GYMN-L Digest - 1 Jul 1996 - Special issue

There are 18 messages totalling 611 lines in this issue.

Topics in this special issue:

1. Unsolicited women's trials comments
2. John Tesh
3. NBC feedback link
4. whip backs
5. Marta Karolyi/Mary Lee Tracy US Coaches
6. Alternates?
7. We dont all live in the US!! (2)
8. WAG--Coaches
9. Nadia
10. USA:Alternates?(7-6-5 rule) (2)
11. John Tesh & Olympic Trials
12. Coaches
13. GYMN-L Digest - 17 Jun 1996 to 18 Jun 1996
14. The olympic trials and stuff
15. ESPN
16. Women's trials commentary (LONG)

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 06:58:02 -0400
From: ***@MINDSPRING.COM
Subject: Unsolicited women's trials comments

I don't know much about the Colorado coach, so the next few lines might
be worthless, but he *could have* been reacting out of disappointment
*for* them and not *with* them. I saw some other coaches spew the
expletives and shed a few tears and recover in time for greeting the
gymnast at the edge of the mat with a hug - maybe he just doesn't
recover as quickly?

Amy Chow was just magnificent - I still can't believe someone could
finish that routine, with the elements she had remaining, after taking
that kind of hit.

I think the participating team as a whole was brilliant. Would you say
this might be the strongest all around team we've had yet?

It was sad seeing Jenny Thompson not make it. Yes, she's only 14 and has
another chance, and yes, she said it wouldn't matter, but obviously it
did - she's just a kid after all. What kills me, living in Atlanta, is
that they've had her photo on the escalator at the airport advertizing
the Olympics since '92.

And lastly, Amanda. AMANDA! I was sitting there with tears rolling down
my cheeks when she nailed her floor routine and then took the family out
for ice cream to celebrate (I'm such a puddin').

--
--- Jeff

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 07:00:06 -0400
From: ***@MINDSPRING.COM
Subject: John Tesh

C'mon y'all - speak out -

http://www.nbc.com/sports/index.html

"I'm going to say "If you can't muzzle Tesh altogether, then at least
limit his comments to between performances so I can limit my vomiting to
the same"

;)


--
--- Jeff

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 07:34:27 -0400
From: ***@MINDSPRING.COM
Subject: NBC feedback link

The actual link for feedback is :
http://www.olympic.nbc.com/bbs/first.html

I sent it choosing 'Gymnastics - Artistic' as the department. Here is
what I put (sorry John):

John Tesh is a nice guy, but to gymnastic enthusiasts, and
there are thousands of us out here, his need to inject
commentary into every silent moment is at best irritating.

If you can't muzzle him competely, can you at least have
him limit his comments to between each gymnast's performance
so that we can limit our vomiting to the same? We're all
poised to use the *Mute* button if not (and thus the
advertisers will be muted as well).

--
--- Jeff

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 08:24:29 -0400
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: whip backs

>I was wondering if someone could help me. I'm just starting to get
>back in the gym again and I have been having a problem with a
>tumbling pass that used to come easy to me. I can't seem to do whip
>to full any more. I'm supposed to go RO, BH, WB, BH, full. For some
>reason, once I finish my WB I can't do the second BH. I feel like
>i'm planted in the floor...I have no momentum (sp) left. I don't
>know what to do. It's really upsetting...this is a pass that I used
>to compete. I'm trying to take into consideration that I haven't
>worked out in a year, but to lose a WB?????? Anyway, if someone
>could help me it would be greatly appreciated.

Most likely your problem is that you are landing your whip with your feet
behind your center of gravity. If you train a slight overrotation so you are
landing with your feet in front of you, this should fix the problem.

Dean

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 08:25:41 -0400
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: Marta Karolyi/Mary Lee Tracy US Coaches

Marta Karolyi was named Women's Head Coach with Mary Lee Tracy as Assistant.
According to the San Jose Mercury News article, this frees up Bela to focus
on Moceanu.

Mara

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 08:30:42 -0400
From: ***@GROVE.IUP.EDU
Subject: Alternates?

Who will the alternate be on the teams, the chose seven women, but the ranking
on the end of the telecast didn't say who the alternate is. Just wondering.

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 22:55:26 +1000
From: ***@JCU.EDU.AU
Subject: We dont all live in the US!!

Hi gymners.

