Should I create a Facebook page for He Kexin = 14?
Take a vote:
No.
Make a page so we can become fans.
Make an account so we can become friends.
Make a group so we can join.
Vote vote vote it up.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Background Galore!
Need a new Youtube background, or Myspace background?
Check out my new Gymn-Themed album. Thanks to Picnik, I've learned to edit backgrounds. Woot!
Here it is.
Just remember to give credit. ;)
Oh, and I'm not copying CCCam.
EDIT: Apparently the Photobucket account was private, but I changed it. :)
New link: Nightflare514 Backgrounds!
Check out my new Gymn-Themed album. Thanks to Picnik, I've learned to edit backgrounds. Woot!
Here it is.
Just remember to give credit. ;)
Oh, and I'm not copying CCCam.
EDIT: Apparently the Photobucket account was private, but I changed it. :)
New link: Nightflare514 Backgrounds!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
I hate him.
So, anybody else getting tired of this Johnyawuncar1 dude who comments on Alicia videos making statements like the one below?
Sacramones performance was terrible during the olympics and was the reason why Team USA lost. With that kind of performance and still made it to the national team, I wonder how many coaches did she have to sleep with in order to get the spot. Her ass is so fat, I think her ass is at least 20 pounds extra compared to her teammates. That was why she brought down Team USA. Stupid bitch should go to Jenny Craig. Alicia will go down as the worst, and most disgraceful gymnast in Olympic history.
We need to do something about this. Alicia Sacramone does NOT deserve the load of bull crap he's giving her, and if she ever reads these comments, then she's going to have her feelings seriously hurt. We need to let Alicia know that she's still our idols, and an ah-mazing gymnast!
Go, Leesh! :)
Sacramones performance was terrible during the olympics and was the reason why Team USA lost. With that kind of performance and still made it to the national team, I wonder how many coaches did she have to sleep with in order to get the spot. Her ass is so fat, I think her ass is at least 20 pounds extra compared to her teammates. That was why she brought down Team USA. Stupid bitch should go to Jenny Craig. Alicia will go down as the worst, and most disgraceful gymnast in Olympic history.
We need to do something about this. Alicia Sacramone does NOT deserve the load of bull crap he's giving her, and if she ever reads these comments, then she's going to have her feelings seriously hurt. We need to let Alicia know that she's still our idols, and an ah-mazing gymnast!
Go, Leesh! :)
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Gah.
Please please please PLEASE x 10000000000000 do not go see Marley & Me.
It is torture.
I cried so hard. I've had to put down a dog, and they end is just....omg. Don't go see it. It's horrible.
And the people in front of me turned around and laughed at me for crying.
I know it's not gymnastics related, but I wanted to vent.
Thanks.
P.S.- I'm still crying. And it's been 2 hours since the movie got out.
It is torture.
I cried so hard. I've had to put down a dog, and they end is just....omg. Don't go see it. It's horrible.
And the people in front of me turned around and laughed at me for crying.
I know it's not gymnastics related, but I wanted to vent.
Thanks.
P.S.- I'm still crying. And it's been 2 hours since the movie got out.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Tens Galore!
Two fo you, Courtney Kupets! You go, Courtney Kupets! (If you've never seen Mean Girls, you would have no idea what I'm talking about. Go on Youtube and look up Glen Cocoa.)
The Rundown. Comin' At cha commercial free on He Kexin.14 FM, Your top station for the best Gymnastics News! (Please forgive me. I've been in an SUV for five hours driving home from Athens.)
Courtney Kupets- TWO. TENS. I personally thought that after she didn't stick her vault it would all go downhill from there, but she pulled out two perfect routines that were deffo awarded. 'Nuff said. Oh, floor should have been a Ten, as well.
Paige Burns- STAYED ON BEAM! YAY, PAIGEY!
Tiffany Tolnay- Pulled a Shawn Johnson american cup vault only without falling. (And it being a 1.5, not a 2.5) Bars was good, step on double front dismount. Almost straddled beam on front tuck. Wobbled going into dismount. Good floor, cross-step on 2.5 to front tuck.
Abby Stack- Floor was good. Not much else to say for her. Didn't compete bars.
Grace Taylor- Step on bars dismount. Beam- 9.975, should have been a Ten. I swear to gosh, that was a perf routine.
Marcia Newby- Good vault, large step. Okay bars, step on dismount, really needs to point her toes on her Stalder immedieate Thatchev.
Courtney McCool- Was warming up bars, throwing giant-full thatchevs!!!! :O
Lauren Johnson- Exhibitoned on Vault, didn't get her score. But it looked nice!!!
Lauren Sessler- Competed vault, okay, large step.
Hilary Mauro- Everything looked good except for her Double Arabian on Floor. She landed it, and flew out of bounds.
Cassidy McComb- Side stepped the 1.5 Yurchenko. Exhibtioned on bars. Beam was nice. DID THE FULL-IN ON FLOOR!!! Chest down. Put hands down on last pass, double back-tuck, but we're proud because of the effort of going for the full-in and making it. :D
Amber Trani- Exhibtioned on Beam, falling twice. Poor Amby. :(
Gina Nuccio- Competed on Bars, hit her Giant Full Geinger Bail combo. Way to go, G!
Kathryn Ding- Competed bars, Hit her pak!!!! Wahoo, Kat!
Mariel Box- El O No Compete-eo. (That's my lovely el espeanol.)
EDIT:
Picturesss.
All copyright (C) 2009 to GeorgiaDogs.com-Offical Athletic Site For The University Of Georgia.
Courtney Mid-Thatchev.
Courtney Kupets-Perfecto Ten-o on Barsy Bars.
She fought to stick that landing, I'm telling ya.
More Tenness. It. Was. Deafening in there.
Lol, Grace. She makes me smile.
So. Bye for now.
The Rundown. Comin' At cha commercial free on He Kexin.14 FM, Your top station for the best Gymnastics News! (Please forgive me. I've been in an SUV for five hours driving home from Athens.)
Courtney Kupets- TWO. TENS. I personally thought that after she didn't stick her vault it would all go downhill from there, but she pulled out two perfect routines that were deffo awarded. 'Nuff said. Oh, floor should have been a Ten, as well.
Paige Burns- STAYED ON BEAM! YAY, PAIGEY!
Tiffany Tolnay- Pulled a Shawn Johnson american cup vault only without falling. (And it being a 1.5, not a 2.5) Bars was good, step on double front dismount. Almost straddled beam on front tuck. Wobbled going into dismount. Good floor, cross-step on 2.5 to front tuck.
Abby Stack- Floor was good. Not much else to say for her. Didn't compete bars.
Grace Taylor- Step on bars dismount. Beam- 9.975, should have been a Ten. I swear to gosh, that was a perf routine.
Marcia Newby- Good vault, large step. Okay bars, step on dismount, really needs to point her toes on her Stalder immedieate Thatchev.
Courtney McCool- Was warming up bars, throwing giant-full thatchevs!!!! :O
Lauren Johnson- Exhibitoned on Vault, didn't get her score. But it looked nice!!!
Lauren Sessler- Competed vault, okay, large step.
Hilary Mauro- Everything looked good except for her Double Arabian on Floor. She landed it, and flew out of bounds.
Cassidy McComb- Side stepped the 1.5 Yurchenko. Exhibtioned on bars. Beam was nice. DID THE FULL-IN ON FLOOR!!! Chest down. Put hands down on last pass, double back-tuck, but we're proud because of the effort of going for the full-in and making it. :D
Amber Trani- Exhibtioned on Beam, falling twice. Poor Amby. :(
Gina Nuccio- Competed on Bars, hit her Giant Full Geinger Bail combo. Way to go, G!
Kathryn Ding- Competed bars, Hit her pak!!!! Wahoo, Kat!
Mariel Box- El O No Compete-eo. (That's my lovely el espeanol.)
EDIT:
Picturesss.
All copyright (C) 2009 to GeorgiaDogs.com-Offical Athletic Site For The University Of Georgia.
Courtney Mid-Thatchev.
Courtney Kupets-Perfecto Ten-o on Barsy Bars.
She fought to stick that landing, I'm telling ya.
More Tenness. It. Was. Deafening in there.
Lol, Grace. She makes me smile.
So. Bye for now.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
No. 4 Gymdogs Defeat No. 3 Utah Utes.
Utah made a road-trip to Athens to visit the feared UGA Gymdogs.
Here is the run down, again going from Seniors to Freshmen.
Paige Burns- Fell on beam, on the same leap connection as the last home meet. I personally think that she is really just subsituting for McCool while she's out.
Abby Stack- Had a rough warmup on bars, she missed her blind change in her first warm-up routine, slipping and was grabbing the bar with only one hand, and flew off the bar and landed in a left split. Looked like she was about to cry. Hit her Blind Change to Jeager connection in competetion, though, great comeback from the warmups. Floor was great, a little bit under-rotated on the Triple, but otherwise an ah-mazing routine.
