastics now.
Future plans, skills she’s hiding up her sleeve and her love for Louisiana.
Fashion: What did Miley Cyrus tell Rheagan about her style and will she be able to up Jay Clark’s shoe game?

Jessica, Spencer from The Balance Beam Situation, Scott Bregman of USA Gymnastics and Kristen Watkins from College Fantasy Gymnastics chat about:

Beyond The Routine: Oklahoma Gymnastics
- Brenna Dowell: her perspective college vs. elite gymnastics, skill strategy, transition of normal human life and her crib tour!
- We were shocked to find out they consider themselves the underdogs and see K.J. so intimately involved in the technical aspects of coaching.
Predicting NCAA Women’s NCAA Championships preview by the numbers
- How important are the rankings, does seeding really matter?
- Which team historically kicks ass in the post-season, and which teams do worse during championship season
- Do teams switch ranking order in the post-season or have training plans been mastered to keep injuries at bay?

Men’s NCAA Championships
- Vault Gate — when the injury substitution rule can be too easily manipulated.
- Oklahoma are concurrent champions in both men’s and women’s gymnastics right now.
- The men’s stick bonus allows each team to carry around a gigantic eraser and get rid of mistakes.
- Stanford’s Sean Senters did the TRIPLE TWISTING YURCHENKO!

Who: Shannon freaking Miller will be our May Book Club guest.
Deadline: Send in questions by May 6th.
How: Pre-order your book here, read it, treasure it forever, then send your questions for Shannon to us at gymcastic@gmail.com or by voicemail at (415) 800-3191/Skype “GymCastic Podcast”

What the Number Say About NCAA Nationals – sexy data by Kristen Watkins

This is how boys salute when they win an NCAA Championships. GymCastic stamp of approval. Thank you Kristen at Fantasy Gymnastics for these gifs!

Squire's Rings "salute" — Squire’s Rings “salute”

Oyama doesn't need to salute, he incites a riot instead with his stickage. — Oyama doesn’t need to salute, he incites a riot instead with his stickage.

April 8, 2015 by GymCasticCrew 2 Comments

144: Counter Kim at Game of Regions 2015

M'cry Matsunami of Alaska tattoo of the counter kim skill imprinted of a game of thrones background — M’rcy Matsunami (Univ. of Alaska) has a toe-on Counter Kim shorthand tattoo (as seen above-left). She is our Game of Regions Champion.

In the news, Uncle Tim, Emma, Evan Heiter, Spencer and Jessica chat about NCAA Women’s Regional Championships (AKA GAME OF REGIONS!) and the Ljubljana World Cup:

2:05 Our reactions to McKalya Maroney’s heartfelt and funny video about her struggle with Adrenal Fatigue and its devastating symptoms.
11: 45 Game of Regions round-up; we created special headlines to describe the drama, tears and triumphs at each Regional and let you know which individuals, competing without the benefit of a team to boost their scores, stole our hearts.
- Should individuals have a separate regional qualification meet for NCAA Championships? Would it be more fair? We discuss.
- We declare M’rcy Matsunami the most exciting thing to happen to NCAA gymnastics since Kennedy Baker’s Dos Santos and Danusia Francis’s “Nush” beam dismount. She competed a toe-on Counter Kim at the Cal Regional! See petition below.
- Risa Perez’s faces vs. Laurie Hernandez’s faces, a short dissertation.
- Minnesota Unleash Shock and Awe Campaign to Destroy Auburns dreams of NCAA Berth… j/k everyone fell on bars.
- Nina McGee of Denver could still be the 2015 NCAA floor champion.
- Find out which host-school won the Game of Regions Webcast Award for Excellence in GymTernet Broadcasting 2015.
1:20:30 Ljubljana World Cup
- Why did the gymnasts refuse to warm-up in the practice gym, and what Nellie Kim allegedly had to say about that.
- Eythora Thorsdottir (NED), Sasa Golob (SLO) and Jonna Adlerteg (SWE); why you should sit your baby gymnasts down in front of the YouTubes and make them watch these performers!
- Spider web leotards, Alexander Shatilov’s beard (uber hipster or switching to Amish?), Slovenian training conditions, Oksana Chusovitina without Boguinskaya, and the next generation of Braziian gymnasts look like WOGA-Chow-Soviet stars.
Would Marta Karolyi ever allow the Romanian team to workout with the Americans at the Ranch?
An update on SB101, Indiana’s gay discrimination bill. Spoiler alert, it was amended!

Get M’rcy Matsunami to Texas! Petition to NCAA, host school Texas Women’s University and TMU coach, Courtney McCool to have M’cry Matsunami exhibition bars for pre-meet entertainment in Fort Worth at the NCAA Championships! Texas Women’s University on Twitter, Courtney McCool on Twitter, the NCAA.

M'rcy Matsunami fresh tattoo of the counter kim shorthand — The Counter Kim shorthand tattoo on M’rcy Matsunami

April 1, 2015 by GymCasticCrew 11 Comments

143: The Return of Gabby Douglas

Gabby Douglas smiling at Jesolo competition Bailey Key in the background — Reigning all-around Olympic Champion, Gabrielle Douglas returned to competition for the first time in three years at the Trophy Jesolo in Italy. © Filippo Tomasi/USA Gymnastics

In the news, Mary-Anne “Mez” Monckton, Emma and Jessica chat about Jesolo:

The Italian crowds reaction to the triumphant return of the reigning Olympic all-around Champion, Gabby Douglas and the reigning Olympic floor champion, Aly Raisman.
Which gymnasts made a case for themselves not to be ignored at Jesolo: Erika Fasana, Alysssa Bauman, and Laurie “Baby Sharkira” Hernandez.
How to tell how Marta feels; The Marta’s head-squash vs. the scruff of the neck kitten-grab.
Was the mood between Gabby and Chow strained?
The XL Center Bat, The Antwerp Moth, The Nanning Bee and now, The Jesolo Dog.
Mez tells us what it’s like to compete on the infamous Janssen-Fritzen floor which put half of the competitors on their butts
Jesolo Judges: Why were the judges 100 miles away from the apparatus and did it effect the scores? Plus, how the judges broke protocol; they just couldn’t’ help themselves.
Why Carlotta Ferlito quit Mtv Italy’s Ginnaste – Vite Parallele reality show.

The British Championships:

Flame cannons; juniors beating seniors; special awards; and Amy Tinkler, the smiliest winner of all time.
Ellie Downie’s successful but strange competition, walking off of the beam rather than dismounting.
Kelly Sim did a full-in dismount off of beam!
Why we love British Disability Champion, Tasha Coates who is allergic to exercise.

The Gymternet News:

Douglas Family Gold: Oxygen is working on a series about Gabby Douglas and her family. Can it be done tastefully or will it make her out to be a train wreck?
SB101: Indiana has legalized discrimination against LGBT citizens. How this would impact gymnastics and why we are cheering on Steve Penny, Josh Dixon and Danell Leyva in their fight against Indiana’s Governor Pence.

The world rankings from The All Around here.

Beyond The Routine: WOGA watch here.

Find out what it’s like to be allergic to exercise. An essay by British Disability Champion, Tasha Coates here.