It annoys me. It is healthier all around to score gymnasts as they could expect to score in London. The other thing about it is that it was selective. If you're going to overscore them, then overscore them all so that it's still a level playing field.
Jordyn and Aly scored impossibly high on floor, as did Gabby. Some OOB's not penalised, unfair on those that were. McKayla's score was too high night 1, but not by as much. Bars was blatant, especially in relation to Gabby and Jordyn's scores. By contrast, Anna and Kyla deserved higher even though their scores were a bit too high also. Nastia scored too high in all of her comps this year, sure they had to deduct for her falls and obvious form errors, but late handstands and turns were completely ignored, as were leg seps. In direct contract, McKayla's mistakes scored much much lower, even though she had a much stronger bars routine both days. Sure they were both crap, but McKayla had no falls Night 2 and had a strong unlaboured routine. Beam was more generous at Nationals than Trials, where it credited Jordyn's connections. All of the girls with wobbles scored too high, but it wasn't AS bad it could have been. Gabby's score again stood out here as a huge gift.
Kyla and McKayla out of the 5 had much fairer scores than the others. Gabby completely stands out as being far too gifted with her scores. 15.9 on bars with an error, 9.4 E score on floor with errors? Absolutely, Aly and Jordyn were also quite overscored, but the point remains that Gabby's gifts were greater. It was quite a desperate attempt to keep her ahead of Jordyn. In a way, it's a good thing, because it means Jordyn will be out for the kill in London. In a way, it's bad. Gabby's confidence isn't the best and building it up with overscores means the comedown could damage and shake her mentally when she scores fairly in London. It could shake others too, though Gabby's fragility seems like she will be the one to take it as a blow. By and large, the rest of the girls were marked fairly. It's not nice to see disparity in scoring. You're never going to hear 'woah Sabrina Vega was SO overscored' and not just because plenty of her routines were not broadcast. It's also because- she wasn't. I like the fact that John Geddert's blog mentions the 'weird scoring'. He also mentions that Marta and Bela are also taken aback by it. I'm not sure what to make of that..obviously he has much more of an insight than I do. BUT..why would the judges have an agenda of their own accord? It smacks of being controlled on high, unfortunately.
I have images in my head of Vika and Musty watching Gabby's bar routine and laughing at the score. And Romanians sniggering at the beam scores. It is true that by contrast, other countries Nationals have either fair scoring or harsh scoring. Russian scoring was a bit of a mix, though seemed mostly fair. Britsh Nationals were very scabby! WHY do USA continually do this? It serves no purpose. I assume their coaches will absolutely know better but it may gloss over aspects the gymnasts need to fix, and of course, build them up only to tear them down mentally. A good change has occurred this time, with the team named privately AT Trials. Hollie Vise's face is fixed in all of our minds forever, thanks NBC. Hopefully we can see more changes next quad, like non-delusional scoring.
Will be having a look at Canadian Trials if available and German Trials. Now that the USA fuss will die down for a while, it's time to check out the others again!
Showing posts with label Sabrina Vega. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sabrina Vega. Show all posts
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.
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.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Team is Gabby, Jordyn, Aly, Kyla and...McKayla! Thank GOD. It was pretty obvious but even so. Not much of a deliberation really. They were all in tears walking out, was lovely...except for Kyla, surprisingly! I must have missed that in my excitment. Alternates! Price, Finnegan and....Li! Price has the edge over Sacramone, suspected that would happen. Finnegan not a surprise. Li takes over from Sloan, she always had a much better bars but unusable everywhere else. Congratulations to all.
SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!
Gutted for those dissappointed, and especially Bross, horrible to end like that. Vega I would say is dissapointed, and Baker. Sacramone had a greater chance at alternate but they did need bars. She seemed at peace with this possiblity before so hopefully she's okay...although it doesn't look it, preparing for the worst is smart but it can be very different when it actually happens as to how you cope with it.
SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!
Gutted for those dissappointed, and especially Bross, horrible to end like that. Vega I would say is dissapointed, and Baker. Sacramone had a greater chance at alternate but they did need bars. She seemed at peace with this possiblity before so hopefully she's okay...although it doesn't look it, preparing for the worst is smart but it can be very different when it actually happens as to how you cope with it.
Sunday, 1 July 2012
US team will be named in...18 hours!
It's 10.30AM here. Trials will start at 2AM for me and will end at 4AM. Selection debate..apparently 20 minutes after comp ends? So we can expect a team being NAMED at 4:30AM. CRAZY. It's odd to think that the constant speculation will actually end in less than 24 hours. Quick sysnopsis judged by all performances this year and Trials Day 1
Jordyn- Keeps proving herself as an exceptional gymnast. She SHOULD be outscoring Gabby, especially if she has zero mistakes on bars and makes her beam connection. She's getting better at it and Geddert seems to be the master of pacing, so I have faith it will be nailed when it counts. Kudos to her for pulling out the full-twisting DLO and sticking it. Absolute lock, will be used on ALL events. 4/4 in TF, top AA contender, will qualify for FX EF.
