I love men's gymnastics
I had the most fantastic time at the intrasquad meet last night. It all began with a pretty good omen: Shubha and I did not get lost on the way, and as soon as we walked in, Justin Laury, one of the best gymnasts who had no idea who we were nonetheless grinned and waved to us, asked us how we were, etc. We sat up in the corner of the stands nearest the rings and high bar. It was so amazing. Shubha had to go early cause she was tired, but I of course stayed the whole time. They are absolutely AMAZING. And I was so close!!!! The high bar was especially impressive; Gerry Signorelli did this amazing release where he flipped around in the air before grabbing the bar again. He ended up winning the all-around for the meet, so I had an excuse to interview him (I had written his name down on my list of people I should ask to interview, just cause he was so astoundingly gorgeous. Plus he's a senior.) He was really nice, and he got Justin Laury to come over and talk to me too. Justin might get redshirted this year cause he's got a bum knee and a bum shoulder, how pooful. But he's definitely still an asset to the team--last night he was pumping everyone up, even produced a cowbell from somewhere and led the traditional Go Blue cheers. Last I got to talk to Coach Kurt Golder, just the sweetest man. My new way of confirming to people that my name really is Colt (not Cole, Cody, Nicole, etc) is to say "Like Indianapolis" and that got us talking about football and horses, which was fun. He found us chairs and talked to me for about fifteen minutes. I think the team's gonna be really good! (I always think that, but this IS Michigan, it's not a totally unrealistic thing to think). The chemistry of the team is really good, and there's a great new class of freshmen. There is a lot of new stuff actually: 8 new freshmen, 1 new guy who will join the team after break, 2 guys who redshirted last year, a new scoring code, all new routines, new focus, etc. Coach Golder is the kind of person who makes you feel comfortable talking to him. I really want this beat. I think I will have a LOT of fun doing it. The only slight problem is that it overlaps with the start of baseball, but that is not something I can worry about right now. I am not assured of getting baseball, as much as I would like to think I am, and men's gym is the present objective. I'll deal with the conflict if and when I need to. But anyways, I think the article will pretty much write itself, on the theme of newness etc. (Nobody really cares that the Blue team beat the Maize team. Although I might have to put in something about Gerry Signorelli's amazing release skill. Ho-ly To-LE-do, as Bill King would say.) Next time we have a home meet I must remember to bring 15 bucks to get a men's gym t-shirt. Heehee. The joyous part about not doing any of the big 3 sports (football, hockey, basketball) is that I am still allowed to be a fan, for the most part. I can wear all my very partisan stuff and cheer as much as I want. Yet another reason why I don't ever want a big 3 beat. Closest I ever want to get to those is BASEBALL. Well, only three more days until I get to go home!!!! I have my list of gifts almost finished for Christmas, heehee, although many of the things haven't actually been purchased yet. At least I have a direction!