Last night I attended the 2010 NCAA Regional Gymnastics Championships held at Pauley Pavillion, site of Mary Lou Retton's 1984 Olympic GOLD! I have been to Pauley a few times before, but my goodness, walking in to a building in which Olympic History was made ( by one of my all-time favorite athletes) always takes my breath away.
I had received a last minute invite to attend, and as soon as I found out that this wasn't just ANY meet, but the NCAA Regionals, I knew it was going to be awesome. Don'tget me wrong, I would attend any meet that UCLA hosts, however, Regionals is the mecca for the nation's top teams and individual qualifiers. Seeing as I am a former Aggie ( not Texas, UCDavis..let's get that straight) gymnast, and a bit out of the loop with the current Aggie roster, I went on the UCDavis athletics website to find that THREE Aggie gymnasts would be competing last night GO AGS!!! The girls did a fantastic job..so much fun to watch..but as we were sitting there watching them swing away on bars, I couldn't help but notice...I had sweaty palms..I willed them to stick things by pushing myself back into my seat, and that adrenaline rush was back..You'd think it was ME out there competing by the way I was acting (= So, I guess the saying should go, ONCE a gymnast, always a gymnast. That feeling NEVER goes away...
And of course, UCLA dominated. They have un-paralleled choreography and music for floor, and the crowd was REALLY into it. Granted, this was a home meet, but I would venture to say that pretty much anywhere UCLA performs floor,they have the crowd sucked in. The floor routines were AMAZING. Kudos to coach Kondos-Field for her excellent work with the girls. (photo below is UCLA gymnast) 
BYU showed some strong beam routines (BYU gymnast pictured below on floor), Arkansas stuck some perfect vault landings, and Arizona rocked my favorite color combo of Red White and Blue..They looked sailoriffic in their leos out there. I was too busy jocking their leos to really notice their gymnastics, so oops!
All in all, it was a fantastic night, spent with some special ladies and an up-and-coming-7-year-old gymnast...and my favorite past time..GYMNASTICS..Sweaty Palms and all.Anyone got Chalk?
Great commentary, entertaining and as a parent of a former gymnast I know the sweaty palms and the forgetting to breathe until the routine is over!! So glad you were able to be there to cheer them on.
ReplyDeleteGod I love gymnastics too! I miss tumbling and when I see people do it... I have to tell everyone I can do that too! ha! Im such a show off.
ReplyDeleteAnd I would have been swooning over those leos. You know how I feel about Navy & Red. LOL