Gymnastics News No.12 Part Deux!

[caseyedwards]

So what happened to those predictions of Gabby being the biggest thing to happen to US Gymnastics since...ever? I knew it wouldn't pan out. People just don't care any more and have more distractions than ever before. Maroney has been the break out star, IMO but she doesn't even come close to the fame of those who came before her.

She's Carly Patterson in personality! Even during the Olympics Maroney was the breakout. Her personality and even her vault was more impressive singularly than anything Douglas did. But maybe she will come back and do another season and then go on a show? Some kind of reality show?

[judgejudy27]

It is such a shame that in an era the U.S are dominating and having by far their most success in the sport in history Americans dont care about gymnastics the way they used to. Someone like Kristi Phillips who achieved nothing but hype, and never even qualified for a weak medal-less U.S Olympic team is more famous than World and Olympic winners from the U.S of recent times. Someone like Kerri Strug is way more famous than any recent gymnast for the vault heard around the World, even though individually she achieved virtually nothing noteworthy (relatively speaking) in the sport. The U.S has won 4 of the last 8 World or Olympic team events, and they have had 7 different women win a World or Olympic AA title in the last 9 years alone. Simply astouding. In addition to those 7 women they have the all time record U.S World Championship medal winner (Sacramone), a 7 time World medalist despite a career basically cut well short by injury (Bross), and a slew of other huge stars (Kupets, Maroney, Raisman). Yet people had already tuned the sport out by that point, and still care mostly about the Mag 7, Mary Lou, and to a lesser degree Miller, Zmeskal, Dawes, and a few overhyped ones.

[fenway2]

I've also wondered why we haven't heard about Gabby picking up any endorsements since the Olympics. I suppose the Kellogg's box counts but that company was already involved in gymnastics endorsement before the Olympics. I can't believe that Gabby didn't pick up any endorsements after winning the all-around. Aly Raisman has 2 or 3 endorsements, albeit small, since London. What is going on with Gabby's agent? Did she fall asleep at the wheel?

[mkats]

This is interesting...

INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 5, 2012 – USA Gymnastics has reorganized management of the elite program for women's gymnastics, dividing the responsibilities among Martha Karolyi of Huntsville, Texas, Valeri Liukin of Plano, Texas, and Stephen Rybacki of Upland, Calif. Karolyi, the women's national team coordinator since 2001, will continue as national team coordinator with a more exclusive focus on the national team. Beginning in January 2013, Liukin, who has two Olympic gold medals and coached his daughter Nastia to the Olympic all-around title, is the elite athlete development coordinator, and Rybacki is the director of elite athlete programs.

I wonder how the coaching situation at WOGA will change? Will Liukin still keep coaching his own gymnasts? And is Marchenko still around anymore?

[BigB08822]

It sounds like they are simply setting USGA up to transfer power when Marta really does retire. Smart move as this should help create a much smoother transition when it happens and you wont have to worry about the program finding its way and rebuilding again.

I think part of the reason that US gymnasts have trouble achieving the same kind of fame as they used to is that there are so many great gymnasts. Mary Lou was the first of her kind. Even someone like Phillips was able to make it big without the success because people wanted her to win so badly. Now there is no shortage of US gold medalists. No need to invest so heavily in one because another is around the corner. Each team has multiple World medalists on it and the focus on specialists only increases this. It is a good problem to have, really. Marta doesn't mind, I am sure, lol

[Yehudi]

This is interesting...



I wonder how the coaching situation at WOGA will change? Will Liukin still keep coaching his own gymnasts? And is Marchenko still around anymore?

Marchenko moved to the WOGA facility in Frisco. Cecile Caqueteau and her husband Laurent were the ones coaching the next gen

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Gabby is in Glamour Magazine:

http://www.glamour.com/inspired/wome...edal-olympians

She's also one of the covers of the new Essence magazine.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...n_2065698.html

[Karpenko]

^ That Essence cover is beautiful and also age appropriate. Her stylist has been amazing since the Olympics, I've loved pretty much everything that I've seen her in.

I think the new position for Liukin and Rybacki is USA Gymnastics way of slowly phasing out Marta. I don't think this will change Valeri coaching any personal gymnasts, from what I gather he is more in charge of the developmental program than any gymnasts making major teams.

[shawnie21]

I've also wondered why we haven't heard about Gabby picking up any endorsements since the Olympics. I suppose the Kellogg's box counts but that company was already involved in gymnastics endorsement before the Olympics. I can't believe that Gabby didn't pick up any endorsements after winning the all-around. Aly Raisman has 2 or 3 endorsements, albeit small, since London. What is going on with Gabby's agent? Did she fall asleep at the wheel?

She has a deal with Nintendo (her commercial has been out for a while), a deal with OPI cosmetics (her ad will be out in December). That plus her appearance on Vampire Diaries, being named Sports Woman of the Year, spreads in Vanity Fair, Glamour and Essence cover, I thought she was doing pretty well for just a few months after the Olympics.

[vesperholly]

Having played this Chopin piece, I almost had to turn off the sound. One of the most un-musical renditions I've ever heard!

Oh really? Is this one any good? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PirzRFQfU3U

I did find one by Maksim Mrvica that is completely awful.

OT: Carly looks really pretty in her wedding pictures. And I feel old.

[Sylvia]

Russian Sports Daily: Aliya Mustafina and Viktoria Komova unveil their plans for the new season (Oct. 30): http://english.ruvr.ru/radio_broadca.../92930499.html

Russian Sports Daily: Artistic gymnastics: Russia’s state coach Valentina Rodionenko comments on new gymnastics rules (Nov. 7): http://english.ruvr.ru/radio_broadca.../93861648.html

[jl]

Oh really? Is this one any good? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PirzRFQfU3U

I did find one by Maksim Mrvica that is completely awful.