Courtney Kupets- 9.975 Vault. No explanation needed there. Bars should have been a 10, like I said before at WV. I love her Shaposh so much. Beam was nice and solid intill the dosmount, where she missed her connection, and almost fell on her gainer layout, step out. Floor was great, I almost thought she was about to fall on her butt after the Double arabian. Pulled in on the shushanova(sp?) great ending double pike.
Tiffany Tolnay- Hit her 1.5 yurchenko..YAYYYY GO TIFFY! Scored a 9.9! Bars was good, pulled in on the Jeager, and that was really the only deduction except for a step on the dismount. 9.9. Beam was alright, hit her straddle jump back tuck connection, but almost fell on front tuck. Stuck dismounters. Not sure the score. Great floor, double arabian was ah-mazing.
Grace Taylor- Bars scored a 9.925, would have been a ten had she not struggled on one of her stalders. Beam was good, had a tiny wobble on the gainer layout following her leg-up full turn. Stuck dismount. 9.9. Good floor, saved the whip through to double pike from going out of bounds. Same goes for the double tuck. Made the 2.5!! Yeah, Gracie!
Courtney McCool- Still out. Boo. We talked about how much we hate our crutches. *NodNod* It was funny.
Marcia Newby- She really needs to pint her toes. I know she is pointing them, but it doesn't really look like it. :/ And get her leaps up. She was great, almost stuck vault, nice Thatchev and good opening double pike on floor.
Lauren Sessler- Had good vault. Same as usual.
Hilary Mauro- Stepped on the vault, yurchenko full. Great beam set, I really am falling in love with her front areial straddle jump connection. Hit her double arabian on floor!!! Go Hilly!
Caissidy McComb- Nice 1.5 Yurchenko, teeny hop. Missed a twisting jump connection. Floor was cool, she upgraded her last 1.5 to front tuck to a front pike.
Kat Ding- Exhibtioned on bars. Hit the pak. Woo, Kitty Kat! Way to go!
Mariel Box- Out.
Amber Trani- Did not compete. Back must still be irritating her.
Gina Nuccio- Competed bars and hit the gienger/overshoot connection. Woot!
So, that's all.
I got a picture with the big stuffed animal bulldog thingy! That was cool.
Here is the run down, again going from Seniors to Freshmen.
Paige Burns- Fell on beam, on the same leap connection as the last home meet. I personally think that she is really just subsituting for McCool while she's out.
Abby Stack- Had a rough warmup on bars, she missed her blind change in her first warm-up routine, slipping and was grabbing the bar with only one hand, and flew off the bar and landed in a left split. Looked like she was about to cry. Hit her Blind Change to Jeager connection in competetion, though, great comeback from the warmups. Floor was great, a little bit under-rotated on the Triple, but otherwise an ah-mazing routine.
Courtney Kupets- 9.975 Vault. No explanation needed there. Bars should have been a 10, like I said before at WV. I love her Shaposh so much. Beam was nice and solid intill the dosmount, where she missed her connection, and almost fell on her gainer layout, step out. Floor was great, I almost thought she was about to fall on her butt after the Double arabian. Pulled in on the shushanova(sp?) great ending double pike.
Tiffany Tolnay- Hit her 1.5 yurchenko..YAYYYY GO TIFFY! Scored a 9.9! Bars was good, pulled in on the Jeager, and that was really the only deduction except for a step on the dismount. 9.9. Beam was alright, hit her straddle jump back tuck connection, but almost fell on front tuck. Stuck dismounters. Not sure the score. Great floor, double arabian was ah-mazing.
Grace Taylor- Bars scored a 9.925, would have been a ten had she not struggled on one of her stalders. Beam was good, had a tiny wobble on the gainer layout following her leg-up full turn. Stuck dismount. 9.9. Good floor, saved the whip through to double pike from going out of bounds. Same goes for the double tuck. Made the 2.5!! Yeah, Gracie!
Courtney McCool- Still out. Boo. We talked about how much we hate our crutches. *NodNod* It was funny.
Marcia Newby- She really needs to pint her toes. I know she is pointing them, but it doesn't really look like it. :/ And get her leaps up. She was great, almost stuck vault, nice Thatchev and good opening double pike on floor.
Lauren Sessler- Had good vault. Same as usual.
Hilary Mauro- Stepped on the vault, yurchenko full. Great beam set, I really am falling in love with her front areial straddle jump connection. Hit her double arabian on floor!!! Go Hilly!
Caissidy McComb- Nice 1.5 Yurchenko, teeny hop. Missed a twisting jump connection. Floor was cool, she upgraded her last 1.5 to front tuck to a front pike.
Kat Ding- Exhibtioned on bars. Hit the pak. Woo, Kitty Kat! Way to go!
Mariel Box- Out.
Amber Trani- Did not compete. Back must still be irritating her.
Gina Nuccio- Competed bars and hit the gienger/overshoot connection. Woot!
So, that's all.
I got a picture with the big stuffed animal bulldog thingy! That was cool.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Bleh.
So, depending on whether my grand-parent's computer is fixed or not (It was busted the last time I went to a Gymdog meet.) I might not be on 'till Saturday. We're staying throughout the whole week so we don't have to all the way back on Tuesday, then turn right back around again on Thursday. It'd be a waste of gas/time/money.
Buuuuuuut, I'm taking my trusty notebook (Haha, Blue's Clues!) with me to the meet, and getting everybody's scores and taking notes on their routines in said "Trusty Notebook."
So that way y'all get an in-depth report. :o
Okay, well, I'm going to goooo.
Please enjoy the picture below. I find it scary/hilarious.
Buuuuuuut, I'm taking my trusty notebook (Haha, Blue's Clues!) with me to the meet, and getting everybody's scores and taking notes on their routines in said "Trusty Notebook."
So that way y'all get an in-depth report. :o
Okay, well, I'm going to goooo.
Please enjoy the picture below. I find it scary/hilarious.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Am I A Genuis or Extremely Delusional?
You tell me. Be brutal.
So, I'm going through my "Aww, I remember The Lion King" phase, and I'm reliving all of the songs.
I was thinking that "Love Will Find A Way" from Lion King 2 would be a PERFECT song for a Nastia/Valeri montage. I know it's about Kiara/Kovu's relationship or whatever, but they lyrics are perfect.
Watch the video embedded below and gime some feedback, if ya don't mind. :)
Makes me tear up, lol.
:'(
So, I'm going through my "Aww, I remember The Lion King" phase, and I'm reliving all of the songs.
I was thinking that "Love Will Find A Way" from Lion King 2 would be a PERFECT song for a Nastia/Valeri montage. I know it's about Kiara/Kovu's relationship or whatever, but they lyrics are perfect.
Watch the video embedded below and gime some feedback, if ya don't mind. :)
Makes me tear up, lol.
:'(
Nastia Liukin Wheaties Box CONFIRMED.
Go! Go now! Well, actually wait 'till AFTER you read this awesome blog. :P
So, The Nastia Liukin Wheaties Box IS out in stores right now..I bought mine today.
So, Go Get 'Em!
So, The Nastia Liukin Wheaties Box IS out in stores right now..I bought mine today.
So, Go Get 'Em!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Samantha Peszek has the coolest hair ever.
Seriously. Her hair is always badass.
Check out these examples.
(Example 3. Maze o' Hair.)
That's all I can find, but if you find for badass hair pictures, give me a holla.
You know my Youtube URL.
Check out these examples.
(Example 01. I wanna be in Snoop Dogg's posse cornrows.)
(Example 2. I love this!!)
(Example 3. Maze o' Hair.)(Example 4. Braidssss. [=)
(Example 6, which I refer to as the "Liukin Lump".)
(Example 7. Let Go of my Ego Waffles-I mean, Hair! Those brads are so cool, they look like waffles.)
(Example 8. More waffleness.)
That's all I can find, but if you find for badass hair pictures, give me a holla.
You know my Youtube URL.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Oh, Alicia.
Anyone else seen what she's been up to?
She was on Costas Now on HBO, to support Nastia, who was being interviewed and looked FABOOLOOSE. The program had 45 seconds left, so Bob Costas (I dislike him a LOT.) said "Hey, let's show her throwing a punch!" so they showed the video embedded below.
LOL. Makes me crack up every time. "ALEEEESHA!"
She was on E!'s Golden Globe pre-show, and once again brought out her 'Fierceness'. (Thanks Tyra, for that word!) There was a tad bit of information about it on USA Gymnastics which I will post here for all you lazy people (Like me.) who don't want to have to go to a whole other website.
(Photo Copyright John Cheng)
She's out there really doing what she loves (Not that she didn't love gymn.)
P.S.- Have you heard That Leesh and Nastia joke about opening a clothing boutique together, because Alicia wants to major in fashion, and Nastia wants to major in bussiness? Haha, that is so cute! I'd shop there everyday! :)
Laytah.
She was on Costas Now on HBO, to support Nastia, who was being interviewed and looked FABOOLOOSE. The program had 45 seconds left, so Bob Costas (I dislike him a LOT.) said "Hey, let's show her throwing a punch!" so they showed the video embedded below.
