Stay up to date with the latest happenings at the 2019 WOGA Classic.
Our Live Blogging team today includes:
Kensley Behel (in the arena)
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Archives for 2019
350: There Are No Rules in This House
LISTEN HERE
NCAA NEWS (5:22)
- An extended crack or correct about basically every routine at that insane Oklahoma/Florida meet
- A fall is a fall is a fall is a fall is a fall
- Confusion about the code of points and rules used to judge NCAA (also from the actual judges, apparently)
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- The deductions that should have been taken in an example routine from this preposterous display of scoring
- More Hall of Fame crack with UCLA and Oregon State
- The worst crime of the whole weekend: UCLA’s leotards
- Sad crack: the underscoring of Sarah Shaffer’s perfect Y1/2
- Anger come-down: Oregon State’s death by hugging, Emily Muhlenhaupt’s 9.975 on bars, and Lexy Ramler’s perfect beam
- The SHOCKING TRUTH about NCAA scores in 2019
- Bowling Green wins this week’s random stick-themed nonsense award
MINI-COMMISSION The Anti-Wolf Turn (1:09:41)
- Abzug has commissioned a segment all about turns, asking most crucially, do any less ugly turns have the same difficulty as wolf turns? Oh my yes. We discuss. Jessica talks about backspins. A good time is had by all.
MEET NEWS (1:26:21)
- Ana Padurariu is the new all-around champion of Elite Canada, Ellie Black has a million floor pass options just because she can, and junior Zoe Allaire-Bourgie competed with the seniors due to awesomeness and took 3rd AA.
- Kristal Uzelac Bodenschatz competed at the Buckeye Elite qualifier after five months of training, and we highlight all the newest qualified elites
- News on Maile O’Keefe and Adeline Kenlin
GYMTERNET NEWS (1:37:52)
- Annie Heffernon is the permanent senior vice president of the women’s program
- Michigan Radio NPR: Federal Regulators release report citing 21 instances of Clery Act violations by Michigan State
- North Korea is considering participating in the Korea Cup in South Korea
- New York has passed the Child Victims Act
- Oleg had all the surgeries again
- Diego Hypolito says, “it seems that the Brazilian athlete has no value”
- Jessica makes Spencer talk about a feel-good story and he barely knows what to do
- Simone Biles is a badass (duh)
- Updates on post-birth college gymnastics, leadoff 10s, and beam music
FURTHER READING
- 2019 NCAA Rules Modifications
- 2019 NCAA Judges Cheat Sheet
- Week 5 Ranking Notes
- Sunday Live Blog – February 3, 2019
- Saturday Live Blog – February 2, 2019
- Friday Live Blog – February 1, 2019
- Things Are Happening – February 1, 2019
- Roster Notes – Week 4
- Only the Best – Week 4
SUPPORT THE SHOW
RELATED EPISODES
- 349: The Stick Stick and the Money Gun
- 348: Break the Beam, Literally
- 347: The Michigan Mess & the Viral Queen
- 346: Peng Is Here!
- 345: So Long 2018
- 344: Shushunova vs. Silivas 1988 (Commissioned)
- 343: The Andrade Cup & the Dumpster Fire of Lies
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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349: The Stick Stick and the Money Gun
LISTEN HERE
NCAA NEWS
- Oklahoma extends its national lead at Metroplex, and Maggie is back
- Jessica has a moment about Stanford, featuring a story of public embarrassment from her college years (yay!)
- Auburn has a stick stick, Washington has a money gun, and Maryland has a sparkly turtle shell. The real heroes.
- Weekly feelings alert: The Ari Guerra story
- Or, does gymnastics fetishize and celebrate risking your future health too much?
- Example, Kim Hamilton’s excellent book starts with her post-gymnastics crawling on the floor, in too much pain to stand.
- The problem with scoring the rotation order—and what’s the best lineup strategy if you know Carol is coming to town?
