Thanks to Gymnast.com for posting a great USA Today interview with Jonathan Horton . Horton lamented his 13.675 pommel horse score that prevented him from winning an all-around medal in Beijing. "I was (four-tenths) away from a silver at this Olympics with a 13.6 on pommel horse. That's ridiculous," Horton said, shaking his head in disgust. "Who gets a 13.6 at the Olympic Games? This guy." That's classic Horton. Afterall, this is the same guy who [...more]
Saving Sports is wondering how President-Elect Barack Obama's administration will deal with Title IX. Good question. The Obama campaign received a record amount of money, and it's fair to ask what Obama is going to be expected to give in return. After all, MoveOn.org raised $80 million for Obama and they are [...more]
Gymnast.com has a great post challenging readers to predict who will be America's top gymnasts in 2009. The challenge was issued for both women and men, but StickItMedia will stick to the men. We agree with Gymnast.com about Jonathan Horton. He is now the de facto leader on the men's side, especially after his great performance in Beijing.
2009 is going to be a great year for the men. We've got some great clubbers and incoming college freshmen who are going to [...more]
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]
According to USA Gymnastics, Glen Ishino and Danell Leyva have been tapped to compete in the Pan American Gymnastics Union Individual Event Championships November 19-23 at Rosario, Argentina. In essence, Ishino and Leyva are being groomed for the 2012 London Olympics, which confirms what we’ve been thinking for awhile. Ishino won the 2008 J.O. Nationals […] [...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]
USA Gymnastics has recently posted interviews with various members of the U.S. Men's Gymnastics Team. Very interesting to find out what the guys have been up to since the Beijing Olympics. Obviously, the main activity keeping them busy has been the Gymnastics Superstars Tour. Be sure to check out the interviews to find out just who might be thinking about the 2012 London Olympics: [...more]
StickItMedia had the pleasure of attending the Gymnastics Superstars performance held on 9/20 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. It was a great show, featuring the entire U.S. Men's Olympic Gymnastics Team, Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson and Chellsie Memmel, and others. What would a gymnastics extravaganza be without Paul and Morgan Hamm and Blaine Wilson? [...more]
While on the Tour of Gymnastics Superstars, Paul and Morgan Hamm sat down with Elliot Almond of the Silicon Valley Mercury News. They talked about how hard it was to be able to influence the USA Men's Team during the Olympics only by yelling at the TV, like the rest of us, and we know how that always works out. They were very impressed with our boys, though, and hoped that their remarkable comeback attempts helped raise the bar for the others.
Morgan talks about his upcoming wedding and entry into chiropracter school. He admits that he is done with the sport of gymnastics after this tour. However, Paul cannot quite [...more]
