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The tie that wasn’t a tie! This week’s episode has been commissioned by Club Gym Nerd member RayRay, who requested an episode on “An Abundance of Shushunovas (TM Jessica) – The 1988 battle between Shushunova and Silvas.” Thank you for letting us do this, RayRay! 

Psst: Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about the dumpster fire, so just a few words on that before we begin. We’ll get into it in detail next week, but you can read the entire Ropes and Gray report here. 

WATCH: UK Coverage; US Coverage 

We discuss:

• Who won the AA battle, event by event, routine by routine
• Silivas’s own thoughts about the hardest mats of all time
• Perms and shorterall leos and mullets — the big 3
• THERE IS AN OUTLINE OF A BUTT ON THIS SPRINGBOARD
• Classic (i.e. horrifying) US fluff pieces
• Floor whisperers: We interpret the floor choreography with 100% accuracy
• The most 80s thing that has ever happened in history ever
• The SHOVE of victory
• Where are they now? Checking in with the main characters

FURTHER READING

• 2019 Preseason Coaches Poll
• 2019 Preview – Utah Utes
• Things Are Happening – December 7, 2018
• 2019 Preview – Cal Golden Bears
• 2019 Preview – Nebraska Cornhuskers
• 2019 Preview – Michigan Wolverines

SUPPORT THE SHOW

• Join Club Gym Nerd here.
• Buy some of our awesome clothing and gifts here.
• Plus, the 2018 Gymcastic Gift Guide is here! Be sure to order by December 18 for delivery by Christmas!

RELATED EPISODES

• 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
• 327: 1993 NCAA Nationals (Commissioned)
• 325: Olympics of Difference Makers (Commissioned)
• 313: Best Floor Routines EVAH! (Commissioned)
• 312: 4th Is the New 1st (Commissioned)
• 309: Perfect Form – The O’Beirne Code (Commissioned)
• 308: 2004 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 306: Gymnastics Fails (Commissioned)
• 304: The GymCastic Olympics (Commissioned)
• 281: Myths, Legends, and Unexpected Moments PART 2 (Commissioned)
• 279: A Diva Is Magical: The Svetlana Khorkina Episode (Commissioned)
• 278: 2000 Sydney All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 262: 1996 Olympic Event Finals (Commissioned)
• 258: The Fluff Cast (Commissioned)
• 256: 1996 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 255: 1996 Olympic Team Final (Commissioned)
• 252: Myths, Legends and Unexpected Moments in Gymnastics History (Commissioned)
• 228: Leotards (Commissioned)
• 225: 1992 Olympics Recap with Wendy Bruce (Commissioned)
• 185: 2008 Olympic All-Around Finals (Commissioned)

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

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THIS WEEK (1:30)

• First, Scott Bregman of the Olympic Channel joins us to talk about his fantastic interviews with Simone Biles and John Orozco and handle Jessica’s request for a naked interview with a bunch of Japanese men, or something

IN THE NEWS (19:50)

• We discuss what we learned about THE DOCUMENTS from Scott Reid’s report on the depositions in Aly’s lawsuit against USAG and the USOC – it ain’t good.
• The FIG Congress approved creating a Gymnastics Ethics Foundation — is this anything?
• The FIG has proposed changes in the way athletes qualify for worlds — we like!
• The USAG board has a new chairwoman – is there a secret golf cabal we should know about?
• Lou Anna Simon has been charged with lying to police – oh, that’s too bad.
• Alex Naddour has been removed from the suspended members list.

COTTBUS (56:50)

• Jessica’s thoughts on the crowd, swimming naked in Germany, Milad Karimi’s crib, white boards, and genetically modified Ukrainians
• Spencer jabbers endlessly about the Olympic qualification points rules, what this means for 2020 (not so much yet) and Jade Carey’s strategy
• The Rebeca Andrade Cup – THAT DTY YOU GUYS
• The beam final was a mess, but Flavia got 2nd even with a fall because perfection
• Jade Carey did…OK. She took 2nd on VT and 5th on FX with 3 OOBs
• Marta Pihan-Kulesza has brought back her Pink Panther routine, and it was AH-MAH-ZING
• Pros and Cons of how the Olympic rules have changed the apparatus world cup
  • Pros: This is the most we’ve ever cared about an apparatus world cup
  • Cons: Some of these finals were better than worlds: Cough, cough MIYACHI

UNCLE TIM ALERT (14:34)

• Uncle Tim attended Cirque’s show Volta and has an extra special review for us 

SUPPORT THE SHOW

• Join Club Gym Nerd here.
• Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. December 18th is the last day to order and get your goodies by Christmas! And we have themed albums!
• The 2018 Gymcastic Gift Guide is here!

