gymn Digest Fri, 4 Nov 94 Volume 3 : Issue 35

Today's Topics:
'94 ITA Grand Prix
Angela Ghimpu
Anika Reeder/Anita Reeker (2 msgs)
Asian Games - Women's EF
Back from e-mail purgatory
coach wanted
dateline (4 msgs)
eating disorders in sports (was re: dateline)
FINALLY! Gymnastics gif site accessable
Henrich subject on "Today"
Henrich subject on "Today" (fwd)
IG Questions (2 msgs)
Italy & Intro
Kochetkova (floor)
Miller and comps. (2 msgs)
Shannon & Worlds
Shannon at world team
Shannon Miller and Worlds
the blind change (2 msgs)
Trivia Questions (finally!)

This is a digest of the gymn@athena.mit.edu mailing list.

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Date: Fri, 28 Oct 1994 02:26:45 -0400
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: '94 ITA Grand Prix

I saw the latest "La Gimnasta" and though I don't have it front of me as I
remember the the results are as follows ... (if anyone really cares I can get
the full results with scores for posting or Nancy who has a better memory
then me could expound).

Well Chusovitna finally had an AA victory (wonder if this is her first AA win
since '90 Olympic Cup) beat Angela Ghimpu of Romania and Yuri Chehci won his
4th Grand prix. Yuri beat Igor Korobchinskii who until now had been on a roll
(2nd to Ivankov in two meets). Igor's loss hinged on the fact that he scored
a dismal 9.0 on SR while Chechi had a 9.8 on the same event.

-Susan

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 28 Oct 94 10:43 PDT
From: ***@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU
Subject: Angela Ghimpu

Angela Ghimpu looks and works like a cross between Maria Neculita and
Eugenia Popa... Not a bad mix, however her FX music is.

Is it just me or is Larissa Lukyanenko the Olga Strazheva of rhythmic.
Her ball performance in 92 is still my all-time favorite, closely followed
by her hoop at the same meet (Europeans)...

Thats all for now.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 17:57:23 -0700 (MST)
From: ***@asu.edu
Subject: Anika Reeder/Anita Reeker

What's her name- Anika Reeder or Anita Reeker (GBR)?

I uploaded a picture of her, titled "Reeker-floor", into the gif site and
I think I may be wrong about her name. Anyway, if I am, just wanted to
warn you guys that I know I made a mistake so I don't get 30 notes
correcting me...

Amanda

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Oct 94 4:29:14 GMT
From: ***@ic.ac.uk
Subject: Anika Reeder/Anita Reeker


> What's her name- Anika Reeder or Anita Reeker (GBR)?

It's actually Annika Reeder with a "k" and two "n"s. But we won't hold
it against you Amanda! Annika is getting more and more popular after
her victories in Commonwealth Games and "success" (qualify for the FX
final) in Europeans. She's an ideal target for the young adoring fans to
scream at... young, tiny and cutesy. She also often make mistakes which
always make the crowd grasp. Funny it may seem, I think some gymnasts
gain more popularity if they make mistakes (e.g. Korbut... and more
recently Gutsu in Olympics and Dawes in Worlds), I mean, who won't
feel for a girl who is crying and obviously very disappointed...

--

Sherwin Ho
------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 21:22:19 -0400
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Asian Games - Women's EF

>After seeing them perform, I've got to say that the CHN girls could win the
gold in Dortmund. In terms of grace and expressiveness (not to mention
form), they are light years ahead of ROM....

Does anyone know if the Chinese are sending this same team to Dortmund?

Mara

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 08:14:07 -0400
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Back from e-mail purgatory

For those of you who weren't aware, I've been trapped in e-mail purgatory for
the past 2 weeks.

