You can watch it here
With everything I have read about this floor routine I expected to hate it. After getting past the really loud violin screeching music I didn’t hate it. I didn’t love it and she needs work on her presentation but I found this more enjoyable then Aly’s floor routine.
She fell on her double front and was piked down on her double double layout but overall it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
So I thought I would watch the routine a second time and I didn’t not hate it as much as I did the first time. The more I watched it the less I found myself enjoying it. Catherine said I should look at her practice routine so I want to youtube and found this and then I realized I never even noticed the Choreography watching it the first time. This video is clearer then the first one I watched and I guess this is the routine I didn’t like more so than the first video.
So what do you think? I am still on the fence. I have watched it three times so far and each time I watch it I find more to criticize. Maybe judges should be allowed replays and then maybe we can get some realistic scores???
Here are all 4 of Mckayla Skinner’s routines from Nationals last year. Her worst event seems to be beam.
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Now my plea. There has been some fighting here lately and I would appreciate it if the personal attacks would stop. You can attack the opinion but attacking the person is IG, it is not us. From this moment on if I see a personal attack I am editing it out.
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February 12, 2013 at 12:55 am |
I can’t open that link…is it some paid subscription thing? Is this the same floor routine someone else posted? Sorry, forgot the poster’s name…
February 12, 2013 at 1:00 am |
Nope. Maybe I linked the wrong video.Let me check.
February 12, 2013 at 1:04 am |
I think it is wordpress. I can’t click on the link either unless I click right and I have been having issues on wordpress clicking links.
WordPress has been a pain in the ass the last month or so. I am having a lot of issues.
February 12, 2013 at 12:57 am |
In the other training video (look up McKayla Skinner partial floor routine, or it’s on my blog and TripleTwist’s), she nails the double arabian completely upright. So I think that fall is nothing to be worried about. I kind of like the music, and I think her choreography is fine. Not brilliant, but not bad and above average for an American routine. She pikes a lot less than Lexie’s full twisting DLO’s- floor and bars- so that’s impressive. She is definitely laid out enough to get credited.
Worlds selection will be really exciting if she nails this routine all year, and her Cheng and Amanar. Kayla Williams 2.0?
February 12, 2013 at 1:13 am |
There is a big difference hitting it in practice vs in competition. Skinner has always been inconsistent and for me personally I would rather watch good tumbling and a complete routine then harder tumbling and a badly presented one.
This routine reminded me of Kristen Maloney. I would rather watch Jamie Dantzscher over Kristen any day of the week.
I was more impressed the first time I watched this routine then I was the two times I have watched it since. I am old schooled. I would rather watch any routine from the 80′s and most from the 90′s not done by Romanians than watch the skill sets with no artistry we see these days.
IMO, impressive tumbling? yes but she needs to work on her artistry and presentation. I also found the choreography horrible but I didn’t even notice it until you mentioned it. That is so unlike me.
Lets hope she has more in her than the very lucky, Kayla Williams. She has to be the worst world champion the US has ever had.
February 12, 2013 at 1:48 am
OMG you cow how can you hate a Romanian floor routine.
February 12, 2013 at 3:44 am
I have to agree about Kayla… the world champ cant land a yurchenko 1.5 at Alabama without a hop…. and her beam is scary easy. I wonder if she can even do floor, although I know she has done bars exhibition. I think her parents were smart though, putting her withMLT back at level 10 to work for a college scholarship instead of the olympics. Props to them for being realistic
February 12, 2013 at 5:23 pm
So true exgymgurl….I think there are many elites that wish they would have had the same forethought years ago.
February 12, 2013 at 1:20 am |
Totally, there’s good reason for her reputation as a flake. I think I need to see this when she’s had more time with it and with decent camera angles…so, classics or if she gets an assignment before then to really judge the choreography. But I didn’t notice it for standing out in a bad way? Either she does have the basics or I’m easily impressed due to the tumbling side taking over my opinion. If Katelyn and Kyla and healthy they are going to worlds. But this makes the scrap for the 2 other places way more interesting. All depending on her consistency.
February 12, 2013 at 1:22 am
Oh and I think I’m quite open minded with floor routines. I would just as easily enjoy an 80s masterpiece as a powerhouse work like this.
February 12, 2013 at 1:33 am
You are easily impressed due to her tumbling. Hey I said it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.lol
I realize I have to grow out of the 80′s and 90′s sometimes and realize that floor routines are all about tumbling these days but I refuse to support crazy ass tumbling over a complete routine and one day I hope I will get rewarded with both.
So I will say this. I would rather watch Komova compete her floor routine like the one she did in the AA over this type of routine any day of the week.
February 12, 2013 at 1:39 am
Yes, nothing better than a complete routine. Cheng Fei 2004 is the greatest example.
February 12, 2013 at 3:47 am
I just saw Noel Couch’s Star Wars themed floor routine. Would love to see someone compete that in elite….
February 12, 2013 at 3:53 am
I read about that the other day. It sounds crazy scary. Do you have a link to a video?
February 12, 2013 at 4:33 am
I cant find it on youtube, but it was on fox sports alabama / ga meet…… maybe this week vs florida?
February 12, 2013 at 1:25 am |
For me Kerri Strugg has just the best dance and choreography…..
February 12, 2013 at 1:30 am |
HA.lol I know you well enough to know you so do not believe that.lol
February 12, 2013 at 1:35 am |
lol in that case you must have loooooved Carly Patterson’s floor, too…
February 12, 2013 at 3:39 am
OH and Moceanus….. and Amy Chow…. they were such elegantly beautiful gymnasts.