FURTHER READING

• National Team Rankings – December 2018
• Things Are Happening – November 30, 2018
• 2019 NCAA Roster Notes
• Cottbus World Cup – Finals Live Blog Day 2
• Cottbus World Cup – Finals Live Blog

RELATED EPISODES

• 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
• 339: Doha Worlds Event Finals Day Two
• 338: Doha Worlds Event Finals Day One
• 329: Steve Penny Arrested & Doha Worlds Preview
• 324: The Jade Carey Situation & a Miss Val Book Interview Drinking Game

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

LISTEN HERE

This episode has been commissioned by Club Gym Nerd member Taylor, Princess of Sexy Data, who requested a deep dive into the infamous CNN Parkettes documentary, Achieving the Perfect 10, that we can all quote by heart. We discuss

• Background
  • What’s the deal with Parkettes?
  • The legacy of this piece
  • Jessica’s experience going to the Parkettes camp as a youth (!)
  • Why we think Parkettes agreed to this
• Part 1: A 7-year-old with a broken ankle
  • TOPs testing gives Spencer a panic attack
  • How NOT to sound like a creeper when talking about a 7-year-old
  • Everyone says “suck it up” 100,000 times because healthy
  • We root for everyone to quit and go to a pool party
• Part 2: Get confident, stupid
  • Demeaning people definitely makes them more confident
  • The Mrs hates everyone, especially gymnasts, and teenagers, and you
  • Jessica is still fawning over Nicole Harris to this day
• Part 3: Annie, are you OK?
  • “Do you just think it’s more important to have bobbles so people will give you attentions?”
  • Why we’re obsessed with deadpan comedy genius Annie Fogerty
  • OH GOOD THE WEIGHT PORTION, THIS WILL GO WELL
  • “Way to give up, Annie, way to give up”
  • “Was that a try, what you just did? What kind of a try? Is there such a thing as a quitter’s try, like lackadaisical?”
  • What exactly is a quitter’s try?
  • The Kristie Phillips cautionary tale
• Part 4: Aftermath
  • Where are they now?
  • What this says about elite gymnastics, and why USAG learned all the wrong lessons from how horrified we are by it
  • The problem with typical American parents’ view of sports

FURTHER READING

• Meet the Freshmen – Oklahoma & Arkansas
• Meet the Freshmen – Florida & Kentucky
• Things Are Happening – November 16, 2018
• Meet the Freshmen – LSU & Georgia
• NLI Week 2019-2020=

SUPPORT THE SHOW

• Join Club Gym Nerd here.
• Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

• 341: The Call Is Coming from Inside the House
• 340: USAG and The Case of the Missing Documents
• 327: 1993 NCAA Nationals (Commissioned)
• 325: Olympics of Difference Makers (Commissioned)
• 313: Best Floor Routines EVAH! (Commissioned)
• 312: 4th Is the New 1st (Commissioned)
• 309: Perfect Form – The O’Beirne Code (Commissioned)
• 308: 2004 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 306: Gymnastics Fails (Commissioned)
• 304: The GymCastic Olympics (Commissioned)
• 281: Myths, Legends, and Unexpected Moments PART 2 (Commissioned)
• 279: A Diva Is Magical: The Svetlana Khorkina Episode (Commissioned)
• 278: 2000 Sydney All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 262: 1996 Olympic Event Finals (Commissioned)
• 258: The Fluff Cast (Commissioned)
• 256: 1996 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 255: 1996 Olympic Team Final (Commissioned)
• 252: Myths, Legends and Unexpected Moments in Gymnastics History (Commissioned)
• 228: Leotards (Commissioned)
• 225: 1992 Olympics Recap with Wendy Bruce (Commissioned)
• 185: 2008 Olympic All-Around Finals (Commissioned)