For those of you who did know, and switched to my other address, the good
news is that things are OK here and you can switch back :-)

Send me mail! <vbg>

Mara

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 25 Oct 1994 10:24:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: ***@netcom.com
Subject: coach wanted

> We are looking for a coach able to coach both compulsory and optional levels
> who has good spotting skills and is into a positive teaching style. We are
> located in the San Francisco Bay Area. We have an enrollment of 550- great
> students and staff! Pay will depend on experience and benefits are available.
> If this sounds interesting to you or anyone you know, please e-mail
> Leesmo@aol.com or else call (510) 655-1265. Thanks:)
>

Grab a San Jose or a Sunnyvale phonebook.
Search for the name under Davis, Peter or try Davis, Carrottop.
Carrottop also has a teaching credential !

Look him up ! I think hes still looking for work.

510 area code with a 655 prefix code... hmmmm..
you perhaps located on Hollis St in Emeryville ?

BWAHAHAHAHAHA !!!

-texx

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 00:02:49 -0400 (EDT)
From: ***@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Dateline

The "Dateline" segment on Christy Henrich was very sobering. I hope a lot
of coaches were watching. Does anyone know just who this judge was who told
Christy she was "fat"? Was it an American judge? I think officials who say such
cruel things to young girls should be barred from the sport. Don't these adults
realize that they ARE "gods" to a lot of gymnasts, as Mrs. Henrich put it? I
hope this makes them think before they speak. And I also hope that all gymnasts
who have such things said to them by coaches, judges or whoever, will inform
their parents of it right away. And also stand up to the people saying these
things. You DON'T have to be "pencil thin" to be successful. There are plenty
of successful gymnasts with stockier body types: Ekaterina Szabo, Kim Zmeskal,
Mary Lou Retton, Elena Piskun, Elena Shushunova, to name a few. And there are
successful tall gymnasts: Svetlana Boginskaya, Svetlana Khorkina, Rhonda Faehn.
I hope the gymnasts out there will keep these athletes in mind and bring them
up as examples to coaches or anyone else who criticizes them about weight.
There's no perfect mold a gymnast has to fit. Accept your body type and use it
to your advantage, as champions like Szabo, Boginskaya and Shushunova did. You
CAN succeed even if you're not 4'9" and 89 pounds. Ekaterina, Svetlana and
Elena did!

Beth

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 01:02:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: ***@emerald.tufts.edu
Subject: dateline

I was wondering if anyone knows Christy's coach? The show made him seem
like an extremely cold man, unable to accept that he could have done more
for Christy! The piece moved me to tears and I can't believe that Mr.Fong
could be so callous! If anyone knows anything about him ley me know!
Melissa

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 05:58:30 -0400
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Dateline

I have to strongly disagree with Beth (and most of the other reactions I've
seen so far) on many points ...

Gymnastics was *not* the cause of Christie's death. Al Fong (her coach), her
parents, the USGF (USAG), the unnamed judge ... none of them killed Christie.
Christie died from an eating disorder; nothing more, nothing less. Ultimately
Christie herself is the responsible party. She was ill and while many people
that loved and cared for her tried to give her help in the end it was up to
her. It was Henrich vs Anorexia and, tragically, the disease won. I'm not
assigning any sort of blame to Christie, she was obviously unwell, but just
because Christie is not "to blame" doesn't mean that anyone else is either.
You can't make a person well anymore then you can make them sick.

Gymnastics does not cause eating disorders any more then washing your car
causes it to rain. After the fact it may seem that way but the perception
doesn't make it so. Yes, female athletes in general have a higher incidence
of Anorexia and Bulemia then the wider population and gymnastics is no
exception. The other side of that coin is that millions of American women
that have never competed in any kind of sport suffer and die every die from
the same thing ... we just don't hear about them. When society holds up as
the standard of beauty people such as Kate Moss what do they expect? Girl's
are taught from birth that you can't be pretty or worthwhile unless you are
thin. It is held up as the golden beacon from which springs forth all
happiness. Dieting is as large a growth industry as computers. Jenny Craig
and Richard Simmons are as well known public figures as Wayne Gretzky or Bill
Clinton. These people are famous because they were fat and are now thin.
Nothing too amazing or spectacular really but this society worships
svelete-ness and has turned them into celebrities. While in an everyday
situation making fun of a person of color would be unthinkable degrading a
fat person is accepted - often even encouraged - by the general population.
After all they deserve it right?