Aly- Nobody is more consistent and solid than her, she proves it over and over again. Her floor and beam are very valuable and she may use her amanar over Gabby's. One or two errors Day 1 of Trials she doesn't normally make but you can be sure they won't be repeated. It's unclear as to whether her form will be hammered in London- it wasn't in Tokyo. Absolute lock, will be used on floor and beam and quite possibly vault. 2 or 3/4 in TF, possible AA contender- big fight on her hands, will qualify for beam and FX EF.
Gabby- Keeps improving, she really is a her peak. GREAT bars, GREAT beam. Still inconsistent and dangerous on beam. Floor tumbling has improved bigtime, it's great, choreo has not improve at all. Vault is a bit shaky still, amanar looks nice but her block is crap and ensures sitdowns from her in Training. Floor may outscore McKayla's. Absolute lock, will be used on 1 or 2 in TF, very probable top AA contender, will qualify for bars EF.
Kyla- So valauable on beam and bars. A great pity the other two events are not as strong. Lovely DTY, dangerous amanar. She won't be used on that. Floor obviously is fine but yet again, have to say it's too low to be valuable. Some bobbles on beam night 1, but this is a beautiful strong event for her, it's unlikely they are a permanent fixture. Most probably a lock, no other bars/beam specialist will outscore her at this stage and we need her bars. Will be used on 2 in TF, possible AA contender, may qualify for EF in bars and beam.
McKayla- Extremely valuable on vault She will bring hold the gold in EF, guaranteed. Price's amanar is great but McKayla's will still score a few tenths higher especially with no step or a much smaller one than she had on Night 1. Very useful on floor too, may well outscore Gabby. Beam and bars falls won't really affect her, especially as she is usually very solid on even her poor events. Most probably a lock, will be used on 1 or 2 events. DEFINITE gold in EF vault.
Rebecca has unfortunately proven she isn't a contender, as her beam is too unreliable and Kyla can outscore her on bars, as well as be usable in the two other events. This is a very sad end for her, perhaps not end but I'd imagine end of truly competitive career. Nobody would have seen this coming two years ago, that not only will she not make the team, she's also unlikely to be named alternate.
Alicia- Has damaged her chances by not having floor. She cannot truly oust McKayla because McKayla's both vaults combined are much higher SV and Alicia's beam isn't needed. I just hope she doesn't fling the double tonight and injure herself but it seems she's being very wise about what she can and cannot do and sustain. Unlike a certain Beijing team-mate of hers. A very likely alternate.
Sarah- Seems injured. She was much much sharper and solid at Jesolo and even at Classics and Nationals compared to now. She's been reported as being very sluggish in podium training, slightly watered down her tumbling pass and still fell on it in comp and her beam was wobbly. She seems tiired. Hopefully she can recover to her prime soon. She is an extremely valuable alternate and could plausibly score a 16 on beam, that's how high the SV is and how clean her execution is. Floor likewise is very high scoring when she's on.
Anna- Anna is another likely alternate, though she will be hurt by falls on beam which is very low scoring due to no connections anyway. Her bars are great however and extremely high scoring, if she has no errors again tonight she may have vanquished her earlier inconsistency on this event. With Sloan and Nastia out of the way, weak bars from Sarah, average bars from Ebee and no bars from Alicia- she may be needed as alternate to replace Sloan. It's unclear as to whether Marta would really trust her, who knows.
Nastia- Has humiliated herself and most likely damaged her former glory considerably, though too early to tell...maybe not. I've been out of the loop for while so while I hope she retired in the meantime but I somewhow doubt it. She will most likely do a flyaway dismount. Extremely unlikely to be named anything. I get more and more annoyed everytime I see her 'compete'.
Elizabeth- GREAT alternate, extremely likely. She just doesn't have the edge over McKayla to take her place, and cannot take Kyla's. If she had great bars then yes, and she can be used on them, but it's not enough as they don't score that well. Her floor is quite valuable but would be running the risk of being slaughtered for artistry as even Gabby's beats it in that sense.
Kennedy's strength's aren't enough in a country of this depth to get her on or near this team. Sabrina has too little difficulty, so does Brenna.
It's not 18 hours anymore..it's a bit less than 6 until the team is named!! EXCITED.
15 MINUTES!! I'm not going to liveblog, I don't think I would even if this blog got thousands of hits. I'm a focus person, especially since I cannot rewatch Trials until it goes on youtube. Will probably do a rundown while waiting for team announcement..coherency doubtful at 4AM.