February 13, 2013 at 1:09 am
hahaha I don’t care what others think but I thought Moceanu was amazing.
February 13, 2013 at 2:00 am
I don’t even know what to say to such a comment.lol
February 12, 2013 at 1:35 am |
If I compare McKayla Skinner’s floor to Aly’s floor when I first saw Aly (remember her taking that ASac routine? Horrid!) – I have to give more points to McKayla. Not liking her choreo but she has potential in the future, I’m thinking. If she applies herself the way Aly did, I think she could be better overall. She does need work on it though; she’s a more natural dancer than Aly but not much more. Her tumbling looks great; I am not sure about consistency since I haven’t really followed her as much as you guys have.
A lot will probably be answered when/if we see her in a senior competition, with the cameras close up and all. Should be interesting.
Is it really weird that I’m kind of excited for a new Jordyn Weiber floor routine? I really liked her floor last go-round; I hope she puts in that double layout.
And I hope Kyla upgrades her floor. Does anybody have any insider scoop on whether or not Kyla upgraded her floor?
February 12, 2013 at 1:39 am |
I was told that Kyla has upgraded and that it is looking good.
Mckayla was born in 1996 which makes her 17 or turning 17 this year. I think she will be in College by 2016 or broken if she keeps up this tumbling.
She was born in December so she just turned 16?
February 12, 2013 at 1:48 am
Oh good to hear about Kyla. Interesting what you say about McKayla…she looks like she’s heading towards puberty too (the age would suggest it) so she’ll have to deal with that as well. Who knows.
I just watched all 4 routines. Everything she does on bars looks labored (her swing is really bad and she flexes her feet a lot); her form on vault could definitely use some work; her beam leaps were atrocious (but tumbling good); and her floor actually was more enjoyable than that other partial routine shown on another link (think in another blog) but I only watched it once, so…overall I agree I’d rather watch Komova or even Musty (with her helicopter legs) floor routines all day.
This all makes me wish that the US girls would get dance training.
If Finnegan comes back the US probably won’t need the likes of Skinner, assuming someone else (Ebee or Biles?) also has two vaults in their back pocket. Finnegan is out though for sure, right?
February 12, 2013 at 2:06 am
Finnegan is a weird case. Her two best events are floor and beam so if she goes that means someone does Vault and uneven bars. I don’t know who that would be. I don’t know if Ebee has a second vault up her sleeve.
February 12, 2013 at 2:32 am
Yeah Finnegan has an odd combo of strengths for this particular quad it would seem. I like her floor though and hope she finds a way to rise to the top.
February 12, 2013 at 2:54 am
at least pre-injury ebee was training a 2nd vault, i believe lexie was as well.
February 12, 2013 at 3:46 am
Finnegan would do well at Georgia. They need beam and floor right now. Badly.
February 12, 2013 at 3:53 am
Sarah has too much style for Georgia.
February 12, 2013 at 5:16 am
i adore sarah’s floor (and beam)… i love that she is fairly powerful but, like, PRETTY to watch. i love that she actually has nice chore on floor, works well with the music, has ballet hands etc.. shame about her injury, hope she recovers quickly. her vault is nice, now if she could just fix up her form on bars, and execute her routines with more confidence, i think she could be really great!
February 12, 2013 at 5:17 am
also hope kyla has ditched her floor music. dont think phantom really suited her. too dramatic!
February 12, 2013 at 7:13 am
I’m guessing Kyla has as she’s on a new routine with Dominic Zito (the choreographer of Jordyn’s 2011-2012 routine)
February 12, 2013 at 7:14 am
working on*
February 12, 2013 at 5:54 pm
It would be a shame for Finnegan to just go to college. I would love to see some more elite competition from her; and truth be told I’d be really happy to see her make a play for Rio. I think Marta likes her, so at least that’s in her favor.
I’m happy to hear Kyla’s working with a new floor. I really liked Jordyn’s floor from 2011/12 so…high hopes here…
I think Finnegan could be a stellar AA’er if she gets her bars in gear. She has better bars than Aly so really all she’d need is more tweaking on that; not sure if the code is to where the DTY would be enough though? I doubt Finnegan could work an amanar. I wouldn’t want to see her injured again!
February 12, 2013 at 7:34 am |
Sanity I would love to see a new floor routine from Jordyn as well! I would love to see fixed and upgraded beam and bars from her as well. I think it would be good if she had beam and bar routines that flowed better it could really help her. I think Jordyn could be capable of a 6.7ish bar routine if it were put together well. I think she could probably do a floor routine near the 6.5ish range and a beam in the 6.2-6.5 range. I would love to see her learn a second vault as well because she already had a pretty decent Amanar. I think Kyla had more potential on bars,beam,and floor as well and if she has her Amanar back that would help also. I wouldn’t be surprised if Marta were to put Skinner in at the American Cup as maybe a Floor/Vault exhibition lol
February 12, 2013 at 4:23 pm
Jordyn needs to nix the weiler kips. I hate them.lol
February 12, 2013 at 6:03 pm
I agree – too labored. In fact I have yet to see a gymnast do those weiler kips where it didn’t look labored or “masculine.” – There’s a better word but I can’t think of it…
February 12, 2013 at 10:20 pm
Ebee did it during her routine ar glasgow and hers is just as bad.
Mckayla and Shawn did it from the high bar only it didn’t so labored.
