MGoBlogs: Men's Gymnastics, Vol. II, No. 4
12/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Previewing the Intrasquad
THURSDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2008
Senior Ryan McCarthy(Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville Community) takes some time to preview the this Saturday's (Dec. 13) Maize and Blue Intrasquad that will be held in Cliff Keen Arena. McCarthy competes on the pommel horse, parallel bars and high bar and took those events to last year's NCAA team finals, where he posted scores of 13.100, 13.000 and 14.250, respectively. The two-year letterwinner is also a 2008 Academic All-Big Ten selection, as well as two-time U-M Athletic Academic Achievement Award recipient.
Reasons to come watch:
Intrasquad is the only meet of the season where the entire team competes. There will be double the amount of Michigan gymnastics to watch compared to a normal competition.
You will already be in the vicinity. There is a basketball game earlier in the day at Crisler Arena, so swing by after for some more sports action.
It's free. And to add to that, all of our regular-season competitions are free for those with a M-Card.
You can show off all the lingo and knowledge you learned from watching the 2008 Summer Olympics and sound like an gymnastics expert.
Speaking of the Olympics, NBC already did the dirty work explaining the rules, scoring, and events of men's gymnastics. This makes it easier to enjoy the gymnastics and not have to ask your friends why there are scores over a 10.0.
Things to watch for:
There will be a lot of really incredible stuff going on; don't be overwhelmed, here are a few things to pay particular attention to ...
Chris Cameron on pommel horse: The skills Chris can do on this event will make your jaw drop. He is especially good at a certain type of circle called a flair, where the legs are apart while swinging. He makes this event look easy, but trust me, there are very few people in the world that can perform this event with the style and difficulty that Chris can.
Dave Chan on vault: Dave competes with one of the hardest classes of vaults -- a handspring double front. Dave received All-American status with this vault in his freshman season (two years ago). Since then, he has been working to perfect this extremely difficult routine. There are only a handful of NCAA gymnasts that compete with this vault, and most of them are shaky at best. Dave gets great height and rotation on this vault, which is how he makes it look so incredible.
Philip Goldberg on rings: Philip is the strongest person on the gym team hands down. He will be performing strength skills that will leave you questioning whether Sir Isacc Newton was correct in his calculations of gravity, but I will assure you now, there is not trickery involved -- no ropes, no harnesses. Philip can actually hold himself in positions that literally defy gravity.
More things to watch for that can be pretty funny are pre-routine rituals and post-routine celebrations. Gymnastics is an extremely mental sport. There is a ton of pressure building up during the time that athletes wait for their turn to compete. This can lead to some interesting and funny rituals. When someone hits his set, all the pressure and tension is usually released in a big celebration.
What to Bring:
Bring your voices. Be ready to shout and cheer when you see something you like. Sometimes we can get pretty focused or stressed before a routine. There is nothing like hearing some good cheering to lighten the atmosphere.
Bring your friends. Gymnastics is fun to watch, but it's even better when there is a large crowd to join in the excitement.
Lastly, wear maize. I have to throw this in because I'm on the Maize team. But seriously, make sure you wear maize because you don't want to look like a goofball when you are the only one wearing blue as the Maize team dominates the competition.
Players Mentioned
