Of candy corn and jack o'lanterns

are my socks made. "BOO!" circles the socks in two sections.

Basically they're one of the best finds of the Target $1 section. They complement the uber orange volunteer pants from Worlds, as well as the white polo with "World Championships" in orange letters. Of course. Go, Netherlands!

"I have a question," says Alejandra, as she always prefaces her questions.

"Sure," I say.

"If that was your uniform, were the socks part of it, too?"

To the salt mines

Back at the gym, I field the expected "Did you compete at Worlds?" (Alejandra used to ask every few months, "Did you go to the Olympics?") and the girls are happy to see me. I'm glad to see them.

Quote of the night:
Greg chides one of the girls after she does a terrible back tuck and concludes with, "You need to focus on what you're doing, not on who has a wedgie."

And for your viewing pleasure, a video I took of Raluca Haidu (a.k.a. Pitic) during the all-around final. Not her finest performance. But she's so darn cute.

E to the Epke

The Dutch love him. Even if you know nothing about men's gymnastics, he's spectacular to watch. And the crowd's reaction!

High bar showdown

A little more Worlds

Back home!

Odds and ends:

• SHOCKED when He Kexin missed her release on bars. Who wasn't? I saw her after the awards ceremony and the interviews, and she was still in tears.
• Of course, after two falls from China's, it was Beth Tweddle's world title to lose. Besides a step on the dismount, she was great. No one else could touch her.
• Bridget Sloan's bars have a nice, relaxed feeling to them. Smooth and easy. She shouldn't have any problem upping her difficulty.
• Very happy for Lauren Mitchell winning floor!! She has so much talent and brings nontraditional skills to the table.
• Also good to see Romania cracking the medals (gold for Ana Porgras on beam, bronze for Diana Chelaru on floor -- doesn't she look a bit like Andreea Raducan?).
• Maybe after silver on beam and bronze on bars, Rebecca Bross will smile for real.
• Seriously, what's with the guys being ecstatic when they win a medal (re: team Germany for the bronze), but the women continuing the stoicism? It's okay to be happy, ladies!

I'm ready for Berlin Europeans!

Alicia Sacramone gets her gold

with two huge, well-executed vaults.

The next best in terms of execution was Brazil's Jade Barbosa, who placed third (and looked rather distressed about it). Mustafina, the silver medalist, was sloppy, especially in her second vault - was it intended to be laid out or tucked? It was both. Nabieva seemed to have a breakdown after her vaults. She too was sloppy.

The cameras held on Ariella Kaeslin, who was visibily nervous. She kept third place until Barbosa, the last competitor, bumped her out. It must also be noted that Kaeslin has beautiful hair.

Cool to see a Korean gymnast in the finals: Jo Hyunjoo, who looked super excited to be there.

Men's pommel horse right now, which also doesn't set my soul on fire. Uneven bars soon! He Kexin, Beth Tweddle, Rebecca Bross -- it should be exciting.

The women's all-around final

is another excuse for a bullet list!

• Rebecca Bross made one hell of an attempt to stay on beam after her Arabian went awry. I can already see the media (re: NBC) creating a Vanessa Atler-like "she chokes under pressure" campaign. At the same time, any time she does not win a competition lessens the "Carly-Nastia-Rebecca" triage. If that's possible. Which it probably isn't.
• Was it just me, or did China's Huang Qiushuang do a combination, miss an element, and redo the combination? Which should be a deduction, but she pulled out a 15.2?
• Speaking of scores, everyone besides the judges can see that the Russians are overscored on their Amanars. Bross's vault and bar scores seemed a touch low. She had a mighty aggressive bar routine.
• Crowd pleasers: plenty of fans dressed in orange to cheer on their countrywoman, Celine Van Gerner. The crowd went almost silent during her beam routine and applauded wildly for everything she did. She performed a very nice floor routine and several fans jumped to their feet, holding orange banners. Ariella Kaeslin inspired ringing cowbells and flags from the Swiss contingent. A small but loyal group cheered for Poland's Marta Phian-Kulesza, who went so far as to wear green glitter streaks in her hair. Now that's pride.

The men's all-around final

can be summed up like so:

I leave to eat dinner, the Americans are bombing out. I return, Jonathan Horton's lining up for the medal ceremony to receive his bronze medal. How about that for not giving up?

When in Rotterdam...

An update on the Dutch life!

The 2010 Gymnastics World Championships are well under way, and I'm presently watching the men's all-around. I must say that I'm not wildly invested, but it is delightful to watch Kochei tear it up. I'm pretty excited to see Rebecca Bross and Aliya Mustofina duke it out tonight.

Internet access hath been spotty, but I have it now!