February 12, 2013 at 1:42 pm |
not a fan of her gymnastics but this is definately impressive. The choreography leaves a lot to be desired but her tumbling is out of this world. I mean, a double double lay out? Only the strongest men can do that. This tumbling along with this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43KpvZsoOzw vault and the fact that nobody expected her to even be a contender for worlds make me root for her to make worlds. After all it’s not like US has anyone healthy and artistic who will be trying to make the team this year.
February 12, 2013 at 3:06 pm |
Theres a little clip of Aly arriving at the Badgley Mischka show this morning. She looks awesome. I almost didnt recognize her, very mature look for her. In a good way.
February 12, 2013 at 4:21 pm |
More details on the cheng vault Skinner supposedly landed. If shes stronger on the cheng than amanar I think it would be smart to use it as her main vault.
I hope she rocks it at camp next week.
http://www.examiner.com/article/but-wait-there-s-more-from-mykayla-skinner
February 12, 2013 at 4:33 pm |
It’s also worth more! It’s not just supposed, she absolutely nailed it at that meet- look up ‘Mckayla skinner vault fiesta bowl invitational’. Form was completely laid out and decent and I’ve never seen such power on it. She had power left over when she landed too..craziness. I’d like to see her at Jesolo, Classics to too far away.
February 12, 2013 at 6:21 pm
She had bent knees and a big leg seperatyion and it looked piked a little to me.
February 12, 2013 at 5:34 pm |
I just took a look at that Cheng and I’m really, really impressed. This girl has some straight up ability…I’d like to see more of her. Lisa Spini has some good things going with Mykayla. Here’s hoping she doesn’t break before we get to see more.
February 12, 2013 at 6:05 pm |
Interesting if she’s doing all these upgrades, why sign on for college? I’d be focusing on Rio…I mean a double laid out on floor and a Cheng/amanar – didn’t McKayla Maroney do an amanar/Mustafina vault at the Olympics? So she could get more points than McKayla Maroney if she lands the 2 successfully in competition, right?
February 12, 2013 at 6:19 pm
Theoretically yes, but I doubt Skinner’s amanar can match Maroney’s so you have to account for that.
February 12, 2013 at 6:24 pm
I know but same can be said for Douglas’ and Raisman’s amanars and yet score-wise they weren’t “that far” off…not far enough to make that much of a difference I mean. You have to account for judge stupidity, which is always the case. So if Douglas had a second Cheng vault I’m sure she would have/could have beat Maroney on vault.
How much is an amanar now worth in the new code?
February 12, 2013 at 6:56 pm
An amanar is 6.3 and a Cheng is 6.4, both down from 6.5. Only Cheng Fei and Hong Un Jong have managed that combo, and while Cheng Fei’s were glorious, her own vault was usually landed low..or crashed, and Hong Un Jong struggled to get hers fully rotated. That’s why Skinner’s Cheng is thrilling, more powerful than Zamarippa’s. I don’t see noticeable form errors, and I don’t see piking. We need to see her routines at a proper comp to really see.
February 12, 2013 at 7:02 pm
I remember Hong Un Jong’s vaults…they were truly ugly. So is the Cheng the highest rated vault now that women are doing? That’s interesting. And, an amanar is now worth the same as a rudi? Wow – imagine how that would have changed ASac’s contention in 2012 if that were applied…
February 12, 2013 at 7:05 pm
the rudi is now 6.2.
February 12, 2013 at 7:10 pm
Interesting. Still only one-tenth behind an Amanar…wow.
It’s like the Cheng is now the new Amanar. Bet in 2016 we’ll be seeing lots of those.
February 12, 2013 at 8:24 pm
The Cheng looks harder than the amanar. Most vaults have been downgraded a tenth or so, the Produnova is down to 7.0. That won’t stop Yamilet Pena trying to die, but the new harsh execution scoring for vault EF will, thankfully. Who has done the Cheng? Cheng Fei, Vanessa Zamarippa, Mykayla Skinner, Hong Un Jong, another North Korean whose name escapes me…and Izbasa was training it but never competed it so I can’t count her. So, 5. The amanar has been done by 25 by my count (amanar, rosu, zamo, pavlova, cheng, johnson, barbosa, maroney, douglas, price, raisman, wieber, ross, skinner, priessman, biles, mustafina, komova, nabieva, paseka, jiang yuyuan, kang yun mi, hong un jong, hong su jong and suzuki). So that’s what leads me to believe the Cheng is harder.
February 12, 2013 at 8:30 pm
I don’t doubt the Cheng is harder than the Amanar (and your numbers support it); what I meant by my comment was that the Amanar used to be the “super difficult vault done by few” but then by 2012 it was way more common (like the DTY was before it, I’m guessing). Now the Cheng will be the new Amanar – to get an advantage on vault, girls will be training the Cheng over the Amanar since “everyone else has it.” If that makes sense.
Should be interesting I guess. Probably more injuries we can count on, too. Unfortunately.
February 12, 2013 at 10:23 pm
Amanar and Cheng have been downgraded but the chusovitna is like a 6.8 or something like that.
February 13, 2013 at 12:12 am
Chusovitina? The only one I know is the Rudi, now 6.2. I believe the double twisting tsukahara is now 6.8 but nobody’s done it. I see what you mean by the expolosion in popularity sanity, I’m just thinking that the exact same approach helped with that whereas the Cheng requires more training on top of that for the half. We’ll see, but it has such a risk of twisting into the ground and I don’t want to see that..