- Crack or correct: The Natalie Wojcik problem and the most WTF vault score ever for Penn
- So that happened: John Roethlisberger, the Auburn dudes, and we’ll never be the same
- A sexism Rage-o-Meter from…Spencer? Stop listing the names of the parents like that’s a stat, and maybe hire some more women for these jobs
GYMTERNET NEWS
- We discuss how much money USAG is paying Steve Penny, Mary Bono, and Box of Scarves. NOT GREAT, BOB.
- The Senate has an “AHEM, HEM” moment re: decertification and the USOC’s tax-exempt status.
- Katarzyna Jurkowska-Kowalska is retiring
- Getting ready for Elite Canada and the Buckeye Kristal Uzelac qualifier this weekend
- Updates on Amy Tinkler, Ashton Locklear, Roxana Popa, Beth Tweddle, and the potential for world peace
- The latest on Jessica’s quest to become an arm scientist
- Why doesn’t the high bar have padding on it?
- Nina gets another…oddly shaped award
SUPPORT THE SHOW
FURTHER READING
- Safeguarding: A Checklist for parents and coaches
- Week 4 Ranking Notes
- Sunday Live Blog – January 27, 2019
- Saturday Live Blog – January 26, 2019
- Friday Live Blog – January 25, 2019
- Things Are Happening – January 25, 2019
- Roster Notes – Week 3
- Only the Best – Week 3
RELATED EPISODES
- 348: Break the Beam, Literally
- 347: The Michigan Mess & the Viral Queen
- 346: Peng Is Here!
- 345: So Long 2018
- 344: Shushunova vs. Silivas 1988 (Commissioned)
- 343: The Andrade Cup & the Dumpster Fire of Lies
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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A Safeguarding Checklist:
12 questions every parent and coach should ask.
We assume that all children’s activity centers and your local high school are doing the right thing to protect kids from predators, the same way we assume restaurants are following food safety standards. We don’t go into a restaurant and demand to check the kitchen, because the government has already inspected it. Regrettably, even though the US Olympic Committee was created and is governed by a federal statute, there is no agency that oversees how the USOC or national governing bodies like USA Gymnastics are run. While students can take their complaints to the Department of Education; employees can go to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, no comparable government agency oversees athletes. Most countries have a “Minister of Sport” position, but the US does not. Even more unfortunate is the fact that predators always find a way to be near kids, which means parents and coaches looking for a safe environment are not only within their rights, but most definitely should be “checking out the kitchen” in gymnastics training facilities.
The annotated guidelines below, adapted from leading organizations, protect not only the child, but also the staff. Predators can be manipulative, gregarious and very hard to convict. These guidelines help identify and eliminate grooming behavior before it reaches the criminal level. Here’s how to order your gymnastics with a heaping helping of safety!
Questions that everyone should be asking when choosing a school or gym:
* Absolute best practices
+ Bonus best practices for extra points
Club/School Name_____________________________________________Date___________
Spoke With__________________________________________________________________
- Are all of your staff (administrative staff, volunteers, cheer, recreational, and competitive coaching staff) USA Gymnastics Professional members in good standing or equivalent?*
USAG professional members must pass a bi-annual background check and take a safety certification course which includes education on safety and preventing sexual abuse. An equivalent would be USA Parkour which at least has safety education.
- Are all of your staff CPR and First Aid Safety certified?*
- Does everyone who works at the gym (including coaches, volunteers, front desk etc.) have a current criminal background check on file?*
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- Does your background check cover both misdemeanors and felony convictions? * _________
If they use the USA Gymnastics background check, it includes both misdemeanor (referred to as “lesser” convictions in their documentation) and felony convictions. Misdemeanors can be sex crimes against children. Remember, a background check does not ensure safety, in the case of a predator, it just means the very high criminal threshold for conviction hasn’t been met. This is why code of conduct that identifies and eliminates grooming behavior must be enforced.
