An article entitled "The Future of Men's Gymnastics Is Not Well-Balanced" recently appeared in the New York Times. The fluff piece fed into the failed narrative that is part of the reason for the sport's relative unpopularity. The worst part of it was the reference to a lack of a "Magic Mike effect." The last time I looked, none of the major men's sports (Olympics or otherwise) are marketed via such an "effect." It does not exist. The only time in sports history when Magic and Mike coexisted as a marketing force was in the late '80s and early '90s -- Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. The double standard exhibited in the article is typical, of course. The author seems dumbfounded as to why Men's Gymnastics has not "captured the imagination of American spectators with the "male ogling" big business aspect inspired by [...more]
As evident from Day 1 competition, a six-for-six performance on Day 2 would absolutely guarantee Sam Mikulak his fifth U.S. championship. Mikulak left no doubt, punctuated by a stuck dismount on his final event (HB), he went six-for-six. His 87.75 on the day gave him a two-day total (172.90) that put him almost 5 points ahead of runner-up Yul Moldauer (168.15). Mikulak placed in the top 5 on all six events, winning additional titles on [...more]
Sam Mikulak (85.15), despite falls on HB and PH, easily took the first day lead. He led all Seniors in scoring on FX (14.75) and PB (14.30). A six-for-six performance on Saturday night will likely deliver him his 5th U.S. all-around title. Co-favorite Yul Moldauer (82.70) was never quite in sync most of the night, and ended up in 6th place. Akash Modi (84.10) sits in 2nd place by virtue of his four top-5 finishes. He was clean and consistent throughout. Allan Bower (83.85) led the field for three rotations, [...more]
New Level 10 Junior Elite AA champions were crowned at the 2018 Men's JO Nationals Gymnastics Championships. Brandon Briones (140.15) tallied the highest two-day total among all the Level 10s to add another national title to his resume. Briones, last year's 16-year-old division winner, outlasted Riley Loos (138.10), Crew Bold (135.60), Dylan Young (135.10) and Jack Freeman (133.25). He added event titles on SR, PB and HB to complete his [...more]
Brandon Briones (age 17), Evan Davis (age 18), John Chou (age 16) and Taylor Burkhart (age 15) were the top finishers in the Junior Elite (JE) division at the 2018 JO Nationals in Oklahoma City. Briones (84.25) and 2nd-place finisher Riley Loos (83.00) were separated by only .85 after five rotations, but Briones put the optionals contest out of reach, ending on PH (13.70). He was a picture of consistency, posting scores of 14-plus on five of six events, earning top scores on PH, PB (14.25) and HB (14.15). Loos, also from Region 1, had a big day on [...more]
Oklahoma (414.858) made it 97 wins in-a-row by earning their fourth-straight NCAA Men's Gymnastics Team Title. It certainly wasn't easy. The Sooners had fallen behind by about 4 points after struggling on their third event (SR). Stanford's strong start and Illinois lighting up the scoreboard on VT (72.464), put the Sooners in a precarious position. Needing to score 71-plus on their next event (VT) to keep pace, Oklahoma incredibly did a little lighting up of their own. Event champ Yul Moldauer (14.90), Tanner Justus (14.80) and Hunter Justus (14.766) led the Sooners to a [...more]
The Oklahoma Sooners, while giving their stars a light load in the qualifying round, made it 92 straight meet wins. The Sooners settled down after a rough opening rotation (FX-66.965) to cruise the rest of the way, averaging well over 68 points on each of their last five events. It wasn't easy, but Oklahoma (410.991) won a relative squeaker over Illinois (408.824), Penn State (404.79), Ohio State (403.959), Iowa (400.451) and Cal (395.991). The runner-up Illini continued their late-season charge to finish less than [...more]
D scores, E scores and total scores for 5-up/5-count meets for the 12 teams qualified to Nationals.
Check them out and place your bets.
I included only 5 up 5 count meets as the championship will use that format. Home meets are in red. Remember, home field advantage occurs in all sports. Read more about it here.
Some D and E scores are not included as I was not able to find them.
My prediction is the winning score will be [...more]
Illinois (413.90) put on a show reminiscent of their 2012 NCAA Men's Gymnastics championship season. The Illini erupted for season highs on VT (72.00) and HB (70.15) to clinch their first Big Ten team title in six years over surprise runner-up Michigan (408.60), Penn State (406.35), Ohio State (405.60), Minnesota (405.45), Nebraska (404.75) and Iowa (398.55). Their VT performance, led by Bobby Baker (14.95) and Jacob Light (14.65) was one thing, but it was their explosion on HB that provided the largest chunk of their winning margin. The Illini became only the second team this season to hit the [...more]
As we head into the NCAA Men's Gymnastics post season, let's take a look at how well this year's freshman class is doing. Eight gymnasts are currently ranked in the top 10 on events and the all-around. Minnesota's Shane Wiskus, Big Ten Gymnast of the Year and a Senior National Team member, is ranked on three different events (FX,VT,PB) and is also near the top in the all-around. Based on Road to National's ranking system, each gymnast must have turned in at least four scores to obtain a [...more]