FYI, All this is coming from the most unathletic person known to man who has
struggled with her weight since Jr. high. I wasn't fat then but I did develop
earlier then most of my peers and at 5'6" and 125 at age 12 I was teased
without end for being "fat." I won't describe the endless taunting and
teasing I lived with but suffice it to say that when I left Jr. High I *was*
fat and every day since has been a constant struggle with my weight. My
father tried to bribe me into losing weight ... he offered me cars, trips to
gymnastics meets, new wardrobes ... whatever I wanted. He believed that my
life would magically improve if I was thin. He was only trying to help I
know. I was miserable for years ... nothing made me more unhappy then being
on a diet ... constantly thinking about food is so depressing. Today I've
pretty much decided that if god didn't want me to be fat he wouldn't have
made me so darned fond of Oreos. ;-)

This long and boring story was told not to illicit personal sympathy of any
kind but to prove a point ... I was under constant pressure to lose weight.
My father's live in girlfriend ran a Weight Watchers and supervised my food
intake ... she'd search my room for "illegal stuff" for god's sake. BTW, I
know I'm fat but I've never, even at my worst, been more then 35 pounds
overweight ... not exactly beached whale status though definitely not
something you wanna' see coming at you in a swimsuit. Anyway, the idea is if
I was a different kind of person this all could have lead to exactly the kind
of situation that Christie found herself in.

I've said it before and I'll repeat myself here because I think it's
important ... the kind of kids that get involved in gymnastics with any
success are the kind of kids that are most at risk for eating disorders:
tough, driven, controlling and/or control-able, single minded, and willing to
sacrifice for a goal.

The mainstream media's eagerness to "get an angle" and blame gymnastics for
Christie's death is irresponsible but understandable. One, it makes a pretty
good story ... I mean, we're all talking about it aren't we? Secondly, and
more from the Henrich's point of view; they are sad, hurt, angry, confused,
and bitter. How else could they feel losing their 22 year old daughter who
had once probably seemed to them the healthiest girl alive? They need someone
to blame. Someone or something that they can take out all their pain on.

I also have a major problem with the way the gymnastics community is handling
all this ... their acting as if they have something to hide is only adding
fuel to the fire. I've heard people express anger at Christie herself calling
her a "deviant" and the like ... stewing in their own righteous indignation
at the way gymnastics is being crucified in the press.

Some coaches who do encourage "starvation dieting" and other unhealthy eating
practices obviously *should* be concerned - Henrich death or no - but I
believe that for the most part coaches are caring responsible people who do
their best to create strong and healthy - in both mind and body - athletes.
For the USAG (and other official gymnastics representatives) to sweep
Christie under the rug like a dirty little secret is, IMHO, a major error on
their part.

I always say what I feel (and don't you guys know it! <g>) and have been darn
forthright with my thoughts on coaches and their habits but the anger I see
directed at Al Fong simply isn't fair. He was the first one to intervene in
an attempt to halt Christie's unhealthy eating habits. He eventually kicked
her out of the gym in an attempt to snap her out of it. He can not be blamed
for being unable to help someone who simply didn't want his assistance.

Christie *did* need to improve her form and body line. Weight (or more
accurately "body shape") *is* important in gymnastics. *Everything* shows in
a leotard and excess weight can detract from the overall line and performance
of a gymnast. Henrich's body was of the type that most likely had to be
careful of what she ate. Her natural body type was not ideal for the sport
and therefore I assume it was a struggle for her even before the anorexia
took hold ... the foundation for food abuse was there in her genes.