LOL. Makes me crack up every time. "ALEEEESHA!"
She was on E!'s Golden Globe pre-show, and once again brought out her 'Fierceness'. (Thanks Tyra, for that word!) There was a tad bit of information about it on USA Gymnastics which I will post here for all you lazy people (Like me.) who don't want to have to go to a whole other website.
Alicia Sacramone of Winchester, Mass., was on E! for the Golden Globes Sunday, Jan. 11. Sacramone appeared on "Countdown to the Red Carpet" airing from 4-6 p.m. ET. Sacramone's duties included helping a fan get a fantasy makeover. The Golden Globes, the first big Hollywood awards show of the season, aired on Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC.
(Photo Copyright John Cheng)
She's out there really doing what she loves (Not that she didn't love gymn.)
P.S.- Have you heard That Leesh and Nastia joke about opening a clothing boutique together, because Alicia wants to major in fashion, and Nastia wants to major in bussiness? Haha, that is so cute! I'd shop there everyday! :)
Laytah.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
I hate my computer.
So. I can't upload videos because I still have sucky dialup and the videos of the Gymdogs are each about 89.0 mb, which is like uploading a nine minute montage.
Boo.
Boo.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Dawgs Win...
...Barely. Seriously. A 145 against West Virginia? I love every collegiate team, and I think they're amazing, but WV just isn't..well. Later. Anyways, I'll give y'all run-throughs of the meet, starting with the Seniors, going to the Freshies. Tomorrow is Sunday, so I'll post to buttload of videos I got from the meet onto Youtube. I'm actually uploading Courtney K's bars right now.
So, here we go:
Paige Burns- In her only event, Beam, she fell on a cat leap connected to a switch leap thingy that I'm not sure the name is. I got the video, but my stupid camera cut off after her fall, so I will not be uploading it.
Abby Stack- Fell on her straddle Jeager, right onto her stomach. Got a video of that, but once again, stupid camera cut off after the fall. (What the...?!) Floor = Awesome. Captured that on video, def will be posting that!!
Tiffany Tolnay- Vault had a large step, but she overcame her fear, so GO TITO!! Videotaped it, planning on uploading. Bars was ah-mazing, scored a 9.90, totally posting that. Beam, she missed a back tuck following a jump series, Suzanne did not look pleased. Of course, my camera wouldn't work, but Oh, well. Didn't compete floor, probably to protect the shoulder.
Courtney Kupets- Two Words; She's. Back. Vault was freaking scary, she landed with her left (Or right?) leg straight, looked like she popped a kneecap or something. Bars was phenomenal, should have gotten a Ten. One judge actually did give her a 10.0, but she got a 9.975. Beam was good, almost fell on a full turn, I got video, but *Shocker* my camera didn't work 'till her flight series. Floor was nerve racking to wait for, her being the anchor and all, but she nailed every tumbling pass for a 9.950. (Woot.) Got it ALL on tape, def uploading every single bit. :D
Grace Taylor- Amazing beam, almost stuck the dismount, scored herself a 9.825. Had a great floor routine, except for stumbling and putting her hands down on her final tumbling pass, a RO BHS 2.5 twist. Got it all on tape....stupid camera didn't get her floor 'till right before her first tumbling pass! Rawr. >:o
Courtney McCool- Out with a stress fracture...boo! We're crutch buddies, lol.
Lauren Sessler- Good vault, large step backwards. Exhibitioned on bars, something was off on her mount, and she over arched causing her to kill he momentum, and then she had to jump down. Double layout dismount was very nice.
Lauren Johnson- Did not compete vault at this meet, but will hopefully step up for the GymDogs next weekend at LSU.
Marcia Newby- What is with her step on vault?! She's basically like Samantha Peszek, lol! She is sooo powerful on it, though. It's 'mazin'. Bars looked nice, double layout was fantabulous. Floor was phenomenal, 9.6, she had a cool floor routine. My personal fave being her whip, double full. :) My camera was acting up during all her routines, which really annoyed me.
Cassidy McComb- Vault was good!!! :D Did not compete bars. Beam was great, I realllly wanted to get it on my camera, but, wow, what a surprise, it wouldn't work. She did the moonwalk. Nikki Childs *THE* moonwalker was there, and her face was priceless. She was like, "Psh. Yeah. I invented that." Floor was so cool! I thought she was upgrading to a full-in for her first pass, but I guess it's not meet ready yet, so she opened with a double pike. Got vault and floor, will upload. :)
So, here we go:
Seniors
(Abby. Paige. Courtney. Tiffany.)
Paige Burns- In her only event, Beam, she fell on a cat leap connected to a switch leap thingy that I'm not sure the name is. I got the video, but my stupid camera cut off after her fall, so I will not be uploading it.
Abby Stack- Fell on her straddle Jeager, right onto her stomach. Got a video of that, but once again, stupid camera cut off after the fall. (What the...?!) Floor = Awesome. Captured that on video, def will be posting that!!
Tiffany Tolnay- Vault had a large step, but she overcame her fear, so GO TITO!! Videotaped it, planning on uploading. Bars was ah-mazing, scored a 9.90, totally posting that. Beam, she missed a back tuck following a jump series, Suzanne did not look pleased. Of course, my camera wouldn't work, but Oh, well. Didn't compete floor, probably to protect the shoulder.
Courtney Kupets- Two Words; She's. Back. Vault was freaking scary, she landed with her left (Or right?) leg straight, looked like she popped a kneecap or something. Bars was phenomenal, should have gotten a Ten. One judge actually did give her a 10.0, but she got a 9.975. Beam was good, almost fell on a full turn, I got video, but *Shocker* my camera didn't work 'till her flight series. Floor was nerve racking to wait for, her being the anchor and all, but she nailed every tumbling pass for a 9.950. (Woot.) Got it ALL on tape, def uploading every single bit. :D
Juniors
(Grace. Courtney. Lauren. Lauren. Marcia.)
Grace Taylor- Amazing beam, almost stuck the dismount, scored herself a 9.825. Had a great floor routine, except for stumbling and putting her hands down on her final tumbling pass, a RO BHS 2.5 twist. Got it all on tape....stupid camera didn't get her floor 'till right before her first tumbling pass! Rawr. >:o
Courtney McCool- Out with a stress fracture...boo! We're crutch buddies, lol.
Lauren Sessler- Good vault, large step backwards. Exhibitioned on bars, something was off on her mount, and she over arched causing her to kill he momentum, and then she had to jump down. Double layout dismount was very nice.
Lauren Johnson- Did not compete vault at this meet, but will hopefully step up for the GymDogs next weekend at LSU.
Marcia Newby- What is with her step on vault?! She's basically like Samantha Peszek, lol! She is sooo powerful on it, though. It's 'mazin'. Bars looked nice, double layout was fantabulous. Floor was phenomenal, 9.6, she had a cool floor routine. My personal fave being her whip, double full. :) My camera was acting up during all her routines, which really annoyed me.
Sophmores
(Cassidy. Hilary.)
Cassidy McComb- Vault was good!!! :D Did not compete bars. Beam was great, I realllly wanted to get it on my camera, but, wow, what a surprise, it wouldn't work. She did the moonwalk. Nikki Childs *THE* moonwalker was there, and her face was priceless. She was like, "Psh. Yeah. I invented that." Floor was so cool! I thought she was upgrading to a full-in for her first pass, but I guess it's not meet ready yet, so she opened with a double pike. Got vault and floor, will upload. :)
Hilary Mauro- Leadoff on vault, stuck a Yurchenko full. First routine of the whole season..must be a good sign! Bars was great, she landed on the edge of the mat on her dismount (Double Layout) and was kind of forced to take a step otherwise some ankle problems could have come from that. Beam was nice front tuck, extremely high & solid. Floor: plopped on her butt on her RO double arabian a la Sammy Peszek. Recovered nicely and finished up strong. Videotaped floor. You can guess why I didn't get any other routines.
Freshies
(Amber. Gina. Kathryn. Mariel.)
Amber Trani- Did not compete..back injury?
Gina Nuccio- Performed bars, did not do anything else, due to a rolled ankle, according to Doug Mcavvin(sp?). (Talked to him after the meet.) She connects a full piroutte to a Geinger straight into a bail. Full in dismount- Stuck. Videotaped it, TBA when uploaded.
Kathryn (Kat) Ding- Competed bars. Had a nice full pirouette to Thatchev. Pulled in on her Pak Salto, a la Nastia Liukin, and almost landed in a front support, and had to do a couple extra lowbar swings and whatnot to get herself back into the groove. Pulled in on her Double Layout dismount. Got that on my camera, dunno I I'll upload.
Mariel Box - Out with a *Something* crucial ligament tear. Somewhere in the knee..no not an ACL.
Well. We've discovered that Georgia doesn't look as good as expected, but is still ah-mazing..and that I need a new camera.
(Amber. Gina. Kathryn. Mariel.)
