Monthly Archives: October 2019
College Gym RoundUp
2020 Schedule
I got tired of waiting for Kentucky to release its away-meet schedule and times, so I went ahead and posted what I have so far of the full 2020 NCAA schedule anyway. About 20 teams are still incomplete, which are noted at the bottom, and I’ll go back and add them in time.
And of course the meet times are all still subject to change because the usual tradition of quad meets where every participating team thinks they’re happening at different times on different days is alive and well.
Another general observation is that Sunday meets are all the rage this year. We’re seeing a lot more Sunday meets and fewer Friday meets (Friday is still the big night of competition, but less), which is nice in terms of spreading things around for those of us who want to see everything.
Continue reading College Gym RoundUp
Things Are Happening – October 25, 2019
Because it’s been a while.
A. Simone’s First Pitch
You know, obviously start with the most important news. Simone did a first pitch, electing to go for the back full in jeans, which puts it pretty high up the rankings right there because of her D score. You know she’s pissed that she landed it kind of short though.
Ideally, you would like to see your gymnastics first pitch take place in a single sequence and show good rhythm in connection. I’m not wild about how she had to wait for her Mistress of the Robes to deliver the ball to her after the back full, but we can work on it. She’s still got a year until she has to do her post-Olympics first pitches.
And pretty solid pitch as far as gymnasts go. I mean, she’s obviously never thrown anything in her life before, but we’ve seen it go a lot more tragically. And if you thought I was going to pass up any opportunity to revisit this…
I’ve truly never been happier. (See: Gymnastics First Pitches — A GIFstory)
Additional bonus points are also awarded to Simone for the use of hilarious height discrepancy.
B. Cottbus Nominative Roster
The 5th apparatus Olympic qualifier will be upon us in less than a month now, and the nominative roster for Cottbus has been released.
Post-worlds, we’re seeing those who are now in “Oh crap, I need this” mode kick it into gear, with Epke Zonderland on the list for high bar—along with Hidetaka Miyachi, as those two battle it out for the HB spot, currently tied on 85 points. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised to see both of them get to the maximum of 90 points and have to go to a total score tiebreaker.
Tomas Gonzalez is also attending his first qualifier to do floor (going to be tough because Rayderley Zapata has that one nearly sewn up at this point, and is competing here). Gonzalez is currently 2nd alternate for the all-around spots from worlds, and his best path to the Olympics is likely two people ahead of him getting injured and not being able to go to Tokyo—or not being sent by their NOC.
The Chinese men are going ALL IN on an apparatus Olympic spot, and they’re definitely going to end up winning a couple of these events and heading to an intra-country tiebreak since each nation can earn only one spot per gender through apparatus world cups.
Continue reading Things Are Happening – October 25, 2019
2020 NCAA Schedule Highlights
Soon, I’ll post the full schedule for all the teams and all the meets, but we’re still waiting on a few too many schools to get it together, so I’m waiting until the schedule is a little more complete to put up the whole thing.
So for the moment, it’s highlight time—a brief rundown of the biggest meets of the season and when they’re happening.
Some impressions:
- Neutral location quad meets are all the rage. Anyone who’s anyone has at least one (and probably seven) obscurely named large-group meets on the schedule this year. The season-opening Critique Classic is a highly appropriate way to begin the season, helping everyone remember how good we are at critiquing things and what important work it is that truly needs to be commemorated with its own meet. #TheRealHeroes
- The “This Was Where Ohashi’s Viral Routine Happened” Challenge has expanded to two sessions this year, and the Metroplex field gives it a good argument for the best meet of the year.
- Aside from those group meets, lots of teams are skipping out on the first weekend of the year and waiting until the 10th-12th to start competing, which is fairly normal. The closer the first weekend of the season moves to New Year’s, the fewer teams opt to compete.
- Nebraska has two separate ESPN2 meets on Thursdays this year—January 16 against Penn State and January 30 against Michigan. Go ahead on Nebraska? The UCLA/Utah meet on February 23 will also be an ESPN2 joint.