Parents shouldn't be afraid to get their kids involved in gymnastics. For the
most part it's a caring and healthy sport. At the high levels of elite
competition the politics and pressure is more then most young teens can
handle but that is such a minuscule part of the gymnastics experience. Few
children become Olympians but that doesn't mean that they can't benefit from
what this sport has to offer. Know your child's coach and their training
methods and if you don't agree with them or feel that something detrimental
is being done to *your* kid then for god's sake get them the hell out of
there.

It's not a question of blame or guilt. It's a tragic senseless death that
occurred to a former gymnast and the gymnastics community should rally around
the Henrich's the way that they would around an athlete that died in a car
accident or injured themselves in training. Whitewashing the circumstances of
Christie's death does no-one any good and causes harm to almost all.

-Susan

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 13:45:06 -0400 (EDT)
From: ***@delphi.com
Subject: dateline

I would like to put my 2 cents worth on this topic...I watched that program
with my daughter ,it was really sad how this women was blaming everyone
except herself........I mean she said she only saw her daughter one hour in
the morning and one and a half in the evening......why? I don't believe the
training hours are any different anywhere else for elite......she said she
gave total control to the coach......you give total control of the gymnastic
part of it to the coach....but I wouldn't give up my daughters personal life
to a coach........sometimes the parents get sooooooo wrapped up in the
winning they only see what they want......Al fong said he tryed to tell the
parents that she had a problem but they were in denial.......what about the
chubby kid in 10th grade with the beautiful face .....that everyone called
fat etc.....do you run around and blame all the kids in school for saying
all those awful things when she ends up with a eating disorder.........IMHO
You can't expect to send your kid out into the world thinking that people
are going to say only NICE things.......there are some really sick people
who should not be around children....but the facts are that there will
always be someone who is going to find fault with you ,so you have to LEARN
how to deal with that in a postive way......You can't control what other
people say....but you can try and control how your child will deal with it
when she comes across those negitive comments......I have heard parents say
comments like "I pay my 300 a month and if he doesn't like the way my
daughter looks let him worry about it...let him find a solution.."...IMHO
that is a where some of the problems begin....The boyfriend is another
story I don't buy.....He also had eating disorders.....was he in gymnastics
too......but they didn't focus on that when he mentioned it.....was he
the one who gave christy the idea in the first place? wonder why sally
didn't pick up on that when she interviewed him.....I was hoping they would
have brought on a few wrestlers to even things out.....I think our sport
took a bad rap on this one........I heard her mom say that the first thing
christy said when she got off the plane from that USA vs JAPAN meet was what
this judge said to her.....but I didn't hear what she had done about it
that night or that week or that year even, I wanted to know what she
said to her daughter ,what did she do as a parent ?.......I know that the
purpose of airing the story is to make people more aware of what had
happened to christy.......but the problem is it is turning into a finger
pointing issue and what it should be is something we can learn from.......I
haven't heard one thing about what she should have done or could have done
different that maybe could have changed to outcome ..afterall isn't that why
she is telling this story to start with? to help other kids learn?
sorry for rambling on and on .....my two cents.....


------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 15:07:30 -0700 (MST)
From: ***@asu.edu
Subject: eating disorders in sports (was re: dateline)