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- How often is the background check rerun? _________
- Do you have a written policy that clearly defines coach misconduct? Including:*
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- Prohibits staff from using electronic communications (including social media) with students or staff members in a way that could be seen as insulting, disruptive, offensive, sexually-explicit, racist, sexist, homophobic, trans-phobic or in any other way that can be construed to be harassment or disparagement of others.
- Prohibits one-on-one transportation of athletes or overnights without a background-checked chaperone/parent.
- Prohibits coach-athlete dating, regardless of age
- Prohibits being alone with an athlete
- Has specific rules about massages and stretching
- Defines and prohibits grooming behavior, emotional, verbal, and physical abuse, bullying, hazing, initiation rituals, harassment, and physical punishment by staff or athletes.
- Do you have a safety officer(s) or manager(s) on staff to enforce the misconduct policy; and what do their duties include?+
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- They are present in the gym even during private lessons.
- The safety officer(s) duties should include regular equipment checks and maintenance enforcement, as well as ongoing safety training for staff.
- A safety officer should be assigned to every shift, private lessons, and closed team practices.
- Policies without enforcement are useless. The safety officer should be empowered to immediately intervene, document and report inappropriate behavior at all times.
- Is the safety officer’s name and their contact information clearly posted at each session?
- Do you allow an athlete to be alone with a staff member?*
The answer to this question should always be NO. Not ever, not anywhere inside the gym or outside of the gym. This does not imply guilt towards a staff member, but merely offers a safe, comfortable environment for the athlete, and the staff member.
- Do you have security cameras in the facility?+
Video surveillance can provide an objective record of misconduct and protect both gymnasts and coaches if a question of inappropriate behavior is alleged.
- Do you have rules about photography and videography in the gym?
During enrollment the gym should offer you photo release documentation. If you choose not to sign that authorization, your child’s photo may not be used in anything. Their image may not even be in the background for a marketing image. Any photographs or videos of gymnasts and storage of those images should be closely monitored.
- Can I watch practice?*
The answer should be yes and please feel free to drop in unannounced. Some teams have rules about parents camping out or creating a gossip-free environment. Those guidelines are great, but parents should be able to drop in to watch.
- What is your policy on drug testing or impaired coaching?
If a coach seems drunk, high or just out of sorts, everyone should be trained on what to do about it.
- Do you offer education sessions for athletes, parents and coaches to help them identify inappropriate behaviors; what to do if they see it along with a process to report such behaviors?+
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- Education on spotting should be offered not only for safety, but also to identify appropriate hand-on-body placement, specifically off limits areas of the body. This will also prevent false accusations by un-educated onlookers.
- The gym should have an open, positive culture with an open door communication policy.
- Do you have an independent athlete welfare advocate or athlete protection officer who athletes know they can go to in complete confidence to help them address concerns?+
This is often a parent or booster whose profession requires mandatory reporting of crime or abuse.
Now that you have chosen a gym with safety standards in place, here’s your job:
- Never put a single goal above child safety. Putting a meet or medal above all else puts children at risk for abuse.
- Listen to your child. Just as you ask your child to demonstrate respect for their coach, offer your child the same level of respect. Kids are good judges of character. Talk to your kid about how they feel. Make sure they feel good about going to practice. If they don’t or something seems off, ask questions.
- Choose a gym that has an open, positive culture with an open door communication policy. If something doesn’t seem or feel right, ask questions until you’re 100% comfortable–and if you aren’t comfortable, go with your instincts and make changes. Never feel badly about asking hard questions. Your child is relying on you to do so.
348: Break the Beam, Literally
LISTEN HERE
COLLEGE GYMNASTICS (03:36)
- SEC excitement won the day on Friday. We ask: is there actually a way to make wins and losses matter in college, or is it just a nice idea?
- Sabrina Vega literally broke the beam in Georgia (or it bowed to her greatness)
- Spencer has no words for the insane scoring at the UCLA/Arizona State meet.