Apologies if someone did post the results of the trials at the conclusion
of optionals , but it never made my mailbox, only comments on individuals,
coaches and commentators.

Now I dont really care who is on the US team, but since Ive heard almost
nothing else for 2 weeks I would like to know the outcome! Please remember
this is an international forum, therefore not all list readers saw the
trials on tv or had coverage of any sort in their newspapers, after all Im
sure the Australian Team selection isnt headline news in the US.

Who is Tom Forester? What did he do to upset everyone? What exactly
happened to Amy Chow on Beam? Who is on the team for Atlanta? Who is John
Tesh? Whats the gossip on Miller and Moceanu's injuries? What happenned to
Kulikowski and her teamate?

Regards Sharyn.

P.S Well you US folk may have commentators who drive you up the wall, but
at least you get coverage. The seven network has the contract here in O
and they are pitiful. no set times for events or sports. At Barcelona they
showed 10 mins of gym on average each hour,24 hours a day, which consisted
of about 5 routines matched ad for ad after each routine. To tape that
Olympics I had to stay awake for 24 hours at a time on the WAG days. And
in all I didnt even fill a 3 hour tape. Id swap for coverage and lousy
commentators anyday!!!!!!

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 08:59:58 -0400
From: ***@TRISTATE.PGH.NET
Subject: WAG--Coaches

I am just wondering if Bela and Mary Lee Tracy are automatically going to be
made the Olympic coaches since they both have two athletes on the team. I
had thought that someone had said before that that was how they chose the
coaches.
LeeAnne

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Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 08:27:02 +0000
From: ***@RMII.COM
Subject: Re: Nadia

> This mess on the USA gymnastics
> WWW page about e-mailing "your favorite" gymnast is an obscene joke. Even
> they know that all of the "letters" will be dumped by the file server at
> whatever internet provider all of this stuff is supposed to be on. None of
> this "letters" will ever be seen by human eyes. Why play with people? . What
> must the little kids be thinking? "I wrote to my hero, and he/she never
> wrote me back". IF THE PERSON CAN'T OR WON'T ANSWER FAN MAIL, DON'T SAY
> THAT THEY WILL---- DON'T IMPLY IT. Don't lead little kids on. Or big ones.

Garlfar, and all of Gymn,

I have spent two to three hours every morning printing off and distributing
the USA Gymnastics Online "Trials1996" fan mail. In the morning bus on the
way to the workout gym, I do "mail call" and distribute the email. I
guarantee that all gymnasts are receiving each email mesasge and reading all
of them. If people think that this is a farce, maybe I should just sleep in
every morning and forget about it?

The WWW page also *clearly* states that the gymnasts will not be able to
answer their fan email, so there are no false expectations. The gymnasts
are on tight schedules, plus getting them access to computers for replying is
tough, so we put up the note on the web page in advance explaining that the
gymnasts will not be able to respond. But I GUARANTEE you that everyone is
receiving their fan mail. In fact, Dominique Dawes, when getting off the
bus today, specifically thanked me for giving her the fan mail; I am sure
that they are appreciative of the support that is being demonstrated for
them by email. Many of the "fan mail" letters, by the way, are coming from
family members or club mates, or personal friends of the gymnasts. So
everyone seems to be enjoying it!

A "reliable source",

Rachele
USA Gymnastics Webmaster

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 09:53:48 -0400
From: ***@PHARM.MED.UPENN.EDU
Subject: USA:Alternates?(7-6-5 rule)

The question of alternates seem to be recurring, I figured that since they
made the announcement in the gym at the trials, they would also make the
announcement on TV along with the rest of the jabber.

There will be no alternates traveling with the team. Only 7 go the
respective training sites. However, the 8th person (Thereasa Kulakowski
and Josh Stein) for each respective team are being asked to continue
training in their own gym until July 20th in the event that an injury might
occur and they would need to be added to keep the team at 7. Once
Compulsories begin, if an athlete is injured they can not be replaced, that
is why the 7-6-5 rule was created.

(read further for 7-6-5 rule)

The 7-6-5 rule says - each country may bring 7 gymnasts and may compete all
7 gymnasts. What happens is that the coach determines the 6 best athletes
on each event and assigns them to compete on that event. The team score is
made up of the 5 highest scores from each event. What this allows is for
a coach to put up the strongest people on each event rather than having a
weak spot - I know the men's so... Peter when doing the line-up for rings
will probably not include Mihai in that line-up since his rings generally
don't score as high as the others, but you will definitely see Mihai on
Pommels and High bar (for me he had the most exciting high bar routine at
trials optionals session.)