Eating disorders are a fact in our culture, plain and simple. I
know a girl from Moscow who had no idea what they were until she moved to
California in the 8th grade. She thinks the whole thing is very wierd,
like how we view Indian people worshipping cows. Russian women weren't (I
say weren't because now they are starting to be) deluged with the "thin is
in" notion that Western women are. The other day I saw a PBS show with a
panel of women of various ethnic backgrounds (one white, one hispanic, one
black, and one Asian) and they talked about how our culure is so abnormal
and they're different experiences in travelling to other places. One
women said she went to Egypt and how she had men ogling her because she
was of their ideal beauty (she was about 15-20 lbs overweight) but here in
America she's the invisible lady. Many young women are told from a very
young age: "Are you sure you want some dessert? Boys don't like fat girls!"
And while the elite athletes in these other countries may have
learned "tricks" about how to keep their weight down, the general
population, where food may be scarce, isn't thinking about eating 10 lbs
of food and throwing it up. If we can't keep eating disorders and the
"you can never be too thin" theology out of our general population here, how
can we expect to shelter our athletes from it as well, especially
vulnerable gymnasts that are judged on how they look? I know of a
baseball player whose coach told him he need to drop a few pounds (he
was a chubby kid) and was immediately ashamed into anorexia, one of the
few cases where males are affected. It's not just gymnastics. If the
1986 Miss America died of an eating disorder today, I can guarantee you
that we would be seeing all the talkshows and the newsmagazines jumping
onto the bandwagon to condemn beauty pageants in the same way.
Am I rambling? Well, my point is that it's not the fault of Al
Fong, Jackie Fie, or Elmo that Christy Henrich is dead. It's the fault
of our whole society. But considering that the average life span of
former gymnasts is NOT 22, it's ultimnately the fault of Christy Henrich
and her stubborness that led to her sad death.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 16:41:39 -0700 (MST)
From: ***@asu.edu
Subject: FINALLY! Gymnastics gif site accessable

Dear all at gymn, (and especially Clive, Susan, Debbie, Gretchen, Steve
and others who have waited patiently for this site to exist),
There is a gymmnastics gif section at ftp.sunet.se, in
pub/pictures/sports/gymnastics. Public uploading is allowed, and several
weeks ago I uploaded about 50 pictures. (To upload, the path is
pub/pictures/uploads- I did it through fetch on this mac)
Unfortunately, as I write this note, only one picture is
currently accessable. The site is in Sweden so hopefully the rest will
be there when you wake up tomorrow.
If you upload, please also upload some text describing the
picture and credit the photographer (hopefully it's you) and what sort of
format you used. Use either gif, jpeg, or tiff please.
And one last thing, no pornography is allowed so be
discriminating whenever you upload Dobre pics!

Amanda




------------------------------

Date: Tue, 25 Oct 1994 11:16:02 -0700 (MST)
From: ***@dana.ucc.nau.edu
Subject: Henrich subject on "Today"

As a preview for tonight's Dateline report, the Today show
interviewed both Christy's mom and Bo Moreno. They kept details until
tonight, but one of the main topics was how much "control" there is in
gymnastics, especially at the elite level.
I think they mentioned interviews with others in gymnastics,
including Cathy Rigby, that will be broadcast this evening.
One item that puzzles me is what this judge said to Christy in
Budapest. I've heard quotes ranging from "You will need to watch your
weight" to what Christy's mom said this morning, which was something
along the lines of --"You're too fat to make the Olympic team - you have
to loose weight" and that the judge would make comments to the gymnasts
at meals about what was on their plates.
Bo Moreno spoke about the differences between his
wrestling-realted eating disorder and gymnastics, mentioning the fact
that wrestling has an off-season and wrestlers are not controlled by
coaches and weigh-ins for most of the year - just during training season.
Personally I would like to see more of a definite break in the gymnastics
season, where ther are no international or national qualifying meets for 4
or 5 months. Our sport is in danger of becomming as bad as tennis, where
the athletes cannot financially afford to skip a month because they'll
loose out on appearance fees and prize money.

Cara

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 25 Oct 94 15:45:26 EDT
From: ***@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
Subject: Henrich subject on "Today" (fwd)

I only got around to watching it this past weekend, but last week
Sally Ralphael (?) had an hour long show devoted to Christy Henrich.
On the show was her mother, fiancee, brother, Cathy Rigby, Kathy
Johnson and Kelly Macy (former collegiate gymnist from the University
of Georgia who also suffered from complusive behavior and bulimia).