- Oklahoma scores 197.000, which is like 193.000 for Oklahoma
- Maggie Nichols out with a bruised heel
- Crack or correct: Anastasia Webb’s 9.950 on beam (45:20)
- McKenna Merrell-Giles wins the hilarious beam fall award, and what’s the deal with Skinner’s scores?
- Random stick-themed nonsense of the week: Oregon State’s stick chainsaw, and Illinois’ stick STICK
- Shout outs to Arden Hudson of Ball State for vaulting a handspring repulsion 2/1, and Sophia Hyderally of Alaska for her magical floor.
- Crack or correct: Ona Loper’s 9.750 vault, New Hampshire’s 49.425 beam rotation ((1:24:00)
ADVICE CORNER (1:08:59)
What is proper meet etiquette? Jessica and Spencer have some…differing views about how one should behave in the audience at a gymnastics competition. As you might imagine.
GYMTERNET NEWS (1:26:44)
- John Engler finally resigned from MSU
- Kathryn Carson has a board update. Everything is great apparently, unless you ask anyone
- US women have national team camp at EVO this week, and there’s drama over who got invited and who did not
- TRIGGER WARNING: The trouble with SafeSport
- Rosters are out for the Stuttgart AA world cup (SIMONE AND ALIYA) and Melbourne event world cup
FURTHER READING
- Monday Live Blog – January 21, 2019
- Saturday Live Blog – January 19, 2019
- Friday Live Blog – January 18, 2019
- NCAA Week 3 Preview
- NCAA Week 3 – Schedule and Links
- Roster Notes – Week 2
- Only the Best – Week 2
SUPPORT THE SHOW
RELATED EPISODES
- 347: The Michigan Mess & the Viral Queen
- 346: Peng Is Here!
- 345: So Long 2018
- 344: Shushunova vs. Silivas 1988 (Commissioned)
- 343: The Andrade Cup & the Dumpster Fire of Lies
- 342: A Quitter’s Try – The CNN Parkettes Documentary (Commissioned)
- 341: The Call Is Coming from Inside the House
- 340: USAG and The Case of the Missing Documents
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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347: The Michigan Mess & the Viral Queen
LISTEN HERE
CONTEST:
Prize: University of Denver hat, shirt and sweatshirt.
How to Enter: Tell us why you love Denver gymnastics and use the #DenverGymCastic on Twitter or Instagram.
Deadline: Sunday, Jan 20th at midnight Pacific.
Do I have to be a Club Gym Nerd member? No! Open to all.
IN THE NEWS (3:00)
- The Rhonda debacle: Michigan hires, then fires, Rhonda Faehn in the span of a single weekend. Because gymnastics totally has its life together.
- What the team members are saying, what Rachael Denhollander is saying, and how we navigate the politics of whose voice gets to matter—especially when people we agree with happen to disagree with each other
- Why gymnastics fans largely have a better impression of Rhonda than of the other USAG employees involved
- How the University of Michigan royally screwed this up in every way
- Dan Baker replaced MLT as the developmental program head coach, and USAG didn’t say a word about it
COLLEGE GYMNASTICS (30:50)
- Auburn upsets LSU
- Derrian Gobourne is a star (1:14:15)
- The entire Auburn bars lineup is taking Abby Milliet pills
- What happened to McKenna Kelley
- How DD handled the dudes in the front row
- Denver defeats Michigan and Alabama
- Gushing about Alexis Vasquez for all eternity (15:40)
- Jessica’s inside stories from visiting Denver during the preseason
- Alabama has a stick bedazzled Thor’s hammer
- Plus…
- We’re desperately worried about Maggie limping after floor
- Trinity Thomas debuts for Florida (1:16:56) and Kathy is everyone
- Anaheim quad meet
- College meets are playing the national anthem before the athletes enter
- Ohashi goes viral for her floor routine again (our first interview with Ohashi in 2013 and second in 2015)
- Special appreciation for Kelley Hebert and Sarah Liddle of UC Davis, Alma Kuc and Sofie Seilnacht of Cal for NOT BEING BASIC
- Why Jessica cried over Marz Frazier’s floor routine
- Spencer rants about the competition’s horrible strip club poster
- “Splashdown”-gate
- How would an Olympic team of Nichols, Ross, Finnegan, and Skinner do?