Synopsis:

7 are eligible to compete
6 compete on an event
5 scores count

Mayland

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 06:57:41 -0700
From: ***@NETCOM.COM
Subject: Re: We dont all live in the US!!

> Who is Tom Forester? What did he do to upset everyone?

He's the coach of Kristy Powell and Theresa Kulikowski, and when
Kulikowski fell off compulsory B (on the front shoulder roll) he was
grief-stricken.

> What exactly happened to Amy Chow on Beam?

She missed a foot on her 1st layout (FF, LO, LO), tried to do the 2nd
layout anyway, and hit her face on B. She remounted and finished her
routine, and had developed a large lump to the right of her right eye.

> Who is on the team for Atlanta?

Miller (78.38), Moceanu (78.22), Dawes (78.157), Strug (78.108), Phelps
(77.736), Chow (77.267) and Borden (77.162). Miller and Moceanu's scores
are those carried over from Nationals; the others are Trials scores.

> Who is John Tesh?

NBC's Olympic commentator for the gym. competition (and maybe other
sports?), he also writes music, was co-host of the TV show "Entertainment
Tonight," is married to Connie Selleca (former TV actress), and is called
"the blond Frankenstein" by Howard Stern. :-)

> Whats the gossip on Miller and Moceanu's injuries?

They'll both be recovered in time for the Games...

Debbie

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 09:01:25 -0700
From: ***@MARLIN.UTMB.EDU
Subject: Re: John Tesh & Olympic Trials

> Not sure exactly what category this goes under, but Amy Chow's
> finishing her beam routine with what was definitely a hard hit to the head
> was really somthing. (Though having our favorite three commentators
> simultaneously yell "Ow!" on the *replay* was a bit much.)

In all fairness, how could you not yell when you watched the replay. I
certainly did.

Joel

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 09:10:51 -0700
From: ***@MARLIN.UTMB.EDU
Subject: Re: Coaches


> About Tom Forester. I think this guy is a jerk, and should not be allowed
> to coach, well I'm just saying that cause he made me so mad. It is his
> athletes that it most hurts that THEY don't make the team. What the heck is
> he crying in Compul. when they both fell, I don't like this guy, can't you
> tell? :)

Did you ever stop to think that maybe he WAS disappointed FOR HIS GYMNASTS? The
only reason everyone thinks
that he was more concerned with himself is because NBC did that pfluff piece
about how he blew his chances for
sports greatness while still in high school and is trying to regrasp it through
his gymnasts.

I've seen many other coaches display their disappointment in public also. Why
is everyone so hard on Tom?
He's proving that you can produce quality athletes with no yelling and pressure.
So he cried -- BIG DEAL!
He's human, remember?

Joel

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 09:14:54 CDT
From: ***@IASTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: GYMN-L Digest - 17 Jun 1996 to 18 Jun 1996

I guess this is kind of a stupid question, but while I was watching
trials I recognized Jaycie's fx music and thought that I had heard it
somewhere before. I'm thinking that it was the music to the skating
routine in the movie the Cutting Edge. Could anyone tell me what her
music is??
Thanks :)

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 10:22:55 -0400
From: ***@UKY.CAMPUS.MCI.NET
Subject: Re: The olympic trials and stuff

>I think I like our U.S. men's team for the 1996 olympics. This maybe the
>best team we have seen in a long time. We MAY actually win some medals this
>time around. Except for the boycott-tainted olympics of 1984 (where all the
>good competitors stayed home, and the competition was on our turf), the U.S.
>men have only won 2 medals since 1932. The source is the Atlanta Journal. So
>if I am wrong, write them, not me.

*"ALL"* the good competitors stayed home? What rock were you crawling
around under in 1984? The defending world champion People's Republic of
China and Japan were both in LA. The only team in thre top 5 at the Worlds
that wasn't there was the Soviet Union. I get *really* tired of hearing
this BS about the 1984 Team. You know, the one that set a record number of
points on their way to that Gold Medal.