On the show, Christy's mother mentioned the story about a judge
indicating to Christy that she was too fat and that she would never
make the Olympic team. I got the impression from her mother that
although she didn't directly blame Christy's coach, she did feel
that maybe coaches have too much control over young gymnist and that
changes should be made.

I had read previously that Cathy Rigby had suffered from eating
disorders but I did not realize that Kathy Johnson also had problems
with bulimia.

If anyone is interested in a copy of the show, just let me know.

Beth-


----------------------------Original message----------------------------

As a preview for tonight's Dateline report, the Today show
interviewed both Christy's mom and Bo Moreno. They kept details until
tonight, but one of the main topics was how much "control" there is in
gymnastics, especially at the elite level.
I think they mentioned interviews with others in gymnastics,
including Cathy Rigby, that will be broadcast this evening.
One item that puzzles me is what this judge said to Christy in
Budapest. I've heard quotes ranging from "You will need to watch your
weight" to what Christy's mom said this morning, which was something
along the lines of --"You're too fat to make the Olympic team - you have
to loose weight" and that the judge would make comments to the gymnasts
at meals about what was on their plates.
Bo Moreno spoke about the differences between his
wrestling-realted eating disorder and gymnastics, mentioning the fact
that wrestling has an off-season and wrestlers are not controlled by
coaches and weigh-ins for most of the year - just during training season.
Personally I would like to see more of a definite break in the gymnastics
season, where ther are no international or national qualifying meets for 4
or 5 months. Our sport is in danger of becomming as bad as tennis, where
the athletes cannot financially afford to skip a month because they'll
loose out on appearance fees and prize money.

Cara
------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Oct 94 18:45:03 -0500
From: ***@expert.cc.purdue.edu
Subject: IG Questions

Two Questions:

1) Did Jamie Martini really move to Dynamo or does IG have a typo
in the November issue?

2) Will Heather Brink (Dynamo) ever compete a full Nationals? From her
score in IG, it looked like she competed only compulsories.
Last year I think she either scratched Nationals or pulled out early as well.
Rachelle and I saw here compete at a zone meet in the spring of 1993 and
it looked like she had some potential - double layout on floor.

Lori Nottingham

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Oct 1994 20:59:48 -0400
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: IG Questions

>Did Jamie Martini really move to Dynamo or does IG have a typo
in the November issue?<

Hmm ... didn't see that in the new issue. Jamie Martini is at Dynamo and has
been for some time (nearly a year I think). It did say that Jenny Thompson
moved *from* Dynamo to Karolyi's quite recently which is accurate.

>Will Heather Brink (Dynamo) ever compete a full Nationals? From her score
in IG, it looked like she competed only compulsories.<

Heather *did* compete compulsories only in Nashville due to injury (as did
Jessica Reiland also of Dynamo). I'm not sure what was wrong exactly as I
didn't see any notable wraps or such. She didn't metion anything to me when I
saw her (and I didn't think to ask) and was still taking part in all the
training sessions (didn't notice if she was going full diff. or not). I think
it was a nagging injury and not a new one - perhaps after her compulsory
finish and the knowledge that she probably wouldn't make the trials she and
Nunno decided not to push it. Reiland, on the other hand, injured her arm at
the trials (it was in a sling for the rest of the meet). The first rumor that
went around was that it was Marianna (Webster) and not Jessica that was
injured as someone saw Jessica standing the hall and holding her arm while
crying and confused her with Reiland (not that they really look alike but
what can I say ... except it wasn't me that made the error).

-Susan

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Oct 1994 21:07:34 -0400 (EDT)
From: ***@peach.epix.net
Subject: Italy & Intro

Hello out there. My name is Linda Maloney, my daughter is a gymnast at
Parkettes in Allentown Pa. Kristen is a Jr. National team member, she
placed 9th at Championships. The word we have on Shannon Miller is that
she is only going to compete compulsories, so that leaves Kara Fry out.
Kristen is in Catania, Italy right now with Mina Kim from Dynamo's, at the
"Trinacria Trophy of Gold" meet. If anyone is there we would appreciate
any info.

