August Rush
I have some pictures from the trip up here, if you are interested.
Also, can I just say that Boston has an incredible amount of gorgeous males? I seriously almost ran off with a mailman my first morning there. I bothered him to confirm some directions and when he turned a pair of golden eyes at me and started speaking with that Boston accent... Yeah. He walked us over to where we were having lunch and I swear if the competition hadn't been about to start I would have taken the offer to disappear with him, clichés be dammed.
And yeah, this impromptu Boston rundown was totally not what I had in mind when I clicked 'Post an Entry', because the temptation to check results for trials was getting overwhelming and I swore I would wait for the broadcast tomorrow. I was going to encourage you guys to checkout the trials because they should be legendary. The boys go on first at 3pm. Keep an eye out for Justin Spring, Raj Bhasvar & Jonathan Horton on high bar and rings. Another killer set should come from Alexander Artemev on pommel horse. Artemev and Spring are both shooting stars either they rock their sets or they crash and burn spectacularly. They need to hit cold tomorrow if they want to see the Great Wall in August.
As for the girls who go on at seven, look for Nastia and Shawn to dazzle on every event. Alicia should impress on both vault and floor. I expect Sam to rock out tomorrow. She has the difficulty and more importantly the confidence. I'm betting this one is going to make herself a lock for this team in Philly. Mattie Larson, the dark horse in this race should have a great vault and a spectacular floor set. Her choreography and style on floor are world-class and worthy of a trip to Beijing but she's inexperienced and lacks consistency on the other two events. Bridget Sloan should bring an interesting bars set to the table as well as a new floor set. She had knee surgery in March and this will be her first time back on floor, where she showed a lot of promise prior to surgery. The always stylish and often MIA Shayla Worley will be competing through a back injury for a spot at the selection camp. Bars is her make or break event, she'll have to hit and score well to have a shot at bumping Bridget off the team.
Chellsie Memmel will probably be near the top as well. I'm not really a fan but I like her opening pass on floor (a piked arabian double-front) and team USA needs her bars sadly. Yes, I know she’s a former co-world champ there but this bars weakness i extremely frustrating... We had some really promising juniors on this event who got lost somewhere along USAG’s political struggles and power plays. Good job guys, way to screw yourselves out of gold again. I bet He Kexin’s bars set has you missing a certain gurlie who had the guts to throw a triple back off bars. Bastards.
Anyway, look to Ivana Hong to bring some beautiful artistry and lines to the competition but a lack of difficulty will probably keep her off this team. Jana Bieger the 2006 World All-Around Silver medalist will be throwing a huge first pass on floor but other than that her form and lack of polish render her routines unremarkable. Randy Stageberg should have a very impressive floor set, with clean and sky-high tumbling.
And the reason I truly started this post I wanted to jot down my prediction for the team prior to seeing any Trials coverage. I see Nastia, Shawn, Alicia, Sam, Chellsie and Bridget in Beijing. If Chellsie or Bridget got hurt Shayla Worley could sneak in. If Sam or Alicia got hurt Mattie would be the go-to girl. Jana or Ivana will probably claim the third alternate position. I pray to God we don't see any more injuries - Shayla missing a spot will be tragic enough but just the thought of any more of them missing their shot makes me nauseous. Yes, I realize I'm more than a bit over-invested but this is the one sport I absolutely adore. Blame Dominique Moceanu.
Also, can I just say that Boston has an incredible amount of gorgeous males? I seriously almost ran off with a mailman my first morning there. I bothered him to confirm some directions and when he turned a pair of golden eyes at me and started speaking with that Boston accent... Yeah. He walked us over to where we were having lunch and I swear if the competition hadn't been about to start I would have taken the offer to disappear with him, clichés be dammed.
And yeah, this impromptu Boston rundown was totally not what I had in mind when I clicked 'Post an Entry', because the temptation to check results for trials was getting overwhelming and I swore I would wait for the broadcast tomorrow. I was going to encourage you guys to checkout the trials because they should be legendary. The boys go on first at 3pm. Keep an eye out for Justin Spring, Raj Bhasvar & Jonathan Horton on high bar and rings. Another killer set should come from Alexander Artemev on pommel horse. Artemev and Spring are both shooting stars either they rock their sets or they crash and burn spectacularly. They need to hit cold tomorrow if they want to see the Great Wall in August.
As for the girls who go on at seven, look for Nastia and Shawn to dazzle on every event. Alicia should impress on both vault and floor. I expect Sam to rock out tomorrow. She has the difficulty and more importantly the confidence. I'm betting this one is going to make herself a lock for this team in Philly. Mattie Larson, the dark horse in this race should have a great vault and a spectacular floor set. Her choreography and style on floor are world-class and worthy of a trip to Beijing but she's inexperienced and lacks consistency on the other two events. Bridget Sloan should bring an interesting bars set to the table as well as a new floor set. She had knee surgery in March and this will be her first time back on floor, where she showed a lot of promise prior to surgery. The always stylish and often MIA Shayla Worley will be competing through a back injury for a spot at the selection camp. Bars is her make or break event, she'll have to hit and score well to have a shot at bumping Bridget off the team.
Chellsie Memmel will probably be near the top as well. I'm not really a fan but I like her opening pass on floor (a piked arabian double-front) and team USA needs her bars sadly. Yes, I know she’s a former co-world champ there but this bars weakness i extremely frustrating... We had some really promising juniors on this event who got lost somewhere along USAG’s political struggles and power plays. Good job guys, way to screw yourselves out of gold again. I bet He Kexin’s bars set has you missing a certain gurlie who had the guts to throw a triple back off bars. Bastards.
Anyway, look to Ivana Hong to bring some beautiful artistry and lines to the competition but a lack of difficulty will probably keep her off this team. Jana Bieger the 2006 World All-Around Silver medalist will be throwing a huge first pass on floor but other than that her form and lack of polish render her routines unremarkable. Randy Stageberg should have a very impressive floor set, with clean and sky-high tumbling.
And the reason I truly started this post I wanted to jot down my prediction for the team prior to seeing any Trials coverage. I see Nastia, Shawn, Alicia, Sam, Chellsie and Bridget in Beijing. If Chellsie or Bridget got hurt Shayla Worley could sneak in. If Sam or Alicia got hurt Mattie would be the go-to girl. Jana or Ivana will probably claim the third alternate position. I pray to God we don't see any more injuries - Shayla missing a spot will be tragic enough but just the thought of any more of them missing their shot makes me nauseous. Yes, I realize I'm more than a bit over-invested but this is the one sport I absolutely adore. Blame Dominique Moceanu.