Now I’m thinking of the popularity of the DTY. It’s absolutely correct that it did not explode unti 95-96 and was absolutely everywhere in the top elites until the last few years. But quite a few people flung it before then and only Lysenko is really acknowledged. Gurova, Priakhina, Shevchenko, Baitova, Golea, Shushunova, Gutsu, Dudnik, Kalinina and Lysenko all did it before 92 and after 84. And there’s others, the Soviets were throwing it for the laugh when it was worth the same as the FTY. I think the evolution of vaults is so interesting.
February 13, 2013 at 12:27 am
I do too – I’m embarrassed though to admit that before a couple years ago I thought all vaults were basically the same. I didn’t see close enough to note number of twists and all. I’m glad I’m a little more “informed” now…
February 13, 2013 at 12:26 am
I mean the 2.5 tsukahara, not the DTT.
February 13, 2013 at 5:46 am
catherine i have a vague feeling lauren mitchell was training a cheng vault in 2010/2011? i could be wrong but im sure i remember reading it somewhere!
February 13, 2013 at 11:22 am
Thanks for great reflections, I would not be able to studdy so well if I didn`t new I could come here inbetween and read the latest comments:-)
But I am a bit confused, what is the difference between double tsuk, and DTY?
February 13, 2013 at 6:46 pm
They are from different vault families, tsukahara and yurchenko. They’re the same post-flight, but the DTT is a handspring half-on approach instead of the round-off like the DTY. The DTT is worth 6, the DTY is 5.8 which is bullshit because the DTT is harder than 0.2. The DTY is one of very few that escaped downgrading.
February 13, 2013 at 8:50 pm
Thanks Catherine:-)
February 15, 2013 at 5:05 pm
Im confused. Didnt Izbasa compete a Cheng as her second vault at Euros and the olympics? I think it was her first Vault actually and her second was a DTY.
February 12, 2013 at 8:49 pm |
I am inept at commenting. I couldn’t directly reply to sanitynmotion’s remark about Mustafina’s helicopter legs.
I’ m at work and just burst out laughing. The visual is hysterical: weed-eater legs, twirling away on beam!
For the record, I like Mustafina, just never heard of helicopter legs before.
February 13, 2013 at 12:14 am |
Haha ah it’s quite often used to describe Mustafina and Ponor’s triple fulls. I felt bad using a photo of Mustafina’s mid flight to illustrate bad form in my last post, but hey…
February 13, 2013 at 12:48 am
Even the good one’s have their flaws!
February 13, 2013 at 12:49 am
I meant to say, even the good ones have their flaws.
February 13, 2013 at 3:21 am |
This video is cute. Aly, Jo & Mac are cute, especially at the end. Gabby is annoying. And Ryan Lochte is a dunce.
http://www.younghollywood.com/videos/sports/sports-events/ryan-lochte-the-fab-5-backstage-at-hall-of-game-awards.html
February 13, 2013 at 5:49 am |
lol mckayla “okay, i haven’t met these people. i didnt met selena gomez” haha.
February 13, 2013 at 2:08 pm |
that was the best part….. that and ryan trying to give a interview and gabby saying she has a platform…Im waiting for Gabbys next book when she doesnt make the team in Rio and accuses the other members of the fierce 5 of isolating her and racially bullying her and it got worse after winning the AA which is why she didnt win any individual medals…
February 13, 2013 at 5:27 pm
That book’s already written but won’t be published until Mama Douglas needs $$$$.
February 13, 2013 at 5:51 am |
is mykayla eligible for any international assignments before visas? she’s not on the national team, is she? or doesn’t that matter?
she has impressive tumbling but she can’t dance. it’s floor, gotta see something more, her dance elements are just weak. even jordyn wasn’t a natural dancer but she was a dynamic performer and had clever choreography to hide it.
February 13, 2013 at 5:52 am |
yes im one of these annoying people who needs a bit of pizzazz-ish dance on floor.
February 13, 2013 at 6:17 pm |
Best photo of Aly I’ve seen from New York Fashion Week yesterday. Love her entire look including her dress..very classy and pretty.
http://instagram.com/p/Vq3o8NvubQ/
February 13, 2013 at 6:26 pm |
Yes she finally dresses in something that shows off her waist AND the color of the dress really suits her skin tone and hair. Way to go, Aly. I wonder what shoes she was wearing (hopefully they weren’t red or hot pink)…
February 13, 2013 at 6:34 pm
they were gold. lol. also looked fab at nanette lepore this am. https://twitter.com/blee_taylor/status/301728058417745920
February 13, 2013 at 6:36 pm
and elie tahari last night. http://instagram.com/p/Vpj1R2PuSm/
February 13, 2013 at 9:07 pm
Aly looks beautiful in all the photos from NY Fashion Week. It looks like she was actually styled.
February 13, 2013 at 6:22 pm |
It sounds like McKayla is getting ready to make a comeback?
February 13, 2013 at 6:50 pm |
She’s been conditioning for a while. I’d love to know has she progressed to any skill at all, like a yurchenko half twist into a pit or something. The good thing is that if she is actually able to compete this year, she doesn’t have to kill herself being ready for classics or nationals. She can rock up to september camp and get in to worlds if she’s ready for it, technically.
February 13, 2013 at 7:34 pm
You are talking about McKayla Maroney, right?
February 13, 2013 at 8:47 pm
Yes. I would be very suprised if she competed this year, but you never know. Someone had to point out to me that Mykayla spells hers differently…they should all be Michaelas..
February 13, 2013 at 9:55 pm
Ha. One of my daughters is named Mikaela to throw yet another spelling into the mix.