L Maloney

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 17:31:22 -0700 (MST)
From: ***@asu.edu
Subject: Kochetkova (floor)

I can't wait to see Kochetkova's new floor routine to be created
by Russian rhythmic gymnasts. People get on Shannon Miller's case 'cause
she's had the SAME floor routine for the past two and a half years, but
Dina's had that routine longer. I want to see if she can dance or not.

Amanda

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 28 Oct 94 16:31:05 EST
From: ***@email.cfr.org
Subject: Miller and comps.

L Maloney wrote:

>The word we have on Shannon Miller is that she is only going to compete
>compulsories, so that leaves Kara Fry out.

What is the logic to eliminating Fry so that Miller can compete compulsories
only or what's the value to the team if she doesn't compete in the optionals?
(apologies to Susan if this question makes her "ulcer" act up..;-) ).

Connie (who is getting confused/annoyed 'bout the whole thing...)


------------------------------

Date: Fri, 28 Oct 1994 22:13:25 -0400
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Miller and comps.

>>What is the logic to eliminating Fry so that Miller can compete
compulsories [?] <<

As a two time world AA champion and and Olympic medalist Shannon is a *huge*
name in the gymnastics world. Even if she and Kara Fry were the exact same
height, weight, and body type (which they are most certainly not) and they
did the exact same compuslory excercise (same strengths and weakness)
Shannon's name alone is worth .1-.3 on every piece ... a big chunk when
you're considering that championships are won and lost by as little as .007.

Compulsories, of late, have suffered even more then optionals from "benefit
of the doubt" scoring. The classic example is the oft mentioned (by me
anyway) Bontas beam compo of Barcelona. A routine that would have went 9.1
without the ROM leo and Christina's name scored an outrageous 9.9!

Kara Fry is an unknown in Int'l circles and has little world class expirience
to fall back on. Shannon is a polished vetern with a well known name and
taking her in lieu of Kara is definitely the best thing for the team's medal
chances ... the "fairness" of it is a whole other issue (which I've already
expressed myself on ad nausem).

Anyway, I doubt that Shannon will compete "only" compos no matter what is
said now. She'll probably pass on vault and perhaps floor but otherwise Steve
has accomplished his goal of pouting to get his way quite nicely.

>>apologies to Susan if this question makes her "ulcer" act up..;-)<<

Actually it's only people who internalize their feelings and that are unable
to speak up and express themselves that get ulcers ... I may be a bitch but
I'm not inundated with stress because I say what I feel - popular or not. :-)

-Susan

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Oct 1994 03:20:35 -0400
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Shannon & Worlds

Here's the current situation ... though with the USAg *and* Nunno involved
things could have changed six times in the time it takes to post this (I held
off posting a few days to see if that very thing would happen).

Shannon Miller *WILL* go to Worlds. According to Kelli Hill (Dawes coach; I
think last time I said "Kellee Davis" which is simply a mental block as Davis
is a gymnast coached by Tim Rand almost as many Kelly's as Katie's ... with
almost as many spellings) she and the other coaches got together with Steve
the day after the trials and "talked him into it." Shannon will most likely
not compete all events and perhaps only compulsories (I've heard both).

Kelli and Nunno will share the head coach duties with Mary Lee serving as
assistant. Remember that only two coaches from any one country can be on the
floor at any one time.

Like I said it'll probably change about again before Worlds ... I mean they
have a whole two weeks before Worlds ... plenty of time for further games.

-Susan

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Date: Thu, 27 Oct 1994 07:41:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: ***@gateway.us.sidwell.edu
Subject: Shannon at world team

What's up with Steve N. and Shannon Miller, and why did he not put her in
the world team competition?