Amber Trani- Did not compete..back injury?
Gina Nuccio- Performed bars, did not do anything else, due to a rolled ankle, according to Doug Mcavvin(sp?). (Talked to him after the meet.) She connects a full piroutte to a Geinger straight into a bail. Full in dismount- Stuck. Videotaped it, TBA when uploaded.
Kathryn (Kat) Ding- Competed bars. Had a nice full pirouette to Thatchev. Pulled in on her Pak Salto, a la Nastia Liukin, and almost landed in a front support, and had to do a couple extra lowbar swings and whatnot to get herself back into the groove. Pulled in on her Double Layout dismount. Got that on my camera, dunno I I'll upload.
Mariel Box - Out with a *Something* crucial ligament tear. Somewhere in the knee..no not an ACL.
Well. We've discovered that Georgia doesn't look as good as expected, but is still ah-mazing..and that I need a new camera.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
More Gymnastia.
Don't get offended by the Shawn Johnson part. We thought it'd be funny. We both actually don't care much for her, but we do think she's amazinggggg, and that she deserved every bit of her gold, and she deserved everything she's won in her career, and we do hope she goes on to 2012, because she's awesome to watch. :D
This is actually about Nationals, lol, obviously it's fictional. I skipped a couple of parts from the opening chapter.
"Do the dismount again," Valeri stated flatly, keeping his focus on the beam. "That was weak..." Nastia pushed herself back up onto the beam, throwing her arms and head back as she repeated the same dismount for the eleventh time in a row. She was halfway through her rotation when she landed...on her butt. Valeri groaned. "Come on already! That was high, it was real high, but what good does it do you if you land on your butt? Again." It was Nastia's turn to groan as she pushed herself back up onto the beam again. "The first day of Nationals is tomorrow, Nastia. If you don't concentrate, you won't medal. Do you want to medal?" Valeri asked his daughter, placing his hands on his hips. "Of course I do," Nastia retorted, midair, before landing her dismount and only taking a slight step. "Again." Nastia suddenly realised what was at stake. There were new seniors coming into the playing field, and she didn't want them to take it all away from her. She climbed up onto the beam, ready for another go at the dismount, a new energy filling inside her. She hurdled into a roundoff, set high into the twist, and felt herself...stick. "Amazing!" Valeri rejoiced so loudly, that the whole gym could hear. "That was just perfect, babygirl!" Nastia couldn't hide her smile as she walked away from beam, to grab some water and grip up. She felt ready for Nationals. She was prepared, focused, and determinated. Taking a deep breath going into her first bar routine, after warming up and getting conditioning out of way, she executed the first kip, cast handstand beautifully. Making her way to the highbar, she heard her father talking to her. "Are you excited?" he asked, to which Nastia replied with a very exasperated "Yes". Spotting his daughter on the Pak Salto, a transition from the high bar to the low bar, he had a smile on his face, noticing the attitude change in Nastia.
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The alarm sounded at six thirty in the morning and Nastia woke up with a start. It was all she could do no to leap out of bed. It was finally the day of nationals…the day Nastia would show the new seniors who was in charge. She quickly changed into her leo and slipped a pair of shorts and a loose fitting t-shirt over it. “Are you ready?” Valeri asked, placing an arm around her neck and kissing her temple. “More than ready…I’m pumped!” Nastia replied, jumping up and down like Rocky before entering the ring. Valeri laughed at his daughter’s eagerness. “Alright then…grab your bag and lets head out.” As they entered the arena, Nastia felt the butterflies start to flitter in her stomach. She always got nervous before a major meet, but she loved it all the same. As she looked around for Alicia, one of the best vaulters on the US team and Nastia’s best friend, she spotted a small, midget-like girl standing off to the side with a Chinese man. “Who’s that?” She turned to ask her father.
“Newcomer…Shawn Johnson. She’ll be challenging your record.” Nastia laughed. “Pfft…crazy daddy say what?” Valeri shrugged and laced his arm around his daughter’s neck, steering her over to Marta and the rest of the girls. Nastia turned around and looked at Shawn Johnson one last time before proceeding to the floor for warmups. She'd crush her, big time, no doubt. She stuck every landing during warm-ups, and, feeling rather confident, proceeded to the first rotation…vault. “Concentrate, Nast. Go for the goal and stick the landing,” Valeri whispered encouragingly in his daughter’s ear. Nastia nodded once, lining up at the start line. She waited for the light to turn green before taking off down the runway. In her side vision, she saw Shawn sitting on the bench, next to Alicia, HER best friend. What was she thinking trying to take her friends? She pushed the thought aside as she pressed her hands into the ground and sprung up onto the vault, doing a one and a half twisting yurchenko, before digging her heels into the ground to stick the landing. She had done it…she had nailed her most difficult apparatus. Smiling, she made her way back towards Valeri and jumped into his arms. He wrapped her in a warm embrace. “Great job, baby, very well done. Get your grips on.” Nastia nodded and grabbed her grip bag, putting them on and chalking up. She sat down on the bench, waiting for the gymnasts to move to the next rotation, bars. Finally, it was her turn again.
She smiled towards her father before making her way back onto the podium and swinging onto the low bar. She repeated her skills to herself in her head. Stalder shoot to high bar, cast to handstand, inbar stalder ½ to L, Ono, Healy, Gienger, piked stalder, Tkatchev, Pak salto, toe shoot to the high bar. When she reached for the bar, it wasn’t there…she grasped nothing but air and felt herself falling…and then she felt the mat beneath her. She curled her legs up, pulling them to her. Had this seriously happen? Did she really fall on her best routine? She had, indeed. Frustrated and upset, she hopped back up to finish her routine, taking a step on the dismount. She was not pleased. She stalked off the podium, pushing her father away when he went to embrace her. “Shoot!” she exclaimed, throwing her grip back on the bench. “It’s alright, you’ll come back,” Valeri offered, but to no avail. “Leave. Me. Alone.” Nastia screeched out through gritted teeth, pushing past him once again. Focusing and mentally performing her routines in her head, Nastia didn't notice the up-and-coming Shawn Johnson on beam, executing all the big tricks, but with splits lacking. Nastia felt her father's hand gently tap her back, urging her to get a move on up to the podum, her turn to shine and dance on the four inches that beckoned her. When she stood up, Nastia felt a little bit dizzy, but she didn't think anything of it. Taking deep breaths, she walked up the stairs leading to the podium, her father encouragin her in silence, his looks were enough to push her the extra mile. The judge seemed to take forever to salute, signaling Nastia to begin her routine. The championship was still in her grasp, thanks to a immensly high start value (A-score) on bars, even though she had missed. Nastia nodded to the judges, the people she hated most, and mounted the beam with a press handstand. Once fully upright on the beam, she took a step into a front aerial, a blind landing, and went straight into her flight series, a back hanspring step out, layout step out, landing it with no wobbles. She continued on, in the routine, thinking positive thoughts. She had two major skills left, an Onodi, wolf full series, and her signature move, a front aerial to land in a scale. And, of course, her famous Liukin Quad as a dismount. Nastia danced to her position, ready for the Onodi. She reached back and hit the beam..hard. Falling to the ground, she heard collective gasps, an "Oh, Crap." from Alicia, and a laugh. She had a hunch who the laugh came from. She wanted to show the girl just how she could finish up strong. Climbing back onto the beam, Nastia had a terrible headache, and was ready to just sleep. Although, She executed the Liukin perfectly, and stuck the dismount. Walking back to her father, he had a proud smile on his face. "I'm proud you got back up and did it, babygirl." He told her, kissing her cheek. Nastia shook her head and leaned into her father, laying her head on his shoulder and taking deep breaths. She was even dizzier than before, and she felt like the walls were closing in on her. She gasped harder for breath, clinging onto her father's shirt. "Daddy...I can't breathe!" She exclaimed, panicking. "I can't breathe, I can't breathe!" Nastia paused, letting out a moan into her father's shoulder. "I'm fine, Daddy. I'm good." Nastia turned and walked away, muttering to herself. "I can do this. I'm going to show them I'm here, and I'm going to fight." Valeri looked at his daughter, very concerned. "Maybe you should sit down for a bit...drink some water," he added, handing her her water bottle. "Try and relax, sweetheart." He patted her shoulder and sat down next to her. Nastia sipped slowly at the water before putting it down beside her. Nastia sighed, starting to run through her floor routine in her mind, hitting every skill, and hitting all the dance elements. Pausing in the middle to watch Shawn Johnson, she thought if it was possible to beat her. Being a math whiz, she added up A-scores, and Average B-scores, and came to the conclusion that it was possible, if she hit, to snatch the lead away from Shawn. Just then, Shawn finished her routine, stood up, and waved to the crowd. As she walked off the floor, she didn't notice she was walking off of the podium, not using the stairs. She toppled off, but popped