Jordyn- Keeps proving herself as an exceptional gymnast. She SHOULD be outscoring Gabby, especially if she has zero mistakes on bars and makes her beam connection. She's getting better at it and Geddert seems to be the master of pacing, so I have faith it will be nailed when it counts. Kudos to her for pulling out the full-twisting DLO and sticking it. Absolute lock, will be used on ALL events. 4/4 in TF, top AA contender, will qualify for FX EF.
Aly- Nobody is more consistent and solid than her, she proves it over and over again. Her floor and beam are very valuable and she may use her amanar over Gabby's. One or two errors Day 1 of Trials she doesn't normally make but you can be sure they won't be repeated. It's unclear as to whether her form will be hammered in London- it wasn't in Tokyo. Absolute lock, will be used on floor and beam and quite possibly vault. 2 or 3/4 in TF, possible AA contender- big fight on her hands, will qualify for beam and FX EF.
Gabby- Keeps improving, she really is a her peak. GREAT bars, GREAT beam. Still inconsistent and dangerous on beam. Floor tumbling has improved bigtime, it's great, choreo has not improve at all. Vault is a bit shaky still, amanar looks nice but her block is crap and ensures sitdowns from her in Training. Floor may outscore McKayla's. Absolute lock, will be used on 1 or 2 in TF, very probable top AA contender, will qualify for bars EF.
Kyla- So valauable on beam and bars. A great pity the other two events are not as strong. Lovely DTY, dangerous amanar. She won't be used on that. Floor obviously is fine but yet again, have to say it's too low to be valuable. Some bobbles on beam night 1, but this is a beautiful strong event for her, it's unlikely they are a permanent fixture. Most probably a lock, no other bars/beam specialist will outscore her at this stage and we need her bars. Will be used on 2 in TF, possible AA contender, may qualify for EF in bars and beam.
McKayla- Extremely valuable on vault She will bring hold the gold in EF, guaranteed. Price's amanar is great but McKayla's will still score a few tenths higher especially with no step or a much smaller one than she had on Night 1. Very useful on floor too, may well outscore Gabby. Beam and bars falls won't really affect her, especially as she is usually very solid on even her poor events. Most probably a lock, will be used on 1 or 2 events. DEFINITE gold in EF vault.
Rebecca has unfortunately proven she isn't a contender, as her beam is too unreliable and Kyla can outscore her on bars, as well as be usable in the two other events. This is a very sad end for her, perhaps not end but I'd imagine end of truly competitive career. Nobody would have seen this coming two years ago, that not only will she not make the team, she's also unlikely to be named alternate.
Alicia- Has damaged her chances by not having floor. She cannot truly oust McKayla because McKayla's both vaults combined are much higher SV and Alicia's beam isn't needed. I just hope she doesn't fling the double tonight and injure herself but it seems she's being very wise about what she can and cannot do and sustain. Unlike a certain Beijing team-mate of hers. A very likely alternate.
Sarah- Seems injured. She was much much sharper and solid at Jesolo and even at Classics and Nationals compared to now. She's been reported as being very sluggish in podium training, slightly watered down her tumbling pass and still fell on it in comp and her beam was wobbly. She seems tiired. Hopefully she can recover to her prime soon. She is an extremely valuable alternate and could plausibly score a 16 on beam, that's how high the SV is and how clean her execution is. Floor likewise is very high scoring when she's on.
Anna- Anna is another likely alternate, though she will be hurt by falls on beam which is very low scoring due to no connections anyway. Her bars are great however and extremely high scoring, if she has no errors again tonight she may have vanquished her earlier inconsistency on this event. With Sloan and Nastia out of the way, weak bars from Sarah, average bars from Ebee and no bars from Alicia- she may be needed as alternate to replace Sloan. It's unclear as to whether Marta would really trust her, who knows.
Nastia- Has humiliated herself and most likely damaged her former glory considerably, though too early to tell...maybe not. I've been out of the loop for while so while I hope she retired in the meantime but I somewhow doubt it. She will most likely do a flyaway dismount. Extremely unlikely to be named anything. I get more and more annoyed everytime I see her 'compete'.
Elizabeth- GREAT alternate, extremely likely. She just doesn't have the edge over McKayla to take her place, and cannot take Kyla's. If she had great bars then yes, and she can be used on them, but it's not enough as they don't score that well. Her floor is quite valuable but would be running the risk of being slaughtered for artistry as even Gabby's beats it in that sense.
Kennedy's strength's aren't enough in a country of this depth to get her on or near this team. Sabrina has too little difficulty, so does Brenna.
It's not 18 hours anymore..it's a bit less than 6 until the team is named!! EXCITED.
15 MINUTES!! I'm not going to liveblog, I don't think I would even if this blog got thousands of hits. I'm a focus person, especially since I cannot rewatch Trials until it goes on youtube. Will probably do a rundown while waiting for team announcement..coherency doubtful at 4AM.
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