Ten months ago, the sporting world came to a crashing halt. March Madness, the crown jewel of all sporting events, was canceled. So were all the remaining winter and spring sports, including NCAA Men's Gymnastics. Sports fans had absolutely nothing to watch until the professional ranks resumed play in July. College Football, thanks to the leadership of the SEC and the ACC, staged a full season that ended with last week's championship game. The college basketball season has been terrific so far. Many of the season's best match-ups have been scheduled on the fly due to [...more]
On September 10th, 2020, The University of Minnesota announced it was cutting 4 men's sports, including men's gymnastics. The stated reasons were budget considerations and Title lX compliance. Last week the University let it out that women's roster spots would be cut as well.
Now the men's teams are considering a Title lX lawsuit on behalf of [...more]
Three NCAA Division 1 men's gymnastics programs have been unceremoniously dropped in the month of September -- William & Mary, Iowa and Minnesota. The timing of these announcements was not only cruel, but also most certainly unnecessary. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the sports world. All collegiate spring sports were canceled amid the abrupt premature ending to the winter sports season. There was no NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships, no March Madness... No nothing. The decision to drop William & Mary's men's gymnastics program was not even a financial one. The program enjoys an endowment, [...more]
A week ago today (March 7), fans enjoyed a great day of gymnastics, highlighted by the American Cup and NCAA competition. Little did we know at the time, is that it would be the last weekend for quite a while. In fact, Thursday, March 12 became the day that all college sports got shut down. The announcements generated shock waves throughout the country. Sports got shut down by [...more]
In the weekend's top matchup, host Illinois (406.90) won their tri-meet over visiting Michigan (405.10) and Penn State (402.20). The victors handed the 2nd-ranked Wolverines their first loss of the season. The Illini won only two team events, but their victory margins on PH (+0.7) and SR (+2) provided their winning spread. Individual winners Michael Paradise (PH-14.95) and Danny Graham (SR-14.55) sparked the Illini's team wins on those events. Illinois kept it close on the other [...more]
By now, most people in the gymnastics community know that Winter Cup 2020 ended up looking as much like the pilot of a reality TV show as it did a gymnastics competition. It drew attention to men’s gymnastics, but not the kind USAG wanted (or needed). The meet itself was great, but many fans, coaches, and athletes were not happy with [...more]
Nebraska (406.95) pulled off an improbable comeback, making up over 7 points after three rotations, with an impressive home victory over Penn State (403.20). The banged up Huskers, suffering a rash of injuries this week, more than made up all the points they needed on PB and HB to get an emotional win on Senior Night. Competing without senior Jake Bonnay and freshman Nikita Bolotsky, the lineup replacements came through when it counted. Freshman Kenji Tamane, competing in only [...more]
Based on Thursday's preliminary results, Sam Mikulak won his third Winter Cup AA title, outdistancing his nearest competitor by over two points. On Saturday, he added the PB title to his long resume. Six different gymnasts won event titles, including Mikulak. Gage Dyer (FX), Alec Yoder (PH), Alex Diab (SR), Yul Moldauer (VT) and Colin Van Wicklen (HB) were the top event scorers over the [...more]
Sam Mikulak, showing the same amount of smooth, calm confidence as he did last summer at the U.S. Championships, won the 2020 Winter Cup all-around title by over 2 points. Mikulak (86.80) racked up the top scores on FX (14.60), PB (15.35) and HB (14.35) to keep his spot on the National Team. Minnesota junior and 2019 World Team member Shane Wiskus (84.55) earned an outstanding five top-4 placements, including the top score on VT (14.45), to clinch the number 2 position and his [...more]
Many men’s gymnastics followers point to the impact of Title IX as providing a critical blow to the sport on the collegiate level. However, an in-depth look at the history of gymnastics in education over the past 60 years shows that while Title IX is used as an excuse to eliminate collegiate teams, there were several elements that offered up men’s gymnastics to the chopping block. It was a perfect storm of [...more]