right back up again, looking humiliated. Nastia bit her lip to keep from laughing, but failed miserably. She let out a laugh so loud, it echoed throughout the entire arena. She covered her mouth quickly and sat down, trying to play like nothing had happened. She closed her eyes and invisioned her preformance, perfect, flawless, and getting the highest score possible. "Nastia, you're up," Valeri stated, tapping her lightly. She stood up and made her way up the stairs, posistioning herself on the floor, she waited for the buzzer to sound, signaling the beginning of her routine. She put on her best glare, for effect, and preformed to the best of her ability, landing her first pass flawlessly. Entering the corner for her second tumbling past, the first of 4, Nastia realized that she didn't have a high enough A Score. She thought to herself, "What the heck? Might as well try!" and ran powerfully into a attempted quadruple twist...she placed her hand behind her as she fell to the ground, and heard a sickening *CRACK*. Regaining her composure quickly, Nastia continued with the routine, wincing in pain whever she applied weight to the wrist. She decided she couldn't even go for the third tumbling pass, and just did a switch ring leap and straddle full down the corner. She realised if she could still make her last pass, she'd have silver. Nastia was ready. Dancing to the corner, the room started to close in on her again. She ignored that and the shooting pains in her wrist. She ran and did a roundoff and didn't even try to twist, she was too exaughsted. She came down on her neck, and lost consiousness. Valeri stood on the sidelines, waiting for her to get up. “Come on, Nast, shake it off!” He shouted onto the podium. She didn’t move. “Nastia!” he shouted, but still no response. As it occurred to him what had happened, he leaped onto the podium and kneeled beside his only daughter, stroking her hair lightly. “Paramedic!” he shouted over his shoulder, as two men were making their way up the stairs. “Squeeze my hand if you can hear me,” he instructed, stroking Nastia’s cheek. There was still no response. 8 hours later, in the hospital, Nastia awakened to flowers, and a wheel of cheese. Blinking more than she needed to, she glanced at her family, and mumbled something under her breath. "Dad." She said, looking at her father. "Yes?" Valeri asked, tears in his eyes. "Did I get Gold?". Valeri started to cry openly, looking at Anna for help. She obviously didn't know where she was, and only thought that getting gold mattered. "Sweetheart, no." Valeri said. "You have a serious concussion, and we thought you were in a coma, and sweetie.." He started, but his words were lost, as Nastia fell back asleep. Nastia woke up the next morning slowly, blinking a few times before actually opening her eyes. Gazing around the room, she saw her mother asleep in the chair next to her bed. Her father wasn't in the room. She was confused. Where was she? She tried to remember what had happened the previous day...Nationals...that..new girl... her fall on bars...but what else? "Mama?" she asked in her mom's direction. Anna awoke from a horrible dream, looking at her daughter, "Yes?" Anna inquired, wiping the sleep out of her eyes. "Wha-" Nastia paused, closing her eyes and praying that the dizziness she was feeling would go away. "What..what happened, Mom?" Anna let out a small sob but quickly covered it up, trying to smile. "You fell on floor...on your neck. It wasn't pretty from what I hear. You lost consciousness, we couldn't get you to wake up. You've been sleeping for awhile." Anna placed her hand against Nastia's forehead and then stroked her hair. "How are you feeling?" Nastia squinted, the lights in the room suddenly too bright. "Um.." she stuttered, " my head hurts really bad..." She coughed and then reached up to rub her eyes. "And my neck and back are really sore." Anna breathed a sigh of relief. "You gave us quite a scare, Nastie." The concered mother told her only child. Anna thought that she was glad that she hadn't been there to see the accident, she was shopping outside the arena, but after the night of restlessness, she wanted to have been there, thinking the worst, that it could have been the last time she saw Nastia. Nastia bit her lip, "I'm really sorry, mama. I didn't mean to scare you." She winced as she tried to move. "Owww." She looked over to see a bunch of tubes coming out of her wrist and arm. "What are all these for? I don't like them." She tugged on the IV connected to her hand. Anna shot a look at the various tubes and fluids being transferred into Nastia's bloodstream. "You were severely dehydrated after vault, which probably caused you to fall on beam, which led you to the concussion, that made you think you were invincible during your floor routine. And now..this." Anna finished the explanation with a shaky voice. Nastia tried to lift her arm to point. "Ow" she muttered. "What's that?" She asked her mom, gesturing with her eyes towards the cheese. "I'm not hungry.." Anna chuckled as she followed her daughter's gaze. "That's from your friend Shawn. She thought you might get hungry." Nastia rolled her eyes. "She's not my friend...and why in the world would I want cheese?" Her mother rolled her eyes right back at her. "Well, it was a nice gesture of her to think about you. Doesn't that count for something?" Nastia chose to ignore the last part. "Can I go home now?" "You will not go home." Valeri said, in a stern voice as he entered the hospital room. "But you certantly can give me a hug." He continued with a smile. Nastia grimaced in pain as he gently embraced her, but enjoyed having him there, none the less. She looked up at him, laying back down on the pillows. "Why not?" she asked, looking with pleading eyes. "Everything hurts and I just want to lay in my own bed and watch Gossip Girl. Besides, I want these stupid needles out of me," she said, scrunching up her face and trying to take the IV out again. "Anastasia!" Anna emxclaimed, strenly. "You will not go home yet!" Valeri nodded a thanks to his wife and turned to face Nastia. "She's right. We need to make sure you're fully recovered before returning home." He sighed. "And, look." He pointed, "There's a TV here. You can watch Gossip Girl right in your bed. And stop fiddling with the IV's!" "But dadddy, it's not the same!" Nastia cried, "I'm in pain, and I want at least something to go my way today!" Valeri looked sternly at her. "They are taking care of you here. We will go home when they say you can go home. Now, enough." He took the remote from her and flipped it on, turning it to the WB. Nastia pouted. "Gossip Girl doesn't come on for another 2 hours and I'm bored /now/," she whined, still nonchalantly trying to pull the tubes out. "I hate it here, it smells like a bathroom." Anna concealed a snort of laughter, and Valeri glanced at her, and gave her the signal. "Nastie, baby, we brought your two favorite things here, besides us, of course!" Nastia looked at her. "What is it?" she demanded, grumpily. "It's Rex and Lexi!" Her father exclaimed, not being able to hold in his excitement. "VALERI." Anna called as she flashed him the famous 'Liukin Look'. "You weren't supposed to tell!" Anna growled. "Sorry, bae." He shrugged, walking towards the door. "The hospital made an exception, since you're such a good athlete and whatnot." Valeri opened the door, and all of the sudden. "What the...?" He said. IT'SSSS SHAWNY CHEEESE! It was the same newcomer that had defeated Nastia at the meet just 24 hours ago. "I'm here to help you get better, did you like my cheese, didja, huh huh huh?!" The little muchkin bounded around the room, hyper as could be. Nastia held her head in her hands. "I already have a headache...I'm not really up for visitors. I'll see you later... okay?" She tried to sound as polite as possible. "Where are Rex and Lexi?" she asked, looking at her father. "And the cheese was uh...great, Shawn...thanks... a lot." Shawn hopped out of the room, screaming goodbye to everyone she could find, then Nastia threw her extra pillow at her, causing Shawn to topple over. "Hehehe, you funnaaay, my sista!" Shawn said, going all ghetto. Nastia rolled her eyes, and asked again, "Where are Rex and Lexi?" Valeri's walked out into the hall and searched up and down. "Well, I'll be..." He giggled. "Anna come see this.." Anna got up and began walking towards the door. "I want to see!" Nastia echoed, trying to push herself out of bed. She heard her back crack and collapsed back down onto the pillows, groaning. Anna laughed from the doorway. "Wow," she chuckled. Nastia started to whine. "I wannna see!" She was going to get her way somehow..she HATED secrets. And nobody around her was smart enough to keep secrets from her. Her dad, Valeri, pulled out his digital camera and started taking pictures. "Come show me!" Nastia urged her parents. Valeri made his way back into the room as slowly as possible, just to annoy Nastia. Nastia glared, using the look her mother had first perfected and she had inherited. "Hurry. Up." she demanded, tapping her fingers on the side of the bed. Valeri chuckled and sped up slightly. He placed the camera in front of Nastia, still laughing. "Oh. Wow." Nastia murmured with a laugh. "I guess Rex was a girl all along." Anna exclaimed, with a wide smile. Valeri laughed, and went out into the hallway to retrieve on of the puppies. He brought in a ting black female and said, "Babygirl, name her whatever you want. She's yours." Nastia looked up at him, taking the puppy in her arms. "Really?! Aww." She held the puppy close to her, stroking it's tiny head. " I'll name her... hmm." She stopped to think. "Lola," she smiled. "she looks like a Lola too!" Valeri grinned. "Now, if you keep her, you do realize..." Nastia waited for him with baited breath. "...I get to hold her, too." He finished with a grin.
Excerpt Copyright (C) 2008 Megan (Name withheld for safety) and Meredith (Name withheld for safety), All plot lines, story titles and characters portrayed are property of Megan and Meredith.