Chris

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 11:24:43 -0400
From: ***@NORFOLK.INFI.NET
Subject: Re: USA:Alternates?(7-6-5 rule)

>(read further for 7-6-5 rule)
>
>The 7-6-5 rule says - each country may bring 7 gymnasts and may compete all
>7 gymnasts. What happens is that the coach determines the 6 best athletes
>on each event and assigns them to compete on that event. The team score is
>made up of the 5 highest scores from each event. What this allows is for
>a coach to put up the strongest people on each event rather than having a
>weak spot -

What does this mean as far as Amanda Borden is concerned? She is my
absolute favorite and made the seventh place slot. Does this rule apply
only to the team competition? Does this mean Amanda may not compete? Help,
now I am worried.
Connie

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 08:37:52 -0700
From: ***@IX.NETCOM.COM
Subject: ESPN

Hi!

Friday at 8:30 PM (EST) There will be coverage of the Women's
Gymnastics trials along with other sports for those who are interested.

Also, from what the Cincinnati Enquirer said, at compulsorys, Amanda
didn't fall off the bars (I don't think). Here's what it said:

"Both Phelps and Borden were hurt by there performance on the uneven
parallel bars Friday, and both by the same mistake. It is know as a
'hecht' and involves the release from the lower bar to the higher bar.
Kristy Powell and Katie 'Heft', the two competitor imediatly proceeding
Phelps on bars, both fell during their routines and were heavily
pentalized by this mistake. Phelps didn't fall, but neither did she get
a strong grip, and this lead her lowest score of the evening.(9.662)
Borden gained little momentum from her hecht and was consiquently
unable to follow through on her handstand. She scored a 9.262."

That might have meant she fell, it's hard to tell. Also in another
article it left us under the impression that Mary Lee Tracy is building
a new gym which she is opening the first week of November (20,000)
square feet). It says when she first opened her present gym 16 years
ago she had 200 gymnasts. The new place will accomidate close to 2,000/

Gotta go now!

M & M :)

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Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 11:56:36 -0400
From: ***@GRFN.ORG
Subject: Women's trials commentary (LONG)

I took pretyy complete notes last night, on routines and on a few
things that wre going on during the broadcast...if you don't want
to read this, delete now or forever hold your piece. Most of this is
routine info for those who missed the broadcast. No thanks to NBC,
I got most of the scores (thanks to the announcer in the background).


Rotation Two

Theresa K on vault- nice Yur. full, good form and distance, stuck
the second attempt. 9.662

Kristen Maloney on bars- huge yaeger, priouette combo in gienger,
which she caught on one wrist and fell. Double front dismount. 9.087.

Jaycie Phelps_ Nice sig vault, appaeared to twist a little late. Near
stick on the first attempt, big stumblre on the second. 9.737.

Amy Chow- Stunning bars set, with endo/stalder non-ending into her
opening release (a Shaposnikova). Continued with a piked yaeger to
pak salto. One step on the double double off. 9.825.

Kerri Strug- Moving along nicely on the same set she performed at
nationals until the same problem as at nationals, form break on the
full prioutte right before the full-out. 9.700.

Kristy Powell- Great height and distance on her delayed 1 1/2 twister
Yurchenko. Near sticks on both attempt. 9.825.

Andree Pickens- OK set, nice tchatchev/gienger combo, interesting
dismount of toe-on 1 1/2 twist off. 9.350

Amanda Borden- Pretty form, height and distance on the piked fronts,
but still no stick. Big hop on first, bigger hop on second. 9.625.

Dom Dawes- Without a doubt, the best bars set I have ever seen her
throw. Shaposhnikova was right on, as was the Hindorff and free-hip half to
1 1/2 priouette. Stuck the full-out. 9.950 and a standing "O" from
the crowd.


Rotation Three

Jaycie Phelps- (I had this written before the dismount). Almost
flawless set, slight bobble on punch-front and back handsrping 1/4...
oh, SHOOT! Overrotates the double back off and sits down. 9.287
and ouch...

Amy Chow-smiled this time, and tubmles were terrific (whip to
full-in, rudi, whip to triple twiast, triple twist) but the dance
still needs work. 9.712...a little high IMHO

Kristy Powell-clean set, stayed on, but small wobbles throughout.
flipflop to layout to chen was solid, as was the rulfova she missed
at nationals. Pretty double tuck off, small hop. 9.562.

