US Women's Podium Training

After hearing nothing about NBC broadcasting podium training this time, I decided that there was no point to wait around by the computer for updates I could read and digest appropriately at any time. And alas, suddenly the broadcast appears. A little warning is all I ask.

I'm going to watch it now, so let's pretend this was a live blog after the break.

Men's Podium Training

Disappointingly, this year we have no broadcast of men's and women's podium training, which we had in Beijing, so instead we have to rely on our bevy of reporters embedded in the Pink Nightmare Arena.

Men's podium training (we need to stop for a minute and talk about how I recently heard someone refer to it as "Po Tray" after which I died a thousand deaths, and now that's all I can think of when talking about podium training) is notoriously unrepresentative of competition performance, similar to what we see from the Russian women. Unlike the situation with American women, a fall in podium training is not some kind of red flag that will get you taken out of the competition lineup. You know if Gabby Douglas falls on her Amanar in podium training tomorrow that Aly Raisman will become the #3 vaulter.

So what have we learned?

Olympic Gymnastics Score Sheets

For those who like to follow along at home, here are some score sheets for men's and women's qualification.

Men's Qualification

Women's Qualification

Enjoy!

Get Excited

Last night, NBC slapped together a little "30 Greatest (NBC) Olympic Moments" retrospective that was supposed to get us excited about the Olympics (not that I need help), but it was a little bit of a missed opportunity. They rushed through too many of them without nearly enough grandiose language and sweeping instrumental music from a recent film score. It's like they didn't even want us to cry. Where were the dramatic overstatements and extreme sentimentality? That's what we're all here for.

This is more the style that I'm talking about:


OK, now I'm excited. The Opening Ceremony is on Friday, and I have high dramatic expectations. Don't disappoint. 

Olympic Gymnastics for Beginners

Two weeks. We have just two weeks until the Olympics begin and I sequester myself in a live-streaming bunker heretofore unexplored by civilized man. Mmm, early-round badminton at 2:30am? I'm there! I'm already a little angry at NBC that ranking round archery on the morning of July 27th is not on their live streaming schedule on the Live Extra App. (Yeah, I'm not well.) Frankly, I will emerge from my cave on August 12th looking like the missing link. I have the Smithsonian's number in my phone already just in case they need to make some observations for posterity.

But given that we are about to enter gymnastics' quadrennial foray into public consciousness before the attention is squandered yet again, those of you with social tendencies (I'm sorry) may find yourselves in the awkward position of watching Olympic gymnastics with other people. More specifically, other people who don't know anything about gymnastics.

It's a harrowing experience, what with all the questions and lack of understanding about 180-degree splits, so after the jump I have provided a handy list of common questions with their appropriate responses to help you through the process. Feel free to refer to this list, perhaps even employing a simple point so you don't have to use words, when dealing with a beginner.

A Moment for Alicia Sacramone

The women's Olympic team has been announced. It is certainly common knowledge in the gymnastics world by this point, so I don't feel the need to go into dissecting it here. It is the correct decision, but I just wanted to take a moment to talk about Alicia Sacramone.

I held out a little hope that she might have been named an alternate, but I certainly understand why she wasn't. Price serves as the backup for vault and Finnegan serves as the backup for beam (and they're both AAers) so there wasn't necessarily a need for Alicia, but still I had hope. It was not to be, so her elite career has come to an end.

Various Whatnots

• USA Gymnastics has announced the men's team: Leyva, Orozco, Mikulak, Dalton, Horton. This is not surprising, especially given how much everyone has been playing up the Horton angle to make sure he made the team. There was a legitimate argument to be made for Legendre on this team instead of Horton, but given consistency considerations, this is probably the smartest choice. Legendre, Brooks, and Naddour are the alternates.

• The women's Olympic Trials finish tonight. There's no reason to think anything has changed at this point. NBC was really trying to make Elizabeth Price happen on Night 1, but it's not going to happen. We saw some sloppiness in some key routines on Night 1, so let's watch for that to be eliminated on Night 2. Wieber got some favors that she won't at the Olympics. Mostly, I'm rooting for some veteran miracles tonight, like Nastia hitting a bar routine and Alicia sticking a vault in their last meets. After that, we'll have a good four weeks to debate lineups and worry about who got injured.

• LSU has officially hired Jay Clark. This was originally discussed almost immediately after he was fired from Georgia, but these things take time to become official. At first, I thought it would be a good idea for Jay to get out of the SEC, but this seems like it could be a good fit. We know his skills as an assistant, but it will be interesting to watch whether he has much mark on LSU next season. 

• Speaking of next season, LSU is among the schools that have already announced their 2013 schedules. They face NC State, Alabama, and Georgia all twice. I don't much care for repeat meets unless it's a big rivalry. I always like to see a few more out-of-conference meets, but I know how difficult that can be to work with the SEC schedule. Metroplex should be fun next year with Oklahoma, Georgia, Oregon State, and LSU.

• Brenna Dowell (who was among the few second-tier girls to hit her routines on Night 1 of Trials, so she is in a surprising 8th) will be joining Mackenzie Wofford at Oklahoma in 2014-2015. K.J. got on these elites early, and she is building quite the future team.