 

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

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GYMTERNET NEWS

• The latest on…bum-bum-bum…decertification
  • Mary Bono was submitted by THE USOC
  • Is decertification inevitable…or not?
• THE DOCUMENTS
  • We’re being asked to believe some pretty ridiculous things right now…
  • …so we performed a play about what might maybe have happened
  • Save your applause until the end
• Rules Clarifications. At worlds, the FIG held a forum to clarify rules and it was eventful. We CODE NERD OUT about:
  • The messy chalk crackdown
  • “No face painting. This is sport, not theater”
  • No choreography onto the floor
  • No soccer flopping
  • The swing ring police (YES!)
  • The two-foot-layout police (YES!)
  • The side jump police (YES!)
  • The beam rhythm police (YES!)

THIS WEEK’S INTERVIEW

The myth, the legend, actual real-life big-boy sports reporter Will Graves of the AP joins us to discuss his experience in Doha and the current state of US gymnastics, including

• If he floated away in a flood
• Crowd size, and whether worlds should ever go back to Qatar
• His secret meeting with the country’s #2 (and interest in the rainbow leotard)
• How he approaches USAG differently than in, say, 2015
• Whether Simone is the greatest thing ever to be, ever, in the history of time and the universe, ever ever ever
• The current state of men’s gymnastics in the US

SUPPORT THE SHOW

• Join Club Gym Nerd here.
• Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

• 340: USAG and The Case of the Missing Documents
• 339: Doha Worlds Event Finals Day Two
• 338: Doha Worlds Event Finals Day One
• 337: Doha Worlds Women’s All-Around Final
• 336: Doha Worlds Men’s All Around Final
• 335: Doha Worlds Womens Team Final
• 334: Doha Worlds Men’s Team Final Day Five
• 333: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Four
• 332: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Three
• 331: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day Two
• 330: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day One
• 329: Steve Penny Arrested & Doha Worlds Preview
• 328: The US Worlds Team & CEO Dumpster Fire

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

LISTEN HERE

THIS WEEK’S

This week Jessica is joined by Scott Reid from the Orange County Register. We discuss:

• Why All Olympia (AOGC) Mckayla Maroney and Mattie Larson’s gym is closing. 
• Why the  U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) is moving to decertify USA Gymnastics (USAG) now. 
• Did USAG suddenly find the  “missing” Ranch medical documents?
• Whether or not the USOC is decertifying in order to force USAG into bankruptcy.
• What effect a USAG bankruptcy will have on the evidence gathering in the lawsuits.
• Will USAG really be decertified?
• Here’s a link to his most recent article, “All Olympia agrees to pay Nassar survivor Mattie Larson $1 million“

WATCH McKAYLA MARONEY TALK ABOUT LIFE AT ALL OLYMPIA

CONTEST

• WHAT: Norbert’s are giving away a  6′ Long Sectional Beam. Model SB-402, $120 value and of course they pay shipping in the 48 continuous states.
• HOW: Twitter tag us and use hastag #norbertsbeamgiveaway and tell us your favorite beam skill or post a GIF of it. 
• DEADLINE: November 12th at noon Pacific

WATCH ALONG WITH US ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE

Beam Finals


Men’s Vault Final

Women’s Floor



SUPPORT THE SHOW

• Join Club Gym Nerd here.
• Buy one of our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

• 329: Steve Penny Arrested & Doha Worlds Preview
• 328: The US Worlds Team & CEO Dumpster Fire
• 327: 1993 NCAA Nationals (Commissioned)
• 326: The Great Individual vs. Team Debate
• 325: Olympics of Difference Makers (Commissioned)
• 324: The Jade Carey Situation & a Miss Val Book Interview Drinking Game
• 307: SHAME – Congressional Hearings Edition
• 245: Steve Penny is GONE
• 241: The Pittsburgh Incident

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

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WOMEN’S BEAM, FLOOR and MEN’S PARALLEL BARS, VAULT AND HIGH BAR EVENT FINALS