Kerri Strug- Absolutely terrific set, even a half-smile during patrts
of it, though the dance could try a little harder to show her off. Great
doulbe layout, front-full, imeediate front-full, and full-in dismount,
all stuck. 9.925.

Mary Beth Arnold- original series of layout on, flipflop layout,
roundoff, flipflop layout. Hardly a wobble in the set and a near-stick
on the double back off. 9.625

Kudoes to NBC here for what I thought was a great piece on Diane
Durham and Kim Kelly. I wasn't around for Dianne's heartbreak, but
I remember Kim's. She has everything to be proud of now, and the USGF
has everything to be ashamed of. May 1992 never happen again...

Jennie Thompson-great skills (terrific standing back full), but
the form was still a little off. Nice full-in off. 9.750

Amanda Borden- the pressure performer when it comes to beam sets at
trials (anyone remember her stuck set in 1992?) Same here. A few
tiny little checks, but nothing big. 9.862 and Atlanta looks a little
closer.

Dom Dawes- With a chance to really blow out her lead, Dom instead picks
a bad time to overrotate her 2 1/2 pucnh front (looked a little crooked)
and steps out. Dance was right on the rest of the way (with the crowdsd
very involved) but then the piked fullin dismount went out too. 9.612
but still in first.

Theresa Kulikowski- What a pretty beam set. I've never seen her compete
before, but I like her A LOT! This set was near-flawless (check on
the punch front on and small hop on dismount). Great flip-flop,
layout back to two feet, front aerial. 9.787, but it looks like the
comp beam mistake will kill her chances (IMHO, a little undermarked
on both the comp routines NBC showed, her comp floor set was as dancy
as Amanda's).


Rotation Four

Mary Lee tracy-Pressure peformance on the mike. Nice smile, great
composition, perky and fun. What the heck...9.900.

Mohini Bahrwaj- Hey, we get to see her. Flipflopp, 3 layouts, side
somi, double back off. Nice solid set. 9.675.

Katie Teft- Loose legs on the whip to full-in, great double illusion
and dance elements. Again, the dance was a little stiff, similiar
stuff to A my Chow. Ended with a front double twist (?) 9.700.

Kerri Strug- Nice beam set, no wobbles, but the form on flip, lay, flip,
lay was a littlesloppy (looked great in warmups). As Bel;a says, two-time
Olympians. Way to go Kerri. 9.825 and a HUGE smile....

Kristy Powell-Revenge of Aladin, take two (sorry, I hate this music
change). Set was fine until the front-full, punch layout went bye-bye
at the end (sat down the front-full). 8.350 and could someone explain
how that score got THAt low? I can get down to about a 8.850, but
that is about it..

Mary Beth Arnold- Clarissa Mae's Bach again, but dance not mature.
Tumbling fine (double layout, front-full punchlayout, full-in) but
lack of interpretation here. Nice finish, though, 9.537.

Andree Pickens-Punch pike front on, pretty decent form through out,
but seemed a little sluggish. cowboye double tuck off, 9.450.

Dom Dawes- Her usual set, big owbble on the oduble turn and only
two layouts after the flipflop looked off. Near stick on the
full-in off. 9.825.

Amanda Borden-The pressure performance of the meet. Stuck the Arabian
doulbe front, small problems on the 2 1/2 twit, but who cared by that
point? Great smile and dance, terrific scene with her coach at the
end. 9.787 and a ticket to the Ol;ympics...finally...

Theresa Kulikowski-Mature set to Chopin, but tumbling was a little
easier than most (piked full-in, frontfull, punch front, rudi backhandspring)
9.637, but , IMHO, some of the best interpretation of the meet...

Amy Chow- Nothing that hasn't already been siad about this beam set,
except that I've done that myself and all I can do is sit down in a
daze. She got back up and hit a standing full, flipflop rulfova (I think)
and roundoff, flipflop, triple twist off (stick). 9.275.

Jaycie Phelps- ballet meets "The Race." Solid set, though something
funky is still going on with that front-full (looks like she is
orquing it similar to Lori Strong's). Still a wonderful finish and
I missed the score her. Sorry...

In any case, tht is all. Gratz to the seven going and comiserations to
Theresa and Mary Beth, who wait three weeks to find out if Shannon
and Dominique heal and then possibly another four years...

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End of GYMN-L Digest - 1 Jul 1996 - Special issue
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