This is actually about Nationals, lol, obviously it's fictional. I skipped a couple of parts from the opening chapter.
"Do the dismount again," Valeri stated flatly, keeping his focus on the beam. "That was weak..." Nastia pushed herself back up onto the beam, throwing her arms and head back as she repeated the same dismount for the eleventh time in a row. She was halfway through her rotation when she landed...on her butt. Valeri groaned. "Come on already! That was high, it was real high, but what good does it do you if you land on your butt? Again." It was Nastia's turn to groan as she pushed herself back up onto the beam again. "The first day of Nationals is tomorrow, Nastia. If you don't concentrate, you won't medal. Do you want to medal?" Valeri asked his daughter, placing his hands on his hips. "Of course I do," Nastia retorted, midair, before landing her dismount and only taking a slight step. "Again." Nastia suddenly realised what was at stake. There were new seniors coming into the playing field, and she didn't want them to take it all away from her. She climbed up onto the beam, ready for another go at the dismount, a new energy filling inside her. She hurdled into a roundoff, set high into the twist, and felt herself...stick. "Amazing!" Valeri rejoiced so loudly, that the whole gym could hear. "That was just perfect, babygirl!" Nastia couldn't hide her smile as she walked away from beam, to grab some water and grip up. She felt ready for Nationals. She was prepared, focused, and determinated. Taking a deep breath going into her first bar routine, after warming up and getting conditioning out of way, she executed the first kip, cast handstand beautifully. Making her way to the highbar, she heard her father talking to her. "Are you excited?" he asked, to which Nastia replied with a very exasperated "Yes". Spotting his daughter on the Pak Salto, a transition from the high bar to the low bar, he had a smile on his face, noticing the attitude change in Nastia.
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The alarm sounded at six thirty in the morning and Nastia woke up with a start. It was all she could do no to leap out of bed. It was finally the day of nationals…the day Nastia would show the new seniors who was in charge. She quickly changed into her leo and slipped a pair of shorts and a loose fitting t-shirt over it. “Are you ready?” Valeri asked, placing an arm around her neck and kissing her temple. “More than ready…I’m pumped!” Nastia replied, jumping up and down like Rocky before entering the ring. Valeri laughed at his daughter’s eagerness. “Alright then…grab your bag and lets head out.” As they entered the arena, Nastia felt the butterflies start to flitter in her stomach. She always got nervous before a major meet, but she loved it all the same. As she looked around for Alicia, one of the best vaulters on the US team and Nastia’s best friend, she spotted a small, midget-like girl standing off to the side with a Chinese man. “Who’s that?” She turned to ask her father.
“Newcomer…Shawn Johnson. She’ll be challenging your record.” Nastia laughed. “Pfft…crazy daddy say what?” Valeri shrugged and laced his arm around his daughter’s neck, steering her over to Marta and the rest of the girls. Nastia turned around and looked at Shawn Johnson one last time before proceeding to the floor for warmups. She'd crush her, big time, no doubt. She stuck every landing during warm-ups, and, feeling rather confident, proceeded to the first rotation…vault. “Concentrate, Nast. Go for the goal and stick the landing,” Valeri whispered encouragingly in his daughter’s ear. Nastia nodded once, lining up at the start line. She waited for the light to turn green before taking off down the runway. In her side vision, she saw Shawn sitting on the bench, next to Alicia, HER best friend. What was she thinking trying to take her friends? She pushed the thought aside as she pressed her hands into the ground and sprung up onto the vault, doing a one and a half twisting yurchenko, before digging her heels into the ground to stick the landing. She had done it…she had nailed her most difficult apparatus. Smiling, she made her way back towards Valeri and jumped into his arms. He wrapped her in a warm embrace. “Great job, baby, very well done. Get your grips on.” Nastia nodded and grabbed her grip bag, putting them on and chalking up. She sat down on the bench, waiting for the gymnasts to move to the next rotation, bars. Finally, it was her turn again.
She smiled towards her father before making her way back onto the podium and swinging onto the low bar. She repeated her skills to herself in her head. Stalder shoot to high bar, cast to handstand, inbar stalder ½ to L, Ono, Healy, Gienger, piked stalder, Tkatchev, Pak salto, toe shoot to the high bar. When she reached for the bar, it wasn’t there…she grasped nothing but air and felt herself falling…and then she felt the mat beneath her. She curled her legs up, pulling them to her. Had this seriously happen? Did she really fall on her best routine? She had, indeed. Frustrated and upset, she hopped back up to finish her routine, taking a step on the dismount. She was not pleased. She stalked off the podium, pushing her father away when he went to embrace her. “Shoot!” she exclaimed, throwing her grip back on the bench. “It’s alright, you’ll come back,” Valeri offered, but to no avail. “Leave. Me. Alone.” Nastia screeched out through gritted teeth, pushing past him once again. Focusing and mentally performing her routines in her head, Nastia didn't notice the up-and-coming Shawn Johnson on beam, executing all the big tricks, but with splits lacking. Nastia felt her father's hand gently tap her back, urging her to get a move on up to the podum, her turn to shine and dance on the four inches that beckoned her. When she stood up, Nastia felt a little bit dizzy, but she didn't think anything of it. Taking deep breaths, she walked up the stairs leading to the podium, her father encouragin her in silence, his looks were enough to push her the extra mile. The judge seemed to take forever to salute, signaling Nastia to begin her routine. The championship was still in her grasp, thanks to a immensly high start value (A-score) on bars, even though she had missed. Nastia nodded to the judges, the people she hated most, and mounted the beam with a press handstand. Once fully upright on the beam, she took a step into a front aerial, a blind landing, and went straight into her flight series, a back hanspring step out, layout step out, landing it with no wobbles. She continued on, in the routine, thinking positive thoughts. She had two major skills left, an Onodi, wolf full series, and her signature move, a front aerial to land in a scale. And, of course, her famous Liukin Quad as a dismount. Nastia danced to her position, ready for the Onodi. She reached back and hit the beam..hard. Falling to the ground, she heard collective gasps, an "Oh, Crap." from Alicia, and a laugh. She had a hunch who the laugh came from. She wanted to show the girl just how she could finish up strong. Climbing back onto the beam, Nastia had a terrible headache, and was ready to just sleep. Although, She executed the Liukin perfectly, and stuck the dismount. Walking back to her father, he had a proud smile on his face. "I'm proud you got back up and did it, babygirl." He told her, kissing her cheek. Nastia shook her head and leaned into her father, laying her head on his shoulder and taking deep breaths. She was even dizzier than before, and she felt like the walls were closing in on her. She gasped harder for breath, clinging onto her father's shirt. "Daddy...I can't breathe!" She exclaimed, panicking. "I can't breathe, I can't breathe!" Nastia paused, letting out a moan into her father's shoulder. "I'm fine, Daddy. I'm good." Nastia turned and walked away, muttering to herself. "I can do this. I'm going to show them I'm here, and I'm going to fight." Valeri looked at his daughter, very concerned. "Maybe you should sit down for a bit...drink some water," he added, handing her her water bottle. "Try and relax, sweetheart." He patted her shoulder and sat down next to her. Nastia sipped slowly at the water before putting it down beside her. Nastia sighed, starting to run through her floor routine in her mind, hitting every skill, and hitting all the dance elements. Pausing in the middle to watch Shawn Johnson, she thought if it was possible to beat her. Being a math whiz, she added up A-scores, and Average B-scores, and came to the conclusion that it was possible, if she hit, to snatch the lead away from Shawn. Just then, Shawn finished her routine, stood up, and waved to the crowd. As she walked off the floor, she didn't notice she was walking off of the podium, not using the stairs. She toppled off, but popped right back up again, looking humiliated. Nastia bit her lip to keep from laughing, but failed miserably. She let out a laugh so loud, it echoed throughout the entire arena. She covered her mouth quickly and sat down, trying to play like nothing had happened. She closed her eyes and invisioned her preformance, perfect, flawless, and getting the highest score possible. "Nastia, you're up," Valeri stated, tapping her lightly. She stood up and made her way up the stairs, posistioning herself on the floor, she waited for the buzzer to sound, signaling the beginning of her routine. She put on her best glare, for effect, and preformed to the best of her ability, landing her first pass flawlessly. Entering the corner for her second tumbling past, the first of 4, Nastia realized that she didn't have a high enough A Score. She thought to herself, "What the heck? Might as well try!" and ran powerfully into a attempted quadruple twist...she placed her hand behind her as she fell to the ground, and heard a sickening *CRACK*. Regaining her composure quickly, Nastia continued with the routine, wincing in pain whever she applied weight to the wrist. She decided she couldn't even go for the third tumbling pass, and just did a switch ring leap and straddle full down the corner. She realised if she could still make her last pass, she'd have silver. Nastia was ready. Dancing to the corner, the room started to close in on her again. She ignored that and the shooting pains in her wrist. She ran and did a roundoff and didn't even try to twist, she was too exaughsted. She came down on her neck, and lost consiousness. Valeri stood on the sidelines, waiting for her to get up. “Come on, Nast, shake it off!” He shouted onto the podium. She didn’t move. “Nastia!” he shouted, but still no response. As it occurred to him what had happened, he leaped onto the podium and kneeled beside his only daughter, stroking her hair lightly. “Paramedic!” he shouted over his shoulder, as two men were making their way up the stairs. “Squeeze my hand if you can hear me,” he instructed, stroking Nastia’s cheek. There was still no response. 