• Simone Biles won her back her gold crown on Floor. She also tied Khorkina’s record for total World medals and broke Khorkina’s all-around record by winning her fourth World all-around title.
• Simone, Morgan Hurd and Mai gobbled up the floor medals like champs but we have some questions about Melanie de Jesus dos Santos floor score and obviously Brooklyn Moors should have won all the medals because she is ART!
• Ri Se Gwang was allowed out of his secret training dungeon to grace us with his bionic ankles and crazy difficulty for the vault win.
• As expected the man should be given 10’s for execution on P-Bars won gold and Oleg Verniaev hung in for silver.
• High bar was controversial with Epke winning with his huge D and improved form, but Kohei’s better E earning silver. Sam Mikulak won his first EVER individual World medal with the highest execution of the final.

WATCH ALONG WITH US ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE

Beam Finals



Men’s Vault Final

Women’s Floor




FURTHER READING

• Just the Good Stuff – Event Finals Day 2
• Worlds 2018 – Event Finals Day 2
• Just the Good Stuff – Event Finals Day 1
• Worlds 2018 – Event Finals Day 1
• Just the Good Stuff – Womens All-Around Final
• Worlds 2018 – Women’s All-Around Final
• Just the Good Stuff: Men’s All-Around Final
• Worlds 2018 – Men’s All-Around Final
• Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Team Final
• Worlds 2018 – Women’s Team Final
• Just the Good Stuff: Men’s Team Final
• Worlds 2018 – Men’s Team Final

SUPPORT THE SHOW

• Thank you Tumbl Trak!
• Join Club Gym Nerd here.
• Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

• 338: Doha Worlds Event Finals Day One
• 337: Doha Worlds Women’s All-Around Final
• 336: Doha Worlds Men’s All Around Final
• 335: Doha Worlds Womens Team Final
• 334: Doha Worlds Men’s Team Final Day Five
• 333: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Four
• 332: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Three
• 331: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day Two
• 330: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day One
• 329: Steve Penny Arrested & Doha Worlds Preview

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

 

 

 

 

 

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WOMEN’S VAULT AND BARS, MEN’S POMMEL HORSE, RINGS AND FLOOR EVENT FINALS

• Simone Biles breaks Scherbo’s event medal record with her bazillianth vault gold. 
• Nina did it! She won the bar world championship gold! NINA DERWAEL!!! But do we agree with third and fourth place?
• NBC things
• The best stag jump on men’s floor won gold and Kenzo was more excited for Yulo than himself.
• Pommel horse tie-breaker between Max Whitlock and Xiao. Why can’t there be ties!?
• Eleftherios Petrounias (Greece) doesn’t need no stinkin’ shoulder tender to win rings! Duh!

WATCH ALONG WITH US ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE

Bars Finals

Men’s Floor Finals

Women’s Vault Final




FURTHER READING

• Just the Good Stuff – Event Finals Day 1
• Worlds 2018 – Event Finals Day 1
• Just the Good Stuff – Womens All-Around Final
• Worlds 2018 – Women’s All-Around Final
• Just the Good Stuff: Men’s All-Around Final
• Worlds 2018 – Men’s All-Around Final
• Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Team Final
• Worlds 2018 – Women’s Team Final
• Just the Good Stuff: Men’s Team Final
• Worlds 2018 – Men’s Team Final

SUPPORT THE SHOW

• Thank you Tumbl Trak!
• Join Club Gym Nerd here.
• Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

• 337: Doha Worlds Women’s All-Around Final
• 336: Doha Worlds Men’s All Around Final
• 335: Doha Worlds Womens Team Final
• 334: Doha Worlds Men’s Team Final Day Five
• 333: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Four
• 332: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Three
• 331: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day Two
• 330: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day One
• 329: Steve Penny Arrested & Doha Worlds Preview

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

 

 

 

 

 

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WOMEN’S ALL-AROUND FINAL

• Simone wins her 4th world championship AA title—but how do we feel about someone winning with two falls?
• We break down the tight race for the remaining medals among Mai Murakami, Morgan Hurd, Nina Derwael, Angelina Melnikova, and Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos
• Mai and Nina make ALL THE HISTORY
• Plus, all the things that made Jessica well up with tears, scream at the world feed, hit Spencer in the leg, and sometimes all three