February 14, 2013 at 12:32 am
Ah that’s a sensible spelling
I don’t know anyone at all who has a name with an alternative spelling, so I’m useless at it.
February 14, 2013 at 1:58 am
yeah in aus the more popular spelling would be “michaela” or “mikaela”.
i’ve noticed these names are very popular in the US though (at least on reality tv haha)? mckayla, mckenzie, mckenna, mckinley.. they haven’t really made their way down under yet.
February 14, 2013 at 5:21 am
Are you talking about alternative spellings in general or just for McKayla?Catherine, your name has an alternative spelling!
And lol, there’s was an entire thread on IG dedicated to “stuff non-gym fans say while watching the olympics” but it diverged completely into whether or not McKayla is an odd name or not.
Personally, I was maybe 11 or 12 the first time I encountered somebody with this name. I thought it was odd at first, but since then i’ve met a few.. all with different spellings (never seen Mykayla though.. that’s new)! I think parents just spell names the way they see fit (the most aesthetically pleasing or the most “unique” as a way to stand out?). I mean, it’s all about standing out these days when you’re in a class with 5 Sara’s and 10 Michael’s… haha
February 14, 2013 at 6:33 am
Mckayla is still recovering from her injury from tour. I’m not optimistic that she is ready to compete this year (not to say compete in Worlds).
February 14, 2013 at 2:58 pm
I don’t mean alternate spellings like Catherine/Katharine/Katheryn etc. though I don’t know any of them either..I mean the more original one-off ones like Mykayla for Michaela. I’m not used to that at all so I often misread them. I don’t know anyone my age or older without a traditional name in English or Irish and even babies are much more likely to be called Jack or Chloe than an Americanised name or a totally different spelling of one.
I agree with not having an extremely common name, but I’d just choose a rarer name. If I ever have girls they will be Daphne, Sadbh (rhymes with I’ve) Madeleine, Celeste, Aurelia or similar enough ‘rare’ names without being wacky. Boys are much tougher..meh..
February 14, 2013 at 3:42 pm
I love the name Quinn but unfortunately it sounds weird with my husband’s last name. In the US it seems like all girls are being named the likes of Emily, Emma, Sophie/Sophia, Isabella/Bella, Olivia…a lot of the boys are being named Ethan, Evan, Adrien, Jacob, Michael….
February 14, 2013 at 3:56 pm
I formerly worked with a women named Siobhan and a man named Seamus. It wasn’t pretty when they were not pronounced correctly.
February 14, 2013 at 2:59 pm
McKayla gave an interview at the Metroplex recently and stated that she was fully recovered.
February 14, 2013 at 3:44 pm
I only chuckle at interview responses because I’m STILL angry for Shawn saying how her knee was “fine” and wasn’t giving her any trouble in practice and she was just doing soooo spectacular I-can’t-wait-to-show-everyone-my-new-floor-routine.
Not to start with the whole Shawn discussion again…
February 14, 2013 at 4:03 pm
When we named our daughter “Mikaela” we thought we were picking out a fairly unique name and then it turns out there are Ma-ka-las all over the place among the younger crowd (teens etc.), at least here in the US. We know several other kids with the name and it seems every single one spells her name differently. It’s funny. I just checked a baby name website and it lists 38 different spellings of the name, and it doesn’t even include “Mykayla”! When we chose “Mikaela” we at least thought we were choosing a legitimate, traditional spelling of the name as opposed to just making something up.
February 14, 2013 at 6:52 pm
I prefer Mikaela to any other spelling. Michaela just looks too much like Michael…afterthought make it a girl’s name-a, whereas Mikaela is a name in its own right.
February 14, 2013 at 6:55 pm
Dee- I imagine they were pretty much never pronounced correctly. No Irish name travels well, and some, like Caoimhe aren’t pronounced right because the sounds don’t really exist in English. It’s Kwee-vah, pronounced Kee-vah outside of Ireland. Siobhán and Séamus are Shuv-awn and shay-muss..
February 14, 2013 at 7:30 pm
Catherine, that’s exactly why we chose Mikaela over Michaela. Plus I had an old boyfriend once named Michael (didn’t end pleasantly) so no way we were going with Michaela. LOL
February 15, 2013 at 5:17 am
I only know how to pronounce Seamus thanks to watching a harry potter movie lol. The other ones I’ve never really seen. I just realized I’m not too familiar with Irish names- just the last names (McSomething = I generalize to be Irish, sorry if that’s wrong!). I get what you mean about picking a rarer “real” names, but lol, maybe Hollywood is setting the standard? I mean, we live in the era of wacky baby names. I still don’t know how Gwenyth Paltrow justifies naming her daughter Apple or Nicholas Cage and his son Kal-El. Compared to those, MyKayla isn’t that odd at all…
Are “Emily, Emma, Sophie/Sophia, Isabella/Bella, Olivia” that common!? I absolutely love those names, no joke. Adrian is pretty, too. In college, my classes are too big for everybody to introduce themselves so most of the time I don’t know anybody’s names unless we’re friends, but before that (K-12), I found that pretty much all bible names were the most common: John, Matt, James, Thomas, Andrew, Peter, Nick, Chris etc. There were always a million Katie’s, Sarah’s, and Christine’s, too.
I always think about naming my future children after my favorite gymnasts, but since most of them aren’t American and hence easy to pronounce, it’s probably just asking for a difficult childhood, lol…
February 15, 2013 at 5:48 am
I thought the “McSomething” names were supposed to be Scottish not Irish.