| WEEK 1 |
| Friday, January 3 |
| 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT – Critique Classic (Georgia, Oregon State, Iowa, Bridgeport) |
| Saturday, January 4 |
| 4:00pm ET/1:00pm PT – Collegiate Challenge Session 1 (Denver, Auburn, Penn State, Arizona State) |
| 9:30pm ET/6:30pm PT – Collegiate Challenge Session 2 (Oklahoma, UCLA, Cal, Stanford) |
| WEEK 2 |
| Friday, January 10 |
| 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT – LSU @ Georgia |
| 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT – Alabama @ Auburn |
| Saturday, January 11 |
| 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT – Best of Utah (Utah, Southern Utah, BYU, Utah State) @ West Valley City, UT |
| Sunday, January 12 |
| 4:00pm ET/1:00pm PT – Minnesota @ Denver |
| 5:00pm ET/2:00pm PT – NorCal Classic (Cal, Stanford, San Jose State, Sacramento State @ UC Davis) |
| WEEK 3 |
| Thursday, January 16 |
| 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT – Penn State @ Nebraska |
| Friday, January 17 |
| 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT – Auburn @ LSU |
| 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT – Oklahoma @ Alabama |
| Sunday, January 19 |
| 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT – Stanford @ Cal |
| WEEK 4 |
| Friday, January 24 |
| 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT – LSU @ Florida |
| Saturday, January 25 |
| 8:00pm ET/5:00pm PT – Metroplex Challenge (Oklahoma, Denver, Georgia, Alabama) |
| WEEK 5 |
| Thursday, January 30 |
| 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT – Michigan @ Nebraska |
| Friday, January 31 |
| 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT – Florida @ Kentucky |
| 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT – Alabama @ LSU |
| WEEK 6 |
| Friday, February 7 |
| 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT – Denver, Iowa State @ Florida |
| Saturday, February 8 |
| 2:30pm ET/11:30am PT – LSU, Arizona State @ Oregon State |
| 3:30pm ET/12:30pm PT – Utah @ Cal |
| WEEK 7 |
| Friday, February 14 |
| 8:00pm ET/5:00pm PT – GQ Invite (LSU, Missouri, Iowa St, Lindenwood) |
| 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT – Florida @ Auburn |
| Saturday, February 15 |
| 3:00pm ET/12:00pm PT – Oregon State @ Utah |
| Sunday, February 16 |
| 3:30pm ET/12:30pm PT – Kentucky @ LSU |
| 6:00pm ET/3:00pm PT – Cal @ Stanford |
| 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT – Nebraska @ Minnesota |
| WEEK 8 |
| Friday, February 21 |
| 6:00pm ET/3:00pm PT – Alabama @ Florida |
| 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT – Big Five (Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio State, Rutgers) |
| 8:00pm ET/5:00pm PT – Oklahoma v. Stanford @ Oklahoma City, OK |
| Saturday, February 22 |
| 4:00pm ET/1:00pm PT – Oregon State @ Cal |
| 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT – Big Five (Michigan, Minnesota, Penn State, Maryland, Michigan State) |
| Sunday, February 23 |
| 6:00pm ET/3:00pm PT – Utah @ UCLA |
| WEEK 9 |
| Friday, February 28 |
| 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT – Florida @ Georgia |
| 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT – Kentucky @ Alabama |
| Saturday, February 29 |
| 12:30pm ET/9:30am PT – Denver @ Oklahoma |
| 4:00pm ET/1:00pm PT – UCLA @ Oregon State |
| Sunday, March 1 |
| WEEK 10 |
| Friday, March 6 |
| 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT – Michigan @ Oklahoma |
| Saturday, March 7 |
| 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT – Georgia @ Alabama |
| Sunday, March 8 |
| 4:00pm ET/1:00pm PT – Cal @ UCLA |
| WEEK 11 |
| Friday, March 13 |
| 8:00pm ET/5:00pm PT – Alabama v. Auburn @ Brimingham, AL |
| Saturday, March 14 |
| 3:30pm ET/12:30pm PT – Oklahoma @ Minnesota |
| 8:00pm ET/5:00pm PT – Denver @ Nebraska |
| WEEK 12 |
| Saturday, March 21 |
| TBD – Big Ten Championship (Columbus, OH) |
| TBD – Pac-12 Championship (West Valley City, UT) |
| TBD – SEC Championship (Duluth, GA) |
| 7:00 ET/4:00 PT – Big 12 Championship (Morgantown, WV) |
| MEET WEEK 14 – March 30-April 5 |
| Thursday, April 2 |
| TBD – Penn State Regional Play-in |
| TBD – Oklahoma Regional Play-in |
| TBD – Denver Regional Play-in |
| TBD – UCLA Regional Play-in |
| Friday, April 3 |
| TBD – Penn State Regional Semifinal #1 |
| TBD – Oklahoma Regional Semifinal #1 |
| TBD – Denver Regional Semifinal #1 |
| TBD – UCLA Regional Semifinal #1 |
| TBD – Penn State Regional Semifinal #2 |
| TBD – Oklahoma Regional Semifinal #2 |
| TBD – Denver Regional Semifinal #2 |
| TBD – UCLA Regional Semifinal #2 |
| Saturday, April 4 |
| TBD – Penn State Regional Final |
| TBD – Oklahoma Regional Final |
| TBD – Denver Regional Final |
| TBD – UCLA Regional Final |
| MEET WEEK 15 – April 6-April 12 |
| Friday, April 10 |
| TBD – USAG Championship Semifinal 1 |
| TBD – USAG Championship Semifinal 2 |
| Saturday, April 11 |
| TBD – USAG Championship Team Final |
| Sunday, April 12 |
| TBD – USAG Championship Event Finals |
| MEET WEEK 15 – April 13-April 19 |
| Friday, April 17 |
| TBD – National Semifinal #1 |
| TBD – National Semifinal #2 |
| Saturday, April 18 |
| TBD – National Championship |