Generalities, et. al. (a.k.a. an excuse to make a bulleted list):

• AWESOME view of the women's team final from the press stand. The beam was directly in front and I had the pleasure of watching Alicia Sacramone make a beast save on her front pike.
• The Italian girls all did unique, beautiful beam mounts.
• He Kexin's bar routine is breathtaking in real life.
• I was also able to watch the Romanian, Australian, Chinese, Russian, and USA girls train. Very cool to be "behind the scenes." The Chinese girls warm up similarly to how my girls do, minus the part where my girls do oversplits on a two-foot tall mat.
• The crowd at the men's team final wasn't huge, but it was mighty: Chinese chants and flags rose up, to be countered by German flags. The crowd loves Fabian Hambuechen and Kochei Uchimura. Who doesn't?
• Used my Spanish! It is mighty rusty!
• I've learned a few Dutch words, notably the numbers one through ten and "thank you." Consider me fluent.
• I'm finding it difficult to not speak in a fake Dutch accent.
• If you visit the Rotterdam Burger King, look for the pet mouse that inhabits the kitchen. Mmm. Sanitation.

In descending order

So close to Rotterdam!!!

Mind games redux

With such a history, how then do I prepare my girls to face competition?

So far my methods are traditional: Have them perform routines one-by-one in front of the team. I try to mix it up a little by bringing over another group to watch, or another coach, or the secretary. A new pair of eyes to throw them off a bit. And I don't need to worry about simulating a noisy meet environment, since the girls who watch are never silent.

Somedays I propose a deal with everyone's favorite conditional construct: if you hit this routine, then (some reward, like working on new skills or getting a drink first or what-have-you). I make it clear: Like a meet, this is your one chance.

I have to say that my girls range between decent to very, very solid in competition on beam. Some are nervous but they fight. Others fight past the nerves and move confidently.

It blew my mind a little when the commentators at USA Nationals talked about Mackenzie Caquatto's struggles on beam, how she needed to "survive" the routine. (Of course, that easily could have been commentator dramatics.) You don't expect that out of an elite gymnast at a national competition. You expect that she can handle it. But maybe she reminds us: the beam is only so wide and no matter how good you are, nothing is a given.

Mind games

In the early years my mind was a wreck in competition. Thinking crazy thoughts during a beam routine. Working to rattle me as I tumbled.

At the end of the day I always competed just fine. Occasional meltdowns but we've all been there. I moved calmly and you would never guess the mental chaos.

I read a book about gymnastics psychology. All the gymnast biographies I could get my hands on. They all praised positive thinking and visualization. I visualized but found that my viewpoint kept shifting, like a filmmaker: first this angle, then this. I tried to "think positively," to "stay in the moment," but I was just too damn anxious. It was like my mind was saying, "Not only do you have to stay on a four-inch beam, but you have to defeat me, too."

I developed an excellent relationship with higher powers. As phrased wonderfully by a college teammate: "I talk to God every time I do a flight series." And so I did before every meet, during every meet. I had various requests ranging from "Don't let me die" and "Don't let my coach yell at me" (equally grave) to "Please let me qualify for [insert competition]." I must say the higher powers did an excellent job of upholding their end of the bargain (though I really brought nothing in return). But I remained tense, nervous.

What changed?

The battle never ended but it quieted as I got older, started realizing that competitions could be enjoyable instead of life-or-death. That I could be happy in the instants I wanted to rush through. That these times were finite.

Is it just fantasy?

I've heard of this previously, but I've received more than one e-mail about it: the Fantasy Gymnastics League. Is this legit? Is it a worthwhile use of time? Can Em and I combine our forces to coach the most awesome fantasy team ever?

Victorious (to the tune of "Notorious")

1. DONE with the first round of floor routines.
2. They're looking pretty sweet!
3. I beat Coach P. at a front tuck stick contest. Life is good.

Aplauso, aplauso

"Who goes first?" they ask on floor.

"Figure that out amongst yourselves," I say.

Insert melee. "I'm going first! Fine, then I go second! No, I already called second!" They run to the CD case for their music. "I go after her!" someone calls.

"I think they come to practice just to do their floor routines," Coach P. says.

It's quite possible. I haven't seen this much sustained excitement in awhile, at least not for an activity that's strictly gymnastics-related (running outside or frolicking in the pit--those, of course, are always winners).

Dare we call this motivation? Will it last? I don't know, but I hope to perpetuate it as long as possible.

On the approach of Gymnastics Worlds 2010...

...I'm excited!!!

Here's to de-Americanizing my wardrobe, not wearing white sneakers, avoiding public transit during rush hour, and watching out for people with fake arms. That's right. Much like the Spanish Inquisition, you never know when the fake arm will strike.

You should be daaaancing, yeah

Brittany, the team's best dancer, watches me as I execute a ball change. "I can't do that."

I slow it down. Show her in front of the mirror. Tell her to copy me.

"Do it again," she says. "I'm confused."

"Didn't you used to do ballet?" I say.

"Yes."

"You can do this." I show her again.

"Nope. Not happening."

"All right," I say. "Something else."

When in doubt--plunge the routine to the floor. Stop, drop, and roll. Throw in a flexible kick or two, hope it hits the right notes. Certainly this is more complicated than a ball change, but now Brittany's following me. Whatever works.

We're [more than] halfway there

I'm tired tonight. But we have made progress. Only 1.5 floor routines to go!

--

Today on floor:

Colleen to me: "Can you teach me how to do a back layout?"
Dana: "Colleen, you don't even know how to do a back tuck."
Colleen with a shrug: "That's okay."