February 15, 2013 at 12:45 pm
Not my area, but from what I understand, the surname prefix Mc or Mac can be either. It means, son of.
McDonald=son of Donald?
Catherine probably knows more.
February 15, 2013 at 6:41 am
Terri- I think you’re right. I might be mixing McSomethings up with O’Something’s as Irish surnames… oops!
February 16, 2013 at 11:03 am
Mac/Mc is Scottish and Irish. Scottish first though I think, the O’ is more common here though loads of names have dropped it. Mine doesn’t have it, but it does when my whole name is translated into Irish.
February 13, 2013 at 9:05 pm |
Yes I was referring to McKayla Maroney. I
February 13, 2013 at 10:54 pm |
Anyone have any thoughts on woga classic this weekend? Any rumored upgrades from Nica or Laurie?
February 13, 2013 at 11:40 pm |
Yes, I’m really pissed it will be streamed but only if you let yourself be completely ripped off by gymnastike. I most want to see Jordan Chiles, Irina Alexeeva, Mariya Lichikova, Laurie and Katelyn. I heard Laurie has some, I’m sure Nica has too.
February 14, 2013 at 2:10 am |
ooh! just read on twitter that amelia hundley verbally committed to florida! still early days of course, but it does seem like it might be a good fit for her.
February 14, 2013 at 2:31 am |
Sadly, I’m jonesing for more of that Mary Lee Tracy documentary. Anyone know if anymore of is online somewhere free?
February 14, 2013 at 12:51 pm |
Where did you see the first parts?
February 15, 2013 at 11:27 pm |
Someone linked to them in the comments of other posts. I was so happy
February 14, 2013 at 2:41 am |
I saw that Aly & Nastia were both at a show together… surprised they weren’t tweeting each other to death… wonder if they are on the rocks. Aly kind of seemed to idolize Nastia pre-olympics?
February 14, 2013 at 5:24 am |
All I see regarding nastia these days are pics from her FebuANY subway ads (lol) and the Nastia and Tara = BFF photos. I get this feelings that she’s not going to be making other friends.. at least, not this semester. Funny how celebrities just bond with other celebrities but I don’t even recall Nastia and Tara hanging out before NYU.
February 14, 2013 at 9:34 am |
i actually feel bad for nastia if she doesn’t make friends at college. good luck getting through 4 years of your degree without a single uni friend!
February 14, 2013 at 4:27 pm
I’m sure Nastia will be fine in college, friends or not. She loves herself enough.
February 15, 2013 at 4:59 am
I feel like she shouldn’t have the fame factor hindering her from being a “normal freshman/college student” IF she wanted to. Honestly, I wonder if any of her classmates recognize her? I mean, Nastia is 23 and her claim to fame for non-gym fans was the 08 OG– 4.5 years ago. Since she only has 1 semester of courses on her transcript, my best guess is that she’s still taking classes with lowerclassmen, who are 18-19. Some of them probably watched the 08 games but could they still recognize the 2008 All-around champion? If I were a four year fan, I doubt I would be able to!!
Gymmom, Nastia may love herself, sure, but I bet her confidence is also dependent on people loving her. I keep picturing her time at NYU similar to Blair Waldorf’s (Gossip Girl, lol), where the experience was marred by the fact that she was essentially a nobody. But yeah, Nastia seems better off– super busy! I’ve yet to see any pictures taken on campus though. haha
February 14, 2013 at 6:11 pm |
Does Tara go to NYU?
February 14, 2013 at 8:05 pm
I think Tara might live in NYC but doesn’t attend NYU.
February 14, 2013 at 10:04 pm
I thought Tara disappeared to her pod after her hip surgery.
February 15, 2013 at 1:38 am
isnt tara in her 30s? how old is nastia now? 22?23?
February 15, 2013 at 1:57 am
Tara was 15 when she won in 98….which would make her 29/30
now I think.
February 15, 2013 at 11:53 am
Yeah Tara will be 31 in June. Nastia will be 24 this year.
February 14, 2013 at 4:44 pm |
Yet another reason I think Hayley DeProspero ( Horton) is awesome
http://instagram.com/p/Vt6SoJSj-Z/
She picked bridesmaid dresses that those girls could totally wear again or somewhere else, or to a broadway show……
February 14, 2013 at 4:59 pm |
LOL I have that bridesmaid’s dress, only in green! Very reasonable in cost, too.
February 14, 2013 at 7:24 pm |
I have a question that might be outright silly but what the heck. It’s always been made a big deal that Carly Patterson is from WOGA but when I see videos of her I never see Valeri Liukin in the vids or pics. I realize that there is more than one coach in the gym but I thought he was the major face or owner. Is that not the case?
February 14, 2013 at 7:44 pm |
She wasn’t coachewd bu Liukin
February 14, 2013 at 8:28 pm
She was coached by at the time woga co-owner yevgeny marchenko
February 15, 2013 at 4:09 am
Exgymgurl, so you mean to say Marchenko doesn’t co-own WOGA anymore?
February 15, 2013 at 5:13 pm
No he still does, he also coached Hollie Vise. Im not sure why hes still listed as head of the womens team but he doesnt coach any of the elites.
I wasnt sure because you never see him anymore but when I looked it up I realized he was still there.
