"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Søren Kierkegaard, The Columbia World of Quotations

We got off to a slow start Saturday. No, not the team, I mean 'us'. Riding the Medalist Club bus makes for an easy, "let someone else do the driving" kind of day, but it is an early day. Now, I'm normally an early riser, don't get me wrong. Somehow, though, I couldn't help but think that I needed to stop by a bait shop on the way down to Tuscaloosa Saturday morning. (OK, OK, to be completely fair, we could have 'slept in' a good bit longer if we hadn't needed, for logistical reasons, to catch the bus in T-town rather than later in the morning in Birmingham.) Nevertheless, we were soon safely ensconced and on our way to Gymdawg-land.

After "dinner and a movie" and a couple more stops, we arrived in Athens. As usual, the lovely campus of the University of Georgia was busy, cramped, and crowded. I enjoy going to Athens; the meets there are always a lot of fun (even if those Gymdawgs are tough to beat at home!). BUT, to me anyway, the Georgia campus has that feel of 'one person too many on the elevator'. Not surprisingly, there seemed to be a new parking deck next to Stegeman Coliseum. We entered the coliseum about an hour before the designated starting time for the meet (4:00 p.m., Eastern Time). Warm-ups, which we enjoy watching, were well underway. Soon the P.A. announcer was warning us that the lights would be dimmed at the beginning of the meet - which they did promptly at 4:00. Then, after a brief welcoming of the crowd to the Super 6 Challenge and quick introduction of the teams that might have included just a fleeting mention of the many fine accomplishments of Georgia's coach Suzanne Yoculan's 20-year career at the University, the first gymnast began performing her routine at around 4:40. After all, you don't want to stand around, get cold, and waste all that good warm-up time! Bama started on a bye before Uneven Bars.

I won't keep you in suspense, we came in fourth with a 196.000 to Georgia's 1st place effort of a 197.325. At first blush, I must admit, I was a bit disappointed - at first blush, mind you. "Upon further review", and keeping ever mindful the coaches warnings that Bama will once again be taking it 'slow and easy' to start the season, I began to notice some interesting - and rather encouraging - points. Let me go through them using Bama's rotation order at the meet. As I mentioned before, after a bye, first up: Uneven Bars.

The first-timers on Bars (Michele Reeser and freshmen Dana Pierce and Ashley Miles) all seemed to survive their 'initiation'. No doubt, they will be able to put any residual nerves behind them and just concentrate on their routines next time. (Although, to be honest, if they were nervous they managed to hide it from the audience!) Shannon's routine was perfectly beautiful, as usual, as was Kristen's, pretty much, as well. (Later we found out there were some small problems in Kristen's execution of her release moves that were not apparent to us from 150 feet away, causing her to receive what we thought, at the time, was a low 9.725.) Jeana received a ridiculously low 9.95. (I've always wanted to write a sentence like that.) Our guess was that she didn't get a 10.0 because it was just January, for Pete's sake! Bama's team score on Bars, 49.100, was, I thought, a fine effort for the first time out. Most of the deductions, at least it appeared to this untrained eye, came from steps on landings, slightly missed hand-stands, lack of polish on form, that sort of thing. A couple more 'stuck' landings or a few more vertical handstands and we could have easily scored, say, a 49.300. That would have bettered the winners'- Georgia's - 49.275 on the event. We scored a 49.450 on Bars in the National final last year and that score seems well within reach of this team, as well.

The Beam smiled a broad and knowing grin as we approached for our next rotation. "All-time record Beam team," it gleefully thought to itself, "I'll show them a thing or two...muwahahahahahaaa!" So, OK, we had some problems on Beam. On the other hand, I saw good reason to believe that this will be a fine Beam team, in the end. After counting a fall and a routine with a couple of big bobbles, we ended up with a 48.200. But, give us back the .5 for the fall and the .3 for the big bobbles and the GymTide gets a 49.000. Put that with the 49.300 I conjured up for the Bars, then add a tenth or two for polish to the 49.400 on Floor, add a few tenths to the Vault total of 49.300 for when Bama puts in more '10.0 start value' vaults, and you get a final score of...slap!...slap, slap!...Salto!...Salto!... Snap out of it!...Wake up!

...Heh, heh...Thanks PBA's...I drifted off into little daydream there for moment!