WATCH ALONG WITH US ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE

 

FURTHER READING

• Just the Good Stuff: Women’s All-Around Final
• Worlds 2018 – Women’s All-Around Final
• Just the Good Stuff: Men’s All-Around Final
• Worlds 2018 – Men’s All-Around Final
• Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Team Final
• Worlds 2018 – Women’s Team Final
• Just the Good Stuff: Men’s Team Final
• Worlds 2018 – Men’s Team Final

SUPPORT THE SHOW

• Thank you Tumbl Trak!
• Join Club Gym Nerd here.
• Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

• 336: Doha Worlds Men’s All Around Final
• 335: Doha Worlds Womens Team Final
• 334: Doha Worlds Men’s Team Final Day Five
• 333: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Four
• 332: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Three
• 331: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day Two
• 330: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day One
• 329: Steve Penny Arrested & Doha Worlds Preview

 

 

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

 

 

 

 

 

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DOHA: WOMEN’S TEAM FINAL

 Kensley, Jessica and Spencer talk about the men’s all-around final! 

Sam Mikulak was third going in to the finals but high bar got him again. Why the all around tie-breaker of dropping the lowest score is the stupidest thing ever. Why Artur Dalaloyan’s come back from team finals was so heartwarming. Kenzo and Ngorny won our hearts and so did Nastia who hates the world feed and tie-breakers as much as we do. TELL ‘EM Nastia!

ALONG WITH US ON YOUTUBE

Men’s Team Finals

CONTEST

• • WHAT: Norbert’s are giving away a  6′ Long Sectional Beam. Model SB-402, $120 value and of course they pay shipping in the 48 continuous states.
  • HOW: Twitter tag us and use hastag #norbertsbeamgiveaway and tell us your favorite beam skill or post a GIF of it. 
  • DEADLINE: November 12th

FURTHER READING

• Just the Good Stuff: Mens’s AA Final
• Worlds 2018 – Men’s AA Final 
• Worlds 2018 – Men’s Team Final
• Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Qualification Day 2
• Worlds 2018 – Women’s Qualification Day 2
• Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Qualification Day 1
• Worlds 2018 – Women’s Qualification Day 1
• Just the Good Stuff: Men’s Qualification Day 2
• Worlds 2018 – Men’s Qualification Day 2
• Just the Good Stuff: Men’s Qualification Day 1
• Worlds 2018 – Men’s Qualification Day 1 (Russia)

SUPPORT THE SHOW

• Thank you Tumbl Trak!
• Join Club Gym Nerd here.
• Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

• 335: Doha Worlds Womens Team Final
• 334: Doha Worlds Men’s Team Final Day Five
• 333: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Four
• 332: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Three
• 331: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day Two
• 330: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day One
• 329: Steve Penny Arrested & Doha Worlds Preview

 

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

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DOHA: WOMEN’S TEAM FINAL

 Jessica and Spencer talk about the women’s team final! 

The US won by the largest margin of victor by a male or female team ever! Tom Forster actually told us the criteria for the lineups, asked for the gymnast’s opinions and even told us the team goals which are completely reasonable! Russia and US rotation world peace. Historic finish for Canada. Don’t worry Japan will be safe. The World feed might be ever worse than NBC with Trautwig. Our hearts broke for Brazil and China. How the French and German teams won our hearts. EVEN SPENCER’S!

WATCH ALONG WITH US HERE

 

FURTHER READING

• Worlds 2018 – Men’s Team Final
• Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Qualification Day 2
• Worlds 2018 – Women’s Qualification Day 2
• Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Qualification Day 1
• Worlds 2018 – Women’s Qualification Day 1
• Just the Good Stuff: Men’s Qualification Day 2
• Worlds 2018 – Men’s Qualification Day 2
• Just the Good Stuff: Men’s Qualification Day 1
• Worlds 2018 – Men’s Qualification Day 1 (Russia)

SUPPORT THE SHOW

• Thank you Tumbl Trak!
• Join Club Gym Nerd here.
• Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

• 333: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Four
• 332: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Three
• 331: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day Two
• 330: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day One
• 329: Steve Penny Arrested & Doha Worlds Preview

 

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