8 hours later, in the hospital, Nastia awakened to flowers, and a wheel of cheese. Blinking more than she needed to, she glanced at her family, and mumbled something under her breath. "Dad." She said, looking at her father. "Yes?" Valeri asked, tears in his eyes. "Did I get Gold?". Valeri started to cry openly, looking at Anna for help. She obviously didn't know where she was, and only thought that getting gold mattered. "Sweetheart, no." Valeri said. "You have a serious concussion, and we thought you were in a coma, and sweetie.." He started, but his words were lost, as Nastia fell back asleep. Nastia woke up the next morning slowly, blinking a few times before actually opening her eyes. Gazing around the room, she saw her mother asleep in the chair next to her bed. Her father wasn't in the room. She was confused. Where was she? She tried to remember what had happened the previous day...Nationals...that..new girl... her fall on bars...but what else? "Mama?" she asked in her mom's direction. Anna awoke from a horrible dream, looking at her daughter, "Yes?" Anna inquired, wiping the sleep out of her eyes. "Wha-" Nastia paused, closing her eyes and praying that the dizziness she was feeling would go away. "What..what happened, Mom?" Anna let out a small sob but quickly covered it up, trying to smile. "You fell on floor...on your neck. It wasn't pretty from what I hear. You lost consciousness, we couldn't get you to wake up. You've been sleeping for awhile." Anna placed her hand against Nastia's forehead and then stroked her hair. "How are you feeling?" Nastia squinted, the lights in the room suddenly too bright. "Um.." she stuttered, " my head hurts really bad..." She coughed and then reached up to rub her eyes. "And my neck and back are really sore." Anna breathed a sigh of relief. "You gave us quite a scare, Nastie." The concered mother told her only child. Anna thought that she was glad that she hadn't been there to see the accident, she was shopping outside the arena, but after the night of restlessness, she wanted to have been there, thinking the worst, that it could have been the last time she saw Nastia. Nastia bit her lip, "I'm really sorry, mama. I didn't mean to scare you." She winced as she tried to move. "Owww." She looked over to see a bunch of tubes coming out of her wrist and arm. "What are all these for? I don't like them." She tugged on the IV connected to her hand. Anna shot a look at the various tubes and fluids being transferred into Nastia's bloodstream. "You were severely dehydrated after vault, which probably caused you to fall on beam, which led you to the concussion, that made you think you were invincible during your floor routine. And now..this." Anna finished the explanation with a shaky voice. Nastia tried to lift her arm to point. "Ow" she muttered. "What's that?" She asked her mom, gesturing with her eyes towards the cheese. "I'm not hungry.." Anna chuckled as she followed her daughter's gaze. "That's from your friend Shawn. She thought you might get hungry." Nastia rolled her eyes. "She's not my friend...and why in the world would I want cheese?" Her mother rolled her eyes right back at her. "Well, it was a nice gesture of her to think about you. Doesn't that count for something?" Nastia chose to ignore the last part. "Can I go home now?" "You will not go home." Valeri said, in a stern voice as he entered the hospital room. "But you certantly can give me a hug." He continued with a smile. Nastia grimaced in pain as he gently embraced her, but enjoyed having him there, none the less. She looked up at him, laying back down on the pillows. "Why not?" she asked, looking with pleading eyes. "Everything hurts and I just want to lay in my own bed and watch Gossip Girl. Besides, I want these stupid needles out of me," she said, scrunching up her face and trying to take the IV out again. "Anastasia!" Anna emxclaimed, strenly. "You will not go home yet!" Valeri nodded a thanks to his wife and turned to face Nastia. "She's right. We need to make sure you're fully recovered before returning home." He sighed. "And, look." He pointed, "There's a TV here. You can watch Gossip Girl right in your bed. And stop fiddling with the IV's!" "But dadddy, it's not the same!" Nastia cried, "I'm in pain, and I want at least something to go my way today!" Valeri looked sternly at her. "They are taking care of you here. We will go home when they say you can go home. Now, enough." He took the remote from her and flipped it on, turning it to the WB. Nastia pouted. "Gossip Girl doesn't come on for another 2 hours and I'm bored /now/," she whined, still nonchalantly trying to pull the tubes out. "I hate it here, it smells like a bathroom." Anna concealed a snort of laughter, and Valeri glanced at her, and gave her the signal. "Nastie, baby, we brought your two favorite things here, besides us, of course!" Nastia looked at her. "What is it?" she demanded, grumpily. "It's Rex and Lexi!" Her father exclaimed, not being able to hold in his excitement. "VALERI." Anna called as she flashed him the famous 'Liukin Look'. "You weren't supposed to tell!" Anna growled. "Sorry, bae." He shrugged, walking towards the door. "The hospital made an exception, since you're such a good athlete and whatnot." Valeri opened the door, and all of the sudden. "What the...?" He said. IT'SSSS SHAWNY CHEEESE! It was the same newcomer that had defeated Nastia at the meet just 24 hours ago. "I'm here to help you get better, did you like my cheese, didja, huh huh huh?!" The little muchkin bounded around the room, hyper as could be. Nastia held her head in her hands. "I already have a headache...I'm not really up for visitors. I'll see you later... okay?" She tried to sound as polite as possible. "Where are Rex and Lexi?" she asked, looking at her father. "And the cheese was uh...great, Shawn...thanks... a lot." Shawn hopped out of the room, screaming goodbye to everyone she could find, then Nastia threw her extra pillow at her, causing Shawn to topple over. "Hehehe, you funnaaay, my sista!" Shawn said, going all ghetto. Nastia rolled her eyes, and asked again, "Where are Rex and Lexi?" Valeri's walked out into the hall and searched up and down. "Well, I'll be..." He giggled. "Anna come see this.." Anna got up and began walking towards the door. "I want to see!" Nastia echoed, trying to push herself out of bed. She heard her back crack and collapsed back down onto the pillows, groaning. Anna laughed from the doorway. "Wow," she chuckled. Nastia started to whine. "I wannna see!" She was going to get her way somehow..she HATED secrets. And nobody around her was smart enough to keep secrets from her. Her dad, Valeri, pulled out his digital camera and started taking pictures. "Come show me!" Nastia urged her parents. Valeri made his way back into the room as slowly as possible, just to annoy Nastia. Nastia glared, using the look her mother had first perfected and she had inherited. "Hurry. Up." she demanded, tapping her fingers on the side of the bed. Valeri chuckled and sped up slightly. He placed the camera in front of Nastia, still laughing. "Oh. Wow." Nastia murmured with a laugh. "I guess Rex was a girl all along." Anna exclaimed, with a wide smile. Valeri laughed, and went out into the hallway to retrieve on of the puppies. He brought in a ting black female and said, "Babygirl, name her whatever you want. She's yours." Nastia looked up at him, taking the puppy in her arms. "Really?! Aww." She held the puppy close to her, stroking it's tiny head. " I'll name her... hmm." She stopped to think. "Lola," she smiled. "she looks like a Lola too!" Valeri grinned. "Now, if you keep her, you do realize..." Nastia waited for him with baited breath. "...I get to hold her, too." He finished with a grin.
Excerpt Copyright (C) 2008 Megan (Name withheld for safety) and Meredith (Name withheld for safety), All plot lines, story titles and characters portrayed are property of Megan and Meredith.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Gymnastia
So, my friend Megan and I were extremely bored, so we decided to write a book/story about Nastia and her life. Here's the first part. We have almost 9 pages so far..woot. I'll post the whole thing here when we're done with it.
