Gym Dogs Uphold High Standards of Georgia Gymnastics Program in Triumph Over Arkansas
by T Kyle King on Feb 12, 2010 9:41 PM EST
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PrintI was in Athens on Friday for a continuing legal education seminar, and, throughout the afternoon, I received calls and text messages from my wife letting me know what the weather looked like at our house. Snow fell constantly throughout my drive home, growing steadily heavier as I went, yet still the show went on in Stegeman Coliseum, where the Gym Dogs performed well in a victory over Arkansas.
The Razorbacks edged the Red and Black in the vault by a 49.25-49 margin after two Natural State gymnasts received 9.925s in an event in which no Georgia athlete earned better than a 9.85. The home team overcame the deficit on the bars, where a 9.875 from Courtney McCool and a 9.9 from Kat Ding paced a 49.275 effort. When coupled with the Arkansas bars score of 48.65, that gave the Bulldogs a 98.275-97.9 advantage at the midpoint of the meet.
Thanks to a 9.9 by Grace Taylor, Georgia finished out in front on the beam with a cumulative 49.1 to the Hogs’ 48.975 and the Gym Dogs finished off the opposition in the manner to which we became accustomed during the Suzanne Yoculan era.
On the floor exercise in the fourth rotation, the Red and Black led off by putting up 9.8s from Noel Couch, Hilary Mauro, and Cassidy McComb, followed that up with 9.9s from Grace Taylor and Shayla Worley, and capped it all off with a 9.95 from Courtney McCool. The resulting 49.35 gave the Red and Black their best score of the night, outpacing the Razorbacks’ 48.95 in the same event to give Georgia a 196.725-195.825 triumph over Arkansas.
By tallying combined marks of 49 or better in all four rotations and saving the best for last, the Gym Dogs looked at least somewhat like the squad that captured five straight national championships. While a sixth NCAA crown is highly unlikely, Jay Clark’s Georgia team appears to be performing at or near its usual lofty level once again. Reports of the program’s demise, both here and elsewhere, appear suddenly to have been exaggerated greatly.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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I truly hope that I am proven wrong...
… and the last two meets have certainly provided rays of light to break through the unadulterated pessimism. I am reserving judgment, however, until the Gym Dogs prove they can beat a great team. Their last two meets have been against perennial SEC also-rans. The Lady Hogs were ranked #3 in the nation, but from a historical perspective, they’ve never been a member of the elite.
Next week will be a major test, as the Dawgs head down to Gainesville to face a Florida team that has consistently been part of the national elite for the last 4 or 5 years. And after the meet on March 6 against UCLA, we will know whether Jay Clark’s first team really has the mettle to continue their streak of Super Six appearances and legitimately compete for the title.
No one can reasonably expect a program to win the national title every year, and I don’t expect that of the Gym Dogs this year. We must prove that we can compete head-to-head against the elite, however. If we can’t do that, then the program has begun a decline. Even if you’re ranked in the top 10, for a program that hasn’t finished worse than sixth in 25 years that would be a significant decline.
Agreed . . .
. . . with the caveat that, in gymnastics, more so than most sports, a team truly is competing against itself. I felt lousy after the first meet, despite the victory, because of the poor scores; I feel better about the last two meets because the scores legitimately were good. That would be true regardless of the competition.
Will the Gym Dogs have to step it up a bit next week? Absolutely . . . but only just a bit, and Friday night’s strong finish suggests they can do it.
Go 'Dawgs!
OT
sorry to go OT, I respect your hard work you put into these posts. I have done a few fan posts and I couldnt do what you do full time.
anyways I dont know where else to put this…Thanks for just the warning TKK, I dont remember exactly what I said that crossed the line. So not sure what I said to be warned. I try to play by the rules here at SBN. I know this is a UGA blog and some will say this is “your house” but to me I just see a public blog so I will not say anything I wouldnt say in public.
So no disrespect but I wont miss a SBN blog if they do not like how or what I have to say because I do not cross any lines unless it is called for, such as defending my team being insulted or in a different case grammar police.
ps- I counted 2 banned blog sites, did you say 3?
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
Thanks, Hook85
If I counted wrong, my bad; unbanning is an option, so it’s possible there was a ban that was lifted.
Either way, the comment in question was deleted and I haven’t otherwise had a serious problem; hence, just the warning. I think everyone’s playing nicely, so I’m happy to leave it at that.
Enjoy your weekend, Hook85. Carry on, all.
Go 'Dawgs!
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