OT: Carly looks really pretty in her wedding pictures. And I feel old.

Wow. That ball routine looks lovely but I had to stop because I started laughing when the Nocturne became a Sugar Plum Fairy dance in the middle.

The rendition you have is IMO very strong technically but I interpret it differently when playing. It always seemed more meditative given the start, kind of like a piece that'd come to mind when you're just sitting by a fireplace a night.

I'm very uninventive for my favorites but I like this interpretation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP8MW...eature=related ... to me, the rise and fall is very well accented by the slight pauses he uses. The same with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGRO05WcNDk

And I went to search out the Maksim Mrvica one since you said it was awful. PML. I love the version I found, where the clarinet isn't in sync with him playing so it sounds like a mess for a measure.

[vesperholly]

The rendition you have is IMO very strong technically but I interpret it differently when playing. It always seemed more meditative given the start, kind of like a piece that'd come to mind when you're just sitting by a fireplace a night.

I'm very uninventive for my favorites but I like this interpretation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP8MW...eature=related ... to me, the rise and fall is very well accented by the slight pauses he uses. The same with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGRO05WcNDk

And I went to search out the Maksim Mrvica one since you said it was awful. PML. I love the version I found, where the clarinet isn't in sync with him playing so it sounds like a mess for a measure.

This one, right? I was looking for an orchestral version like in the ball routine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBpI3gQ5wzw I am no expert, but I took enough piano lessons to know a little, and he seemed almost like a student while playing it - stiff, even, like he was hitting the keys with the same strength for all the notes. What's the word for it, pedantic? Determined to make each note isolated? Some of the quicker notes in particular were excruciatingly hesitant, especially at 1:48. The orchestration was beautiful, though.

Yundi Li's version has a nice softness to it.

[jl]

This one, right? I was looking for an orchestral version like in the ball routine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBpI3gQ5wzw I am no expert, but I took enough piano lessons to know a little, and he seemed almost like a student while playing it - stiff, even, like he was hitting the keys with the same strength for all the notes. What's the word for it, pedantic? Determined to make each note isolated? Some of the quicker notes in particular were excruciatingly hesitant, especially at 1:48. The orchestration was beautiful, though.

Yundi Li's version has a nice softness to it.

That's the one! You're right... it's all mechanically correct and he even has the pauses, but it's very imbalanced between the hands. All right emphasis and almost nothing left, so you get no bass feeling from it.

The thing about nocturnes in general is that they're very open-ended to interpretation, so speedups and slows are all relative to the performer and listener. It's easier to play it in whatever cadence you like since there is no strict adherence to rhythm like, say, a dance or a sonata, but in the same vein it has to fit the mood. Then again, it's really hard to determine a mood when the performer in question somehow turned a finely tuned mechanical piano into sounding like one of the cheaper-end electronic models.

I'm also no expert, so please take my thoughts with a grain of salt. I just like to play music. Chopin's one of my favorite composers (along with Debussy) for the harmony and images they manage to convey in their music, so I've played that nocturne a lot and found what I enjoy doing with it as a result.

[Aceon6]

She has a deal with Nintendo (her commercial has been out for a while), a deal with OPI cosmetics (her ad will be out in December). That plus her appearance on Vampire Diaries, being named Sports Woman of the Year, spreads in Vanity Fair, Glamour and Essence cover, I thought she was doing pretty well for just a few months after the Olympics.

You also have to factor how the gymnastics base correlates with advertisers target demographic and how they want to allocate their $. Gabby's Q score is great among those who recognize her without a leotard and medals hung around her neck. IIRC, less than 20% can ID her "out of uniform." I wouldn't expect her to get endorsements other than stuff targeted for the tween market. It doesn't mean she's not considered advertising gold, it's just that she's pitching to relatively few companies vs someone like Lochte. The three biggest advertising blocks are fast food, beer and cars, and Gabby isn't in line for any of that work.

[Rob]

Anyone know how the latest Karolyi camp went?

[Scintillation]

Epke Zonderland certainly isn't resting on his Olympic laurels:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwT079ShGgc&feature=plcp

WOW.

[mkats]

Random observation, but I was bored and surfing around Nastia Liukin's website and learned that she's not with Evan Morganstein anymore - she's now represented by a Diane McNamara, of "Fire it Up" PR company. Just thought that was interesting since there was so much hoopla about her good relationship with her agent after the Olympics.

[Rob]

I've also wondered why we haven't heard about Gabby picking up any endorsements since the Olympics. I suppose the Kellogg's box counts but that company was already involved in gymnastics endorsement before the Olympics. I can't believe that Gabby didn't pick up any endorsements after winning the all-around. Aly Raisman has 2 or 3 endorsements, albeit small, since London. What is going on with Gabby's agent? Did she fall asleep at the wheel?

I was in a Doctor's office today where there were a lot of magazines with ads -- People, SI, Vanity Fair, US, etc. I glanced through several and noticed that there were a lot more ads in the May-July magazines with Olympic hopefuls than there were in Aug-Oct with Olympic medalists. The ad campaigns for Aug to Oct had moved on to feature NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL athletes. There were a few in the late summer/fall with the really big names - Phelps, Lochte, Bolt, May-Walsh, but overall, the Olympic athlete endorsements looked far more lucrative for the run up than for the aftermath.

[floskate]

Hilarious interview with McKayla Maroney which finally reveals what went down between her and Izbasa after the vault final in London.

http://www.gymnastike.org/coverage/2...ic-vault-final

I really hope she gets healthy quickly and makes it to Worlds next year because this girl is a STAR!!