February 15, 2013 at 5:26 pm
Whats amazing about the 2004 quad is that as juniors it was carly, hollie, ashely postell . They were amazing. Chellsie came on super strong in 2003. Kupets was super strong then too…. You then had Courtney McCool and I never understood why she ranked so highly and took a spot on that team. Had Vise and Memmel and Postell not been in this stupid “selection process” that seems to go on for two years prior to the olympics, and not been so badly injured and had they been properly rested they would have been on that team with Patterson Kupets, Bhardwaj and Hatch and most likely would have won gold. McCool was like dead weight. Maybe Terin Humphrey makes it ahead of Bhardwaj. Chellsie would have vaulted better than Bhardwaj. Your team finals would have been Vault: Memmel Patterson Hatch Bars: Humphrey Memmel, Vise Beam Kupets ( or Memmel since Marta got irritated with Courtney in warmup) Vise Patterson Floor Kupets Patterson and Memmel or Humphrey… on bars and beam alone with all of these athletes properly peaked that would have been an amazing team. With a lot more individual medal hauls. That whole quad irritates me because I strongly believe the wrong team was picked.
I would have loved to have seen Bross rested in 2011 instead of pushed. She looked injured that whole year, and should have not been pushed through the injury. Im worried that Liukin will do the same thing to Ohashi rather than properly resting her.
February 15, 2013 at 5:42 pm
I see what you’re saying, but I don’t agree really with Hatch being on the team just for her vault. I think if anything Hatch and Bhardwaj were the questionable selections. I see what you’re saying about McCool but I actually thought she was a beautiful gymnast – she just couldn’t pull herself together.
McCool was put on that team though because Carly fell on beam at Trials. McCool then got that second spot and back then it was top two automatically make it on the Olympic team.
For the ’04 quad, the US had a field of really strong bar workers: Vice, Kupets, Humphrey, Memmel…Patterson was decent but not as good. Marta felt that the “weakness” was vault so she took two vault specialists and opted to just wing it on floor (IMO – Bhardwaj had no reason to be doing floor OR beam). This is where/why Hollie got screwed. The thing that ended up screwing Marta/the US over was Kupets being injured at the Games – they needed her to do a solid floor and to compete beam, and she opted out of beam at Team Finals (so Bhardwaj did it; I think Kupets was trying to save herself for the AA) and she fell out of a turn on floor. She crapped out in the AA too.
Wasn’t Tasha Sweigart (sp?) in the mix at one point too? She was a solid vaulter I think. I forgot honestly. But she was injured with Memmel right? Or passed up by Marta because of politics, one of the two…
February 15, 2013 at 8:24 pm
Annia never should have been on that team period. I can’t remember the competition I think it was the 2004 nationals and Marta told Annia to withdraw because she knew she had no shot of qualifying on her own.
The big reason I did not want the US to win under Marta and she twice let her personal opinion decided an Olympic team over common sense and the US lost both times. She tried that this Olympics with Nastia but luckily she choked and Kyla didn’t.
Tasha did really badly at Nationals and trials and then went to camp and did really well. Marta told Tasha after camp if she had done that well at nationals and trials as she did at camp she would have been ojn the team.
The fact is the US needed floor workers big time and Marta broke ignored those that could have helped like Tasha did
February 14, 2013 at 8:07 pm |
Has anyone else noticed that in these keeks McKayla has been posting lately her mom always looks stressed to the max?
February 15, 2013 at 1:51 pm |
You’d be stressed too if you were raising a firecracker like that.
February 15, 2013 at 6:15 pm
Agreed, except when depositing her checks. LOL. Seriously, I’m sure raising an elite Olympic gymnast is not just fun and games, especially one with McKayla’s personality. I feel for Erin sometimes. She is the one who appears to be “running the train” as far as making sure McKayla gets to everywhere she has to be, plus raising her other two kids. They do not appear to have financial worries but still I am sure it is stressful.
February 15, 2013 at 6:48 am |
Wow this Worlds team is going to be tough! I thought 5 member teams were awful but these 4 member ones after the Olympics are brutal.
I was sure Ebee was a lock but now I’m not so sure. She has a good chance of getting bumped in the AA by Ohashi and Lexi and she’s not a real medal contender anywhere else except maybe floor. But this floor and Lexi’s would outscore hers, possibly Ohashi. Kyla has a good chance on bars and beam. I love Simone, she’ll be a senior right and Polina is a year too young?
February 15, 2013 at 7:11 am |
It’s good to have this much depth though- I bet some will be injured by World’s– wouldn’t want a repeat of 2008, right?
Team usa will definitely pick up medals in FX and VT (+AA). I’m going to be doubtful about BB & UB until I see how Ohashi is holding out (still feel like she’ll be burnt out under Liukin…) + if Kyla’s got any upgrades from being back in the gym so soon. Don’t see Marta picking Anna Li, even if she gets that Kovacs down. And yup, Polina is a 2014 senior. (:
Damn, I wish Finnegan had a chance. Lexi, Ebee, Biles, etc do nothing for me. Oh and I love Mac’s FX of course…
February 15, 2013 at 1:03 pm
so much depth! come share it with australia haha.
it’s just a shame for the girls who are so talented, and would they be in any other country, would probably get more international opportunities.
February 15, 2013 at 5:11 pm
Which is why if you have a good quality gymnast that is approaching elite level and yet has not competed elite and is about 10 years old, focus more on Ballet and get the line and the extension and move to a country like Australia or Norway if you want your child to be able to go to the olympics. There are enough great coaches internationally, and it doesnt take that much to have a gym where an elite can train. There is no way I would put my kid through elite gymnastics in this country. I would repatriate to one of the coutries of my ancestors. Chuso has competed for three different countries. If she was american, in 2000 she would have been told to shove it like Shannon Miller was. Why compete for the US? seriously why pad Marta’s medal total? I mean the Romanians half way go after decent hungarian gymnasts especially if their parents could be called gypsies…..