Gymnastia
Written By:
Megan
and
Meredith
“But Daddyyyy…” she whined, pouting as best she could while holding her handstand, “I’ve been up here for ten minutes!” Valeri shook his head, turning away from his daughter. “Fine then, give up. Go ahead, quit. Right now, other gymnasts are getting better…better than you. But if you have your heart set on it, quit right now.” Groaning, she released her grip on the high bar, plopping down and landing perfectly on two feet. "I could barely feel anything anymore…the blood was rushing to my head…I couldn’t breathe!” Valeri rolled his eyes, disregarding his daughter’s comment almost entirely. “You breathe through your nose, not your mouth. Enough with the excuses! I know you can do this, you’re just being lazy.” Doing her best to maintain her composure, Nastia simply stared at her father before stomping off towards the office, slamming the door at Valeri as she did so. Valeri softened his expression to look his daughter straight in the eye. "Please... don't make all this work for nothing. I can't go through that again...especially not with you." " I love your confidence in me..." Nastia retorted. "Vanessa was afraid of you, if that's who you're referring to." "A great coach has to be feared, not loved." Valeri came back with a slight smirk in his eyes. Nastia turned to face him, glaring. "A great father has to be behind his daughter, no matter what." Nastia shot back at him, crossing her arms."In the gym, I am your coach. At home with Anna, I am your father and everything else is left behind." Valeri stated. "But, don't you get it yet?!" Nastia exclaimed, dropping her grips onto the blue padded floor. "You're not there for me at home! If I make one mistake here", she gestured at the gym, waving her arms, "Then you DON'T leave it behind. You just want to loom on mistakes. Dad, I miss when gymnastics was fun." Nastia finished, walking out of the gym, tears welling in her eyes, replaying what she had just said in her mind. Valeri sighed, following her out the door. "Nastia, get back in here. We need to talk about this, you can't just run away from me like that." Nastia laughed sarcastically and kept walking, kicking the tire on her father's SUV as she passed it. "You're full of crap, Dad. I'm not perfect, I'm horrible, I get it. I'm the biggest disappointment in your life, you've made that clear." she said through silent tears. "And you can have your damn convertable back, too." Nastia turned around and told her father. "I don't want to be associated with you." Nastia walked down the sidewalk, ignoring her father's calls telling her to come back. "They didn't even want me in gymnastics in the first place." Nastia thought to herself, wondering why she ever pursued the sport. When she arrived home, she saw that the mail had arrived. She saw a note for her as she rifled through all the bills. After running up the stairs to her room and cuddling her cat, Goldy, she opened the letter. Dear Nastia, it read. I think you're an amazing gymnast and that you really are an inspiration to every young gymnast. You always have beautiful artistry in everything you do, which really helps improve the sport of gymnastics while it's focused on difficulty. I wanted to tell you that I'm one of your biggest fans. Bye! Love, Haley. Nastia read the letter 2 more times, and then finally folded it, up tears welling in her eyes. "I can't give this up." She remembered the love of the sport from when she wanted to sleep in her leotard, thinking it would give her great gymnastics dream. She remembered the fear, the frustration, and everything else in between that pushed her farther and farther to become who she was today. Nastia Liukin. Elite Gymnast, Olympic Hopeful. She was going to do this. Nastia placed the letter on her desk and gathered her gym bag again. She tried to enter the gym as quietly as possible, hoping her father wouldn't hear her enter. She placed her bag against the wall and walked out onto the floor, playing her floor music in her head, she began to dance. She didn't bother to open her eyes and just let her body move her to where she belonged... on the floor, on the mat, doing what she loved most. she felt the stress of 14 years of hard work and dedication peel off as she continued the routine, unaware of her father watching from the office window. She finished with a quad twist and went to sit against the far wall, by the pit, pulling her knees up and resting her head against them. She felt her eyes begin to water again as she thought about all of the work and effort she put into the sport she loved so much. This was her life. Valeri approached his daughter slowly. Once he had reached her, he placed a hand on her back and began to rub. "You see it now, don't you babygirl. I do everything to motivate you. I love you more than anything in the world. I want you to achieve your goals, not mine." Valeri told his only daughter, with tears making their way towards the front of his eyes. "You can do whatever you want to do in the sport, babygirl." He told her, calling her her favroite pet name again. "Dream as far and wide as you want. Everything is within your reach. I'm just here to help you grasp it. This is all you." Nastia lifted up her head, and looked at her father. Words were not needed as the held each other in a tight embrace. "I'm sorry, Daddy." Nastia whispered, tears once again flowing steadily down her cheeks. "I didn't want to hurt you." Returning back to normal after they had talked for about 10 minutes, Nastia was ready to go. Calling to her father, she exclaimed, "Oh, Daddy, and by the way..." Valeri turned around to face his daughter. "I'm not doing conditioning." Nastia finished with a giggle, and ran off to do a front tuck into WOGA's pit.
Excerpt Copyright (C) 2008 Megan (Name withheld for safety) and Meredith (Name withheld for safety), All plot lines, story titles and characters portrayed are property of Megan and Meredith.
Gymnastia
Written By:
Megan
and
Meredith
“But Daddyyyy…” she whined, pouting as best she could while holding her handstand, “I’ve been up here for ten minutes!” Valeri shook his head, turning away from his daughter. “Fine then, give up. Go ahead, quit. Right now, other gymnasts are getting better…better than you. But if you have your heart set on it, quit right now.” Groaning, she released her grip on the high bar, plopping down and landing perfectly on two feet. "I could barely feel anything anymore…the blood was rushing to my head…I couldn’t breathe!” Valeri rolled his eyes, disregarding his daughter’s comment almost entirely. “You breathe through your nose, not your mouth. Enough with the excuses! I know you can do this, you’re just being lazy.” Doing her best to maintain her composure, Nastia simply stared at her father before stomping off towards the office, slamming the door at Valeri as she did so. Valeri softened his expression to look his daughter straight in the eye. "Please... don't make all this work for nothing. I can't go through that again...especially not with you." " I love your confidence in me..." Nastia retorted. "Vanessa was afraid of you, if that's who you're referring to." "A great coach has to be feared, not loved." Valeri came back with a slight smirk in his eyes. Nastia turned to face him, glaring. "A great father has to be behind his daughter, no matter what." Nastia shot back at him, crossing her arms."In the gym, I am your coach. At home with Anna, I am your father and everything else is left behind." Valeri stated. "But, don't you get it yet?!" Nastia exclaimed, dropping her grips onto the blue padded floor. "You're not there for me at home! If I make one mistake here", she gestured at the gym, waving her arms, "Then you DON'T leave it behind. You just want to loom on mistakes. Dad, I miss when gymnastics was fun." Nastia finished, walking out of the gym, tears welling in her eyes, replaying what she had just said in her mind. Valeri sighed, following her out the door. "Nastia, get back in here. We need to talk about this, you can't just run away from me like that." Nastia laughed sarcastically and kept walking, kicking the tire on her father's SUV as she passed it. "You're full of crap, Dad. I'm not perfect, I'm horrible, I get it. I'm the biggest disappointment in your life, you've made that clear." she said through silent tears. "And you can have your damn convertable back, too." Nastia turned around and told her father. "I don't want to be associated with you." Nastia walked down the sidewalk, ignoring her father's calls telling her to come back. "They didn't even want me in gymnastics in the first place." Nastia thought to herself, wondering why she ever pursued the sport. When she arrived home, she saw that the mail had arrived. She saw a note for her as she rifled through all the bills. After running up the stairs to her room and cuddling her cat, Goldy, she opened the letter. Dear Nastia, it read. I think you're an amazing gymnast and that you really are an inspiration to every young gymnast. You always have beautiful artistry in everything you do, which really helps improve the sport of gymnastics while it's focused on difficulty. I wanted to tell you that I'm one of your biggest fans. Bye! Love, Haley. Nastia read the letter 2 more times, and then finally folded it, up tears welling in her eyes. "I can't give this up." She remembered the love of the sport from when she wanted to sleep in her leotard, thinking it would give her great gymnastics dream. She remembered the fear, the frustration, and everything else in between that pushed her farther and farther to become who she was today. Nastia Liukin. Elite Gymnast, Olympic Hopeful. She was going to do this. Nastia placed the letter on her desk and gathered her gym bag again. She tried to enter the gym as quietly as possible, hoping her father wouldn't hear her enter. She placed her bag against the wall and walked out onto the floor, playing her floor music in her head, she began to dance. She didn't bother to open her eyes and just let her body move her to where she belonged... on the floor, on the mat, doing what she loved most. she felt the stress of 14 years of hard work and dedication peel off as she continued the routine, unaware of her father watching from the office window. She finished with a quad twist and went to sit against the far wall, by the pit, pulling her knees up and resting her head against them. She felt her eyes begin to water again as she thought about all of the work and effort she put into the sport she loved so much. This was her life. Valeri approached his daughter slowly. Once he had reached her, he placed a hand on her back and began to rub. "You see it now, don't you babygirl. I do everything to motivate you. I love you more than anything in the world. I want you to achieve your goals, not mine." Valeri told his only daughter, with tears making their way towards the front of his eyes. "You can do whatever you want to do in the sport, babygirl." He told her, calling her her favroite pet name again. "Dream as far and wide as you want. Everything is within your reach. I'm just here to help you grasp it. This is all you." Nastia lifted up her head, and looked at her father. Words were not needed as the held each other in a tight embrace. "I'm sorry, Daddy." Nastia whispered, tears once again flowing steadily down her cheeks. "I didn't want to hurt you." Returning back to normal after they had talked for about 10 minutes, Nastia was ready to go. Calling to her father, she exclaimed, "Oh, Daddy, and by the way..." Valeri turned around to face his daughter. "I'm not doing conditioning." Nastia finished with a giggle, and ran off to do a front tuck into WOGA's pit.
Excerpt Copyright (C) 2008 Megan (Name withheld for safety) and Meredith (Name withheld for safety), All plot lines, story titles and characters portrayed are property of Megan and Meredith.
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