- Crack or Correct: Justice for Lexy Ramler, leo scoring is real, and more bizarre judging in Alabama
GYMTERNET NEWS
- The American Cup roster is out! We break it down gymnast by gymnast
- USAG hasn’t been paying the men’s national team. RUH ROH.
- Update: They’ve now been paid for January—why it’s too late and way too little
- Plus: USAG finally suspends internet troll Don McPherson, Geddert case updates, Aly broke a bone, and rules about FIG nationality changes
FURTHER READING
- Nancy Armour asks: whose voice counts?
- Week 2 Ranking Notes
- Sunday Live Blog – January 13, 2019
- Saturday Live Blog – January 12, 2019
- Friday Live Blog – January 11, 2019
- Things Are Happening – January 11, 2019
SUPPORT THE SHOW
RELATED EPISODES
- 346: Peng Is Here!
- 345: So Long 2018
- 344: Shushunova vs. Silivas 1988 (Commissioned)
- 343: The Andrade Cup & the Dumpster Fire of Lies
- 342: A Quitter’s Try – The CNN Parkettes Documentary (Commissioned)
- 341: The Call Is Coming from Inside the House
- 340: USAG and The Case of the Missing Documents
- 307: SHAME – Congressional Hearings Edition
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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346: Peng Is Here!
LISTEN HERE
COLLEGE GYMNASTICS WEEK 1
Jessica and Spencer are joined this week by a special guest, the legend that is Peng Peng Lee, to recap the first weekend of the college gymnastics season
- RECORDS: Oklahoma sets a first-weekend record and BRENNA DID BEAM, breaking Jessica
- Peng reveals the secret to perfect beaming
- INJURIES: Bailie Key is going to miss another season and Lexie Priessman is coming back from her 9th surgery
- Peng takes us through the roller coaster that has been her injury history, from back injuries that could have left her paralyzed, to stopping gymnastics for a year, to her multi-season ACL drama
- Plus, how Peng’s sixth year came about, why bridges are stupid and no one should do them, and where you can find her now
- OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMEDY: Arkansas has a hog nose on a chain, Alex Hyland has Fresh Prince of Bel-Air floor music, and Maya Bordas wins the beam save award
- HIGHLIGHTS: Natalie Wojcik is our freshman of the week, Gracie Kramer’s floor is Spencer’s favorite because of weird, and Claire Gagliardi from Ohio State has the most fantastic Yezhova (14:38)
- CRACK OR CORRECT:
- Rachel Dickson’s mathematically impossible beam score
- Maddie Desch (1:05:55) receives 9.250 for a beam routine with no fall—we discuss what’s right and what’s wrong about this score
- Were any of the vaults really 10s?
GYMTERNET NEWS (1:33:30)
- KENZO DID MAI’S FLOOR ROUTINE AHHHHHHH
- KRISTAL UZELAC IS RETURNING TO ELITE AHHHHHHH
- Jessica has been reading too many spy novels: Russian doping conspiracy theory edition
- USAG and Safesport news:
- MELANIE AHHHHHHHH
LINKS
- Seth Delbridge has developed a MAG and WAG Code of points app
- Week 1 Ranking Notes
- Saturday Live Blog – January 5, 2019
- Friday Live Blog – January 4, 2019
- Things Are Happening – January 4, 2019
SUPPORT THE SHOW
RELATED EPISODES
- 345: So Long 2018
- 344: Shushunova vs. Silivas 1988 (Commissioned)
- 343: The Andrade Cup & the Dumpster Fire of Lies
- 342: A Quitter’s Try – The CNN Parkettes Documentary (Commissioned)
- 341: The Call Is Coming from Inside the House
- 340: USAG and The Case of the Missing Documents
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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