Friday, January 21^st

3:07pm Phone call from Kim Wurm: She informs me that Chance might be a little late for practice because he had one hair that was out of place and was insisting on getting a hair cut before the meet.  You see Chance did not want to receive the .3 hair cut deduction that the Mickey Dees (Michael and Adam) had received in the last meet. 

3:30pm Chance arrives for workout sporting a new “winning do”!  Nice haircut, lets see if it works for you tomorrow.

4:03pm Text message from one Corey Burton who had been sick for the past two days: “Am I competing tomorrow?”  Response “You are registered.”

5:25 pm: “Is it too late to sit this one out?  I’m sick and my whole body hurts…but if I have to, I will go I just think it might be good to rest.” Response “It’s your call.”

6:25pm Phone call from Christina Puchi: “Are you still at the gym because Adam, Jack and Logan forgot their grips.” Response: “No, but I can pick them up in the morning at 6:45am when I swing by to pick up Nic.” Adam, Jack and Logan you owe me one.

11:38pm Text Message from Nate Grosserode: “Hey, I forgot my grips could you please bring them?”  My Reply: “No problemo.” Nate, you owe me more than one, after all you are older.

Saturday Morning

6:40 am (I think I mean mourning) Phone Call from Nate informing me that he thinks he has pink eye and is going to the Doctor but definitely won’t be able to Coach the first session and probably won’t be able to compete.  I still decided to grab his grips, just in case.

6:45 am Waiting at the gym for Nic to show up

6:50 am Waiting at the gym for Nic to show up

6:55 am Calling Nic to see where he is, no answer

6:56 am Calling Nic to see where he is, no answer

6:57 am Panicking, thoughts running through my head 20 of them (level 4 boys ages 6 – 11)  and 1 of me, while disparately calling Nic to see where he is, no answer! 

6:58 am Calling Nic and Panicking!  Nic picks up phone and in a calm voice says: “Hey, what you doing?” Response: “Well I am sitting here at the gym waiting for you to show up.” Nic: “I must have slept through my alarm.” Response: “I will pick you up in 3 minutes, be ready.”

So if you were wondering what that odor was at the meet the other day, now you have your answer.

Session 1: Highlights Blunders and Otherwise Humorous Situations

Warm ups went well, I gave Nic the older boys ages 8 – 11 and I had the younger guys ages 6 – 7 this was our second competition with the boys using their full uniforms, and I had confidence this second meet would go flawless as far as the uniforms were concerned especially with my ‘Pro-Tips’ from the last weeks Chalk Talk.  Wishful thinking perhaps!

Uniform Pro-Tips: Volume 2 (more to come, I am sure)

1. The ‘GK’ on the Jersey (form pants, and shorts) should face forward.  Nicholas Elwell (pic) I caught in time to have him switch it before his first event; however, Michael Altenhofen (pic1 & pic2) was not so lucky.  It was not evident that his Jersey was on backwards until he took his team shirt off moments before he was to compete on rings.  So pictures we took (with out him knowing why of course) and routine he did with pride as well as wearing a jersey that was higher in the front than in the back.   We debated about not telling him and decided to do the right thing. We didn’t want him to get a uniform deduction on every event, JK I don’t even think the judge noticed.

2. Socks, Wow, much better this week!  However the Mathers boys’ weren’t there.J  I was very impressed that one of the boys had a three pack of brand new socks in his bag and he was very eager to show them to me, especially when he could not get them separated because of the plastic clip holding them together, but we ripped them apart and those socks will probably never see each other again.

3. Draw string citations were down this week! Good job boys!

OK, so my guys were done on the pommel horse and I went over to watch Nics group finish up on rings.  Warning never turn you back on 6-7 year old Level 4’s!  When I looked over Peter had approached the Judges table and in seconds the half the team had followed.  No doubt inquiring about the “winning haircut theory”.  As I approached I noticed the questions were more along the lines of “Can you give me a blue ribbon, pleaaasssssssssse?” from Peter, to “Do you take cream with your coffee?” Nicholas Elwell. (pic)

Anyways, the boys were informed of the “no approaching the Judge” rule and were asked to “Please take a seat.”, a saying that was repeated 982 times throughout the competition with the following variations: take a seat, sit down, sit, sit down now and plant it.  I felt like I was at dog obedience training… considering the “Westminster Best-In-Show” ribbons that showed up later during awards, I could have been.  Well it is a little unrealistic to ask boys to sit down for any length of time longer than, shall we say, 1 minute.

Saluting: You know that thing that you are supposed to do before and after each event, that thing that the boys often times forget at the end of a routine.  For further understanding and to analyze a professional salute in slow motion please attend one of Drew Collins sessions at the next meet or just come to one of his workouts at the gym.

Pro Tip: Saluting Do’s and Don’ts

1. Don’t hold your stick and salute longer than it takes the Judge to compute your score. (Drew)

2. Do turn your entire body including feet to face the Judge when you are saluting at the end of a routine instead of doing the twist my trunk around until I can find the Judge Salute. (in the styles of Kyle (pic), and most notably Michael Loh)

3. Stand tall with your legs together and raise your arm up nice and straight (pic)

4. Don’t tilt your head sideways and lean on you arm.(pic)

5. Do salute with your feet completely together both before and after each routine. Kyle (pic)

6. Use your salute to show that you are proud of your gymnastics, don’t slouch when you salute or show body language that indicates that you are unsure of how you did Kyle Koehler (pic) and smile (pic), not a cheesy smile either Alex Davis (pic).

7. And then there is the Dilley