Repatriating yourself to a different country makes a lot more sense than killing yourself to be on one American team where if Nastia doesnt have a major meltdown you lose your spot.
February 15, 2013 at 5:31 pm
I don’t think it’s terribly easy to just up and move to another country, especially in the US where typically both the mom and dad have to work to maintain a certain living standard. There’s the whole visa issue as well – other countries don’t just “accept” us American folk. You’d have to find a job to support you and your family’s visa requirements. That’s nearly impossible.
February 16, 2013 at 9:23 pm
Not Norway haha. There are child sports rules, where children under 12 can only train a certain number of hours a week.
No nationals until the child is 13. Australia is better! (at least if the kid wants to get good, rather than just have fun)
February 15, 2013 at 7:23 am |
Hey, sorry if I’m late to the party, but: Pistorius, the paralympic champion track star who ran in the London OG killed his gf accidently (way to begin v-day!): http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/sports/oscar-pistorius-shooting-south-africa.html?_r=0
February 15, 2013 at 8:10 am |
he’s allegedly being charged with murder, so im not sure if the “accidental” claim is truthful or not.
either way, it’s a sad story.
February 15, 2013 at 8:24 am
I think intent (to kill/harm, in this case) is always kinda difficult to tease out. But intentional or not, it’s still murder, right? I’m going to assume that it was accidental because there aren’t any obvious motives (as of now).
Another story to fuel gun control debates. And yeah, pretty damn crazy/sad. :/
February 15, 2013 at 10:57 am
If it was accidental it wasn’t murder. Maybe manslaughter which is recklessly causing another person’s death. But just because he says he thought she was an intruder doesn’t me he is telling the truth. They say there was a history of domestic trouble. Lots of time there is forensic evidence in cases like this that shows whether the accused is or is not lying.
February 15, 2013 at 1:02 pm
icemeltsfast – you need to prove intent as an element of murder, the “or not” would usually mean manslaughter. im assuming if he is being charged with murder, the prosecution thinks it can argue intent.. and i’d be surprised if the media would be reporting on motive this early on.
i doubt this will have an impact on the US debates on gun control as this incident happened in south africa, which has it’s own issues of high crime/violence/gun ownership that occur in a different context.
February 15, 2013 at 1:54 pm
Terribly disappointing. Yet another “inspirational” athlete who (if convicted, blah blah) is nothing more than a worthless POS thug.
By the way, it’s not looking good for him. Apparently he’s got a domestic violence rap sheet that’s pretty long.
February 15, 2013 at 6:22 pm
Case, that’s why I try to discourage my kids from getting too wrapped up in “hero worship” of athletes or anybody else for that matter. It’s okay to be big fans and all but you never know what anybody is really like.
February 15, 2013 at 7:43 pm
He tried to spin a story about an intruder but the evidence didn’t prove that out. Nike pulled the ad about him being a “bullet.”
He was getting all kinds of special treatment in jail, but they moved him to a jail to accommodate his disability. He lived in a walled, gated home with barbed wire fence surrounding it. There was no intruder.
Remember he threw a fit when someone beat him in the Paralympics after the regular Olympics? He disputed the winner for awhile until he finally gave it up and accepted his loss. This was after the IOC agreed to allow him to compete in the regular Olympics.
He bragged last year about how “armed” his home in South Africa is. He has a handgun by his bed. An automatic weapon against the wall and knives near his window in his bedroom. And he lives behind barbed wire? He spent alot of time at gun ranges practicing his shot, so he knew about shooting to kill.
His girlfriend who was a model and an attorney, was shot multiple times including in the head. He made sure she was DEAD! I also read she was an advocate for violence against women. Interesting since the police confirmed several other calls to his home for domestic violence…although it looks like she wasn’t the victim then. They had only been dating a few months.
The info about the other police calls to Pistorious’ home came to light after this alleged murder. Interesting. Maybe if those had been made public, this woman would still be alive?
I think she may have found out about his past with domestic violence and planned/tried to leave him after confronting him?
Whatever the case, his attempting to cover the murder by alleging he thought there was an intruder makes him look more guilty. IF there were an intruder, one shot from an expert marksman would have been sufficient enough to stop them/her. The police said the girlfriend was already in the house when she was shot. There was a story that she had come over to surprise him in the early morning but that story was false.
This guy is a monster!
http://m.cbsnews.com/fullstory.rbml?catid=57569558&feed_id=null&videofeed=null
February 16, 2013 at 8:49 am
Ah, you guys are right. Thanks for the explanations. I totally forgot that the technical word for “accidental murder” is manslaughter– told my friends that and they claim I don’t watch enough CIA/L&O evidentially (;
Thanks for the synopsis, Gymmom. This guy definitely sounds like a monster. I didn’t know he had a history of domestic abuse. Ugh. Distasteful. I mean killings are always bad, but I especially hate it whenever they tie to domestic abuse. Like that Arias case Sarah! brought to my attention recently.
February 16, 2013 at 8:51 am
**CSI. LOL Definitely not my first choice tv shows.
February 15, 2013 at 11:40 pm |
Just saw on ABC News that Oscar Pistorious’ girlfriend was shot multiple times through a bathroom door. Sounds like he hunted her down & slaughtered her like an animal.