Live Blog: Nationals, Day I

(As opposed to Dead Blog?)

Rotation One:
-Kytra Hunter's tumbling is insane. A smile appeared during her routine, which you don't see much of these days.

-Tim and Elfi make a big deal of Mackenzie Coquatto staying on beam. She's very shaky. I feel as though if you state, "I'm going to finish in the top three" at senior nationals, you should be able to handle beam.

-I like Mattie Larson. She looks half-asleep. Her beam routine was the sads.

-I also like Alicia Sacramone's hair. No sads.

Rotation Two:
-All this "it's her title to lose" talk around Rebecca Bross reminds me of the Vanessa Atler bars drama. I'm not a huge Bross fan, but calm yourselves, commentators.

-However, her beam routine is pretty sweet. Very confident. Great pointed toes in the Arabian. A little to be desired in the sheep and switch ring. Overall, good stuff!

-I remember the meet at Brown when I beat Alicia on floor whilst she was in NCAA. A.k.a. the day she didn't compete floor.

-I love the sparkle motion on Alicia's leo. NICE layout and switch side. Also like the body wave-ish steps. Holy save on the dismount.

-Nice vault from Kytra.

-In the other room, my mom listens to "Bad Romance."

-Great double layout from Mattie. Really nice lines in her tumbling. High energy in the dance. Lol @ the strut before the last pass. Much better than beam!

-Aly Raisman's beam routine: shrug. A bit close to the beam on the dismount.

-Briley Casanova wins for the best name. Nice 1.5 turn with leg at horizontal on beam. Aaaand she's off the beam. Is it just me or do her toes flex up with her running steps? Ahh, I was a frequent offender of that.

-Vanessa Zamarripa with the old school geometric designs on the leo. Oof, fall on the full-twisting split jump. Great dismount -- stuck 2.5 twist.

Rotation Three:
-The crazy side of Alicia has settled down, a.k.a. the YouTube videos of her punching guys at parties?

-Oh, Bridget Sloan, that leotard. Yikes.

-She does, however, seem like a lovely person.

-Not particularly moved by Sophia Lee, but her music is interesting.

-I like Mattie's super casual hair. Good vault.

-How does one define an "international look"?

-Like the split jump out of Aly's first pass. Great triple full. She needs sass, stat. I feel like she's slightly off the music...not hitting the undertones.

-Nice Hindorff from Kytra. Very clean routine.

-Not really into Vanessa's choreography. However, at least it can be called choreograhy, as opposed to most of the other girls.

-I bet Lilia approves of Rebecca's first pass. Her choreographer needs to treat her kindly next time around. Eeks. Looks less confident here than on beam.

Rotation Four:
-After the Subway debacle on MIOBI, I cringe whenever Nastia opens her mouth on national television.

-Good vault from Aly. Not as grand as Alicia's will be, I wager. That better not be considered a stick.

-I love Kim Zmeskal.

-Chelsea Davis looks so young. Not like I'm one to say such things. The term "coming out party" is silly. Classy leo. I watched the Texas Dreams workout video the other day and was enthralled. SAFE. Kinda looks like she could be Chris Burdette's daughter.

-I'd like to see Mattie win. That would be cool. She is TINY. Good bars.

-"Texas just crushes everybody." - Al Trautwig

-Lots of empty seats. Maybe we'll be able to sneak to the lower levels on Saturday night!

-I like that Bross saved the stick on her vault.

-I wonder if Alicia will venture back to floor exercise ever? Not impossible.

-Damn, she attacks that table!

-Two fingers = double-twisting Yurkchenko?

-Indeed! She must be psyched.

-Must not have been fun for Bridget Sloan to compete in the last rotation. More aggressive than usual in her dance. Eeks -- comes right off in the layout step-out. Marta is not pleased, I'm sure. I thought Tim just said, "She needs to get help." He actually said, "Healthy."

-I wonder if I can obtain a piece of WOGA apparel.

Aaand we're out.