Let's see, where was I? Oh yes, the Beam. Shannon's and Dana Pierce's routines both looked great, except for falls. It was just one of those nights. Michele also had a nice routine, but I note from the PBA's report that her routine was reduced to a 9.90 start value, for some reason (possibly a combination that the judges missed/didn't 'give' her?). For old-time GymTide fans who remember the 1996 Championship, I awarded Stephanie Kite a prestigious "Full Danielle McAdams with an Oak-leaf Cluster" for her successful efforts to stay on the beam. Kristen received a 9.85 for her fine routine, a Beam score we will take every time. Jeana's 'excellent adventure' continued with another underscore, 9.925.

Bama went to a bye after their Beam rotation. We later learned that Coach Sarah Patterson had a little pep-talk with the team during the break : "I told them in the locker room during the bye that the only way they would disappointment me after our problems on uneven bars and balance beam was if they came out on the floor exercise and didn't give it their all," Patterson said. "When they had such a good floor and vault set to finish the meet out, that showed me that this team has a little bit of spunk and backbone." Indeed, the Tide came back on the Floor and rocked the house. Well, they would have if they hadn't been in Athens, that is.

Stephanie Kite was in the all-important lead-off position on Floor and scored a fine 9.825 for her solid routine. We thought her effort deserved a little better, but it looked to us as if the judges were 'leaving room' for higher scores. In fact, it's sort of a 'catch-22', leading off. Every gymnast, I'm sure, wants her score to count in the total. However, if everything goes 'according to Hoyle', the lead-off gymnast sets a baseline score that is later dropped in favor of the next five higher scores. If you are the lead-off person you can't let all that get to you, though, because you want to set that baseline as high as possible. Also, you never know when something might happen to cause the team to need your score (like the completely, eye-rubbingly unbelievable occurrence of Kristen Sterner stepping out of bounds!). Anyway, Stephanie set a good high score and the rest of the Floor team went to work.

Michele came next with her 'Devil Went Down to Georgia' routine. The judges awarded her an excellent 9.875. Next up was Mari-Christine Bayer, a gymnast predicted by a well-respected and eminent gymnastics scholar to be a sure-fire hit. And so she was, at least with the judge who doesn't need glasses and who gave her a 9.90. Sadly, the other judge 'saw' it as a 9.80, yielding a 9.85. It was too bad, for Mari's routine was simply wonderful. The PBA's opined in their commentary that the [9.80 judge] may have wanted more difficulty, which Mari will be adding later. However, the other judge (apparently) agreed with the PBA's and with us, a 10.0 start value is a 10.0 start value - and scored it accordingly. Jeana and Kristen followed with back-to-back 9.90's (although Kristen was deducted a tenth for that previously mentioned we-still-don't-believe-we-saw-it step out of bounds). Freshman Ashley Miles ended the scoring for Alabama with a soaring, rockin', unbelievable, how-do-you-do, welcome-to-college-Floor-X, shoulda been a 12, 9.95. That score helped the Tide to a 49.400 for the Floor, a score worthy of mid-season.

The Vault was a bit of an anti-climax. Even with the fine Floor score, the Tide was too far back really to threaten the Gymdawgs. That didn't stop Bama from putting in a fine performance, however, including a big-time 9.925 and a 9.95 from Jeana and Ashley, respectively. The Vault team included, I think, three gymnasts with start values below 10.0. However, the Tide still managed a very respectable 49.300, currently good enough for 4th place nationally on the Vault . Jeana Rice's score confirmed what was evident to everyone in attendance, she was the All-Around champion and the real star of the meet. I know I speak for all the fans in saying that we are so happy and proud to see Jeana's success, and not just in this competition. I won't presume to speak concerning things about which I know not, but I will steal another quote from Coach Sarah Patterson: "It's no secret that Jeana struggled last year," Patterson said. "This year she came in, and she was in competitive shape by Thanksgiving and it really nice to see her rebound from last year's adversity and perform at this level."

What to make of it all, this first meet. Well, to start with, Bama is a young team and looked it at times on Saturday. Having said that, with patience on our part and progress on their part, I think great things are within the grasp of this group of gymnasts. Even with the first two rotations including, perhaps, a bit of 'nerves', the Tide still managed a 196.000. Championships have been won with such scores, albeit a good while back. Experience is what Bama is lacking right now, but time will take care of that. The talent, the athleticism, the work-ethic, and I suspect after the last two rotations, the tenacity are in place, at some point, to help take the GymTide to their expected place: the top. Roll Tide!!!