We believe high profile Olympic sports be given priority at the NCAA Division I level. Many in the field agree with us. Which Olympic sports deserve to be pumped up and prioritized both in the media and at the university level? Well, for starters, how about swimming & diving, men's gymnastics, and wrestling?
It's time for a national discussion on a strategy to help prop up high profile Olympic sports. For all the good Title IX has done for women's sports, [...more]
U.S. Men's Olympic Gymnastics Team alternate, David Durante, is going back to The Farm . Durante is returning to his alma mater, Stanford, to help coach the 2009 pre-season favorite to win the [...more]
GymInfo has published their pre-season coaches poll that has Stanford ranked number one, followed by Oklahoma, Ohio State, Illinois and Penn State. Oklahoma is the defending national champion. It's interesting to note that seventh-ranked Cal has [...more]
Thanks to Gymblog for responding to our recent post about Title IX reform. Gymblog worries, "But the unfortunate thing is that in most places, Utah, Oklahoma and the Southeast excepted, gymnastics brings little revenue to the universities that have it. Equipment and coaching is expensive. Meet attendance is tiny." Gymblog is correct about the revenue aspect and attendance. However, attendance is robust for many of the bigger meets. Meets held early in the season, such as the Stanford Open, often are standing-room-only, [...more]
Savings Sports blog has an interesting post about Title IX . One quote in particular caught StickItMedia's eyes -- "the NCAA cannot be considered an objective source. The NCAA leadership is on record as being closely aligned with groups fighting all forms of Title IX reform and has attempted to quash any debate about the effect of Title IX on decreasing collegiate participation opportunities in the Olympic sports."
So true. [...more]
Gymnastics is a sport for shorter people, right? It's true that the average height for adult male gymnasts is around 5'4" to 5'7". Jonathan Horton is listed at 5'1". Paul Hamm measures in at 5'6". Russia's Alexei Nemov is 5'8", and he won 12 Olympic medals before retiring after the 2004 Athens Olympics. Recently deceased Russian Olympic champion, Boris Shakhlin, was also 5'8", and always considered tall.
Get on your tiptoes, guys, because coming up through the elite level are some serious six-footers. Here is at least a partial list of [...more]
Once every four years, the sport of gymnastics sees a huge increase of interest. After all, each and every night of Olympic gymnastics is broadcast in prime time. Many of the world's most popular sports, like basketball, soccer and baseball, don't even come close to that kind of Olympic coverage. Those sports are usually relegated to late night/early morning broadcasts, usually on alternative networks.
After the Olympics, gymnastics amazingly disappears from the radar screen, save for annual tape-delayed broadcasts of the U.S. Nationals and World Championships. Need further proof? [...more]
Once again, NCAA men gymnasts have proven that they are not only smart in competition, but they are also very smart in the classroom. William and Mary edged out Ohio State and MIT for the national academic team championship. Stanford and Michigan rounded out the top five. Due to the ill-conceived Title IX, [...more]
Thanks to the The Chalk Bucket for posting the review of Cal's 2008 men's gymnastics season. The article speaks for itself, but we'd like to add our thoughts about the upcoming 2009 season. Coming off their fifth place finish at the 2008 NCAA Championships, the 2009 season looks perhaps even more promising for the Golden Bears. [...more]
The high school class of 2008 produced a great class of new gymnasts who are headed to NCAA competition for next season. The list headlines with SCATS-HB's Glen Ishino, who will likely be a top five all-around contender at the 2009 NCAA Division I Championships. Ishino dominated the field in winning the 2008 J.O. Nationals and VISA National Championships. The other top ten J.O. Nationals finisher was C.J. Padera, who finished 7th in the all-around and also looks great for next year.
Here is what the stellar 2008-2009 freshman class looks like: [...more]
