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Monday 2 July 2012

Price and Sacramone- robbed?

I don't think so. Both had terrific competitions and nailed routines, scoring very well. Price actually ended up in fourth and didn't make the team. Sacramone scored over 15 on beam and well over that on vault, and didn't even make alternate. Why? Is this a disgrace? Let's break it down.

Price competes all around. Every other country would be glad to have her.
Floor- This is where she shines, her tumbling was THE best in Trials. So powerful! Unfortunately her choreo is really horrendous. All in all it makes for a mixed combination and could easily be slaughtered in London. She does not make ENOUGH of a case here to displace Jordyn, Aly, Gabby or McKayla on this event.
Beam- Pretty solid, again it does not flow and is quite mechanical. All in all, a good beam. But not exceptional. Kyla, Jordyn, Aly and McKayla all beat it.
Bars- Pretty good, mostly dependable on this. Will not score high enough to displace the third bars workers, Jordyn and this is why Li was taken- we need an exceptional bars worker as back-up.
Vault- Is great. Good form, and explosive power. She hurts herself by not having a second vault here, but even so, McKayla will outscore her every time and has a 6.1 second vault. A better vault than Gabby, Jordyn and Aly but the rest of her events combine to make it not worth displacing someone else to put her on the team.

In short, she is a fierce all-arounder and a great gymnast. She is THE victim of USA's depth because even though she knocks out great routines, it isn't enough to take her over the 5 that were picked. The team chosen was correct, and has the maximum score potential. Rage against the 5 person team all you want but in this situation, not naming Price to the team made perfect sense. Unfortunate, but correct.

Sacramone only competes vault and beam. Not having floor badly hurts her, and so does bars to an extent. She nailed vault both days and was extremely solid on beam, deserving her high scores. Sadly, these are two events where USA has a lot of depth. She cannot displace Jordyn or Aly on beam because they are valuable elsewhere, and cannot displace Kyla because her bars are very neccessary. Her vaults cannot displace McKayla because McKayla's amanar will score higher in TF and in EF, her combined SV is higher by several tenths, as well as her form being better. She CAN displace Gabby on vault and beam, but Gabby has a usuable floor as opposed to no floor and her bars add such valuable tenths, Alicia can't win over those tenths. That's why she didn't make the team. Why she didn't make alternate is quite similar. A UB worker was badly needed, so Li got in. A strong beam and floor were needed, so Finnegan got in. A vault and all-around back-up were needed, so Price got in. It's as simple as Sacramone not having floor and bars, where USA needed more help and depth.

Both of these gymnasts are victims of the super-small team situation. Neither deserved to displace those who got in, because of the reasons outlined above. Nevertheless, they are superb gymnasts and I hope Sacramone in particular can recover swiftly and continue to kick ass. It's sad they cannot compete for another country. Can you think how valuable either would be to countries like Russia and China? In an ideal situation where neither team needed alternates, I would love for the two of them, Finnegan, Li and Vega to compete for a country not fielding a team, we'll say Ireland. Hey, Finnegan has an Irish surname. So does Maroney for that matter..

VT- Finnegan, Price, Sacramone
BB- Vega, Sacramone, Finnegan
UB- Price, Vega, Li
FX- Vega, Price, Finnegan

It is a testament to the awesomeness of USA's depth right now that the above team could easily beat China, Australia and Britain and give the top 3 a great run for their money. I wish all of the girls dissapointed last night great future careers and to continue in gymnastics if they so wish.

6 comments:

  1. I just want to say that I read and enjoy your blog, but see that you don't get many comments. I hope you don't get discouraged, and keep writing!

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  2. Thank you! Absolutely not, of course I welcome feedback but I'm fully aware of how new it is and how others can express my own views better and more eloquently. And of course, how there are so many well established blogs already.

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  3. First- great piece! It is obvious that you took the time to breathe, and focus the what is actually needed in London.
    Second- I'm old as dirt-I competed before levels were instituted! and extremely unhappy with the new rules. The age rule that has been in place since 2008 is ridiculous, and value and team size, etc. etc. just screws the sport in general. Less people, less exposure- especially when the young women who have "star" power are gone. If NBC does not offer Alicia a commentator spot, they're crazy.

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  4. Thanks! The age rule is brutal- aren't Priessman and Ohashi missing it by less than a month? And that is only US and only this quad. Some of the greatest gymnasts have of course been underage. I see why they have done so, to protect gymnasts in less developed countries, yet those countries will do so if they can get away with it. A 6 person team seems awesome to think about right now..and yet 7 wasn't that long ago! It hasn't made a difference to lesser teams getting onto the podium, and it won't this time around either. Canada, Britain, Japan and Australia are all leaving amazing gymnasts at home, they all have depth!

    I would LOVE Alicia as commentator to replace Elfi. Or even just by herself. A great personality, great in interviews, knows her stuff. Her and McKayla really stand out as sparkly.

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  5. I was rooting for the "irish" team

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    Replies
    1. Not in place of the fierce 5 as I agreed with that team, but yeah it's such a strong "b" team.

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