Le Mont

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Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 21:23:13 -0400
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Shannon Miller and Worlds

>However, there was mention of whether or not Shannon will compete. It seems
that Nunno says "NO!" but USAG will not take her off of the roster until they
hear it from Shannon herself.

It seems this is the crux of the matter. Shannon is 17, almost a legal
adult. When it comes down to it, she needs to take charge of her own career.

Mara

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Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 12:42:35 +0800
From: ***@Eng.Sun.COM
Subject: the blind change

Fellow Gymners,

2nd in a series of posts regarding "How do you really do these supposedly
simple techniques..." I'm working on a swing halfturn in the gym in an
attempt to tighten up my regular giant. (There's a funny story behind this
drill. Remind me to tell you some day.)

At any rate, the swing half turn is coming along. But I was wondering:
Other than the grip and the direction of travel after the turn (thus the
difference in grip) how does a swing - half turn differ from a blind change?
I'm wondering on the timing of the thing. On the swing half turn you start
the turn right after the tap at the bottom, completing it when your body's
about horizontal (unless I'm doing it wrong.) On a blind change, do you
want to initiate it so soon before going over? As you go over? After you
go over? Perhaps it doesn't matter, but something tells me it does.

-geo, the question man

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Date: Wed, 26 Oct 94 15:42:56 PDT
From: ***@geoworks.com
Subject: the blind change

> But I was wondering: ...how does a swing-half turn differ from a
> blind change? I'm wondering on the timing of the thing. On the
> swing half turn you start the turn right after the tap at the bottom,
> completing it when your body's about horizontal (unless I'm doing it
> wrong.) On a blind change, do you want to initiate it so soon before
> going over? As you go over? After you go over? Perhaps it doesn't
> matter, but something tells me it does.

These move are, at their core, the same. As your half turn
gets higher and higher, your tap (and therefore turn) happens later
and later.
For now you are tapping and turning early because you are only
swinging up to horizontal with the bar. This is entirely appropriate
considering the swing you have. When you do the blind change (or a
half turn where you end in handstand and don't continue over), you
will want to be doing a late tap like you would for a giant.
Tapping early on a giant will send your body away from the
bar, and leave you in an uncomfortable spot. Likewise, tapping early
for a blind change may accomplish the half turn, but you will find it
hard to make it over the bar. One of the most common problems with
learning a blind change is tapping to early because you are used to a
lower half turn. If you learn the half turn correctly (swinging high,
tapping late), it is a trivial matter to continue it into a blind
change.

I expect this new found knowledge to have noticeable effects
next time I see you in the gym George... :)

Dave
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Date: Thu, 27 Oct 1994 01:30:51 -0400
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Trivia Questions (finally!)

Finally, after my enforced absence, Trivia #23, Romanian Gymnastics. Thanks
to:

#1 Beth (esquires@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
#2 Adriana (aduffy@minerva.cis.yale.edu)
#3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Brett (IZZY2NO@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU)
#9, #10 & Bonus question Amanda (acturner@asu.edu)

1. What is Nadia Comaneci's middle name?

2. How many times has Romania been the World Team Champion?

3. Who was the only female gymnast to compete in all 4 event finals at the
83 worlds?

4. (a) Who gave up her spot in the 84 olympic bars final so that Lavinia
Agache could have a last shot at a medal?

(b) Who was the highest placing Romanian in that final?

5. Who tumbled 9 1/2 twists in her optional floor in the mid-80's (this
doesnt include a jump-full)?

6. Which Adrian threw 2 double doubles at indianapolis?

7. When was the last Olympics a Romanian did not win womens fx?

8. Which Romanian woman was the "Queen of 4th Place" (86 goodwill, 88
olympics, 89 euros)?

9. Who are the only Romanians to have won world titles on the vault?

10. Who have been AA European Champions for Romania (both Sr & Jr)?

Bonus: Where are the Donald Duck barettes?

Enjoy.

Answers soon!

Mara

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End of gymn Digest
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