My Love/Hate Relationship With Gymanstics

I've enjoyed the Olympics this year more than ever before. I'm not sure why. Sports and competition aren't really my thing. I think it has quite a bit to do with having a DVR and being able to skip over the commercials and boring stuff. Plus, Tim traveled to Denver the first week of competition and it kept me entertained at night. Watching Michael Phelps successfully swim through so many preliminaries and finals was, of course, thrilling. I actually got out of my chair a few times in eagerness during those close calls. Plus, I can't get enough of Misty May (great name ;0) and Kerry Walsh playing beach volleyball. They're so confident and such great sportswomen and I love that two women are (arguably) the best volleyball players in the world! I've even watched diving and the marathon with some interest.

Then there's gymnastics - my feelings are so mixed about this sport. I can't deny the incredible athletic and artistic ability of these men and women. They do things with their bodies that are almost beyond imagination. For that reason, I am captivated by the sport. On the other hand, it's a sport of impossible perfectionism. The entire judging system is a negative one - it's all about finding errors and taking away points, rather than awarding points. This seems a fundamentally depressing and flawed way to judge talent. Plus, I feel like many of the athletes jack up their start values, knowing they'll mess up, hoping that value will make up for their mistakes. How is possible that so many of the world's top gymnastics can not stick a landing? As I watch, I'm fascinated and impressed, then frustrated by the judging. Plus, why can athletes in swimming and running tie for a medal, but not in gymnastics? Poor Nastia. I think I'd rather compete in (and, at times, watch) a more objective sport. When Michael Phelps won his gold medals, they might have analyzed how he got there, but they ultimately gave him the gold based on his hand reaching the wall first. That clearly made him the best. So much more satisfying.