A. RIP Olympics

The first step is saying the words out loud. The Olympics are over. While no one is expecting you to be emotionally prepared to move on quite yet, the end of the Olympics doesn’t have to mean the end of joy. There are still a number of Olympic postmortem issues we’ll need to work through (remember Seda?), a 2017-2020 code to have a lot of deep feelings about, and sooner than you think, the NCAA season.

If you’re new to the site as of this year’s Olympic process, welcome! I’m delighted to have you. Now be advised that NCAA gymnastics is the cool jam around here, and I’m going to force you to become obsessed with it whether you like it or not. It’s the best. A wonderful complement to modern elite. It’s like if gymnastics still used the 1992 code and the Unified Team and Romania competed against each other every weekend, except with a lot more temp tattoos and erratic and unprompted screaming to make fun of. And if you enjoy melting into a pool of sludge about crack-a-doo judging, NCAA gym is more than here for you. You’ll have a blast.

The thing I love most about NCAA when compared to modern elite is the increased stakes on every single skill. In elite, difficulty is decisive enough that whether Laurie Hernandez nails her layout stepout on beam or has a one-tenth check is sort of incidental. As long as there are no major errors, her score is going to be fine. In NCAA, a one-tenth wobble is the difference between an amazing routine and a disastrous one. The stakes on every single landing are gigantic, not just to hit it but to hit it ideally, resurrecting that feeling of constant tension and urgency through every movement that has been lost in the era of US elite dominance.

So, if you haven’t been drinking the NCAA Kool-Aid, pull up a chair and grab a glass. Let me be your guide. You’ll never be the same. In a good way. Mostly.

B. Ding Dong the Yurchenko Arabian Is Dead

Our long national nightmare is finally over. The NCAA Committee decided to release its adjustments to the 2016-2017 rules right in the middle of the Olympics so that exactly no one would be paying attention (solid work as usual), but it redeemed itself by doing the sensible thing (WHAT?!?!?!?!?!) and bringing all variations of the Yurchenko 1/2, arabian or otherwise, down to a 9.950 start value. Continue reading Things Are (Still) Happening – August 19, 2016 →