Black Friday Deals, gymnastics edition

In honor of American stores and their post-Thanksgiving shopping deals, I'd like to reflect on pretty good deals I've received.

Gripes about judging will never end. Of that we can be sure of. But we'll all once in a while come across a gift. Sometimes, it's applied to us.

Honorable mentions:
-Young Mariah of the Level 4's competed a timid (to put it kindly) beam routine. She looked ready to fall off at a moment's notice, but managed to stay on. While the others received brutal scores, an 8.0 was raised for her. Was it an error? Nope, the score flasher didn't alter the score. In fact, Mariah pulled out third place in her age group. "Mariah? Really?" Coach P. said in disbelief as she scampered onto the podium.

-High school beam, senior year:
Flight series were driving me nuts. So I decided, screw them. How about competing without major anxiety? Instead, my beam routine consisted of a cartwheel, a lovely split handstand, and a variety of jumps. Under Level 9 rules, I consistently scored 8.6's and 8.7's. Good deal, I'd say.

The winner:
-At actual Level 9 meets, I had to attempt to fulfill the rules. In this particular competition, I fell on my back handspring and had no flight series. My jump connections were questionable. I landed one jump and my leg flew up for balance. I turned it into a pose. I did not stick my dismount.

The score: 8.6. Pretty sure I placed, too.

How'd that happen? No idea. The only explanation: sometimes the magic's on your side.